THE CHAMPAIGN-URBANA SESSIONS, 1983

The new 80ies incarnation of King Crimson made a head start. In 1981 the excellent "Discipline" was released and this was followed by "Beat" in 1982. Touring went well and when it became 1983 it was time to think about yet another album. From January 17 until 30 they went to C.V. Lloyd Music in Champaign-Urbana to rehearse for the next album. In the end, no album was released in 1983 by KC. So can these sessions been regarded as the lost 1983 album by KC?

Actually this one is rather good. The music is more experimental than on, let's say "Three of a Perfect Pair". Of course most of the material is rather fragmented, but since some of the tracks segue into each other this doesn't bother. There are some nice heavy, groovy tracks ("San Fransisco", "Tony bass riff", "Not one of those"). You can also find complete tracks that could easily have been included on a regular album (Steinberger Melody" and "Grace Jones"). The track "Fragmented" was recorded as "Industry" on the already mentioned "Three of a Perfect Pair", I prefer this version however. A good one is also "Heat in the Jungle" (a faster and heavier "Thela Hun Ginjeet"). Not everything is positive of course. Pointless noodling is present in tracks like "Reel 3 Jam".

In conclusion I can say that this is an interesting album. Certainly not one of their best, but I rank it higher than "Three of a Perfec Pair".

In between Beat and Three Of A Perfect Pair, Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Bill Bruford and Tony Levin went into the studio to attempt to create another album. These recordings are the result.

It's too bad they didn't continue on with the sessions, as the tracks documented on this disk, incomplete as they are, are superior to at least the first side (or left side) of TOAPP. The pieces (and I mean that quite literally) are more experimental and more interesting than most of the last two albums by this lineup.

As pointed out in another review here, Fragmented was rerecorded for TOAPP as Industry. Unlike the other reviewer, I like the completed version better.

But all in all, this is not a bad album. It just needs some polishing.

Unlike most King Crimson Collector's Club releases, this isn't a live album - instead, it's the work-in-progress studio sound of King Crimson trying to figure out where to go next after Beat. We all know where they ended up - Three of a Perfect Pair - and the occasional musical motif or idea from here ends up on there - but this is rawer, wilder, and often more experimental than that album, with the band ranging from the sort of avant-garde material which would ultimately make up that album's second side to funk workouts. The sessions unfolded over two weeks in January of 1983 and boil down here to just under an hour's worth of highlights, and I have to say that they sound pretty good.