THE CONSTRUKCTION OF LIGHT

I stated in my review of Beat that even though I'm a fan of King Crimson, this fact doesn't mean that I will overlook their flaws. Since I already started on this whole topic, I might as well finish it off with this review.

The ConstruKction Of Light may not be even half as terrible as Beat, still I consider it a lesser King Crimson studio release and I'll tell you why. The main problem with this album is that there is too much of everything here and in the end what I get is an unsatisfying feeling of emptiness. The album is basically comprised of a hollow shell which is something that I blame on the lack of inspiration from all the participants.

Things start off nicely with ProzaKc Blues, a song that I enjoy even though Belew's vocal mixing could have been done differently. The album's title track loses it's momentum as soon as part 2 kicks in and what we get is a semi-decent composition. The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum and especially Into The Frying Pan feel bland and unsatisfying for my tastes. There is a lot of detailed effort put into the instrumental arrangements of these compositions but the experience of these numbers is just non-existent for me even though I've been giving them a shot time and time again.

FraKctured starts off just like it's counterpart from the album Starless And Bible Black but falls completely flat due to the lack of intensity in proportion to its length. It's doesn't help to be compared to the original 1974-composition that just so happens to be my all time favorite composition. Finally we receive a moments grace with the first part of Larks' Tongues In Aspic part IV, but did they really have to split the track into three part? Eventually Coda and Heaven And Earth make a pretty tight conclusion to this underwhelming release.

The mere fact that The ConstruKction Of Light takes inspiration from the band's past glories should be enough to dismiss it since the King Crimson project has always been about pushing things forward. The band would later redeem themselves with The Power To Believe but that's a whole different story!

***** star songs: Larks' Tongues In Aspic part IV part 1 (3:41)

**** star songs: ProzaKc Blues (5:29) The ConstruKction Of Light I (5:49) Larks' Tongues In Aspic part IV part 2 (2:50) Coda: I Have A Dream (3:56) ProjeKct X: Heaven And Earth (7:46)

*** star songs: The ConstruKction Of Light II (2:50) FraKctured (9:06) The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum (6:22) Larks' Tongues In Aspic part IV part 3 (2:36)

** star songs: Into The Frying Pan (6:54)