ROBERT FRIPP

I don't know what Andy Summers & Robert Fripp were aiming for with this album, but I'm sure they must have missed. On their previous collaboration, I Advance Masked, Summers & Fripp created beautiful, textured songs with nice interplay between the guitars. On this, the two don't appear to be meshing well, with the songs much too sparse.

The best track is the eleven minute plus What Kind of Man Reads Playboy, with some very nice bass work adding to the otherwise plain song. Otherwise, nothing else really stands out here, unless your tastes happen to run toward uninteresting electronic drum sequences.

This is a very nice album from Robert Fripp & The League of Crafty Guitarists, a collection of students from Fripp's guitar craft course, where he took guitar players of all different levels, and molded them in his image. In this case, that's not such a bad thing.

The album is a set of mostly short, lush acoustic guitar pieces, all in a similar style to what Fripp had been playing in the eighties and early nineties: complex pieces, based on individual guitars playing somewhat repetitive lines in different timesignatues, so that different sections of each instrument's part comes together at different times, creating almost hypnotic patterns. And this recording is a beautiful example of that effect.

And no one played Frippertronics!

What sort of Frippery is this?

1999 is the definitive album by "The Artist Formerly Known As FrIpp" (or "TAFKAF"), that flamboyant, funky guitarist known for wearing tight purple outfits while prancing about the stage singing songs about releasing that ol' sexual tension.

What?

Oh, sorry. This is an album of Frippertronics, a technique developed by Robert Fripp, wherein, using a guitar to play tones into one reel-to-reel tape recorder, with a tape that then runs across the heads of a second reel-to-reel tape recorder, then feeding back to the first reel-to- reel tape recorder, the guitarist is able to compose a piece which lulls the listener into a semi- comatose state. This process was created after Fripp learned from his good friend, Brian Eno, who, while in a nearly comatose state, discovered that when in such a state, light ambient sounds actually sound like music. Fripp appears to want to create more comatose listeners to enjoy his friend Eno's ambient albums.

These pieces of background washes are saved from complete numbingness by the short Interlude, where Fripp uses some guitar effects to make the loops slightly less unlistenable.

Two stars, only because the album is better background than soft rock or jazz.

In the late seventies, after King Crimson broke up (not permanently, thank dog) when Robert Fripp said "the top of his head blew off", Fripp first recorded the wonderful, but still King Crimson-like Exposure. He then tried some experiments to redefine his sound. First, on the above mentioned album, he added "Frippertronics", a method of using two tape recorders linked together and feeding back to each other to create a looping effect. He then tried varying his style. Since he was then living in the wrong end of the seventies, he tried incorporating the prevailing popular styles into his music. His foray into (yuck!) disco produced God Save The Queen/Under Heavy Manners. He then formed a punk band, The League of Gentlemen, to back his guitar pyrotechnics. This album is made up of selections from the two releases.

The disco album fared much worse of the two. While Fripp added some okay playing, the beats and riffs were just too repetitious to be anything but annoying. And off-key moaner David Byrne makes the track Under Heavy Manners embarrassing, if not completely unlistenable.

The League Of Gentlemen is much better. While the punk band can't really keep up with the Frippster's guitar, it appears that this was a stepping stone to what would become the next incarnation of Crimson.

2.5 stars, rounded up.

This is easily the best of Fripp's solo works, and by far the most King Crimson like. One reason it is so good is that Fripp has restrained his use of Frippertronics to background washes and short interludes. A wise choice.

Some nice high points here are Breathless which sounds like a logical step after the amazing Red album. The drumming on this track is incredible (I have drummer friends that insist that Narada Michael Walden played on that song), and Tony Levin's bass just growls. Disengage has Peter Hammill's vocals perfectly matching Fripp's ferociously angry guitar.

The album then gives the listener a rest, with the peaceful North Star, then begins to ramp back up with Hammill's creepy voice on Chicago. The album then goes back into high gear for NY3, a roller coaster ride of a song, with snippets from a fierce argument dropped in to strenghten the effect.

The second half of the album is good, but not as strong as the first half, with the only great track being I May Not Have Had Enough of Me But I've Had Enough of You. The two songs that also appear on Peter Gabriel albums, Exposure and Here Comes The Flood are better here than on the PG albums, but not much better. And it's interesting to note how far ahead of the curve Fripp was, talking about what has now been termed "global warming", back in the seventies.

I wore out 2 copies of this album on LP, but somehow I can't quite get over the alternate vocals used on the CD release.

4.5 stars.

This is actually one of my favorite non-King Crimson Fripp albums after Exposure. I wish he spent more time working on music like this than those mind numbingly boring "Frippertronics" albums.

Here, Fripp and Trey Gunn, the very talented stick player from the most recent incarnations of King Crimson, team up with The California Guitar Trio to play some modern chamber music. To solidify the chamber music feel, there are some actual J.S. Bach pieces, as well as some original pieces in the same vein. The steel stringed acoustic guitars of the CGT, played in perfect precision, have a sound not unlike a harpsichord, and capture the mood exquisitely. Here, the Frippertronics added as washes behind the music adds depth to the pieces, and Gunn's stick adds a solid bottom to the music as well.

The only Crimson-like piece on the album is the eerie Threnody For Souls In Torment, a soundscape piece somewhat reminiscent of The Deception Of The Thrush improvs, without many of the sound effect overlays.

A solid four stars for this one.

This album is one more soundscapes work from Robert Fripp. Everyone, who loves his music, know, that there are some different lines of music, played and recorded by Robert Fripp. Everyone knows his work in King Crimson and many collaborations with different rock musicians, but beside that there are two more directions: Fripp's frippertronics and Fripp's soundscapes.

