The Album Review Club - Week #194 (page 1303) - Ants From Up There - Black Country, New Road

Bill Walker said:
I don't think Fripp ever said that, according to BB Fripp said

"I'm proposing a band, and it has you in it, and it has a crazed avant-garde, improvising drummer called Jamie Muir, and it has a violin player [David Cross] and the best young bass player in London called John Wetton. Do you want to be in it?'"

Read More: The Day Bill Bruford Announced His Stunning Departure From Yes | https://ultimateclassicrock.com/bill-bruford-quits-yes/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
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Interesting Bill.
I cannot remember my source but I think it was either the “Close to the Edge” book by Chris Welch or the “Yes Story Dvd”.
 
OB1 said:
I had tickets for my daughters and me for Hyde Park. May still be required to take them is she tours here in not too distant.
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mate of mine went to see her at the etihad a few years back. said it was incredible, although it looked like the GDP of a small country had been spent on the stage design
 
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@bennyboy @journolud @crublue1

Anybody fancy jumping the queue and stepping up to the podium this Tuesday? I've left a couple of messages for @denislawsbackheel but so far have had no response. @GoatersLeftShin will be ready for Tuesday 7th but we could be left hanging on Tuesday without an album to critique! Not a good look for Week 10.

I do have a spare album in the torpedo tube, kindly submitted by one of our regular posters but as he's already had a crack, I'd prefer to move along the queue until everybody has had a go before we have round 2.
 
RobMCFC said:
@bennyboy @journolud @crublue1

Anybody fancy jumping the queue and stepping up to the podium this Tuesday? I've left a couple of messages for @denislawsbackheel but so far have had no response. @GoatersLeftShin will be ready for Tuesday 7th but we could be left hanging on Tuesday without an album to critique! Not a good look for Week 10.

I do have a spare album in the torpedo tube, kindly submitted by one of our regular posters but as he's already had a crack, I'd prefer to move along the queue until everybody has had a go before we have round 2.
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Ì can have one ready as well if there are any more problems.
 
Right, given this a good 5/6 listens and overall never really warmed to it.
Operner Red is good, proper driving rock track, fallen Angel is ‘ok’, it took a few listens but ‘one more red Nightmare’ is my favourite on here, awesome rhythm and drumming all the way through - great track. ‘Providence’ I found a bit painful, just random jazz music all over the place.
then it’s ‘Starless’ - such a atmospheric haunting track, really like the fact it played with my emotions, really keeps you gripped and a great way to end this Album.
Didn’t mind the vocals at all, sounded a bit like Pink Floyd to me.
Like @Onholiday(somemightsay) kind of mentioned, Prog Rock is a difficult genre to instantly get, there seems little structure
- but over time, you do begin to understand.

5/10
 
bennyboy said:
Ì can have one ready as well if there are any more problems.
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Thanks. It's probably a good idea if people keep an eye on the list on page 1 and have theirs ready a week or two in advance. That way if there are any issues, we can keep the music flowing.

Otherwise you might get more of my selections than you bargained for!
 
Saddleworth2 said:
Whenever I think of King Crimson an image flashes into my head

The Fast Show - Just A Load Of Blooming Catchphrases


Nice............

Don't get me wrong, I do like the Band and when I'm in the mood, they are the only fix because there is nobody quite like them. I hear comparisons with Genesis but musically they are really different. Yes? Perhaps a little with some of their stuff. Red reminds me just a little of a track like 'Heart of the Sunrise' but you really have to look for it in both tracks dynamic build and changes of gear. I loved CotCK when I was younger and still play it when I want a 'completely stoned' vibe, Moonchild does the job just right.

So to Red. There is a great deal on this album to like. The musicianship is wonderful and Fripp, John Wetton and Bruford at the top of their game. I particularly love Bruford - his drumming is as easy to identify as Bonhams (although in a very different way). This is not an album I have listened to much other than Starless which has one of the most beautiful opening five minutes in prog rock. I really liked the two 'red' tracks and their dynamic build. Their noodling track not as much although I will add it to my 'moonchild' play list. Starless is flawed perfection - the opening theme is just gorgeous but then I lose interest a little and then they bring it back. It reminds me a little of a track by the Dutch prog rock Focus I cant remember the name (maybe eruption?) but it had a similarly beautiful dream like guitar passage.

It doesn't make my top ten prog albums but I did like it and simply because of Starless I'll give it 7.
Thanks for proposing it @Bill Walker .
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I imagine most albums having stand out tracks with Starless to the fore with Red, so no diservice afforded to the others and just a personal observation from my own perspective.

Always liked this band having a soft spot for Brufford a founding and departing member of Yes, so it was pretty emotional to see him stray from the fold. He's had an illustrious career and one that has seen him return back home many times in the guise of ABWH and Yes.

Red wasnt an album that I went out and immediatly bought, but it's certainly an album that I have listened to intently over the decades due to the great mix of instrumention and individual talent that Fripp Wetton and Brufford afford to a listener. Maybe it didn't score as originally well as it should have in the charts for a band embroiled in final burn out, but it's one I immediatly took to and one that has brough me much pleasure over the years. Music is like food being subjective at an individual level, so I guess we can score away to our hearts content but it doesn't accuratly portray the full picture.

