1981. Not a year particularly suited to the musical abuses of traditional progressive rock. But then again, King Crimson has never quite been a traditional progressive rock band, wildly metamorphosing with each rebirth into a new monster of surprising innovation. The addition of ex-Zappa alumnus Adrian Belew and Chapman stick/bass extraordinaire Tony Levin to the former nucleus of drummer Bill Bruford and Crimson mastermind Robert Fripp marked the stage for a dynamic string of progressive electro-pop experimentation that would be inaugurated with the brilliant Discipline, in which not only the intricacy of former times was retained, but mutated into clever avant-garde output that managed to repel many prog rock purists and failed to attract the attention of the mass media. Their loss.

"Elephant Talk" - Chit chat chit chat chit chat. With Belew's oddball sense of humor in full force and a Chapman stick riff so infectious that you'll keep wondering where Tony Levin keeps getting this stuff from, "Elephant Talk" starts Discipline off with a marvelous groove and imbues it with meticulous arrangements that keep springing from out of nowhere. Add an impressive abundance of curious Frippertronics and you've got yourself a winner. Elephantous indeed.

"Frame By Frame" - After the song begins with a minimalist background melody reminiscent of Philip Glass' frantically active Glassworks and an awkwardly brash use of chords to complete the initial harmony, the song moves into a melancholic ambience that resounds with Belew's desperately stirring vocals and alternates with the aforementioned theme in bouts of emotion. Did I forget to mention the shifting time signatures, featuring a 7/8 display of sober guitar beauty that accentuates the song's mood by subtly switching between major and minor keys? Mmmm…I guess I did.

"Matte Kudasai" - Anyone deranged enough to bring seagull-like noises out of a guitar has to either have serious problems or be a genius. Or both. Unfortunately, however, "Matte Kudasai" is too mellow for its own good; a swaying lullaby best suited to bore one out of his/her mind instead of harnessing the velvet-like quality of a splendidly tranquil beach atmosphere into a smoothly despondent sentiment, which seems to be idea here.

"Indiscipline" - One can't really expect to listen to a King Crimson record without being exposed to bizarre whims of the utmost cerebral quality, now can one? Discipline's grinding pièce de résistance, "Indiscipline" shines in its polyrhythmic structure of harsh dissonance and strident distortion, in which Bruford's drumming reaches such levels of percussive intensity that when its forceful attack vanishes in favor of a neurotically painstaking narration from Belew, the vacuous tension reaches maddening levels. Throw disparately conflictive harmony and melody elements into the mix and voilà! I like it.

"Thela Hun Ginjeet" - Dancing around a feverishly intense groove from Levin, King Crimson aptly creates a soundtrack that merges the dangerous cities of New York and a funky environment of dancing primates. Huh? Well, I'm perfectly aware of the fact that it sounds as if I've finally lost it, but I simply could not find a better description for the band's genial composition, half tribal intensity and half pop catchiness. Surrounding Levin's solid structure is a dizzying whirlwind of guitar activity that blends like waves into the flowing anxiety that the track keeps building up through a variance of arrangements and special effects that would leave Steven Spielberg speechless, not to mention Bruford's quirky ability of following Fripp's insanely electronic genius through his very own primal greatness. Ok, ok, I'll just stop and tell you what you've been aching to know. "Thela Hun Ginjeet" is an anagram for Heat in the Jungle…Satisfied?

"The Sheltering Sky" - Close your eyes and imagine yourself gliding above the picturesque landscapes of exotic, faraway lands in a mood so meditative that your entire body tingles with a sensation of floating relaxedness. Feel the gentle breeze caress your hair as you witness the imposing greatness of gargantuan mountains and the smooth textures of softly flowing rivers that slowly dive into the vast ocean. Hear the unison movement of forests set into motion by placid winds and see yourself as an element of the grandeur that is set before your eyes. If "The Sheltering Sky" doesn't have the same effect on you, then I don't know what will.

"Discipline" - The technical antithesis of "Indiscipline," (as if it wasn't obvious) Discipline's title track is an instrumental display of clever layers of syncopation, revolving time signatures, changing accents, and a clear-headed musical view that is coldly calculated and flawlessly carried out to metronome-like perfection. And yet it sounds so fascinatingly simple, as if prowess was nothing more than a natural resource from which to take when needed. Perhaps it was, considering the brilliance of King Crimson's return in an entirely new guise that continued the band's unstoppable evolution. Hail the King!

-by Marcelo Silveyra