b o b

There's not a lot I can add to Heather's review (below), other than to say that if you're a King Crimson fan, then this album's pretty much a must-have. The live versions of songs from the ConstruKction of Light album are generally better than their studio counterparts, and the improv tracks are also good. I'll take this set's disc three collection of live improvs over THRaKaTTaK any day. Disc two includes a concert video which can be watched using Microsoft's Windows Media Player software. Unfortunately the band idiotically decided to password protect the video, and you have to go to their web site to get the password. Of course the web page is no longer there. You can get around this by double clicking the "video.htm" file in the disc's "data" folder (or the kcrome.asf file in that folder) instead of the "click_me.htm" file in the disc's root directory. That used to work on my PC, but something must have changed since I first bought the album, because now I get a "codec error" and the video plays with no audio. Ah, the wonders of technology. If I remember correctly, the video's nothing to write home about anyway - too dark and distant to see much of anything. But if anyone remembers the password, share it with us here at Ground and Sky. When this album first came out I hesitated about buying it because I figured I already had nine CDs worth of live Crimson, and didn't need another three. Fortunately I found a used copy (that ended up costing as much as a new copy, but that's another story) and now I wish I'd bought this earlier, instead of ConstruKction of Light and THRaKaTTaK. review by Bob Eichler — 1-21-05 —

h e a t h e r

King Crimson’s Heavy ConstruKction is one of my favorite live albums. No kidding. And it’s all on account of Disc 3, the collection of stage improvs. I almost never listen to Discs 1 and 2, preferring the cleanly produced studio takes. The Heavy ConstrucKtion improvs are quite different from the THRaKaTTaK improvs of 1995. The improvs here are closer to normal “rock” music than the freeform sounds of THRaKaTTaK. In general, the individual improvs are shorter, more focused, with stronger and more consistent themes. Stylistically, all tracks are rhythmic ­ some beastly, some almost in ambient house style, all layered on top with guitars. Speaking of the guitars: the team of Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp offer up their most experimental playing, featuring wild textures, wild guitar effects, wild samples, and lots of dissonance mixed with almost-melodies. Pat Mastelotto is a real monster here, with an array of whacking styles that range from a highly industrialized take on drum ‘n bass, to a more ambient house drumming style, whichever feels appropriate for the improv. He is a real master of sound here, with drum sounds that come out of a monster movie: pows, whacks, bangs, thunder crashes, gun shots, deep dark rumbles, heartbeats, all manner of crazy sounds, sometimes even carefully placed silent stretches for drama. On “Thrush” he even breaks out the crazed rattle of the tambourine. And Trey Gunn provides some funky, almost Primus-like basslines, when he can be heard. He gets the chance to shine with a lovely solo during the “Deception of the Thrush”. The first few tracks are beastly rhythmic rockers with a funk-like sense in the bass work. Around tracks five and six, the Crim veer into a more exclusively techno/drum ‘n bass territory, where Pat is the highlight. The middle part of the album is a special place, one I never expected from the Crim. Here they delve into ambient-house like rhythms overlaid with immense guitar fantasias, delving into a surreal, psychedelic territory that I never would have expected from them. There is the surreal beauty of “Beautiful Rainbow”, with its synthesized bamboo flute like sounds, deep chant like effects, and prismatic guitar playing so elusive and textured it is difficult to pinpoint the actual notes. “7 Teas” is the poison underbelly of this experience. Then, there is the voyage into complete darkness, with tracks like “Tomorrow Never Knew Thela”, “Uboo”, “Deception of the Thrush”, and “The Arena of Terror”. “Tomorrow Never Knew Thela” consists of what seems like two sinister radio stations fighting it out over a beat ripped from the Beatles’ “Tomorrow Never Knows”. My favorite is “Uboo”, which starts with subsonic heartbeats and builds into a juggernaut with weapon-like rhythms and skronking guitars. Next up is “Deception of the Thrush”, fairly similar to the versions that ended up on The ProjeKcts box and The Power to Believe album. I love this unique “tune”, and appreciate all the different versions. Finally, we have “Arena of Terror”, with the mad tambourine and the theremin-like guitar solo, with delirious crowd echoes mixed in. In my opinion, this is one of the more essential Crimson releases, but I am biased towards the improvisational side of the band. I find a bit more adventure here than what was on the last couple studio albums. review by Heather Mackenzie — 6-25-03 —