King Crimson
Beat

THE REVIEW

I know I am in the minority, but for me "Beat" is the best studio album by KC in the last 25 years; while the surprising "Discipline" certainly has the merit of having opened the new phase, "Beat" is more in line with the new wave production standard of the period, thanks especially to the debated contribution of producer Rhett Davies: the rock-gamelan of "Neal and Jack and Me" and "Waiting Man", the ethnofunk of "Sartori in Tangier", the industrial rock of "Neurotica" ("Pictures of a (New York) city"), the perfect pop form of "Two Hands" and "Heartbeat" (the only video made by KC), and finally, the frippertronics of "Requiem" (a "Prince Rupert's lament part two") find here a more concise and vibrant exposition.

The opening track, in particular, built on the guitar counterpoint of "Discipline", here integrated by Fripp's sharp synth (if you listen to the two tracks in sequence, the continuity is evident), is a tribute by Belew to two heroes of the Beat Generation (incidentally, the album includes other references to Beat culture, just mention "Heart Beat", the title of a book by Cassidy, and "The Howler" which recalls the famous poem by Allen Ginsberg), the writer Jack Kerouac and the poet/folk singer Neil Cassidy lost in Paris in a dazzling 1952 Studebaker coupe. Definitely one of my favorite KC tracks, and then how can you not love free verses like "Strange spaghetti in this solemn city... Hotel room homesickness on a fresh blue bed... And the longest-ever phone call home..... no Sleep no sleep no sleep no sleep and no mad. Video machine to eat time...").

P.S.: The tracks of "Beat" and the entire '80s trilogy gain a new dimension in the excellent live "Absent Lovers", recorded during the '84 tour, which I recommend listening to for those who appreciated "Beat".