Generally soundscapes are kind of rock ambient music played by Fripp using his guitar ( ok, plus some additional devices). It's absolutely mystical, how one can produce so many sounds and play so unusual music using guitar, not keyboards/synthesizers!

For sure, as any ambient this music is rhythmless and usually has not structure. It's more as painting in air using sounds instead of colors. More emotional pictures, that melodic or rhythmic.

Fripp plays that music for years and time to time returns to it again. "Love cannot Bear" is formally live album, but you almost can't feel it. I think, it should be described as live improvisation in ambient. Sounds are very warm, even romantic in places, all the music is around you, and you can feel kind of euforia.

For sure this music is not for everyone.And not for everyday listening. But this album demonstrates highest Soundscapes level. I believe that even unpreparde person will be attracted by all this beautiful ( but not sweet at all!) sounds!

One of the best abient album I ever heard!

A quick thought:

Robert Fripp's End of time is a live album of more of Fripp's solo ambience & soundscapes.It shares the same premise of the early days with Brian Eno,but Fripp has evolved the concept and sound,some what.Interestingly each song is played in a different church throughout England & Estonia,one of which was is in my home town.To me this is a very interesting concept itself,it's certainly not a tour of a typical musician in his early sixties.But Fripp has never been that cliche rock star,he's one of the few older musicians who are still interested to evolve their sound & concepts.

With the large amounts of soundscapes that he has released each has always been diverse and this one especially stands out personally for me.It has an interesting atmosphere throughout,something I can't put my finger on.Perhaps,it's the venues?The music delivers a more optimistic sound as opposed to something a little darker and complicated like Eno & Fripp's "No Pussyfooting". The tour of churches made me wonder if Robert Fripp is a religious man? or perhaps Fripp is just humble?To me the music sounds like it's created by such a persona. There's nothing overpowering or demanding to listen to,it's very textured & tasteful.There are no surprises of rapid guitar work or any discordant harmony's,it simply flows with euphoric sounds which make you feel at peace.Songs such as "Evensong:Haapsalu" reminds me slightly, of Vangelis' "Blade Runner"and is probably the closest comparison I can give.

As Fripp says within the cd booklet "The churchscapes performances took place out-side the world of rock music & popular culture;and mostly outside commercial culture"That probably gives you a better idea and description then I could give you for what is in store.

This is Robert Fripp's solo début released on June '79 and it includes a huge list of guests on the album making an incredible lineup including Peter Hamill,Phil Collins,Peter Gabriel,Tony Levin and Brian Eno.You'll notice that many of the musicians listed Fripp has worked with before either collaborating or appearing as a guest musician which helped form this unique sound.Making this his first album where you hear Fripps new wave influence creeping in and becoming a dominant part of this album and future Fripp releases throughout the eighties.Which If you only aware of King Crimson's seventies work,this could sound like a very strange occurrence.

Throughout the album the songs take many shapes and forms from hard rock songs to ballads and ambience which for a solo debut brings out the many sides of Fripp which we all know and love.And that is to be expected from Fripps versatility.But in this case,this can make the album feel unstable and have a lack of continuity about it.He also reuses many sounds and techniques you may recognise such as Frippertronics made famous by the help of Brian Eno which on many occasions gives you the feel of deja-vu.This isn't the only sound which you'll recognise there's also such songs as "Breathless" which could be an unofficial reprise of King Crimson's red and "Disengage" being a slightly altered Larks Tounge in Aspic II.Also a revisited version of Peter Gabriel's "Here comes the flood" For a solo debut such actions as these can't help but diminish its quality,making it feel this album is a King Crimson B side album.These are sounds which we already familiar with and for an album which remains inconsistent in genre,it never fails to bother me.So this why I rate it as an album for collectors/fans only and recommend you to hear Fripp & Eno's evening star for the experimental ambient pieces and KC'S larks tongue and Red.

There's some great ideas on the album and an amazing lineup of musicians but it doesn't hold up to his work with the mighty King Crimson or have the ground breaking ambient appeal of Fripp & Eno's No Pussyfooting.

The Repercussions of Angelic Behavior, was made as a spinoff from the participation of Fripp and Gunn on Rieflins: Birth of a Giant. I posted a few notes on that album here : www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=61798

Trey Gunn, well known for his work with King Crimson, Sylvian, John Poul Jones ect. As usualy he does a fantastic job with his Touch Warr Guitar, working it both as a Bass, and a Guitar Syntz.

Bill Rieflin, best known from his time as a percussionist in Ministry, one of the cornerstones in the Industrial Metal movement up trough the 90's, but also working as a drummer in the German Industrial band KMFDM, and as a Tour drummer in R.E.M. His drumming here is essential, not just backing the KC boys, but actualy playing with them. Knowing that a lot of this may well be improvised. Sometimes in a Jazz'y style, sometimes very experimental, allway very pressent.

Fripp combines his Soundscrape style, with his destinct leads.

All in all the album comes out as very relaxing, something that makes me just close my eyes and enjoy. but still with a lot more action than the soundscrape Albums. Sometimes it is even a bit aggressive like on "Heard, not seen". But in general it is soft and pleasent. And compared to ProjecKs, witch would be not that far away, seems to me its more soft Jazz/Rock inspired, where ProjeKts are generally more Experimental.

Even though i love this album a lot, and would like to give it 4 stars, in all honesty i dont think it will fit in ANY prog rock collection, so ill have to go with only 3.

But if you are into Fripp or Gunn, or just generaly into instrumental records like Frank Zappa, or Other kinds of instrumental Jazz/rock. You should think of it as a 4-4,5 star rating.