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King Crimson - THRAK CD (album) cover

THRAK

King Crimson

 

Eclectic Prog

3.68 | 1289 ratings

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AtomicCrimsonRush
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars King Crimson return to their most complex technical best on "Thrak".

Bruford, Belew, Fripp and Levin remained a tight unit in the 80s and found their niche and a new prog audience with this album. This was no mainstream pop affair, in fact a lot of the material is ethereal and totally off kilter, out of the box. It begins with the enigmatic "Vrooom" that is foreboding and doomy, and a fan favourite. "Coda: Marine 475" is a highlight with the musicianship tight and polyrhtyhmic. "Dinosaur" is a live favourite with Belew as excellent as ever on vocals.

"Walking On Air" features a stunning bassline, and a mesmirising main motif creating an ambient beauty.

"B'Boom" is a showcase for Bruford's thunderous drumming.

"Thrak" is a heavy handed prog piece with monstrous riffs and Fripp's disconcerting screaming guitar soloing.

"People" is rather funky and quite a melodic track with some great lyrics.

"Radio One" is a filler that is downright creepy with it's chilling squeals and white noise.

"One Time" is a rhythmic treasure with amazing musicianship encompassing strong drums and deep toned bass tones. Skip to the best:

"Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream" is an amusing piece trying to provide some much needed comic nuances in the music. The lyrics have a primary intention of didactic art, not to entertain, but to teach the listener a moral, there is more to life than just Sex, sleep, eat, dream. The melody is quite nice and this one stands out as one of my favourites.

The "Vrooom Vrooom" tracks are just plain weird and of course at this point in King Crimson's career the trademark of 'Vrooom' became well known in concerts and on albums. The Coda is unnerving and bizarre, but it ends the album on a disconcerting note.

In conclusion, this album is far better than "Beat" or "Three of a perfect pair", preceding it, and though not up to the standard of the classic early albums it still is an excellent journey into the enigmatic musical world of King Crimson.

AtomicCrimsonRush | 4/5 |

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