Hurtleturtled Out of Heaven - an electronic music composition, on CD and vinyl
https://michaelpdawson.bandcamp.com
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...MCD-spc-7.aspx
Hurtleturtled Out of Heaven - an electronic music composition, on CD and vinyl
https://michaelpdawson.bandcamp.com
http://www.waysidemusic.com/Music-Pr...MCD-spc-7.aspx
I was implying a parallel between a theoretically three guitar lineup of Crimson and The Outlaws, who were nicknamed the Florida Guitar Army, because of their triple axe attack.
But I suppose you have a point, they do have enough musicians onstage for a full blown ground assault on some banana republic somewhere, as depicted in a Woody Allen movie ("State department's not taking any chances this time, some of us will be fighting for the government, some us will be fighting against").
I'm glad you've made your peace (!) but, at least to my ears, Meltdown demonstrates that this version of Crimson has far from "run its course." If anything, Meltdown not only captures the band at its absolute peak, but at its most open-ended. I think there's still plenty for this band to do, especially since they became eight, with their first full-time keyboardist.
As I've said before, I'm a fan of Belén-era Crim, but don't miss him at all in the current lineup, nor do I see how he would work with it. As I've said and written before, Adrian is a natural-born frontman, a charismatic, impossible to ignore front man. As valuable as that can be, it's antithetical to the current Crimson's "nobody shines/everybody shines aesthetic.
So, it's not about being a Jakko fanboy or an Adrian hater. I love 'em both, for different reasons, but I just don't see a place for Belew in this Crimson. Not saying that he couldn't do something good with some other variant of the band in future (though I'm plenty happy with the current band and how it's evolving), but it would have to be a different lineup, with a different purpose. At least, that's how I see it.
Last edited by jkelman; 11-11-2018 at 04:59 PM.
John Kelman
Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
Freelance writer/photographer
i've watched the first half of Meltdown and it's stunning. The band is even better than when I saw them 1.5 years ago. This lineup, unlike any other can play ANYTHING from the catalog. They are booking into 2020 and I hope to see them again before it is all said and done. If this is the last version, it is a very fitting run in my opinion.
"I want to be someone, who someone would want to be." Marillion
funny story - I used to have a KC "Red" T-shirt and got into a conversation with someone who talked about how much he loved that album and how he was a total Crimhead in his youth. after a minute or two I figure out that he's actually talking about Discipline, he just referred to those three albums as "Red", "Blue", and "Yellow", thinking they were just a one-off band that disappeared in the mid-80s. he had no idea that King Crimson were a thing before that. I wasn't even sure if I should tell him to check out the old albums...they're great of course, but nothing like the 80s stuff!
Critter Jams "album of the week" blog: http://critterjams.wordpress.com
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