27 ms·

Discipline by King Crimson

165 points by lightlyused 5y ago

black_13 5y ago
All hail the crimson king
connorlay 5y ago
+1 - a person who has a Discipline tattoo on their right forearm
i_like_apis 5y ago
Just about anything by King Crimson :)
simlevesque 5y ago
Shameless plug: I moderate the r/kingcrimson subreddit and I invite all of you to discuss King Crimson there.
michaelfeathers 5y ago
Such a great band. I saw them in Los Angeles last month. Exquisite and energetic musicianship despite several of them being in their 70s now.
- sonjaqql 5y ago
  Agreed! I traveled to Milwaukee last month to catch them, and even though I was in the last row, you could see and feel Tony Levin's fingers.
  - dhosek 5y ago
    With the see, was that perhaps the funk fingers (drum sticks strapped to his fingers) that he was using and not his actual fingers?
- WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
  Orlando. Brought the (adult) kids. Ok. They brought me. Better than expected and my expectations were high.
denton-scratch 5y ago
"We were in a part of London that was a dangerous area" - apparently that incident occurred in Notting Hill Gate; that's hardly a rough neighbourhood. Parts of Notting Hill are definitely seedy, but I wouldn't be nervous waiting for a bus there at night.
- robotresearcher 5y ago
  And forty years ago, when this album was made? London is considerably less violent all over than it was in those days. Casual violence was a part of my youth that I’m very happy my teenage kids would not recognize. I think NYC and some other US cities are similarly less scary these days. Not all places, and not for all people, of course.
- laumars 5y ago
  I’m not as familiar with that particular area of London but I do know the city has changed massively since that album was recorded and a lot of areas that you simply wouldn’t walk alone at night have undergone gentrification. Brixton is a great example of that.
- zh3 5y ago
  London was a lot more, ah, interesting, back then. There were certainly a lot more areas where it wasn't wise to walk around by yourself (that is, in areas where you didn't fit in). Still are, but it's nothing like as exciting as it used to be. Soho in particular used to feel so alive; the vibe there sort of died around the time they licenced the sex shops/cleaned up the area.
- jlarcombe 5y ago
  totally different back then, I suspect (just like Islington)
  - denton-scratch 5y ago
    Well, I lived in the rougher parts of Notting Hill in the early 70's. I don't need to "suspect" anything. I lived around Westbourne Grove and Ladbroke Grove. Yes, that was very different from how it is now; then, it was hippie/druggie land. But it wasn't dangerous. There were a lot of burglaries; people in poor neighbourhoods tend to rob their neighbours, for some reason. But I don't recall any shootings or stabbings. I didn't even know anyone who had been beaten up on the street. There was no racial tension, that I was aware of; black and white people lived as neighbours, all jumbled-up, and got on fine. I also spent 15 years living in Islington; that was only rough on football nights, when racist supporters from out-of-town took over the streets and pubs. Gentrification of Islington amounted to not much more than rising house prices (I moved out of London forever in about 1996). Islington had rough estates that I would keep my kids away from; but I didn't have to helicopter them to school. They walked or took the public bus. Islington's much more dangerous now. There are regular reports of rapes and murders, in parks and corners where I used to hang out with my kids. "Gentrification" is not synonymous with "crime reduction".
thedailymail 5y ago
I was a Bowie fan in the 70s and very excited about his work with Robert Fripp (for example, the e-bow line in Heroes). Then a musician friend introduced me to Fripp and Belew's King Crimson. The opening track, Elephant Talk, of this album (Discipline) is eye-opening.
- zabzonk 5y ago
  You almost certainly know this, but others may not - Fripp & Eno's collaborations are well worth a listen.
  - peter_l_downs 5y ago
    Strongly second this, No Pussyfooting is an incredible album.
    - fuzzfactor 5y ago
      Not that many people recognized that Eno composed the the first little Windows startup tune for Microsoft's Windows 95. Maybe one of the most often-played compositions for while there. Repeated by probably more un-necessary restarts than users actually intended . . .
zbaylin 5y ago
“Discipline” is one of those albums that totally changed the way I thought about music. When I was a kid I was really into classic prog rock (i.e. Yes, Genesis, ELP, etc.) and was mesmerized by Bill Bruford’s playing and technique on “Close to the Edge”, which led me to this incarnation of King Crimson. One song in particular that really stuck out to me was “Thela Hun Ginjeet”, which includes a recording of Adrian Belew recounting an experience being heckled on the street, but until I read the Wikipedia page for the album I had no idea it was secretly recorded by Fripp and wasn’t scripted (including the maniacal laugh at the end). It blew my mind that they were able to create this soundscape that turned a recording of a totally sane Belew into what I thought was a paranoid schizophrenic. Each song on the album stands on its own, and it’s probably my favorite in King Crimson’s discography.
- laumars 5y ago
  A live performance of Thela Hun Ginjeet plus a description of how it came about is included in this submitted article.
zabzonk 5y ago
I remember seeing them in Edinburgh in the 70s. People were arriving late and chatting. Robert Fripp folded his arms and stood their silently for several minutes, looking at the audience as if they were vermin. Everyone went quiet and looked around at each other in embarrassment. Then, once you could have heard a pin drop, they started playing. Great. You could see some amazing bands back then - I saw Beefheart three times.
- okamiueru 5y ago
  I had a similar experience seeing them in Oslo a few years ago. They were incredibly strict about disruptions and people using devices. It came across entirely as a "don't be selfish and ruin the experience for others", and it was amazing. No talking, just music. It's the best concert I've ever been to. At the end they said to the audience "we would like to take some pictures of you guys, and of course you can now do the same". And we did. I wish more artists had this attitude, as I no longer go to any "normal" concerts. Half the audience is drunk, and half the audience is having a conversation in the middle of a song. (The first part is fine, but it tends to exasperate the latter) Of course, some music groups/performances are more suited for a "let's party"-attitude where this doesn't apply.
  - arp242 5y ago
    I've been to more than a few concerts where the artists had to tell people to shut the hell up, usually with little effect I'm afraid. I don't expect people to stand in complete silence or never say a word, but standing there with a group chatting away like you're in a pub is just rude. If you want to chat in a pub with some background music then that's completely fair, but go to, well, a pub, instead of ruining the concert the rest of us want to see and paid for. Don't even get me started on people talking in movie theatres. When I saw Van Der Graaf Generator on their first reunion tour there were many signs everywhere telling people that the band asked people not to smoke which was pretty much impossible to miss (you could still smoke inside). I still smoked back in those days, and felt it was only polite not to. It's not a like a concert is that long. This request was, of course widely ignored by many others. I appreciate artists don't want to start a conflict with their audience, but I feel they could do with a bit more John Zorn attitude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a95ODn5k_1c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a95ODn5k_1c
osamagirl69 5y ago
Grew up listening to these guys (in fact, even in the womb I was at their concerts) and I would certainly say that their music has shaped who I am for the better. It is absolutely bonkers that they (or, Fripp at least) are still playing music after 50 years and still touching the hearts of so many people. A little bit off topic -- but we had a new consultant join our team and the only personal effect he brought with him was a grateful dead dancing bears mug. I have no idea what he does but we were able to connect over our love of good music and still today are good friends.
- nefitty 5y ago
