Website © 2003 by Tyler Carey
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King Crimson - The Power to Believe
CD, Discipline Global Mobile Records
www.king-crimson.com
-by Christian B. Carey, Ph.D.
Longtime fans might have hoped that Bill Bruford and Tony Levin would have returned to the King Crimson fold after being absent from the band's previous LP, 2000's ConstrucKtion of Light; alas, this has yet to happen. However, KC's current quartet incarnation, featuring guitarist/founder Robert Fripp, vocalist/guitarist Adrian Belew, Warr guitarist Trey Gunn, and percussionist Pat Mastelotto, remains a musical force to be reckoned with. In fact, while the sextet supergroup of the 1990s was a fantastic ensemble that improvised and composed many memorable musical onslaughts, the current quartet is a tighter unit, and has by now had time enough together to develop a level of dialogue and interplay not achieved in the larger group.Their latest full length release, The Power to Believe, culls material from two recent EP's, Level Five and Happy to Have What You Have to be Happy With. In fact, the title songs of both EP's appear on The Power to Believe, as well as the obvious "single," (would that such things were culled from Prog Rock albums for radio play today) "Eyes Wide Open." Before those die hards who purchased these two releases get upset -- don't worry -- there is plenty of other new stuff on the LP. That being said, I was a bit surprised that there were just two other "song-type" compositions (ones that included vocals), "Facts of Life" and a brief portion of "Power to Believe IV."
The rest of the album consists of instrumental tracks. The aforementioned and volcanic "Level Five" is a standout, as are the suite of pieces "Power to Believe I-IV." The latter group are interspersed between other cuts, but seem to relate to each other in terms of musical development in addition to their titular designation. There are also the now-requisite Frippertronics, Fripp's soundscaping solo instrumental technique, on a separately tracked intro to "Facts of Life."
Much has been made in the press of Crimson's recent stint as opening act for Tool. "Would this change King Crimson's sound?" "Would they become a heavy metal band?" What these folks fail to grasp is that King Crimson has always been an intensely heavy band. Sure, these instrumentals pack a punch, but so did their 1995 all-instrumental LP THRaKaTTaK. So did their work in the 70's for that matter. While tour diaries from various members of the band discussed their enjoyment of the tour with Tool, I would imagine that the chain of influence might more easily work in the opposite direction than that of the pundits' musings. We'll see once Tool releases their next LP.
Your opinion of The Power to Believe will probably depend on whether you can let go of your preconceptions about which band King Crimson is/ought to be and grow with the band, trusting their musical vision and letting it transport you to, frankly, some of the more interesting places that music visits. Sadly for me, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford aren't in the band anymore. Sadly for some folks, John Wetton left decades ago. Some people will wish for more songs and less jams but I, for one, believe in King Crimson's power.
-Dr. Christian Carey. New Jersey. April 11, 2003.