DISCIPLINE

This album just didn't catch my attention like other King Crimson albums-don't get me wrong-it is a good album, but certainly not near their best, and about an average album. King Crimson uses too much intense sampling, and while the album has an interesting "story" to it, it makes the album seem like less music, more lesson. The narrating is soothing, but the album music is not, the contrast, while probably sought after, is not the best use of the technique.

"Elephant Talk" has the possibility to be an amazing song, but after the intro, King Crimson simply turns it into a good song you could find anywhere. Though the elephant calls are pretty entertaining! Frankly, "Frame By Frame" is really an excellent song, though I found the album as a whole to be rather average, this song stands out as the best sung and guitared song on the album. The soft lyrics of "Matte Kudasai" are also very enjoyable, and should have been put along with "Frame By Frame" in another better King Crimson album. "Indiscipline" and "Thela Hun Ginjeet" are where the odd story of crime on the streets of New York City starts, an odd fusion of lecture and documentary with some jumbled, tripping music in between. "Sheltering Sky" is just rather annoying, it attempts to be pretentious, but really showcases nothing. "Discipline" has more of a Crimson feel about it, but rather than saving the album from mediocrity, it just doesn't seem to fit, and reminds you that you should be listening to an amazing King Crimson album like "In the Court of the Crimson King" or "Red".

Like I said, average, mediocrity. Not King Crimson at its best, in fact, it doesn't sound like the King Crimson l love very much. A decent attempt at keeping up the exploration that earned them the title of Art Rock, but unfortunately, not every experiment can be a masterpiece, and Discipline is still a decent album to listen to, but not anywhere near touching King Crimson's best.