DISCIPLINE

Back in 1981, when nobody was expecting it, King Crimson suddenly came back to record a pair of three albums. The other ones ("Beat" and "Three of a Perfect Pair") are not that wonderful, but Discipline is of course.

KC bring some innovations: first of all, he adopts a second guitarist (Adrian Belew), who commonly uses synths to change timbers (in a similar way to Paolo Tofani). Bill Bruford is still in the lineup, and now starts using mostly an electronic drumkit. Tony Levin is one of the first bass players to use a Chapman Stick. Last but not least, Adrian Belew writes all the lyrics, sings them and adds a lot of spoken parts. These changes give the album a little new wave feeling.

Elephant Talk starts with a hammering guitar, that then goes into a groovy song with very nice lyrics. Then we have Frame by Frame. It starts with a very fast guitar pattern, that ceases to leave room for a verse developed over polyrithmic guitar textures. At the end of the verse the fast pattern reappears again. Matte Kudasai is the ballad that became a classic in every KC album; anyway this is a ballad in the way '80s Crimson would do it; it feels relaxing but also a bit weird. Indiscipline is a very heavy track, compared to the rest of the album; it anticipates the "metal Crimson" of The Power to Believe. The lyrics are wonderful, and Bruford shows all of his drum skill.

I don't like Thela Hun Ginjeet particularly, so I'll avoid it by now. The Sheltering Sky is basically a mellow synth solo over constantly changing guitars. Then we have Discipline; it's not hard to understand why it's the title track. It starts with a simple 5/4 guitar pattern, on which both Fripp and Belew develop wonderful riffs and polyrythmies. This "minimalist" track can be easily considered Math Rock.

I highly reccomend this album; it has no weak tracks beyond Thela Hun Ginjeet, and it's where all the Math rock came from, years later. When I tell you about guitar riffs, don't expect classic guitar timbres; they sound in a way that only King Crimson can achieve.