King Crimson - "Starless and Bible Black" (1974) - Atlantic Records
Hello Friends,
We're going back to the court of the crimson king tonight on Vinyl in the Valley with King Crimson's 1974 LP, Starless and Bible Black. It's their sixth LP and features Robert Fripp (guitar & mellotron), John Wetton (bass & vocals), David Cross (not the comedian!) (violin & keyboards) and prog drummer extraordinaire, Bill Bruford. Lyrics were written by Richard Palmer-James, who was a founding member of the band, Supertramp.
An speaking of lyrics... with an opening lyric like, "Health-food faggot with a bartered bride / Likes to comb his hair with a dipper ride", the record wastes no time in kicking things off on the spazzy and abrasive, "The Great Deceiver"-- which actually sounds like a vague update of "21st Century Schizoid Man." Loud-Quiet-Loud, King Crimson-style.
Things come back down to Earth (relatively speaking) and quiet down a bit with "Lament"-- the closest thing the record has to a ballad. (A ballad written in the future by a race of alien-robots, perhaps! This ain't no wedding song!) Whether playing long, elaborate solos or quiet chords, Robert Fripp's guitar always seems to sound more like a power tool than a six-stringed instrument. The way this song builds isn't too different from something from an early EL&P album like Tarkus. Its almost as if the vocals are in competition with the rest of the instrumentation.
"We'll Let You Know" is an instrumental featuring some more industrial-sounding guitars, some fancy bass work and some weird, out-of-kilter drums. This song is either being played by some real virtuosos or a bunch of six year olds broke into the studio and started fucking around.
"The Night Watch" is probably the album's apex and the track that is most reminiscent of the stuff on their awesome debut record. If you've got 7 minutes to spare, here's a live performance of the song from 1974...
Next up is the quiet instrumental "Trio" which features some more great mellotron, guitar & violin interplay. King Crimson always seem to be at their best when it sounds like their playing at some alternate-universe Renaissance Faire.
Side One closes with "The Mincer", with its under-the-current, driving drumbeat and noodling guitar noise actually reminds us, at first, of the opening measures of "Bela Lugosi's Dead".
Side Two contains two instrumental tracks, the nine-minute, mostly improvised title track and the eleven-minute, "Fracture". Not much can really be said about these two. Progressive space-jazz? I think I need something a little stronger than this red wine that I've been drinking to fully appreciate what the hell is going on here. If tonight really was starless and bible black and you're forced to listen to this record in total darkness, I think you'd be pretty terrified.
An speaking of lyrics... with an opening lyric like, "Health-food faggot with a bartered bride / Likes to comb his hair with a dipper ride", the record wastes no time in kicking things off on the spazzy and abrasive, "The Great Deceiver"-- which actually sounds like a vague update of "21st Century Schizoid Man." Loud-Quiet-Loud, King Crimson-style.
Things come back down to Earth (relatively speaking) and quiet down a bit with "Lament"-- the closest thing the record has to a ballad. (A ballad written in the future by a race of alien-robots, perhaps! This ain't no wedding song!) Whether playing long, elaborate solos or quiet chords, Robert Fripp's guitar always seems to sound more like a power tool than a six-stringed instrument. The way this song builds isn't too different from something from an early EL&P album like Tarkus. Its almost as if the vocals are in competition with the rest of the instrumentation.
"We'll Let You Know" is an instrumental featuring some more industrial-sounding guitars, some fancy bass work and some weird, out-of-kilter drums. This song is either being played by some real virtuosos or a bunch of six year olds broke into the studio and started fucking around.
"The Night Watch" is probably the album's apex and the track that is most reminiscent of the stuff on their awesome debut record. If you've got 7 minutes to spare, here's a live performance of the song from 1974...
Next up is the quiet instrumental "Trio" which features some more great mellotron, guitar & violin interplay. King Crimson always seem to be at their best when it sounds like their playing at some alternate-universe Renaissance Faire.
Side One closes with "The Mincer", with its under-the-current, driving drumbeat and noodling guitar noise actually reminds us, at first, of the opening measures of "Bela Lugosi's Dead".
Side Two contains two instrumental tracks, the nine-minute, mostly improvised title track and the eleven-minute, "Fracture". Not much can really be said about these two. Progressive space-jazz? I think I need something a little stronger than this red wine that I've been drinking to fully appreciate what the hell is going on here. If tonight really was starless and bible black and you're forced to listen to this record in total darkness, I think you'd be pretty terrified.
FUN FACTS: The name of this album was inspired by the opening lines of the Dylan Thomas play, "Under Milk Wood"- a play about the dreams of the inhabitants of a fictional Welsh fishing town. Ray Davies also cited the Dylan Thomas work as an influence to the Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society. Neat!
RATING: 4 cigarettes, ice cream, figurines of the Virgin Mary out of 5
There is no god.
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