NETWORK

I always wondered why this EP was released. All four tracks had been released on Fripp's "Exposure" and "God Save The Queen/Under Heavy Manners" albums. And none of the tracks are so spectacular that they deserve any special re-release.

Side 1 consists of two tracks from "Exposure". North Star is a nice, but unmemorable soft ballad, with smooth vocals by Daryl Hall. Here Comes The Flood is the best song on the EP. This version, with the Frippertronics intro and recorded voice of J.G. Bennett, is much more ominous than the version on Peter Gabriel's first solo album. But why buy this, when you can get "Exposure"?

Side 2 consists of edited down versions of the two tracks from the "Under Heavy Manners" side of Fripp's second solo album. No matter how you edit them, these tracks are an abomination. First, these songs are a weak attempt by Fripp to cash in on the disco/new wave scene. Fripp wrote simplistic dance rhythms for his backing band to play, while he played his finger exercises and arpeggios around them. These proved much to perplexing for the simplistic minds of the dance clubs at the time, and went completely unnoticed by the public. Second, Under Heavy Manners is graced by the pathetically bad vocals of David Byrne. The guy was a decent lyric writer, but face it, he could not sing. Further off key and off balance than on any of the Talking Heads' albums, Byrne just sounds foolish.

I'm not surprised that you can't find this on CD.

Collector's item only.