LARKS' TONGUES IN ASPIC

Listening to Robert Fripp speak, you can tell he has a calculating mind. It makes you wonder what's going on in his head when the band is on stage and wildly improvising for minutes at a time. I would guess that somehow he's got it all planned out. The parts he plays, even the parts the rest of the band plays; though they probably don't know it. This, I figure, is because he's just as calculating about the players themselves. Fripp knows how to pick 'em.

So it was, a lot of the material for Larks' Tongues had been conceived and written while the previous version of the band was together. Fripp just didn't feel they were the right ones to record it with. So in true Crimson style, the whole band got replaced. His calculations were dead on though. This lineup produced three classics starting with this album.

Larks' Tongues has a darker feel to it than anything before. John Wetton's gruff voice is neatly suited for this style of music, but the album's real highlights happen when the microphone is put away; "Larks' Tongues in Aspic Parts 1 & 2" and "The Talking Drum". But despite all the gloom, don't expect a lot of droning or ambience. There's constant energy. Due in some part to Bill Bruford's technical drumming and enhanced by Jamie Muir's odd percussion. David Cross (not Tobias Funke) rounds out the lineup with strings.

But it's the man with the master plan, who drives the Frippmobile on this one. With his guitar and soundscapes Fripp is still Fripp and Larks' Tongues is still KC. So if you like the previous albums you should find enjoyment in this one as well. Only by putting the right pieces in order, Larks' Tongues is a new Crimson; the best one yet.