When King Crimson mastermind Robert Fripp leaked curious details of BEAT in spring 2024, more than a few eyebrows were raised. The project celebrates King Crimson’s 80s albums Discipline (1981), Beat (1982) and Three Of A Perfect Pair (1984).
Think of King Crimson and the mind’s eye usually wanders to the band’s 1969 masterpiece In The Court Of The Crimson King, or maybe one of their 70s classics. However, the early 80s was a time when Fripp cosied up alongside Adrian Belew, a former Frank Zappa, David Bowie and Talking Heads cohort; Tony Levin, who had spent the 70s undertaking everything from jazz to pop; and Bill Bruford, originally part of their early 70s line-up. It was a time to reinvent the wheel.
Things were so fresh and new that, according to Belew, it wasn’t even supposed to be called King Crimson. “Originally, Robert called me when I was touring Europe with Talking Heads, and in that phone call, he said that he and Bill Bruford would like to start a band with me. They weren’t sure who the bass player would be, and it wasn’t called King Crimson. Robert wanted to call it Discipline.”