  Sometimes I wonder what the effects of increasing cultural segmentation are going to be. When I was younger, people I met at parties or shows were way more likely to share multiple cultural touchstones with me. Broadcasts like Subterranean on MTV2 created a shared surface area for indie and alt kids, basically across the United States. Later, on local levels, last.fm concert listings made it easy to find my people. That's how I met my wife. Now, I have no idea where to find people who share the same "cultural flavor" as me. I feel like everyone's interests have become so idiosyncratic that I can no longer stand any of my best friend's favorite music, movies, memes, etc. and vice versa. For a long time, I tried to stay on the local pulse so that I could find an audience for my music. It got harder and harder. I then had two realizations... I heard some advice from some musician, "Dont focus on being in a band, focus on making music." That's exactly the error I had been making for the past 15 years. The other week, one of my friends played a solo noise set on a bill of pop punk and emo bands. I missed his set, but apparently out of about 150 kids, only one stayed inside to watch him. He was still buzzing just from playing. I realized, even if I set up a show in the middle of the desert and no one shows up, I could still make some sounds and wiggle around and catch a little ecstasy from the ether.
  - joeberon 5y ago
    It is easy to find like minded people if you look in the right places, but yes the democratisation of music has made mainstream sources useless as a cultural touchstone. For many people, none of the mainstream areas have any emotional impact, you have to dig deeper. However, even if you dig a little bit, the ocean breaks and you basically drown in a momentous sludgy breadth of continuously churned "flavour of the month" artists. What you have to do then is REALLY dig deep, again, as you say, to the artists who have no intention of actually getting more than a few hundred listens, and are fuelled only by the love of both the creation process, listening process, and dancing process. At one point, it was pretty much just the mainstream, and there was not much possibility to really create and release music other than that. Then, DIY movements happened, and if you scratched under the surface you found "the underground". Now, we have layers and layers. For example, look at modern techno. Most people do not even know what techno is at all, they may even imagine something completely off-base like deadmau5 or whatever. Already, deadmau5 exists on a layer of obscurity below a lot of mainstream music. However, dig slightly further, and you reach actual modern techno, which is a HUGE industry, literally fuelling a huge part of the Berlin economy, so we have this overblown "underground" scene which is now actually really mainstream. You have to keep digging many more layers before you reach the real underground. It can take years to penetrate this...it is just so specialised, segmented, and granulated. It makes me think of Terence McKenna's weird "novelty theory" stuff: the complexity of the scenes seems to be increasing and fragmenting exponentially in and out of itself. Thankfully, the underground is always still there, as long as someone still wants to do it.
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munk-a 5y ago
Honestly - you should really just go through their discography in full sometime. There are a lot of great tracks off In Court of the Crimson King (I Talk to the Wind being a favourite of mine) along with Red (Starless being one I'd highlight). It's a band that sort of faded into obscurity IMO - being muscled out by bigger names from that era like Yes, Genesis and Pink Floyd, all of which are definitely worth listening too, but King Crimson has got something special.
- stillblue 5y ago
  I talk to the Wind is amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing. Thanks for reminding this exists. It has been years since I listened to their music
- mindwok 5y ago
  I discovered I talk to the Wind this past year and fell in love with it as well. Great track.
  - helmholtz 5y ago
    "Exiles" if you like KC ballads. It's a slow burn, but Fripp's solo at the end is almost the definition of making a guitar cry.
- slothtrop 5y ago
  They tend to have a more abrasive, avant-garde and heavier sound than their prog peers. Big influence on metal and avant-prog bands for that reason. Still, quite understated.
- sqlacid 5y ago
  Epitaph on the same album gets more relevant every day. Knowledge is a deadly friend When no one sets the rules. The fate of all mankind I see Is in the hands of fools.
  - JKCalhoun 5y ago
    Aren't we all 21st Century schizoid men (and women)?
obiwanpallav1 5y ago
Robert Fripp released a new playlist, in youtube[1], named Music For Quiet Moments. It is an instrumental album and quoting from the description: ` Robert Fripp's "Music for Quiet Moments" series. We will be releasing an ambient instrumental soundscape online every week for 50 weeks. Something to nourish us, and help us through these Uncertain Times. ` 1. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbnpw-XH5DOFvCUsuoNNbUlRDns-sfxpp https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbnpw-XH5DOFvCUsuoNNb...
- WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
  I consider this (posting on YT) a huge change from his God Save The Queen days. He's still obsessed with control but offering free content is something he wouldn't have done then. Adding for context: After GStQ shows, he'd sit on the edge of the stage and talk to the audience. He definitely connected with his fans. Yeah he's (openly) a control freak but he's no 'tone deaf' elitist. edit: It occurs to me that Discipline could be a product of that controlling nature.
brickmort 5y ago
This band is truly amazing and they just keep getting better. Their recent live albums from 2017-2018 are some of their best releases. I think HN would really appreciate the technical talent of this band. Here's Danny Carey (Drummer from Tool) talking about this album and how the title track influenced his style. https://youtu.be/SsxSm1xCR-E?t=175 https://youtu.be/SsxSm1xCR-E?t=175 You can definitely hear how that song influenced Tool's signature sound years later.
- zorr 5y ago
  Wow, I had never heard this album before and I started listening to the first song Elephant Talk before finishing the article. My first reaction was "this sounds a lot like Primus" and at the end of the article Primus was indeed mentioned as being influenced by this album. Those first few notes of Discipline had the same effect on me but s/Primus/Tool.
  - golemotron 5y ago
    Les Claypool's post Primus band covers a song from Discipline. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml6LmIB-hvA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml6LmIB-hvA
  - BLKNSLVR 5y ago
    Primus / Les Claypool were also influenced by The Residents, another obscure band of inarguably talented musicians and artists creating art and music for a distinctly discerning and uncommon palate. Gingerbread Man[0], as a visual and aural experience, is uniquely disturbing in a most enthralling fashion. [0]: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=hr-I6-gxecg https://yewtu.be/watch?v=hr-I6-gxecg
- tom_softeng 5y ago
  Yes, for example Tool openly took inspiration from "Frame by frame" to write 7empest, for which they won a Grammy.
pathsjs 5y ago
Am I the only one who likes what King Crimson did until the 70s, and does not understand the direction they went with Discipline? I have tried listening to it and later albums, but I never got it. Anyone here can help me better appreciate King Crimson's music from the 80s on?
- fivre 5y ago
  appreciation is a hard thing to come by. joke response, listen to Indiscipline on loop until you like it :D King Crimson flowcharts are a fun source of amusement, if nothing else: http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/4chanmusic/images/2/2d/King_Crimson_Flowchart.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/2000?cb=20150721134929 http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/4chanmusic/images/2/2d/K...
  - pathsjs 5y ago
    Thank you, the flowcharts are really cool! :-D
  - meepmorp 5y ago
    I love that chart, thanks
  - twic 5y ago
    Reminds me of this diagram of the many schisms and reunions of Rhapsody of Fire: https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerMetal/comments/a378g5/just_in_case_anyone_is_confused_by_the_whole/ https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerMetal/comments/a378g5/just_in_...
- arp242 5y ago
