STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK

It's not easy to review an album which is probably my favourite of all times, but I'll try to give something more than just the exclamations of love and excitement. This is perhaps a little more "difficult" album from all KC albums from seventies. (Although I'm not quite sure if a term "difficult" makes any sense for a prog-fans...) Somehow it is also less accomplished than "Larks Tongues", (big part of material was recorded live). You can find here tracks which attack You at first listen (and then at every next) - mad "Great Deceiver" is a good opener for this reason. After the great opening, sharp and packed with energy it goes later on in a lighter form, with melodic refrain and very interesting rythms. Althoug Jamie Muir is gone (a pity) this album seems even more interesting in terms of rythm. Wetton's very dense and intensive bass playing and Brufford's brilliant drumming take a lot of space here. It is really great in improvised tracks (We'll let you know; Mincer) but it's even better - I think - in songs (Great Deceiver, Lament, Nightwatch) were they have to keep in the form, and still are extremely inventive. Brufford was a great musician even in "Trio" were he does not play a sound! Very right do consider him as one of the authors of this improvised track. "Trio" belongs to this musical wonders, were every sinlge sound is perfect and Brufford's silence is a part of it. Especially that - as we all know - KC improvised "blows" could go in very defferent directions. After Brufford's "intervention" it could become one more mad improvisation (as providence, starless and bible black and alll the others which evolve from gentle begginings). Fripp is just as good as usuall, so I will only point out that solo from "Nightwatch" and his playing in "Fracture" are among his absolutely bigest echievements. No wonder he made two "remakes" of the "fracture" guitar motives in last years. I fell that this album is more" mysterious" and "dark" than any other Kc album. It has a lot of somehow hidden moments. All the changes of mood seem even more sudden than on other albums because here we have relatively short tracks. Wild energy is happily maried here with intense beauty nad musical perfection. I have an uncler idea, that we can find some common points between Crimson from this peroid and Mahavishnu Orchestra. King Crimson from "Thrakattak" comes back to improvised music much related to "starless and bible blac" and goes even further.. Well, for me that's the highest point of all the KC history. Even if "starless" is not here, but on "red".