BEAT grew out of an amalgam between former King Crimson members Adrian Belew, guitar, and Tony Levin, bass, plus Steve Vai and Danny Carey, replacing Robert Fripp and Bill Bruford on guitar and drums respectively, to engage in a creative interpretation of three of the more iconic King Crimson albums: Discipline, Beat and Three of a Perfect Pair. This was taken on a lengthy tour of the US and South America, and BEAT ‘live’ is the outcome. As Belew says, “Tony, Steve, Danny and I are committed to honouring Crimson’s legacy at every show”.
Fripp had reformed King Crimson in 1981, initially under the name Discipline, bringing in Levin, Bruford and Belew, and the result was an album, released as King Crimson, with an emphasis on some quite intricate compositions. Beat, influenced by ‘beatnik’ author Jack Kerouac, and Three of a Perfect Pair, followed, and they helped ensure Crimson’s rep as being one of the more interesting and influential bands on the scene.
King Crimson’s early-mid 1980s trilogy of albums are regarded as being a classic period for the band, with the detailed and intense playing of four virtuoso musicians being a contributing influence to the evolution of sub-genres, like ‘math rock.’ None of the three albums ever came anywhere close to being called ‘easy listening,’ and they were never played on the radio, but all contained some brilliant and very highly sophisticated prog rock, coupled with amazing levels of musical dexterity.
At times, the music on this album veers heavily off the beaten track and comes across as sounding something like experimental or innovative, and what they perform either captures the imagination and draws you in, or leaves you behind. Musicians of this calibre, playing in a band like King Crimson, start from the basis of ‘do you have a musical sense of adventure?’ which they demonstrate on longer pieces like ‘Industry,’ ‘The Sheltering Sky’ and ‘Larks Tongue in Aspic, Part 3,’ with some quite epic and spectacular playing. But they’re equally adept at shorter pieces like ‘Heartbeat’ and ‘Man With An Open Heart’. One thing these albums prove is that anyone playing in King Crimson is capable of playing anything.
BEAT ‘live’ fluctuates between being quirky prog and occasionally beautifully melodic, but it requires the listener’s full attention. This is not background music!