  There's plenty of music I "ought" to like based on my general music interest but don't really care all that much for, or even dislike. I don't really know what makes me really like or dislike a particular piece of music, but it's pretty common for things to just not resonate with me. For what it's worth, I never really appreciated King Crimson beyond the 70s either. Don't ask me why; in any objective sense they're a fantastic band and I can definitely appreciate their music to that degree, but for one reason or the other it just doesn't truly resonate with me shrug
zeruch 5y ago
I've (so far) met Fripp, Levin, Jaksyzyk, and Mastellotto...all great dudes. Every iteration has something interesting to offer, and the combined talent pool really is staggering.
- dhosek 5y ago
  You've got me beat by two. I actually first discovered Jakszyk around 2000 when I bought an album by Saro Cosentino because I wanted to hear more John Giblin bass playing. My favorite track was the one featuring Jakszyk and while I was tempted to dig deep in search of more work by him, I failed to follow through until the Jakszyk/Fripp/Collins album came out.
  - zeruch 5y ago
    Jakko first came into my ear canal orbit with his strange but very listenable jazz-inflected Dizrythmia project (which also was around the same time I had heard Gavin Harrison on albums by Incognito, so the two of them together was novel), then his work with members of Japan...from there I just kept following.
- Applejinx 5y ago
  I met Bill Bruford. I attended one of his lectures, and I gave him a cymbal made to act like his mid-70s bent cymbal. He was cordially dismayed. "But… it's not the one…" I meant well, though, and he asked me if I wanted him to have it. And yes, I did. So, ever the gentleman, he accepted this wrong and bad cymbal :)
Kaibeezy 5y ago
I saw Belew give a lecture in 1986 and remember being just mesmerized by his “avant dobro”. https://youtu.be/UD-GrAMUzO8 https://youtu.be/UD-GrAMUzO8 https://youtu.be/24DKSkOQzm8 https://youtu.be/24DKSkOQzm8 https://www.fretboardjournal.com/features/adrian-belew-and-the-avant-dobro/ https://www.fretboardjournal.com/features/adrian-belew-and-t... Then there’s the whole Toyah and Robert’s Sunday Lunch thing. https://toyahwillcox.com/toyah-roberts-sunday-lunch/ https://toyahwillcox.com/toyah-roberts-sunday-lunch/ WTF... and yet. Such intensely creative and talented people. Wha’s like them? Damn few.
- herodoturtle 5y ago
  > Wha’s like them? Damn few. And they're aaall dead. ... You wan' some rye? 'Course you do.
  - randrus 5y ago
    I’m too drive to drunk.
  - soylentcola 5y ago
    This is one of those things where I initially learned of it from that same bit of (admittedly niche) pop culture, and didn't find out was much older until later on. Also, I do occasionally drink rye whiskey and every time I pour one, this is what I think in my head.
- lightlyused 5y ago
  I saw Belew sometime probably 2009 in a solo show in near Cincinnati OH. Amazing player and his solo albums are top notch. Later caught one of the first Adrian Belew Power Trio shows in Springfield OH. It was him and Julie Slick on Bass and Eric Slick on drums, both I think from the school of rock in Philly. Check them out on bandcamp.
  - WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
    He's dropping a new album this year.
pimeys 5y ago
Ah, when I was a teenager, this was (and still is) one of my favorite albums. A band changes direction completely, creates something totally new and loses the interest of their old fans. There are three albums that somewhat relate to each other, where an artist or a band changed their direction completely and created something the fans hated first, finding their audience much later. King Crimson: Discipline. A mixture of quirky pop which at the first listen sounds simple, but when you dig into it turns into something completely different. Nice tight package of brilliant tracks, played by extremely talented musicians. Math music you can hum in the shower. The band kind of disappointed their old fans coming from the album Red to this one. I like both albums a lot. Talk Talk: Spirit of Eden. Pop megastars got all the studio time they wanted. Instead of creating another mega hit after The Colour of Spring, they hired tens of musicians, turned off all lights from the studio and sampled the mistakes and off-takes together creating a new genre, which was later known as post rock. You kind of sink into their world when listening to this, finding new things even after decades of listening. 20 years later Radiohead did a similar change of direction and got really popular. The record company sued Talk Talk for their album in the 80's. Miles Davis: On the Corner. Oh how the jazz audience hated this album. Miles wanted to get the young black audience, and created a funky kraut masterpiece of an album. Cut from tape by the mighty Teo Macero, it sets a standard of sampling used by the hip hop artists a decade later. As all the other albums I mentioned here, put some good headphones on and it's crazy how you can sink into the music. Repetitive in a similar way as Discipline, but instead of looking into pop and post punk, this one takes its influence from funk, krautrock and jazz. If you have a mind that can appreciate any of these albums, the others will tickle the same cells in your brain.
- lightlyused 5y ago
  I hadn't listened to On the Corner before. Yea, I'm a sad Miles fine. Thank you so much, what a great album.
- Invictus0 5y ago
  I'll add MGMT to the mix. Their first album Oracular Spectacular gave us a few well-known pop hits, but their next albums Congratulations and Little Dark Age veered deep into psych rock and totally alienated the pop fans. The new albums are totally unsuited for casual listening and are probably best enjoyed with some scheduled substances.
consumer451 5y ago
Indiscipline The lyrics and the main groove of this song auto-play in my brain at least once a month. These words must resonate with other people here. They must. > [Verse 1] > I do remember one thing > It took hours and hours but.. > By the time I was done with it > I was so involved, I didn't know what to think > I carried it around with me for days and days.. > Playing little games > Like not looking at it for a whole day > And then, looking at it > To see if I still liked it > I did > [Verse 2] > I repeat myself when under stress > I repeat myself when under stress > I repeat myself when under stress > I repeat myself when under stress > I repeat- > The more I look at it > The more I like it > Heh, I do think it's good > The fact is... > No matter how closely I study it > No matter how I take it apart > No matter how I'll break it down > It remains consistent > I wish you were here to see it! > [Outro] > I like it Interestingly, it looks like King Crimson has recently officially uploaded the goods to YT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH3phKBbVLs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH3phKBbVLs
- yardshop 5y ago
  According to a piece I read about it back then, these words come from a letter to Adrian Belew from his wife about a piece of artwork she was creating. Very inspirational!
- jvandonsel 5y ago
  Glad to know I’m not the only one this happens to.
- maxfurman 5y ago
  That's funny, I always thought it was "I repeat myself when I'm distressed"
- brickmort 5y ago
  I love the latest live version of this song. Great drum work at the start of the song and the verses are more sung instead of spoken. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpZxwe4SXY8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpZxwe4SXY8
moogly 5y ago
As a massive music nerd, I can think of very few bands who have played for over 50 years and keep on reinventing themselves. Most bands decline over the years, but not King Crimson. That said, I have to say the double trio lineup is my favorite era of theirs. The only other band that IMO comes close in keeping high quality for 50 years is probably Magma. The only difference is that they're mostly staying the same (not in a bad way, mind you), and not necessarily reinventing themselves. Instead they're just getting more refined.
- whichdan 5y ago
  I did not expect to see a Magma discussion on HN, haha. I saw them live back in 2015 and it was so surreal.
  - phlakaton 5y ago
    Au contraire, I would not expect anything else but that there are Magma fans lurking on HN. :-P Some of us even have the necklace pendant to prove it! None other than Jello Biafra introduced them at a concert at the Fillmore not too long ago, saying how much he dug them. Now THAT was not something I was prepared for!
  - accraze 5y ago
