Thrak

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-04-20 rating:
Midlife Crisis?
The first thing I noticed about King Crimson's eleventh studio LP s is how surprisingly brutal, heavy and most of all inventive these rock granddads sound. It's astonishing to think how old these guys were when they came together for "Thrak"...you've got Robert Fripp - 49, Adrian Belew - 46, Tony Levin - 49, Trey Gunn - 35, Bill Bruford - 46 and Pat Mastelotto - 40. Supremely old in relation to the 90s rock scene - yet they sound more inspired, more fresh and inventive than 99% of the material being churned out at this time.

While "Thrak" is not considered a metal album, it is undoubtedly brutal and retains a "heavy" feel without ever cranking the guitar distortion. This is partly down to the "double trio" line-up consisting of two drummers (Bruford and Mastelotto), two bassists (Levin and Gunn) and two guitarists (Fripp and Belew). The resulting sound is immense. Just one listen to the bewildering "Vrooom" gives a sense of what "Thrak" is all about. Classic Fripp guitar melodies and riffs, complex, jazzy and intertwining drum patterns and thundering baselines. As I mentioned "Thrak" is not a metal album, but to me this sounds as (if not more) brooding, intense and relevant when compared to the majority of metal acts around today. Then there's "B'boom" and the title track, the former being a drummers heaven with a duet solo that builds to a bewildering, syncopated groove. This gives way to the scary onslaught of the title track - evolved around blasts of intense guitars and difficult rhythms, the song sounds more like modern metal gods Meshuggah than anything King Crimson has ever put out.

Amidst this mayhem, "Thrak" also showcases King Crimson at their classic rock best. "Dinosaur" sounds like 70s prog rock given a twisted revamp. The verse flows and eases, giving way to a booming chorus in which Belew croons "I'm a dinosaur, somebody's digging my bones". The song shows how KC fear being overtaken in the music world, and this would certainly explain the inventive and heavy sound elsewhere. "People" and "Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream" are both funky rock numbers, fully equipped with off-beat grooves and catchy choruses. Both songs also continue a theme of social satire, of cynically stepping back and viewing the world, with "People" attacking our single-minded visions and lack of wider appreciation, and "Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream" focusing on the mundane and pointless. "Walking on Air" and "One Time" showcase KC at their delicate best, two superb ballads that would fit right in with their classic 60s and 70s material.

"Thrak" sees a band of old-timers, of rock granddads, pushing their sound to incredible and unexpected new places. At times harsh and chaotic, sometimes downright heavy and brutal, "Thrak" is the band's most adventurous album. Of course, they always come back to their classic rock roots, and this really sets off "Thrak" as a wonderfully eclectic yet balanced album. Highly recommended.

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review by: date: 2005-11-08 rating:
The pivot in KC's career
I didn't even know King Crimson still existed when I bought this 1995 album - it was a complete surprise to find it on sale. At the beginning and end are two heavy instrumentals in the same style as "Red" but with two guitars, two basses and two drummers. Although they are similar to "Red", "Red" is really a genre in itself and deserves a revisit. (You will find more of the same type of composition, but of a more complex type, on the 2000 and 2003 albums, "The ConstruKction of Light" and "The Power To Believe" respectively.) There are also two exquisite ballads harking back to "Matte Kudusai" and two rather more conventional funky rock songs. To some extent the other tracks are background filler, but as a whole the album has a very strong, dark presence. The two later albums mentioned above are even better, featuring as they do some of the best guitar and Stick playing ever, but do suffer slightly from the absence of the supremely on-the-beat Bill Bruford. If you like this album, you must also get the contemporary DVD "Deja Vrooom" which is absolute heaven for any fan of KC or rock guitar and composition in general. "Thrak" marks a three-way turning point between the "Larks' Tongues" band, the lighter "Discipline" line-up and the heaviest-of-all sound of the 21st century Crim.


review by: date: 2005-06-09 rating:
Absolutely essential
One of the top three King Crimson albums - up there with Court of the Crimson King and Larks Tongues. At times frighteningly powerful, there is an edge of menace running through the album, with gentler interludes. Musically complex, even when the themes are relatively straightforward, the album proves a challenge for the first couple of hearings, even to die-hard Crimson followers.

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