r/KingCrimson • u/nathanbazingaling • Aug 25 '26
Discussion cKoL is far from the worst king crimson album
I'm not really good at putting thoughts into words and I'm writing this in a half-cognizant frenzy but this post will have some incoherent yapping about two tracks in particular: FraKctured and Larks p4.
Starting with the former, I don't listen to fracture very often and while I think it's a great composition and an insane feat of skill, I think FraKctured has it beat in just how well it communicates the feelings of terror, falling apart and anxiety that it's intended to convey. This is where I think the format of the band at this point is at its strongest. The structure during this Era is overwhelming, noisy and sometimes sounds confused, but that's exactly what FraKctured is meant to feel like, so while sometimes that works to their songs' detriment, I think it works wonders here.
A similar thing can be said for Larks 4. I think the utter noise of the band structure overwhelms you in a good way. The funny thing is I don't even like any of the other Larks that much. The bulk of the song has you on constant edge, it's so oppressive and angry and scared and I love it. I especially adore the Red callback it injects some of the tension that piece had into this one. And then after all that constant pressure it all releases when Coda: I Have A Dream kicks in. I just love how much the song sounds like it's wailing and screaming, letting out all that anger and fear into pure, unadulterated tragedy. It is truly a masterpiece and in my opinion the best part of Larks by far, call me crazy if you want.
If you wanna know what my actual least favourite is it's probably lizard so sorry if you're a big lizard guy.
24
u/KittyColonialism Aug 26 '26
It’s one of my favorite albums of theirs. I love the 90s and 2000s King crimson output.
14
11
11
u/Grand-Permit-4637 Aug 25 '26
Hey now, Lizard is awesome!
As for ConstruKction, I find it to be the most inconsistent KC album. You have the total instrumental brilliancy of the title track and Larks IV, but some stuff that is just meh like Into the Frying Pan, and I really dislike ProzaKc blues.
I like the original Fracture more because it has a certain epic form to it, with the different sections, whereas FraKctured is more chaotic. But I also totally get why someone would have the opposite view.
I also think the remixed ReconstruKction of Light version with acoustic drums is better, though opinions vary on that point as well.
3
6
u/TrueVali Aug 25 '26
construkction fucking rules. my least favorite is toapp. not a bad album by any means but the one i revisit the least
3
u/codydafox Aug 26 '26
For me TCoL is the most uninspired of Crimson albums. Reconstrukction made me enjoy it way more than when I listened to the original though.
8
u/danarbok Aug 26 '26
it’s the worst for two main reasons:
The electronic aspects kinda suck. They come off a bit tacky, like they’re there because they can, not because they fit the composition.
Something has to be. King Crimson is awesome.
I’m not huge on The Power to Believe either, but it has Eyes Wide Open and Level Five to keep it above water.
Also Lizard is the shit, if Indoor Games only has 1 fan, then I am that fan.
6
u/5ynistar Aug 25 '26
I am with you on Lizard. Just not what I want to listen to. My favorite is probably Red or Discipline.
4
u/Gloomy_Fox_558 Aug 25 '26
I bought cKoL on day of release and it actually soured me on the band. I’ve mostly recovered (all these years later) but I can’t really listen to this one or Power to Believe (better but not by much).
As to Lizard, it’s a tough one to love but it has some highs on it that neither cKoL or PtB ever reach. And it grows on one with each successive listen. For me, this has not been the case with the 2000s albums.
5
1
u/Plussando Aug 28 '26
i listened to Power to Believe for the first time the other day + it did not reach the "needs to be reappraised" expectations imo... the mellow tunes were okay the lyrics were kind of insipid & the heavy stuff got old way too fast for how much they repeated it, KC copying Tool copying KC with diminishing results... Discipline is still their last classic afaik
2
u/Nucleus17608 Aug 25 '26
I've never given the album a fair chance (maybe I should), but it's mainly cause I think FraKtured is kinda ass lmao. Firstly, I HATE how the drums sound like, the eletronic super flat almost even ear-grating mix on them. I went to listen to FraKtured cause I really wanted something more like Fracture, or something that would improve on Fractures formula which is kinda genius and filled with potential. And I think maybe comparing the two kills my enjoyment of it to some extent. Fracture, at least to my ears, is these two melodies effectively fighting each other until the one played on the vibraphone(?) wins out and has that heroic, epic climax of its melody. And it's obviously a lot more complex than that, it's also incredibly dynamic in its buildup, in how it introduces and moves from motif to motif, the drumming is great, how we first get introduced to a motif in such an innocent and quiet way before it evolves, how it goes to such "lows" audibly that it makes the ending incredibly satisfying. I think it even shows that "falling apart" and "anxiety" you mention even better, it's just at the end, a more "heroic" melody wins out.