    Agreed! I saw Magma in Portland, OR on their 2016 tour. I remember how effortless they made everything look, all the songs seemed to blend in and out of each other, so surreal. It felt like I was watching some intergalactic opera/theater presentation, probably one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Wish I could understand Kobaïan...
  - moogly 5y ago
    Yeah, the show I went to in 2017 (they played Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré and Theusz Hamtaahk in their entirety) was the best show I've been to since Mr. Bungle's California tour back in 1999. Then I saw them 2 years later where they played a much extended version of De Futura (and other songs). Great, too, but as a smaller line-up.
bloopernova 5y ago
Discipline is also the name of a prog-rock band from Detroit Michigan. I've been lucky enough to see them live, and their 2 albums are great: Push and Profit https://www.amazon.com/Push-Profit-Discipline/dp/B000260FRA/ https://www.amazon.com/Push-Profit-Discipline/dp/B000260FRA/ Unfolded Like Staircase https://www.amazon.com/Unfolded-Like-Staircase-Discipline/dp/B000260FRK https://www.amazon.com/Unfolded-Like-Staircase-Discipline/dp... Funnily enough, I listened to Discipline (the band) before listening to Discipline (the album). King Crimson fans should give Push and Profit a listen at the very least :)
yardshop 5y ago
I loved this album when it came out! (Just pulled it up on Spotify, it's been several years!) This and Beat and Three of a Perfect Pair were continuously played back in those days. I remember repeatedly calling my local classic rock radio station requesting Frame by Frame. They never played it, unsurprisingly! Another favorite from a few years before is Fripp's solo album Exposure [1]. Great vocals on some tracks by Darrell Hall of Hall and Oates. Changed my thinking about that guy! Also a wonderful version of Here Comes the Flood with Peter Gabriel, with great Frippertronics going on throughout. Great stuff! 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZA3qLXj8bA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZA3qLXj8bA
- dhosek 5y ago
  The Fripp-produced Hall solo album Sacred Songs is a great listen as well.
- dingosity 5y ago
  "it is that way because that is the way it is..." i absolutely love exposure and it's still on heavy rotation at chez criptid.
- WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
  re: Gabriel cover - Fripp (and Levin btw) played on his first.
klelatti 5y ago
I remember seeing Frame by Frame on ‘The Old Grey Whistle Test’ in 1982 [1] and being blown away by every aspect of it - and puzzled. What do the lyrics mean? Why would Fripp sit in the dark wearing a suit? Almost forty years on and the whole album still intrigues me, which I guess is one measure of greatness. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrXgcp01JaI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrXgcp01JaI
- dhosek 5y ago
  I've always thought that Robert Fripp is temperamentally a classical musician who plays rock music.
  - klelatti 5y ago
    Agreed. I’d expand that a bit by saying - he pays a lot of attention to the craft of guitar playing; - he’s much less concerned with the projection of his personality and image than is typical.
- WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
  He still wears a suit at most shows but he stands up now.
  - klelatti 5y ago
    Are you sure? I’ve literally never seen any video of Fripp playing standing up?
    - WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
      He stood up all thru the Orlando show, 2 mos ago And there's this: @ 2:25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D57fYwyhajk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D57fYwyhajk - him w/ crafty guitarists
      - klelatti 5y ago
ilamont 5y ago
”Tony had the Chapman Stick, which no one had used before” Serious question: has anyone aside from King Crimson and acolytes used it since? I remember the hype in the 80s music magazines but it never seemed to break out. What happened?
- whichdan 5y ago
  Gordian Knot[0] did about 20 years ago :) They're former Death/Cynic[1] members. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMamvozbIJY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMamvozbIJY [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_Knot_(band) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_Knot_(band)
  - slothtrop 5y ago
    Myung from Dream Theater also used it in the Falling Into Infinity album.
- dhosek 5y ago
  http://stick.com/artists/artistwebsites/ http://stick.com/artists/artistwebsites/
- Applejinx 5y ago
  I'm buying one :) it's been on order for a little less than a year. mind you, I think I count as an acolyte, plus I'm not anyone :) The thing is, I'd been looking at buying a Hohner Clavinet. And I'm not primarily a keyboard player, I was always a guitar player. And I just realized, 'hey… a Stick is a guitar player's clavi'. And so it is :)
antihero 5y ago
If anyone is also interested in sorta psychedelic 70s progressive things, and likes a faster more punky slant, I would highly, highly recommend checking out Cardiacs. Their music is magical.
WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
I saw KC open with Discipline in Orlando, a couple of months back. Levin was there with Fripp. The show was as good as you'd imagine. I think a lot of the audience only knew their first album; some folks left when it got heavy. As for me, Discipline is one of my favorite albums by any band - followed by Starless. My (adult) kids really liked that Fripp screwed with us by saying no pics because the band would pose when it was over - which they did not. Ha. Fripp being Fripp.
- dinero_rojo 5y ago
  Y’all (the audience, obviously not you in particular) must’ve done something to piss the band off. When I went to see them (and this is well attested to at other shows on their last two tours), they definitely stood around taking pictures of the audience (Tony Levin is also really into photography), with Fripp walking off last. Having said that, Fripp saw someone behind me trying to take a picture during Schizoid Man and stopped playing, shook his head, and wagged his finger until he put the camera away.
dhosek 5y ago
There are very few albums that I can say that I have a clear memory of listening to them for the first time. Discipline is one of them. It was spring break of my freshman year of college and the drummer in the band I was playing in asked me to keep his CD collection in my room over break because there were occasional break-ins to rooms of people gone for the week. I listened to a lot of music new to me, but the one that grabbed me by the throat was Discipline. Over time, I became a bigger and bigger fan of Crimson. My favorite era was the 74–77 incarnation which shed a member with each album until it finally collapsed, although the current line-up which has focused entirely on live performance is just amazing. I regret not getting the chance to see them live, and suspect that between Covid and the aging of the band that I never will see them live, but it's a truly amazing group of musicians (albeit one whose membership has been unstable since the start. The 80s trilogy of albums was the longest run without a lineup change in the band's history.)
WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
I came to KC via Fripp because I'm a Brian Eno fan - 1980s. And even tho ELP was a first love, Court is one of my least favorite KC albums (ref: Greg Lake, Pete Sinfield). I like it well enough just not as much the stuff with Bruford (Yes was another 1st lv). sidebar: Leaned yesterday that Jon Anderson sung on a track on Lizards
bmeski 5y ago
The interwoven guitars in "Frame by frame" is my absolute favorite bit of music.
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SkipperCat 5y ago
A lot of people I knew in the 80's punk scene would trash prog rock as being too polished (think YES' Relayer with a single track on a side). Yet we all loved Discipline (some secretly). Prog as it was, it was still raw power.
dingosity 5y ago
don't forget to look at belew's solo work from the 80s. lone rhino and twang bar king are two of my favourite albums from the era. think of discipline or beat without the discipline brought by fripp. like indiscipline run gloriously amok.
devnull255 5y ago
Yes. I bought this on vinyl when it first came out. This was my first introduction to King Crimson. And surprisingly, when I bought Court of the Crimson King in college, I could hear the thread that connected their first album to the first album by them I ever bought. The more I listened to it, the more I took it apart, the more I broke it down, it remained consistent. I still think it's good! I wish you were here to hear it!

