b o b

This album seems like a stepping stone on the way to the ProjeKcts that would follow it. There are some nice moments on THRaKaTTaK, some beautifully atmospheric stuff and some bone-crunchingly heavy stuff. But it all seems too disjointed and fractured (no pun intended). I think part of the problem may have been that all these improvisations were based on the song "Thrak", which (IMHO) isn't all that interesting a song to begin with. The music found on the various ProjeKct discs is much better - I'd recommend someone looking for Crimson improv start there. review by Bob Eichler — undated —

s e a n

In King Crimson's long history they never put an album out quite like this one. Consisting of eight improvisations tacked together in a seemingly random manner, THRaKaTTaK is not for the faint of heart. There are moments of great violence followed by lengthy soundscapes and sparse percussion. There are a couple of moments that might sound somewhat avant, but on the whole this doesn't quite make it up there with the mindset of RIO. It's still rooted in Fripp and Crim's ethos, which precludes the kind of alien quality most really good avant-prog seems to have. Nevertheless, this is a release that is worth exploring for Crim fans who would like to hear something different. On the one hand, you have to admire the bravery of the band to release something like this at this point in their career. At times they approach the searing success of their 70s improv efforts, except from a less accessible end. On the other hand, it all seems to get rather cluttered in parts; just because the reality of improv is often 30 minutes to get a few parts that are keepers, doesn't mean we have to hear the whole 30 minutes on CD. Fans of King Crimson may want to be wary, but should check this one out. I feel it may appeal more to Cuneiform-followers, however. review by Sean McFee — undated —

h e a t h e r

The King Crimson studio composition "THRAK" is a strange musical beast. It consists of three basic musical sections: two outer sections and one inner section. The two outer sections consist of an immense number of distorted guitars, basses, and drums playing different "thrak" (that's what the sound sounds like) rhythms all at the same time, creating a shocking, loud cacophony. The middle section is ambient Soundscapes (sound like clouds) and a wild solo that Fripp plays with the very strange sustainer guitar sound (sounds like a laserbeam). On the tour for the Thrak album, the 6-member Crim would play the thrakking section of "THRAK", then launch off into extended and wild improvisations using the basic ingredients from the middle section of "THRAK". This album is a collection of those improvisations. On these improvs, the band members also go crazy with piano-sample guitar rhythms and very dynamic and dominant drumming and percussion. Actually what this music reminds me of is a bunch of giants wandering through mists and stomping on things, and occasionally getting in laser-sword fights. Along the way, there is a percussion accompanist that thinks it would be funny to score it all with marimba. review by Heather Mackenzie — 2-28-03 —

b r a n d o n

Refreshingly non-commercial, and very difficult to review. The music here is extremely challenging, and it takes repeated close listens to get anything out of it. I let it play in the background for a while, listening idly while focusing on something else - reading, playing a game, etc. Eventually I started picking things out, and then I began listening with my full attention. Things began hitting me, over and over. Fripp's "piano solo" (on guitar, of course) in "The Slaughter of the Innocents". The incredibly demented opening of "THRaKaTTaK I". The amazing synchronization in "This Night Wounds Time". There are tons of juicy tidbits to be found here. Despite all this, the improvs aren't nearly up to the level of the '73-74 band; there is less coherency; more tension and less release. Whatever you do, don't approach THRaKaTTaK like you would a normal album; in the words of someone on Elephant Talk, don't buy it if you have a linear conception of music. In sum, I'd disagree with the assertion that there's nothing of value here, but getting to the worthy stuff may take more effort than is worth it. It all depends on your point of view. review by Brandon Wu — undated —