King Crimson released their new album recently. And that's not a sentence I ever expected to writing in 2015.
Live At The Orpheum was recorded in Los Angeles at the aforementioned theatre at the start of October last year. It's what Fripp would term a Calling Card from this new line-up of the Crims, being only a snapshot of the King Crimson's latest set list at a snappy 45 minutes long.
But what a cracking 45 minutes they are.
After a brief intro which concludes with the coda of the orchestra tuning up from the Islands album and Fripp's voice intoning 1 2 3, 2 2 3 the band viciously slam into "One More Red Nightmare", never played live until last year's tour. The three drummers run with Bill Bruford's original percussion lines and embellish and expand. The stereo placement sticks Pat Mastelotto on the left, Bill Reiflin in the centre and Gavin Harrison on the right, just as they were on stage, and much fun can be had hearing this on headphones as the drummers trade beats.
"OMRN" is terrific, perhaps not quite as thrashy as the original, but this is not a young man's band anymore and a little restraint is to be expected. To put things in perspective, both Fripp and Tony Levin will be 69 in a few months, Mel Collins will be 68 shortly and Jakko, Pat Mastellotto and Bill Reiflin are all in their late 50s. Gavin Harrison - the youngest member of the band - is a mere 52. As I said, not a young man's band, not at all…
There's only one new track on this disc - a short percussion piece which doesn't really do anything. It's nice enough, but unremarkable.
"The ConstruKction Of Light" follows, all interlocking guitars and clever bass with Mel Collins basically subbing for Belew's now missing vocals. It's one of those songs that really impresses the listener with how horrendously difficult it must be to play.
Then two from Islands - "The Letters" which is solid, but never a favourite of mine, and "The Sailor's Tale" which is absolutely wonderful. Probably the highlight of this album, it has a power and intensity which is, frankly, rather surprisingly as powerful and as intense as the original. Fripp recreates his famous solo with glee and the digital mellotron (played by drummer Reiflin) is just as menacing as the old creaky 1971 analogue version. And Mel Collins is an absolute star on this one.
The album ends with "Starless". I've played this a few times now and I'm still not sure what to make of it. The opening part is lovely, as always, Fripp's pure guitar sound is gorgeous. The middle section, all tension and that fiercely repetitive building and building is handled brilliantly, and the explosive closing section is all present and correct. But there's something lacking I feel. Not entirely sure what it is, but perhaps the climactic conclusion isn't quite climactic enough. I can't really explain it, but I don't think it quite has the emotional intensity of all those 1974 live versions that I have heard in the Starless and Road To Red box sets.
Anyway, full concerts from this tour are likely to be made available shortly, which will be great as this album is missing loads of superb performances - "Larks' Tongues I" and "II", "Schizoid Man", "Red" with added saxophone and loads more.
Looking forward to the UK dates in September enormously. Another sentence that I never thought I'd write in 2015 - new King Crimson concerts. Wonders never cease!!
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