BEAT Neon Heart Disease Live In Los Angeles Progressive Voyages Review PV085

BEAT Neon Heart Disease Live In Los Angeles - Progressive Voyages Review PV085

BEAT are a curiosity for certain, In that they are really in essence a revamped continuation of King Crimson that has been approved to revisit the early 1980's incarnation of that particular band. As they revisit one of the more commercially successful periods of their not unchartered history.

Robert Fripp's endorsement was crucial in taking this project from the drawing board to the concert hall as the musicians involved do not wish to sully the fine and important legacy that King Crimson has carefully sought to curate and maintain its integrity.

The project is the brainchild of former Crimson members Adrian Belew and Tony Levin who both were a part of that 1980’s version of the band, with Robert Fripp declining to return to the stage and Bill Bruford having retired from live performance (although he has recently returned to the live arena as part of the Pete Roth Trio, which has re—ignited his passion for performing once more). This means they had to recruit another guitarist to cover Robert Fripp’s angular and complex guitar lines and a drummer to replicate Bill Brufords percussion part. To this end they recruited modern highly acclaimed guitar hero and ex Frank Zappa musician Steve Vai, for the drum seat they added Danny Carey (of Tool).

This is of course a revisitation and is this bands interpretation of music that appeared on the original albums, Discipline, Beat and Three Of A Perfect Pair but with the additional benefits that both time elapsed and technological advances have made to redraft this music for the 21st century.

So Is it any good you might rightfully ask ?

Well I have to confess that I have a difficult relationship with the music of King Crimson in the main. I know of their legacy and their place and importance in the history of progressive rock music and I have tried on many occasions to really seek to understand the music, however I find their music very dense and this means I have struggled to really connect with it and embrace the music entirely. Certainly I am not a big fan of their music whilst i acknowledge it’s importance, it tends to leave me largely unimpressed in the main. Apart from the track Starless from the Red album, which I really do find very fine indeed.

Initially I had the young person’s guide to King Crimson on double vinyl, I later upgraded this to a compact disc version, I had Vroom on cd and then acquired the 21st century guide to King Crimson cd box set volume 1. I also had the 21st century schizoid band cds but in the main each failed to connect deeply.

This album is different though and after several spins and watching the accompanying Blu Ray disc of the show which enables you to see what is happening on stage has actually made the music understandable to me for the first time, this is a very satisfying thing. I have friends who rave about this era of the King Crimson legacy so finally I can see what the fuss is about with tracks like Neal, Jack and Me finally begin to click, also you can sense an element of the music that Talking Heads made in the same period shared some similarities in the sound they were making, This in itself is something of a revelation to me after years of exclusion from the King Crimson club, finally at last I can begin to see what they are all so enthused about.

OK we may not be best buddies yet however, at least there is a “way In” of sorts now. For that we have this very solid team of Steve Vai, Danny Carey, Adrian Belew and Tony Levin to thank.

I do find the longer tracks on the second half of the album have the biggest impact. Indiscipline, The Sheltering Sky and Red in particular make the biggest impression on me here, although the opening salvo of Neurotica, Neal Jack and Me, Heartbeat and Sartori In Tangier are also very fine too.

In short the whole this thing really does encourage me to try once more to seek to embrace the music more fully and in doing so I hope to gain an insight into the ethos and back catalogue of King Crimson for myself.

I feel that in this instance my perseverance has finally paid dividends, I suggest that this might be the case for others, if so, then this fine set might help you address those concerns for yourself.

Info here:Neon Heat Disease Live https://share.google/xrsECw0FQpub2oAUN

Author John Wenlock-Smith.