King Crimson-Beat (1982)

For King Crimson leader Robert Fripp, recording a new album after the astonishing "Discipline" of 1981 would be no easy task. In a way, history was repeating itself from ten years earlier, when in 1970 they released "In the Wake of Poseidon", a massive and monumental album that was overshadowed by its predecessor, "In the Court of the Crimson King", While "Discipline" showcased the group's new and innovative side, venturing into pop and new wave under the influence of complex and progressive sounds, "Beat" saw Adrian Belew's influences take center stage, bringing the band's sound closer to the funk-pop-rock style of his previous band, Talking Heads. Despite not displaying the majesty and compositional genius of their best albums, this release still contains some highly redeeming elements, such as the dynamic instrumental "Sartori in Tangier" and the frenetic "Neurotica", tracks brimming with polyrhythmic guitars courtesy of Belew and Fripp and a precise and complex rhythm section, executed by two true masters: Bill Bruford and Tony Levin. The aforementioned references to Talking Heads are present in the catchy "Neil and Jack and Me" and "Heartbeat", while the haunting "Two Hands" and the sophisticated "Waiting Man" demonstrate that on this ninth album, the band remained deeply committed to creating enigmatic, captivating, and avant-garde music, despite the backlash it received from a large portion of their more orthodox fans, who dismissed it as a mere watered-down copy of the previous album, "Discipline".