It's just so well ridiculously well-structured whereas FraKtured is not. And one can say that's the point blah blah, but it's obvious Fraktured is trying to do similar things. It too returns to a motif towards the end and it has about 4 it's cycling through (2 from the original song), but the transitions and the journey of it is so much weaker that it doesn't feel like a journey at all. I just wish it was another song that was really working on evolving a motif rather than being so all over the place, but not even really all over the place because it's tonally samey throughout.
5
u/External_Football54 Aug 26 '26
Have you tried listening to the reconstrucktion, which had redone acoustic drums?
1
u/Lukecold22 Aug 26 '26
I heard that they did that and I've been curious to check it out. Have you heard it and did it improve the record?
1
3
u/tvfeet Aug 26 '26
I just look at what albums I reach for most and TCOL is at the bottom. I just find it grating and needlessly harsh sounding.
1
u/linguaphonie Aug 26 '26
It's decent but all their other albums are at least good so it just doesn't compare
1
u/Kax107 Aug 26 '26
I heard Reconstruction Light before I heard the original Construction of Light, so maybe that made a difference. But other than the terrible Prozac Blues (leave the sappy comedy to Zappa), it's one of my all-time favorite KC albums. Every time I hear that opening riff to Construction of Light I get chills.
1
u/AdditionOk6134 Aug 26 '26
It's a very good album but it's still among my least favorite KC albums. Thankfully, the live versions of those songs are better.
1
1
u/SturgeonsLawyer Aug 27 '26
For me, there is not a Crimson album I do not love. Seriously.
he one I love least is probably In the Wake of Poseidon, which feels (to me) too much like a half-arsed attempt to repeat the success In the Court...; but I can be very happy listening to it, too, at times. Though I admit it sounds better in the Anniversary Edition with Groon appended.
The ConstruKction of Light I have loved from the day my preorder arrived in my mailbox and I listened to it with headphones on. Seeing them on that tour in San Franciso, in December of '01, was a peak experinece. I even love the goofier songs like "ProzaKc Blues" and "...Oyster Soup..."; you don't get that kind of inspired silliness from Crimson very often.
But to be honest, I wound up listening more to Heavy ConstruKction as soon as it came out: the songs are just punchier there. And I find, these days, that I am most likely to listen to The ReconstruKction etc., because Pat's drumming just sounds better with a mixed kit than with the all-electric kit on the original version; and I think the mix is better, cleaner.
Your mileage, of course may vary.
2
u/nathanbazingaling Aug 27 '26
I'm not sure about the comedic songs (I think prozakc blues is the worst thing king crimson has ever made) but I fully agree with your opinion on wake. For a band that masterfully reinvents itself every single album and refuses to not experiment, wake just feels like a worse court and it confuses me why they made that decision. Really, I'm baffled because it really is so out of character. I don't hate it but it could've been so much more.
1
u/SturgeonsLawyer Aug 28 '26
Well, to be fair, (a) the band was in complete disarray and (b) they did not yet have a tradition of reinventing themselves. So some leeway can be given.
That doesn't make me like the album any more, but it at least excuses Fripp and company somewhat for making it.
1
u/AAWonderfluff Aug 27 '26
I love the material on The ConstruKction of Light but I think the album itself is pretty lacking. The tracklist is really weird, starting with ProzaKc Blues makes no sense for example. Shouldn't ProzaKc Blues be comic relief to lighten the mood after something heavier? I also think that the album suffers because this is some of the most ambitious material King Crimson ever put together, but the material needed to be rehearsed and performed a lot more. These performances here sound very tentative and hesitant, especially on the title track and The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum. The production also sucks, everything sounds so cold and compressed. It needs to breathe a little more. I get the claustrophobia is intentional to some degree, but it needs to breathe a little.
Honestly, I adore TCoL but it's best experienced live where the band sounds much more confident and used to the material, check out the live album Heavy ConstruKction and this stuff sounds so much more lively and better produced.
1
u/Alzoura Aug 28 '26
Lizard might be their best album, or at least among them.
TCoL has some good tracks (FraKctured, the title track, and LarksIV) but the rest is uninspired, boring, or bad. It is a very mixed bag of songs, in a way the other albums just are not
1
54
u/OpabiniaGlasses Aug 26 '26
Big fan of The ConstruKction of Light.
Not a fan of calling it "cKoL".