STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK

Their next album, Starless and Bible Black, is somewhat odd, in regard to how it was recorded. The band wanted to better capture the energy of their live shows, so most of these songs were tracked in concert. However, the work done in the studio was so extensive that this release is considered to be part of King Crimson's studio discography. Of the eight songs on the album, only two were entirely recorded in the studio.

One of these in-studio songs, "The Great Deceiver", opens the album. It's got a high-energy, distorted main riff, which is vaguely reminiscent of some of the band's past work, such as "21st Century Schizoid Man". The verse is pretty loose, but it pulls together into a tight, catchy chorus.

"Lament", the other in-studio track, follows. It starts off gentler than the opener, but it delves into a fuzzy, frazzled sound in its second verse. Wetton's bass playing is a highlight here, throbbing and popping beneath Fripp's guitar.

I like these two studio songs a lot. The stuff that was recorded live, though, often underscores my issues with Fripp's focus on improv.

"We'll Let You Know" is an entirely improvised piece, and it sounds like it. The song opens with unfocused, unsteady noodling. Bruford does a good job working with what he was given, but this song doesn't really ever come together into anything until the final 45 seconds. Even then, it's a decent-enough jam, but it's nothing too noteworthy.

"The Night Watch" has a bit more structure and features some studio overdubs, due to some hardware issues the band had at the concert. Cross's violin is lovely, and Wetton gives a great vocal performance. This is a fairly sweet, gentle piece, in the same vein as "Exiles". Fripp gets in some good soloing, and the Mellotron enriches the piece further.

Another improvised piece follows: "Trio". This song is titled as such because Bruford does not play on it. However, he's still credited as a co-writer, since he made an active decision not to add any drums. Featuring just bass, viola, and Mellotron, it's actually pretty good, as far as improv goes. It's quiet, meditative, relaxing, and with a vague sense of warm nostalgia.

Side one ends on "The Mincer", yet another bit of improvised music. (Wetton's vocals were overdubbed in the studio.) The first half feels a lot like a Pink Floyd song from 1969. There's a hazy, woozy atmosphere, and keys and guitar both vaguely float about. As the song progresses, Fripp's and Bruford's styles become more recognizably Crimsonian. Unfortunately, this track suffers from the same problem that afflicts "We'll Let You Know". A lot of the playing here comes off as noodling that doesn't amount to much of anything. It hints vaguely at what the band might get up to eventually, but they never build to that hoped-for high.

Side two consists of two long instrumentals. The first, the improvised title track, starts off with more of the aimless ambiance I've come to expect from this band's unscripted work. Something of a recognizable pulse finally emerges a bit before the five-minute mark, and Bruford and Wetton really shine. Cross's work on the Mellotron is fine, but Fripp's continual strangulation of his guitar grows tiresome for me. At least the song has a satisfying (though brief) climax, where Fripp and Cross both pull out some long, twisted notes.

"Fracture" has more to immediately grab onto. (I also couldn't find any source that explicitly identified this track as being improvised, so there may be more structure to this song than other ones on the album.) The main riff is lurching and full of dread, and the effects applied to Cross's violin remind me of David Jackson's saxophones in Van der Graaf Generator. It eventually moves into a section of quiet claustrophobia, where violin and clean guitar tread delicately around one another. "Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part II)" gets a brief revisitation, and it really sounds powerful in a live setting. Parts of this song can drag on a bit, but it's still a strong conclusion to an otherwise-spotty record.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2024/04/15/deep-dive-king-crimson/