Back to the theme of the Prog influence/infiltration on Post Punk. Who better to start with than thee arch-prog experimentalist on the six string,Robert Fripp.
As a teenager, brought up on glam,a bit of prog and the new wave, I always wondered who this smart looking gentleman was who was always pictured in the music press. One was very impressed at how out of place he looked, like a stockbroker who'd accidentally stumbled into a music store. He was often seen with Eno, who used to be in Roxy Music,so one knew who he was, therefore the conclusion of that was that this Fripp chap couldn't be all bad. I had heard of King Crimson,but didn't know he was in them, so hearing this unusual take on rock music was a revelation to someone who thought The Ruts were a bit too good on their instruments for their own good.
Fripp,was and still is, my favourite Guitarist, and the most 'white' by far.You won't find Fripp relying on Blues licks to flesh out a tune.Unusual time signatures, and fractured riffs, coupled with some ambient sustain driven Frippertronics, make his style hard to pin down for more than five minutes.And the fact that he insists on playing while sitting on a stool,scores the highest anti-rock points currently available.
This album is a kind of Prog super group album, with that other great forward moving dark-progger Peter Hammill of Van Der Graff Generator contributing some vocals and lyrics, and various Genesis chums Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel contributing the stuff they do best.
There is but one faux-pas included here.....Darryl Hall!!!!..but we can overlook that can't we?
Of all the progressive rock bands,it was probably these luminaries who absorbed the Punk message the best,and produced something new from it,in sync with the rest of the Post Punk/prog brigade.
This era of Fripp,also produced one of the great images of all time, up there with Doctor Feelgood, and the Magic Band.
Tracklist:
A1 Preface 1:15
A2 You Burn Me Up I'm A Cigarette 2:23
A3 Breathless 4:41
A4 Disengage 2:46
A5 North Star 3:06
A6 Chicago 2:12
A7 NY3 2:16
A8 Mary 2:06
B1 Exposure 4:25
B2 Häaden Two 2:53
B3 Urban Landscape 2:35
B4 I May Not Have Had Enough Of Me But I've Had Enough Of You 3:50
B5 First Inaugural Address To The I.A.C.E. Sherborne House 0:03
B6 Water Music I 1:27
B7 Here Comes The Flood 4:01
B8 Water Music II 4:16
B9 Postscript 0:39
Bonus Track:
18 Exposure (Alt Take)
19 Mary (Alt Take)
20 Disengage (Alt Take)
21 Chicago (Alt Take)
22 NY3 (Alt Take)