DISCIPLINE

Sorry, gang, but this album had more impact on contemporary music than you're aware of and deserves recognition and acknowledgement for this in itself- Love him or tolerate him, Robert Fripp truly hit a sum greater than the parts of it's whole when he lined up the roster for this particular incarnation of KC. Adrian Belew alone is a double whammy; as a guitar player he is in a category by himself. As a general rule guitar players can't sing but he is blessed with an amazing voice, great tone and feel. Tony Levin was at the peak of his game, stepping into his own and not just as a highly paid side man. And Bill Bruford is of course, Bill Bruford. Fripp could've easliy created a "Robert Fripp Show", which the following albums have unfortunately degenerated into. One gets the sense (even if only projected and romantic) that this album was the result of a highly functional democracy.Strong, individual players coming together collectively, employing restraint woven with a forcefulness of purpose, like the celtic knot emblem on the cover, a Discipline. Sonically, this work is truly artistic. The choices made in engineering and production is a huge aspect of this genre of music and when this album came out there was nothing like it. It truly took you over. The force of the production coupled with the ensemble and individual performances, Bruford's less-is-more approach and Fripp's ingenious dissonance. The album as a whole influenced ALOT of musicians, if not inspiring them. (There's a difference,...) I'm not even going to go into live performance I saw of this tour which was transcendant.

This deserves to be listed in the Most Influential Works of the Early 80's (along with the 3rd Peter Gabriel album, My Life In The Bush of Ghosts by Eno & David Byrne, Gone to Earth by David Sylvian, The Love That Whirls by Bill Nelson and Walk Across The Rooftops by The Blue Nile.)