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A few days ago, I read a review about Discipline, and I noticed its many negative criticisms (which I partly agree with). So I decided to make my own. Sorry, but first I need to explain the situation of King Crimson at that time: about 7 years (starting from 1981), the King made his masterpiece "Red", and then disbanded. At that moment, progressive rock had lost its creator, its best interpreter. But in 1981, there they were again, with a new lineup and approach to prog. The lineup was as follows: from the previous one remained (obviously) Robert Fripp, guitar, and the octopus Bill Bruford, drums. And here come the new members, both Americans: Robert Steven Belew, alias Adrian Belew, guitarist, singer, and lyricist, who played with the Talking Heads and also with Frank Zappa; and finally Tony Levin, stick bass and backing vocals, namely Peter Gabriel's favorite bassist. The approach has totally changed: in fact, it is based on the two guitarists, who have different qualities: technical and virtuosic (Fripp), whimsical and distorted (Belew). The relationship is based on the interaction between guitars, which takes the form of: dialogic network, "Call and Response" dialogues, overlaps, and recordings.
And now, after this boring sermon, let's talk about the album: with a stick intro, here begins "Elephant Talk", in which the skill of the new lineup is already shown, with a very frenetic piece, in which Belew even imitates the elephants' trumpets! After "Elephant Talk", it's the turn of "Frame By Frame", in my opinion the most beautiful piece on the album; it starts immediately with a guitar dialogue, in which Fripp starts in a virtuosic fugue and Belew plays in his usual style, then the piece becomes calmer and more melodic, only to return as in the beginning. The waters calm down afterwards with "Matte Kudasai", a beautiful and relaxing slow piece, in which Belew's particular voice predominates. The delirium resumes with "Indiscipline", which begins with a chaotic ballad in Arabic style, then becomes a Zappa-style piece (you can hear Belew's influence, eh?). The delirium continues with "Thela Hun Ginjeet" (anagram of Heat in the Jungle), a very hypnotic and tribal piece. At the right moment, along comes the instrumental "The Sheltering Sky", a beautiful piece, but in my opinion, overrated: obviously, Fripp performs very well, but people confuse the terms "Frippertronics" and "Soundscapes": there's not even one in the piece! If you want to know what they really are, go to http://www.youtube.com, search for one of the two and then you'll discover it. Sorry for the rant... Finally, the title track, another instrumental piece based solely on the guitar network established between Fripp and Belew: beautiful, but somewhat boring, however, it ends very well. Undoubtedly, it is not a masterpiece, Discipline, but in my opinion, it is the most beautiful album of King Crimson of the '80s.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Elephant Talk (04:42)
Talk, it's only talk
Arguments, agreements, advice, answers,
Articulate announcements
It's only talk
Talk, it's only talk
Babble, burble, banter, bicker bicker bicker
Brouhaha, balderdash, ballyhoo
It's only talk
Back talk
Talk talk talk, it's only talk
Comments, cliches, commentary, controversy
Chatter, chit-chat, chit-chat, chit-chat,
Conversation, contradiction, criticism
It's only talk
Cheap talk
Talk, talk, it's only talk
Debates, discussions
These are words with a D this time
Dialog, duologue, diatribe,
Dissention, declamation
Double talk, double talk
Talk, talk, it's all talk
Too much talk
Small talk
Talk that trash
Expressions, editorials, explanations, exclamations, exaggerations
It's all talk
Elephant talk? Elephant talk? Elephant talk!
02 Frame by Frame (05:10)
Frame by frame (Suddenly)
Death by drowning (from within)
In your, in your analysis.
Step by step (Suddenly)
Doubt by numbers (from within)
In your, in your analysis.
03 Matte Kudasai (03:48)
Still, by the window pane
Pain, like the rain that's falling
She waits in the air
Matte Kudasai
She sleeps in a chair
In her sad America
When, when was the night so long
Long, like the notes I'm sending
She waits in the air
Matte Kudasai
She sleeps in a chair
In her sad America
04 Indiscipline (04:33)
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.
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.
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 break it down,
It remains consistant.
I wish you were here to see it.
I like it.
05 Thela Hun Ginjeet (06:26)
Thela hun ginjeet thela hun ginjeet
Qua tari mei thela hun ginjeet
Qua tari mei heat in the jungle street
"Well, first of all,
I couldn't even see his face.
I couldn't see his face.
He was holding a gun in his hand.
Umm... I was thinking...
This is a dangerous place..
This is a dangerous place.."
Thela hun ginjeet thela hun ginjeet.
Qua tari mei thela hun ginjeet.
Qua tari mei heat in the jungle street.
I said, "I'm nervous as hell from this stuff.
I thought those guys were going to kill me for sure.
They ganged up on me like that.
I couldn't believe it.
Look, I'm still shakin'.
Weird.
There out in the streets like that.
It's a dangerous place.
It's a dangerous place."
So, suddenly, these two guys appear in front of me.
They stopped.
Real aggressive.
Start at me, you know.
"What's that?" "What's that on that tape?"
"What do you got there?"
I said, "huh?"
They said, "What are you talking into that for?"
I said, "It's just a tape, you know"
"Well play it for me"
I said "oh, no"
I put it off as long as I could.
And finally they turned it on, you know
They grabbed it from me.
Took it away from me.
Turned it on.
And it said, "He held a gun in his hand. This is a dangerous place."
They said, "What dangerous place?" "What gun?" "You're a policeman!"
And the deeper I talked, the worse I got into it.
I talked, I told him... I said, "Look man, I'm not talkin'...."
It went on forever.
Anyway, I finally unbuttoned my shirt, and said,
"look, look... I'm in this band, you know, I'm in this band you know,
and we're makin' a recording, you know.
It's about New York City, it's about crime in the streets..."
The explanation was going nowhere, but,
Finally, they just kinda let me go, I don't know why.
So I walk around the corner,
and I'm like shakin' like a leaf,
and I thought, "This is a dangerous place once again, you know."
Who should appear, but two policeman.
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Other reviews
By Egli
Personally, I still cannot, after about 2 years of listening, figure out what genre the album belongs to (other than rock, of course), but it’s still excellent.
An album, in short, maybe not exactly a masterpiece, but definitely a beautiful and recommendable one (in my opinion).
By Emme.
The new sound perfectly blends progressive rock with the strong New Wave influence of those years.
"Discipline" was not only important in the context it was found but also gained value for the strong influence it gave in the future.
By Giammotto
Discipline is never an end in itself, only a means to an end.
Never has Fripp written a piece so complex and yet seemingly so simple.
By Caspasian
The discipline necessary to train for the "jump," and the work is necessarily rigorous.
He gives and demands deep involvement... "let's dissolve in the shadow..."
