VROOOM

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I can't exactly remember how this "EP" was marketed in the mid-90's, but it turns out that I ended up with this release, rather than the official album called Thrak. And once I could compare the two releases, I opted that the extra 20-mins of the album proper were probably un-essential, especially that a few of the tracks present on the EP were actually longer than their final version. With a rather abstract artwork (we can guess a few series of windows or high-rise balconies in the red and green background) and the same line-up, it wasn't obvious to make a clear choice between the two releases. Anyway, whether Vrooom or Thrak, this line-up was announced as a double trio, but I don't find the possibilities fully exploited, like I was expecting (see Ornette Coleman's experiences with the double rhythm sections).

The opening Vrooom title track (and not thrak ;o))), in a fairly longer version than on the official album oozes of LTIA soundscapes, much more than the 80's sonics of the Discipline era. The Drink Dream quintet is not my entire philosophy, since the hear part is missing, but to be honest, this track is a bit too extreme to actually really listen to it. The short Cage interlude is only an introduction to the uberheavy Thrak monster piece, where Crimson ogles towards some UZ darkness. One of the reasons why the above choice is a difficult one is the Stop Continue track, not present on the album, an interesting ambient improv that highlights Bruford's drumming, while the gentle One Time closes the festivities.

Whether or not you actually chose the official album over the EP, this Vrooom release, while not ultra-essential, is quite an interesting variant to the Thrak album, and to be honest, I haven't yet bothered acquiring the full version, despite my preferring the 90's Mk4 Crimson to its Mk3 80's version. EDIT: that "flaw was "repaired" a few years back, and I finally reviewed Thrak and re-touched (slightly) the present review

For me to recommend an EP with four songs out of six being almost the same versions as those present on this one's companion album is a bit strange. Hear me out, though.

It is true that THRAK, One Time, Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream, and VROOOM feature very little difference between the EP and the album versions. If you, like me, don't like multiple copies of the same song, there might be a slight problem here. But the deal is, Cage and When I Say Stop, Continue are both amazing tunes not available on any other King Crimson studio release. Cage is a fast paced, quirky bit with odd spoken bits and some really cool vocal moments when Adrian starts to sing. When I Say Stop, Continue is a nicely flowing improvisational piece with a very well done build-up. It ends in a bit of humor that gives the song its name.

Really, in the end, there's nothing terribly special about this release if you look at it in terms of proportions. But the two songs unique to this release are good ones for fans of modern King Crimson to give a listen to at least once.

Vrooom is an EP released in 1994 from progressive rock act King Crimson. The EP preceded the first King Crimson album in eleven years called THRAK and four out of the six tracks on the EP also appear on that album. I´m not sure if they are exactly the same versions as those on the album but they are close to being the same.

What makes this EP worth investing in if you already got the album is the two non-album tracks Cage and When I Say Stop, Continue. Cage is a fast and very short song ( 1:35 minutes). I enjoy this track and especially Adrian Belew´s fast spoken vocal parts but also his melodic ditto. It´s not essential in any way though. When I say stop, continue is an instrumental song. It´s not very interesting and not worth buying this EP for.

The musicianship and the production is excellent. Nothing to complain about there.

Vrooom is a fan release and allthough the music is generally great I´ll rate this EP 2 stars as I really don´t see anyone else but the diehard fans purchasing this one. You should purchase THRAK instead.

VROOOM served as an appetizer for the upcoming reunion album Thrak. After 10 years without Crimson news, it turned out to be a real treat.

The music found a space inbetween their stylish 80's sound and the harsher approach of the Wetton-era. The instrumentals especially re-established a more prominent role for the musical development and have both heavy killer riffs and eerie clean guitar picking. Belew is in fine vocal form on Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream and One Time.

Only two tracks do not feature on the ensuing Thrak. Cage is a 1.30 minutes of neurotic weirdness with crazed Belew vocals, hardly necessary but sure fun for fans. The instrumental improvisation When I Say Stop, Continue is entirely different. It's a wonderful modern Crimson improvisation, very dark and brooding as always and building up tension around a one-note bass guitar pulse, rousing percussion and creepy guitar effects. Worth getting the EP for as far as I'm concerned.

