Robert Fripp
Exposure

THE REVIEW

A precious document. Fragmented notes, experiments, songs built on ideas kept in the archive for years.

This is roughly how the solo album sounds, the first, of one of the greatest progressive artists of all time and a seminal figure in the evolution of guitar techniques.

At first glance, everything seems overflowing, with as many as 18 tracks, traversing a variety of often contrasting moods, which dress the proverbial ineffability of the artist. This strikes and disorients because the opening, entrusted to "Breathless", is built on the rhythms and riffs of "Red", mystifying the idea of what will face the listener in the subsequent tracks; bewildering.

"Chicago" and "Disengage" are two tracks sung by Peter Hammill, who here uses all the tonal harshness at his disposal, with Fripp engaged in phrasing, stuttering, dissonances, with multiple overdubs aiming to ensure the listener's disorientation.

The title track is pure madness, a voice spelling out the letters composing the word "exposure" robotically and throughout the track, while a woman screams incessantly, in contrast with the funky and monotonous riff. Trying to give an explanation of such a sound document, Sir Robert's position regarding the media, fame, becomes very clear, and it is a woman who screams against the entangling, monotonous trap of conformity.

The album continues through monologues punctuated by a granite guitar until reaching the frippian locus amenus, the gorgeous ballad sung by Peter Gabriel, the onomatopoeic "Here Comes The Flood" and the tongue-twister "I May Not Have Had Enough Of Me But I've Had Enough Of You", which is less successful. Slowdown for another excellent piece, dreamy singing, and a softly lit atmosphere, framed by a beautiful text, it is "Mary".

The assortment of tracks showcases its variety with the rockabilly of "North Star", the acidic rock and distressing "NY3" apologizing at the work's final part. After two spoken tracks, it concludes with a quartet of small masterpieces, the reverberations of "Urban Landscape", the guitar-violin of "Water Music" parts one and two, ambient music based on frippertronics, placid and jovial contrasted by a voice talking about the catastrophic effects of floods. The last track is a fiery punk 'n' roll with 50s piano, sung by an Elvis on acid. Here disappears the famous shyness of the guitarist.

This work follows the two albums in collaboration with Brian Eno, after the second disbandment of King Crimson. It's incredible to note how many elements are present that will constitute the group's third phase, that of the stellar quartet Belew-Bruford-Levin-Fripp, the general rehearsal for the subsequent physical act of a genius' thought.

A tasty preview and an hour of great music.