I love the intensity of the opening tracks but also the harmony and the amazing riffs that this album conjures with mucho extras brought to the fore with Collins sax and the talented Robin Miller who also performed with Anderson. A salute to the remainder of their wind team.

Fallen Angels is my second favourite Red track to Starless and I count Starless as among one of my desert island music tunes, so an honour indeed and the more you listen as the decades fade then the more it excites and delights as this is a track that epitomises King Crimson. West side skyline crying, Fallen angel dying, Risk and a life to make a dime.

A mention in dispatches to Providence immitating that Gong-Fest atmos, so I enjoyed the listen with Mr Brufford partaking of a few gigs with them. Camenburt Electrique being my favourite album with favourite tracks being And I tried So Hard and Fohart Digs Holes In Space, but thats a whole different story for A whole different day.

I am scoring the Album and not just Starless so instead of a resounding 11/10 it has to be A Solid 7.75/10.
Obviously If they had included a bonus Melotron vertion of Starless then it would have been a resounding 8.5/10

 
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Two Gun Bob said:
I imagine most albums having a stand out track with Starless to the fore with Red, so no diservice afforded to the others and just a personal observation from my own perspective.

Always liked this band having a soft spot for Brufford a founding and departing member of Yes, so it was pretty emotional to see him stray from the fold. He's had an illustrious career and one that has seen him return back home many times in the guise of ABWH and Yes.

Red wasnt an album that I went out and immediatly bought, but it's certainly an album that I have listened to intently over the decades due to the great mix of instrumention and individual talent that Fripp Wetton and Brufford afford to a listener. Maybe it didn't score as originally well as it should have in the charts for a band embroiled in final burn out, but it's one I immediatly took to and one that has brough me much pleasure over the years. Music is like food being subjective at an individual level, so I guess we can score away to our hearts content but it doesn't accuratly portray the full picture.

I love the intensity of the opening tracks but also the harmony and the amazing riffs that this album conjures with mucho extras brought to the fore with Collins sax and the talented Robin Miller who also performed with Anderson. A salute to the remainder of their wind team.

Fallen Angels is my second favourite Red track to Starless and I count Starless as among one of my desert island music tunes, so an honour indeed and the more you listen as the decades fade then the more it excites and delights as this is a track that epitomises King Crimson. West side skyline crying, Fallen angel dying, Risk and a life to make a dime.

A mention in dispatches to Providence immitating that Gong-Fest atmos .. so I enjoy listening to it with Mr Brufford having enjoyed a few jams with them. Camenburt Electrique being my favourite Gong album with favourite tracks being And I tried So Hard and Fohart Digs Holes In Space, but thats a whole different story for A whole different day.

I am scoring the Album and not just Starless so instead of a resounding 11/10 it has to be A Solid 7.75/10.
Obviously If they had included a bonus Melotron vertion of Starless then it would have been a resounding 8.5/10

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Cracking review mate. Hope you stick around on this thread. Starless is lovely. One of the top ten.
 
Well, I had to go to the third decimal place to work out the exact ranking, but Red by King Crimson is officially bottom of the scoreboard. With an average of 6.397 from 17 voters, it is marginally lower than Smetana. I think some people really enjoyed @Bill Walker 's selection, but maybe others are suffering prog fatigue after a Genesis/King Crimson double-whammy.

Next up is @denislawsbackheel who has promised to give us something from his younger days. Will he deliver us a give us a prog hat-trick or are we heading in a different direction? Feel free to give us a clue before announcing your album tomorrow.
 
RobMCFC said:
Well, I had to go to the third decimal place to work out the exact ranking, but Red by King Crimson is officially bottom of the scoreboard. With an average of 6.397 from 17 voters, it is marginally lower than Smetana. I think some people really enjoyed @Bill Walker 's selection, but maybe others are suffering prog fatigue after a Genesis/King Crimson double-whammy.

Next up is @denislawsbackheel who has promised to give us something from his younger days. Will he deliver us a give us a prog hat-trick or are we heading in a different direction? Feel free to give us a clue before announcing your album tomorrow.
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was red in the top 1000 ?
 
RobMCFC said:
Well, I had to go to the third decimal place to work out the exact ranking, but Red by King Crimson is officially bottom of the scoreboard. With an average of 6.397 from 17 voters, it is marginally lower than Smetana. I think some people really enjoyed @Bill Walker 's selection, but maybe others are suffering prog fatigue after a Genesis/King Crimson double-whammy.

Next up is @denislawsbackheel who has promised to give us something from his younger days. Will he deliver us a give us a prog hat-trick or are we heading in a different direction? Feel free to give us a clue before announcing your album tomorrow.
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I didn't vote in the end as I really just didn't like it but appreciate it means something to Bill. Also didn't want to be seeming to downvote it just to get my Smetana off the bottom!!
 
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