165 points by lightlyused 5y ago

black_13 5y ago

All hail the crimson king

connorlay 5y ago

+1 - a person who has a Discipline tattoo on their right forearm

i_like_apis 5y ago

Just about anything by King Crimson :)

simlevesque 5y ago

Shameless plug: I moderate the r/kingcrimson subreddit and I invite all of you to discuss King Crimson there.

michaelfeathers 5y ago

Such a great band. I saw them in Los Angeles last month. Exquisite and energetic musicianship despite several of them being in their 70s now.

sonjaqql 5y ago
Agreed! I traveled to Milwaukee last month to catch them, and even though I was in the last row, you could see and feel Tony Levin's fingers.
- dhosek 5y ago
  With the see, was that perhaps the funk fingers (drum sticks strapped to his fingers) that he was using and not his actual fingers?
WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
Orlando. Brought the (adult) kids. Ok. They brought me. Better than expected and my expectations were high.

denton-scratch 5y ago

"We were in a part of London that was a dangerous area" - apparently that incident occurred in Notting Hill Gate; that's hardly a rough neighbourhood. Parts of Notting Hill are definitely seedy, but I wouldn't be nervous waiting for a bus there at night.

robotresearcher 5y ago
And forty years ago, when this album was made? London is considerably less violent all over than it was in those days. Casual violence was a part of my youth that I’m very happy my teenage kids would not recognize. I think NYC and some other US cities are similarly less scary these days. Not all places, and not for all people, of course.
laumars 5y ago
I’m not as familiar with that particular area of London but I do know the city has changed massively since that album was recorded and a lot of areas that you simply wouldn’t walk alone at night have undergone gentrification. Brixton is a great example of that.
zh3 5y ago
London was a lot more, ah, interesting, back then. There were certainly a lot more areas where it wasn't wise to walk around by yourself (that is, in areas where you didn't fit in). Still are, but it's nothing like as exciting as it used to be. Soho in particular used to feel so alive; the vibe there sort of died around the time they licenced the sex shops/cleaned up the area.
jlarcombe 5y ago
totally different back then, I suspect (just like Islington)
- denton-scratch 5y ago
  Well, I lived in the rougher parts of Notting Hill in the early 70's. I don't need to "suspect" anything. I lived around Westbourne Grove and Ladbroke Grove. Yes, that was very different from how it is now; then, it was hippie/druggie land. But it wasn't dangerous. There were a lot of burglaries; people in poor neighbourhoods tend to rob their neighbours, for some reason. But I don't recall any shootings or stabbings. I didn't even know anyone who had been beaten up on the street. There was no racial tension, that I was aware of; black and white people lived as neighbours, all jumbled-up, and got on fine. I also spent 15 years living in Islington; that was only rough on football nights, when racist supporters from out-of-town took over the streets and pubs. Gentrification of Islington amounted to not much more than rising house prices (I moved out of London forever in about 1996). Islington had rough estates that I would keep my kids away from; but I didn't have to helicopter them to school. They walked or took the public bus. Islington's much more dangerous now. There are regular reports of rapes and murders, in parks and corners where I used to hang out with my kids. "Gentrification" is not synonymous with "crime reduction".

thedailymail 5y ago

I was a Bowie fan in the 70s and very excited about his work with Robert Fripp (for example, the e-bow line in Heroes). Then a musician friend introduced me to Fripp and Belew's King Crimson. The opening track, Elephant Talk, of this album (Discipline) is eye-opening.

zabzonk 5y ago
You almost certainly know this, but others may not - Fripp & Eno's collaborations are well worth a listen.
- peter_l_downs 5y ago
  Strongly second this, No Pussyfooting is an incredible album.
  - fuzzfactor 5y ago
    Not that many people recognized that Eno composed the the first little Windows startup tune for Microsoft's Windows 95. Maybe one of the most often-played compositions for while there. Repeated by probably more un-necessary restarts than users actually intended . . .

zbaylin 5y ago

“Discipline” is one of those albums that totally changed the way I thought about music. When I was a kid I was really into classic prog rock (i.e. Yes, Genesis, ELP, etc.) and was mesmerized by Bill Bruford’s playing and technique on “Close to the Edge”, which led me to this incarnation of King Crimson. One song in particular that really stuck out to me was “Thela Hun Ginjeet”, which includes a recording of Adrian Belew recounting an experience being heckled on the street, but until I read the Wikipedia page for the album I had no idea it was secretly recorded by Fripp and wasn’t scripted (including the maniacal laugh at the end). It blew my mind that they were able to create this soundscape that turned a recording of a totally sane Belew into what I thought was a paranoid schizophrenic. Each song on the album stands on its own, and it’s probably my favorite in King Crimson’s discography.

laumars 5y ago
A live performance of Thela Hun Ginjeet plus a description of how it came about is included in this submitted article.

zabzonk 5y ago

I remember seeing them in Edinburgh in the 70s. People were arriving late and chatting. Robert Fripp folded his arms and stood their silently for several minutes, looking at the audience as if they were vermin. Everyone went quiet and looked around at each other in embarrassment. Then, once you could have heard a pin drop, they started playing. Great. You could see some amazing bands back then - I saw Beefheart three times.

okamiueru 5y ago
I had a similar experience seeing them in Oslo a few years ago. They were incredibly strict about disruptions and people using devices. It came across entirely as a "don't be selfish and ruin the experience for others", and it was amazing. No talking, just music. It's the best concert I've ever been to. At the end they said to the audience "we would like to take some pictures of you guys, and of course you can now do the same". And we did. I wish more artists had this attitude, as I no longer go to any "normal" concerts. Half the audience is drunk, and half the audience is having a conversation in the middle of a song. (The first part is fine, but it tends to exasperate the latter) Of course, some music groups/performances are more suited for a "let's party"-attitude where this doesn't apply.
- arp242 5y ago
  I've been to more than a few concerts where the artists had to tell people to shut the hell up, usually with little effect I'm afraid. I don't expect people to stand in complete silence or never say a word, but standing there with a group chatting away like you're in a pub is just rude. If you want to chat in a pub with some background music then that's completely fair, but go to, well, a pub, instead of ruining the concert the rest of us want to see and paid for. Don't even get me started on people talking in movie theatres. When I saw Van Der Graaf Generator on their first reunion tour there were many signs everywhere telling people that the band asked people not to smoke which was pretty much impossible to miss (you could still smoke inside). I still smoked back in those days, and felt it was only polite not to. It's not a like a concert is that long. This request was, of course widely ignored by many others. I appreciate artists don't want to start a conflict with their audience, but I feel they could do with a bit more John Zorn attitude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a95ODn5k_1c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a95ODn5k_1c

osamagirl69 5y ago

Grew up listening to these guys (in fact, even in the womb I was at their concerts) and I would certainly say that their music has shaped who I am for the better. It is absolutely bonkers that they (or, Fripp at least) are still playing music after 50 years and still touching the hearts of so many people. A little bit off topic -- but we had a new consultant join our team and the only personal effect he brought with him was a grateful dead dancing bears mug. I have no idea what he does but we were able to connect over our love of good music and still today are good friends.

