ROBERT FRIPP & TOYAH WILLCOX: THE LADY OR THE TIGER ?

In 1986 Robert Fripp released this album, with his wife, Toyah Wilcox reading two stories by Frank R. Stockton. It is an interesting concept, and in some ways interesting, but as a whole, I would say it was a failure.

The stories are interesting enough when reading them. The Lady Or The Tiger? is quite famous. But Wilcox reads them so lightly that it makes it a chore to pay attention to them all the way through.

And Fripp doesn't help much. The Lady Or The Tiger? has Fripp creating soundscapes bahind the droning Wilcox. I presume any child subjected to this album would be asleep no more than a third of the way through. The Discourager Of Hesitancy fares no better. This one has The League Of Crafty Guitarists noodling away behind Toyah's reading.

The music itself occasionally has some nice sounds, but all in all, it would probably make the most ardent new age fan yawn.

Two stars, because it can put a toddler to sleep.