THRAK

Erratic, off the wall, bizarre, incredibly complicated, these are words that describe Thrak, an underrated King Crimson album in my opinion. It begins heavy, much like the Larks' Tongue/Red era of KC. Robert Fripp, the mathmatician of guitarists, plays with hisn usual precision, but there is so much going on in his playing it gives a great overall sound to the group. Fripp's playing get's better and better with each passing release, and this is an example of that. Adrian Belew offers incredible vocal stylings and creates incredible tones with his guitars, adding even more texture to the group. Tony Levin is at the top of his game, playing the bass with relative ease and dead on precision. What surprised me about this album was the incredible playing from Trey Gunn. I never thought highly of him until now, his work with the Stick is so good I thought it was Levin at first. Of the two drummers, it's no doubt in my mind that Bill Bruford is the better one. Pat Mastelotto, however, is a great drummer in his own right, playing great throughout the entire album.

The songs worth mentioning on this album are Dinosaur, which features great vocals from Belew, incredible guitar work from Fripp, and superb bass and drum work. The song really feels like it an 72-73 era KC song, which in my opinion is the best era of the group. The other song worth mentioning is Sex, sleep, eat, drink, dream; which features great vocals, great guitar, great bass, and great drumming.

A great effort from Krimson. Overall, there is nothing a fan of the modern group could ask more of. For me, I give it a 4/5.