nefitty 5y ago
Sometimes I wonder what the effects of increasing cultural segmentation are going to be. When I was younger, people I met at parties or shows were way more likely to share multiple cultural touchstones with me. Broadcasts like Subterranean on MTV2 created a shared surface area for indie and alt kids, basically across the United States. Later, on local levels, last.fm concert listings made it easy to find my people. That's how I met my wife. Now, I have no idea where to find people who share the same "cultural flavor" as me. I feel like everyone's interests have become so idiosyncratic that I can no longer stand any of my best friend's favorite music, movies, memes, etc. and vice versa. For a long time, I tried to stay on the local pulse so that I could find an audience for my music. It got harder and harder. I then had two realizations... I heard some advice from some musician, "Dont focus on being in a band, focus on making music." That's exactly the error I had been making for the past 15 years. The other week, one of my friends played a solo noise set on a bill of pop punk and emo bands. I missed his set, but apparently out of about 150 kids, only one stayed inside to watch him. He was still buzzing just from playing. I realized, even if I set up a show in the middle of the desert and no one shows up, I could still make some sounds and wiggle around and catch a little ecstasy from the ether.
- joeberon 5y ago
  It is easy to find like minded people if you look in the right places, but yes the democratisation of music has made mainstream sources useless as a cultural touchstone. For many people, none of the mainstream areas have any emotional impact, you have to dig deeper. However, even if you dig a little bit, the ocean breaks and you basically drown in a momentous sludgy breadth of continuously churned "flavour of the month" artists. What you have to do then is REALLY dig deep, again, as you say, to the artists who have no intention of actually getting more than a few hundred listens, and are fuelled only by the love of both the creation process, listening process, and dancing process. At one point, it was pretty much just the mainstream, and there was not much possibility to really create and release music other than that. Then, DIY movements happened, and if you scratched under the surface you found "the underground". Now, we have layers and layers. For example, look at modern techno. Most people do not even know what techno is at all, they may even imagine something completely off-base like deadmau5 or whatever. Already, deadmau5 exists on a layer of obscurity below a lot of mainstream music. However, dig slightly further, and you reach actual modern techno, which is a HUGE industry, literally fuelling a huge part of the Berlin economy, so we have this overblown "underground" scene which is now actually really mainstream. You have to keep digging many more layers before you reach the real underground. It can take years to penetrate this...it is just so specialised, segmented, and granulated. It makes me think of Terence McKenna's weird "novelty theory" stuff: the complexity of the scenes seems to be increasing and fragmenting exponentially in and out of itself. Thankfully, the underground is always still there, as long as someone still wants to do it.

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munk-a 5y ago

Honestly - you should really just go through their discography in full sometime. There are a lot of great tracks off In Court of the Crimson King (I Talk to the Wind being a favourite of mine) along with Red (Starless being one I'd highlight). It's a band that sort of faded into obscurity IMO - being muscled out by bigger names from that era like Yes, Genesis and Pink Floyd, all of which are definitely worth listening too, but King Crimson has got something special.

stillblue 5y ago
I talk to the Wind is amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing. Thanks for reminding this exists. It has been years since I listened to their music
mindwok 5y ago
I discovered I talk to the Wind this past year and fell in love with it as well. Great track.
- helmholtz 5y ago
  "Exiles" if you like KC ballads. It's a slow burn, but Fripp's solo at the end is almost the definition of making a guitar cry.
slothtrop 5y ago
They tend to have a more abrasive, avant-garde and heavier sound than their prog peers. Big influence on metal and avant-prog bands for that reason. Still, quite understated.
sqlacid 5y ago
Epitaph on the same album gets more relevant every day. Knowledge is a deadly friend When no one sets the rules. The fate of all mankind I see Is in the hands of fools.
- JKCalhoun 5y ago
  Aren't we all 21st Century schizoid men (and women)?

obiwanpallav1 5y ago

Robert Fripp released a new playlist, in youtube[1], named Music For Quiet Moments. It is an instrumental album and quoting from the description: ` Robert Fripp's "Music for Quiet Moments" series. We will be releasing an ambient instrumental soundscape online every week for 50 weeks. Something to nourish us, and help us through these Uncertain Times. ` 1. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbnpw-XH5DOFvCUsuoNNbUlRDns-sfxpp https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbnpw-XH5DOFvCUsuoNNb...

WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
I consider this (posting on YT) a huge change from his God Save The Queen days. He's still obsessed with control but offering free content is something he wouldn't have done then. Adding for context: After GStQ shows, he'd sit on the edge of the stage and talk to the audience. He definitely connected with his fans. Yeah he's (openly) a control freak but he's no 'tone deaf' elitist. edit: It occurs to me that Discipline could be a product of that controlling nature.

brickmort 5y ago

This band is truly amazing and they just keep getting better. Their recent live albums from 2017-2018 are some of their best releases. I think HN would really appreciate the technical talent of this band. Here's Danny Carey (Drummer from Tool) talking about this album and how the title track influenced his style. https://youtu.be/SsxSm1xCR-E?t=175 https://youtu.be/SsxSm1xCR-E?t=175 You can definitely hear how that song influenced Tool's signature sound years later.

zorr 5y ago
Wow, I had never heard this album before and I started listening to the first song Elephant Talk before finishing the article. My first reaction was "this sounds a lot like Primus" and at the end of the article Primus was indeed mentioned as being influenced by this album. Those first few notes of Discipline had the same effect on me but s/Primus/Tool.
- golemotron 5y ago
  Les Claypool's post Primus band covers a song from Discipline. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml6LmIB-hvA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml6LmIB-hvA
- BLKNSLVR 5y ago
  Primus / Les Claypool were also influenced by The Residents, another obscure band of inarguably talented musicians and artists creating art and music for a distinctly discerning and uncommon palate. Gingerbread Man[0], as a visual and aural experience, is uniquely disturbing in a most enthralling fashion. [0]: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=hr-I6-gxecg https://yewtu.be/watch?v=hr-I6-gxecg
tom_softeng 5y ago
Yes, for example Tool openly took inspiration from "Frame by frame" to write 7empest, for which they won a Grammy.

pathsjs 5y ago

Am I the only one who likes what King Crimson did until the 70s, and does not understand the direction they went with Discipline? I have tried listening to it and later albums, but I never got it. Anyone here can help me better appreciate King Crimson's music from the 80s on?

fivre 5y ago
appreciation is a hard thing to come by. joke response, listen to Indiscipline on loop until you like it :D King Crimson flowcharts are a fun source of amusement, if nothing else: http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/4chanmusic/images/2/2d/King_Crimson_Flowchart.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/2000?cb=20150721134929 http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/4chanmusic/images/2/2d/K...
- pathsjs 5y ago
  Thank you, the flowcharts are really cool! :-D
- meepmorp 5y ago
  I love that chart, thanks
- twic 5y ago
  Reminds me of this diagram of the many schisms and reunions of Rhapsody of Fire: https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerMetal/comments/a378g5/just_in_case_anyone_is_confused_by_the_whole/ https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerMetal/comments/a378g5/just_in_...
arp242 5y ago
There's plenty of music I "ought" to like based on my general music interest but don't really care all that much for, or even dislike. I don't really know what makes me really like or dislike a particular piece of music, but it's pretty common for things to just not resonate with me. For what it's worth, I never really appreciated King Crimson beyond the 70s either. Don't ask me why; in any objective sense they're a fantastic band and I can definitely appreciate their music to that degree, but for one reason or the other it just doesn't truly resonate with me shrug

zeruch 5y ago

I've (so far) met Fripp, Levin, Jaksyzyk, and Mastellotto...all great dudes. Every iteration has something interesting to offer, and the combined talent pool really is staggering.

dhosek 5y ago
You've got me beat by two. I actually first discovered Jakszyk around 2000 when I bought an album by Saro Cosentino because I wanted to hear more John Giblin bass playing. My favorite track was the one featuring Jakszyk and while I was tempted to dig deep in search of more work by him, I failed to follow through until the Jakszyk/Fripp/Collins album came out.
- zeruch 5y ago
  Jakko first came into my ear canal orbit with his strange but very listenable jazz-inflected Dizrythmia project (which also was around the same time I had heard Gavin Harrison on albums by Incognito, so the two of them together was novel), then his work with members of Japan...from there I just kept following.
Applejinx 5y ago
I met Bill Bruford. I attended one of his lectures, and I gave him a cymbal made to act like his mid-70s bent cymbal. He was cordially dismayed. "But… it's not the one…" I meant well, though, and he asked me if I wanted him to have it. And yes, I did. So, ever the gentleman, he accepted this wrong and bad cymbal :)

Kaibeezy 5y ago

I saw Belew give a lecture in 1986 and remember being just mesmerized by his “avant dobro”. https://youtu.be/UD-GrAMUzO8 https://youtu.be/UD-GrAMUzO8 https://youtu.be/24DKSkOQzm8 https://youtu.be/24DKSkOQzm8 https://www.fretboardjournal.com/features/adrian-belew-and-the-avant-dobro/ https://www.fretboardjournal.com/features/adrian-belew-and-t... Then there’s the whole Toyah and Robert’s Sunday Lunch thing. https://toyahwillcox.com/toyah-roberts-sunday-lunch/ https://toyahwillcox.com/toyah-roberts-sunday-lunch/ WTF... and yet. Such intensely creative and talented people. Wha’s like them? Damn few.

herodoturtle 5y ago
> Wha’s like them? Damn few. And they're aaall dead. ... You wan' some rye? 'Course you do.
- randrus 5y ago
  I’m too drive to drunk.
- soylentcola 5y ago
  This is one of those things where I initially learned of it from that same bit of (admittedly niche) pop culture, and didn't find out was much older until later on. Also, I do occasionally drink rye whiskey and every time I pour one, this is what I think in my head.
lightlyused 5y ago
I saw Belew sometime probably 2009 in a solo show in near Cincinnati OH. Amazing player and his solo albums are top notch. Later caught one of the first Adrian Belew Power Trio shows in Springfield OH. It was him and Julie Slick on Bass and Eric Slick on drums, both I think from the school of rock in Philly. Check them out on bandcamp.
- WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
  He's dropping a new album this year.

pimeys 5y ago

Ah, when I was a teenager, this was (and still is) one of my favorite albums. A band changes direction completely, creates something totally new and loses the interest of their old fans. There are three albums that somewhat relate to each other, where an artist or a band changed their direction completely and created something the fans hated first, finding their audience much later. King Crimson: Discipline. A mixture of quirky pop which at the first listen sounds simple, but when you dig into it turns into something completely different. Nice tight package of brilliant tracks, played by extremely talented musicians. Math music you can hum in the shower. The band kind of disappointed their old fans coming from the album Red to this one. I like both albums a lot. Talk Talk: Spirit of Eden. Pop megastars got all the studio time they wanted. Instead of creating another mega hit after The Colour of Spring, they hired tens of musicians, turned off all lights from the studio and sampled the mistakes and off-takes together creating a new genre, which was later known as post rock. You kind of sink into their world when listening to this, finding new things even after decades of listening. 20 years later Radiohead did a similar change of direction and got really popular. The record company sued Talk Talk for their album in the 80's. Miles Davis: On the Corner. Oh how the jazz audience hated this album. Miles wanted to get the young black audience, and created a funky kraut masterpiece of an album. Cut from tape by the mighty Teo Macero, it sets a standard of sampling used by the hip hop artists a decade later. As all the other albums I mentioned here, put some good headphones on and it's crazy how you can sink into the music. Repetitive in a similar way as Discipline, but instead of looking into pop and post punk, this one takes its influence from funk, krautrock and jazz. If you have a mind that can appreciate any of these albums, the others will tickle the same cells in your brain.

lightlyused 5y ago
I hadn't listened to On the Corner before. Yea, I'm a sad Miles fine. Thank you so much, what a great album.
Invictus0 5y ago
I'll add MGMT to the mix. Their first album Oracular Spectacular gave us a few well-known pop hits, but their next albums Congratulations and Little Dark Age veered deep into psych rock and totally alienated the pop fans. The new albums are totally unsuited for casual listening and are probably best enjoyed with some scheduled substances.

consumer451 5y ago

Indiscipline The lyrics and the main groove of this song auto-play in my brain at least once a month. These words must resonate with other people here. They must. > [Verse 1] > I do remember one thing > It took hours and hours but.. > By the time I was done with it > I was so involved, I didn't know what to think > I carried it around with me for days and days.. > Playing little games > Like not looking at it for a whole day > And then, looking at it > To see if I still liked it > I did > [Verse 2] > I repeat myself when under stress > I repeat myself when under stress > I repeat myself when under stress > I repeat myself when under stress > I repeat- > The more I look at it > The more I like it > Heh, I do think it's good > The fact is... > No matter how closely I study it > No matter how I take it apart > No matter how I'll break it down > It remains consistent > I wish you were here to see it! > [Outro] > I like it Interestingly, it looks like King Crimson has recently officially uploaded the goods to YT. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH3phKBbVLs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH3phKBbVLs

yardshop 5y ago
According to a piece I read about it back then, these words come from a letter to Adrian Belew from his wife about a piece of artwork she was creating. Very inspirational!
jvandonsel 5y ago
Glad to know I’m not the only one this happens to.
maxfurman 5y ago
That's funny, I always thought it was "I repeat myself when I'm distressed"
brickmort 5y ago
I love the latest live version of this song. Great drum work at the start of the song and the verses are more sung instead of spoken. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpZxwe4SXY8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpZxwe4SXY8

moogly 5y ago

As a massive music nerd, I can think of very few bands who have played for over 50 years and keep on reinventing themselves. Most bands decline over the years, but not King Crimson. That said, I have to say the double trio lineup is my favorite era of theirs. The only other band that IMO comes close in keeping high quality for 50 years is probably Magma. The only difference is that they're mostly staying the same (not in a bad way, mind you), and not necessarily reinventing themselves. Instead they're just getting more refined.