This EP's release was a convenient momentary consolation for all us eager prog collectors who were terribly excited about the upcoming re-installation of the Progressive Crimson King for the 90s: "Vrooom" remains a perfect complementation for the "Thrak" album (the only studio effort by the double trio line-up). With the core quartet of Fripp, Levin, Belew and Bruford as 4/6 of this line-up, the expectation was that this should be some sort of refurbishment of the 80s era with some sense of surprise added to the fold. What the two newcomers brought in was a clever augmentation of the full ensemble's sound, which means that, even if the wirting and arranging styles were already determined from the previous decade, a new found stamina was added to the new material: this KC was really heavy and willing to go places at filling up each sonic pore and flooding every sonic room in the rsurrected Crimson Building. Now, the namesake opener is an excellent blast of refreshing progressive rock with a well-defined neurotic twist: the first body is a refined exercise on architectonic power, the second one delivers a majestic exhibition of schizophrenic psychedelia on a midtempo scheme. Great starting point! The next one 'Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream' follows in the footsteps of the opener's power while dominated by Belew's Talking Heads-friendly thing: the instrumental breaks among the sung parts generate an interesting source of sophistication. 'Cage' is wild and inventive: I only wish it had been entirely instrumental and twice as long. 'Thrak' is a monster that definitely demonstrates the sort of artistic expansion that the double trio was headed for, and so is the amazing jam 'When I Say Stop, Continue', an excursion by people unafraid of reflecting the mysteries of the universe through a combination of order and chaos in rock sound. The semi-jazzy ballad 'One Time' wraps things up on a melancholy note. I must admit that I was somewhat shocked by the rougher approach that four of these pieces met on the "Thrak" album: I prefer all the "Vrooom" versions since I particularly enjoy the stylish sound mix that allowed these adventurous excursions to breathe in their own bizarre exquisteness.I also prefer the longer version of 'Thrak' and the more concise version of 'One Time'. All in all, this EP and the "Thrak" album were the best manifestations of the second Belew-era King Crimson.

This EP was released as a preview to their resurgence after a ten year absence with the album Thrak. The news that King Crimson was back is enough for a good rating. And the music on the disk helps as well.

Four of the six songs on this disk appear on the Thrak album. Three of the songs are labeled "single edit". This is funny, because two of the three, VROOOM and THRAK are each a few minutes longer than the Thrak versions.

Of the other two songs, Cage is the better one. Although it's very short, it is quite energetic, and better than the longer live version on Heavy Construction. When I Say Stop, Continue is good, but it is just a vehicle for a Fripp guitar solo.

King Crimson reunited after another lengthy break and they sounded better than ever!

The band took a wise hiatus during the second half of the '80s and returned to some excellent music making in the new decade. The fact that King Crimson was not around during the two influential eras of Punk, in the late '70s, and Grunge, in the early '90s, makes them quite a unique band that managed to overcome those periods with relative ease. Of course the new decade called for new sounds and the band weren't the ones to disappoint in that department. The early sounds of this EP's title track proved that King Crimson had, once again, managed to be ahead of their peers by creating some of the best music restrained only by technological limitations of the time.

The opening number is a combination of VROOOM and Coda: Marine 475, minus the vocals, from the follow up studio album. This track alone gives a very good representation of the music that we could expect from the band in the years to come, featuring mechanical soundscapes that would even put the Industrial Metal artists to shame! The next two tracks, titled Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream and Cage, are easily the highlights of this EP where the former is, from what I can tell, a carbon copy of its studio album version while Cage is highly enjoyable short tune that unfortunately wasn't included on the studio album.

We get a much longer version of THRAK which does in fact sound very long and loses its charm just around the mark where the studio take was so wisely trimmed. When I Say Stop, Continue is an atmospheric improve number that doesn't really appeal to me much and it's a definite black sheep of this compilation. Finally we get a softer side of the band with a shorter single version of One Time which closes the EP on a nice note that probably made people even more excited about the upcoming studio album.

Overall, VROOOM was basically THRAK in a nut shell. The EP might not have featured all of the hidden secrets that would later be uncovered on the much longer studio release but it did give us enough information of what to expect from the band later on in their career.

***** star songs: Sex, Sleep, Eat, Drink, Dream (4:42) Cage (1:35)

**** star songs: VROOOM (7:16) THRAK (7:18) One Time (4:28)

*** star songs: When I Say Stop, Continue (5:18)

It was just a coincidence by the time when I spun the legendary 'Lark's Tongue in Aspic' album I found that I have this CD as well. It's good to compare how the old days of King Crimson had gone and transcended into something totally different since the release of Discipline album in early eighties. Since then I had a new definition of King Crimson and I thought this was truly a progressive band because the music style kept changing. Whether it's changing in a good or bad direction only fans and listeners can judge. For me personally I don't mind seeing the band changed their musical direction and created new landmark of what progressive music is all about. To me, Discipline might be the answer of King Crimson to the huge interest of people on new wave music in early eighties.

Even though this is an EP, I enjoy it quite well as the music is well crafted - forget about the old days of King Crimson. Of course I cannot compare 'Easy Money' with 'One Time' even though I like the first more than the latter. But, "One Time" is not a bad track at all and in fact I always expect to see the band play this song during the live records. The opening track "Vroom" is also something that inspires my mind on how the members of the band pushed the envelope on the kind of music they had been playing so far.

It's a well deserved EP that all KC fans should have it. Keep on proggin' ...!!!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW