Prague

Mussolini recently went to Prague. She was treated amicably. This is to be expected. Italians and Czechs cross paths all the time in their corner of the world. This is not, however, what I’m talking about.

I don’t know many King Crimson fans. Beyond myself, only my father and brother fall into this category. I know they have a following out there, I’m just saying we don’t cross paths often in my little corner of the world. I do also know that I often bump heads with friends I think would like them, if only they would take the time to listen.

When King Crimson opened up for Tool, Maynard James Keenan was quoted as saying he felt honored, was humbled, and couldn’t help but feel Tool should have been opening up for King Crimson. I rarely bow my head to institutions, antiquity, or to seniority. To the contrary, I’m contemptuous of those who unquestioningly do so. I suspect Keenan is the same way based upon the irreverent nature of his songwriting. This, however, is not what he was doing. Keenan, who has said his band name implies fans are to use them and their music as a tool for however and for whatever they find prudent, readily acknowledges King Crimson as a major influence. Tangibly, you can hear this on their latest studio effort, 10,000 Days, in time signature changes, their sonic approach to music writing for the guitar, rhythmically, and in the total absence of any element of the blues. Les Claypool is also a big Crimson fan, though only from the Discipline carnation on. Tool’s sound and Claypool’s taste, however, are not the point. The grandeur of King Crimson is.

I own In The Court of The Crimson King, Red, Beat, The Nightwatch, The Construction of Light, Absent Lovers, Discipline, and The Power to Believe. The common thread, at least as far as I can tell, in the King Crimson sound that has spanned it’s many years of existence and all if its lineups, of which the only common thread is Robert Fripp, has been the absence of any blues’ elements so prevalent in the vast majority of rock and roll music. Where typical bands draw upon the blues, King Crimson has drawn from classical music. This is most apparent in their earlier work circa The Court of the Crimson King. Despite notables like “21st Century Schizoid Man”, “In the Court of the Crimson King, and “In the Wake of Poseidon”, my favorite Crimson phase began with the addition of Adrian Belew. Rich man’s Talking Heads, as I’ve characterized Absent Lovers in the past, is no coincidence or insight on my part, as Belew played with the Talking Heads (for a taste check out The Name of this Band is Talking Heads. Where the Talking Heads sound is paired down and modest by comparison, King Crimson is big and virtuosic, delves deeper into sounds, and is incomparable rhythmically.

Check them out.