whichdan 5y ago
I did not expect to see a Magma discussion on HN, haha. I saw them live back in 2015 and it was so surreal.
- phlakaton 5y ago
  Au contraire, I would not expect anything else but that there are Magma fans lurking on HN. :-P Some of us even have the necklace pendant to prove it! None other than Jello Biafra introduced them at a concert at the Fillmore not too long ago, saying how much he dug them. Now THAT was not something I was prepared for!
- accraze 5y ago
  Agreed! I saw Magma in Portland, OR on their 2016 tour. I remember how effortless they made everything look, all the songs seemed to blend in and out of each other, so surreal. It felt like I was watching some intergalactic opera/theater presentation, probably one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Wish I could understand Kobaïan...
- moogly 5y ago
  Yeah, the show I went to in 2017 (they played Ëmëhntëhtt-Ré and Theusz Hamtaahk in their entirety) was the best show I've been to since Mr. Bungle's California tour back in 1999. Then I saw them 2 years later where they played a much extended version of De Futura (and other songs). Great, too, but as a smaller line-up.

bloopernova 5y ago

Discipline is also the name of a prog-rock band from Detroit Michigan. I've been lucky enough to see them live, and their 2 albums are great: Push and Profit https://www.amazon.com/Push-Profit-Discipline/dp/B000260FRA/ https://www.amazon.com/Push-Profit-Discipline/dp/B000260FRA/ Unfolded Like Staircase https://www.amazon.com/Unfolded-Like-Staircase-Discipline/dp/B000260FRK https://www.amazon.com/Unfolded-Like-Staircase-Discipline/dp... Funnily enough, I listened to Discipline (the band) before listening to Discipline (the album). King Crimson fans should give Push and Profit a listen at the very least :)

yardshop 5y ago

I loved this album when it came out! (Just pulled it up on Spotify, it's been several years!) This and Beat and Three of a Perfect Pair were continuously played back in those days. I remember repeatedly calling my local classic rock radio station requesting Frame by Frame. They never played it, unsurprisingly! Another favorite from a few years before is Fripp's solo album Exposure [1]. Great vocals on some tracks by Darrell Hall of Hall and Oates. Changed my thinking about that guy! Also a wonderful version of Here Comes the Flood with Peter Gabriel, with great Frippertronics going on throughout. Great stuff! 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZA3qLXj8bA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZA3qLXj8bA

dhosek 5y ago
The Fripp-produced Hall solo album Sacred Songs is a great listen as well.
dingosity 5y ago
"it is that way because that is the way it is..." i absolutely love exposure and it's still on heavy rotation at chez criptid.
WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
re: Gabriel cover - Fripp (and Levin btw) played on his first.

klelatti 5y ago

I remember seeing Frame by Frame on ‘The Old Grey Whistle Test’ in 1982 [1] and being blown away by every aspect of it - and puzzled. What do the lyrics mean? Why would Fripp sit in the dark wearing a suit? Almost forty years on and the whole album still intrigues me, which I guess is one measure of greatness. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrXgcp01JaI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrXgcp01JaI

dhosek 5y ago
I've always thought that Robert Fripp is temperamentally a classical musician who plays rock music.
- klelatti 5y ago
  Agreed. I’d expand that a bit by saying - he pays a lot of attention to the craft of guitar playing; - he’s much less concerned with the projection of his personality and image than is typical.
WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
He still wears a suit at most shows but he stands up now.
- klelatti 5y ago
  Are you sure? I’ve literally never seen any video of Fripp playing standing up?
  - WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
    He stood up all thru the Orlando show, 2 mos ago And there's this: @ 2:25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D57fYwyhajk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D57fYwyhajk - him w/ crafty guitarists
    - klelatti 5y ago

ilamont 5y ago

”Tony had the Chapman Stick, which no one had used before” Serious question: has anyone aside from King Crimson and acolytes used it since? I remember the hype in the 80s music magazines but it never seemed to break out. What happened?

whichdan 5y ago
Gordian Knot[0] did about 20 years ago :) They're former Death/Cynic[1] members. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMamvozbIJY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMamvozbIJY [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_Knot_(band) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordian_Knot_(band)
- slothtrop 5y ago
  Myung from Dream Theater also used it in the Falling Into Infinity album.
dhosek 5y ago
http://stick.com/artists/artistwebsites/ http://stick.com/artists/artistwebsites/
Applejinx 5y ago
I'm buying one :) it's been on order for a little less than a year. mind you, I think I count as an acolyte, plus I'm not anyone :) The thing is, I'd been looking at buying a Hohner Clavinet. And I'm not primarily a keyboard player, I was always a guitar player. And I just realized, 'hey… a Stick is a guitar player's clavi'. And so it is :)

antihero 5y ago

If anyone is also interested in sorta psychedelic 70s progressive things, and likes a faster more punky slant, I would highly, highly recommend checking out Cardiacs. Their music is magical.

WarOnPrivacy 5y ago

I saw KC open with Discipline in Orlando, a couple of months back. Levin was there with Fripp. The show was as good as you'd imagine. I think a lot of the audience only knew their first album; some folks left when it got heavy. As for me, Discipline is one of my favorite albums by any band - followed by Starless. My (adult) kids really liked that Fripp screwed with us by saying no pics because the band would pose when it was over - which they did not. Ha. Fripp being Fripp.

dinero_rojo 5y ago
Y’all (the audience, obviously not you in particular) must’ve done something to piss the band off. When I went to see them (and this is well attested to at other shows on their last two tours), they definitely stood around taking pictures of the audience (Tony Levin is also really into photography), with Fripp walking off last. Having said that, Fripp saw someone behind me trying to take a picture during Schizoid Man and stopped playing, shook his head, and wagged his finger until he put the camera away.

dhosek 5y ago

There are very few albums that I can say that I have a clear memory of listening to them for the first time. Discipline is one of them. It was spring break of my freshman year of college and the drummer in the band I was playing in asked me to keep his CD collection in my room over break because there were occasional break-ins to rooms of people gone for the week. I listened to a lot of music new to me, but the one that grabbed me by the throat was Discipline. Over time, I became a bigger and bigger fan of Crimson. My favorite era was the 74–77 incarnation which shed a member with each album until it finally collapsed, although the current line-up which has focused entirely on live performance is just amazing. I regret not getting the chance to see them live, and suspect that between Covid and the aging of the band that I never will see them live, but it's a truly amazing group of musicians (albeit one whose membership has been unstable since the start. The 80s trilogy of albums was the longest run without a lineup change in the band's history.)

WarOnPrivacy 5y ago

I came to KC via Fripp because I'm a Brian Eno fan - 1980s. And even tho ELP was a first love, Court is one of my least favorite KC albums (ref: Greg Lake, Pete Sinfield). I like it well enough just not as much the stuff with Bruford (Yes was another 1st lv). sidebar: Leaned yesterday that Jon Anderson sung on a track on Lizards

bmeski 5y ago

The interwoven guitars in "Frame by frame" is my absolute favorite bit of music.

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SkipperCat 5y ago

A lot of people I knew in the 80's punk scene would trash prog rock as being too polished (think YES' Relayer with a single track on a side). Yet we all loved Discipline (some secretly). Prog as it was, it was still raw power.

dingosity 5y ago

don't forget to look at belew's solo work from the 80s. lone rhino and twang bar king are two of my favourite albums from the era. think of discipline or beat without the discipline brought by fripp. like indiscipline run gloriously amok.

devnull255 5y ago

Yes. I bought this on vinyl when it first came out. This was my first introduction to King Crimson. And surprisingly, when I bought Court of the Crimson King in college, I could hear the thread that connected their first album to the first album by them I ever bought. The more I listened to it, the more I took it apart, the more I broke it down, it remained consistent. I still think it's good! I wish you were here to hear it!