KING CRIMSON — Starless And Bible Black (review)

KING CRIMSON — Starless And Bible Black album cover

Album · 1974 · Proto-Metal

4.5/5 · 2024-05-03
siLLy puPPy

While already one of the most eclectic of prog bands that got the larger prog party started with its 1969 classic “In The Court Of The Crimson King,” Robert Fripp ingeniously steered his baby through a multitude of varying styles, techniques and songwriting ingenuity all throughout the early 1970s dropping a few instant classics that caught on with the fans immediately as well as albums that reached unthinkable complexities that took longer than usual to cultivate a warm and fuzzy feeling over. Obviously KING CRIMSON was less concerned with instant gratification for the fans and fully devoted in an almost monkish manner of astute dedication to its craft where each album had to stand on its own and the very thought of a simple copy and paste and then shuffle around a bit approach was not even remotely part of the equation.

One of the most significant reasons for these extreme changes between albums was the unstable lineups which found every album hosting a whole new prog soiree with members joining the team and then departing as soon as they exited the recording studio. By the time KC got to its fifth album “Lark’s Tongues In Aspic,” the lineup of Robert Fripp (guitar, mellotron), Davis Cross (violin, viola, piano), John Wetton (bass, vocals), Bill Bruford (drums and percussion) along with secondary percussionist Jamie Muir proved to be the most cohesive lineup and not only delivered one of the band’s most revered classic albums but followed with a demanding tour that left little time for conjuring up new studio material for the next chapter of the KING CRIMSON saga. By tour’s end only a mere two studio tracks had emerged from the precious little down time the band experienced which led to the dilemma of what to present to the record company for new album material.

The genius of Robert Fripp transcended such obstacles though and after reflecting on the amazing musical moments that the band had honed during their live performances, KC members noticed how extraordinary some of the live improvised footage turned out from the band’s extensive touring schedule and opted simply to capture the magic of a live setting and simply assimilate it into the context of a studio album. Shrouded in secrecy and unrevealed until well after the band broke up after “Red,” KING CRIMSON meticulously scoured through an entire tour’s worth of the best improv moments (primarily lifted from a sole Amsterdam show) they mustered up and mixed live recordings with new studio embellishments. The result was one of the greatest (mostly) live albums that nobody knew was (mostly) live! STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK was born and thus KC created one of the most eclectic albums in their already far-reaching canon that led up to it. The clever KC kept it all under wraps due to the fact record companies pay less royalties on live albums even when they are mere samplings incorporated into the mishmash of live / studio hybrids. The album’s title refers to a quotation from the first two lines of poet Dylan Thomas’ play “Under Milk Wood.”

Enjoying the stability of the same lineup minus Jamie Murr who abruptly exited due to purported back problems leaving Bill Bruford to tackle all percussive duties, STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK found the band shifting gears once again and delivered an eclectic potpourri much more steeped in jazz and classical then anything from the rock paradigm but once again unleashed the goods in a way that was well outside the parameters of the more popular progressive rock acts of the day. While a divisive album for many fans, STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK is one of those albums that you can never predict exactly where it goes. Roughly 3/4 improvised live material and only a quarter studio only, the album begins with the completely new power packed “The Great Deceiver” which delivers one of the hardest rocking songs of KC’s career with Fripp’s spidery guitar riffs haunting the time signature rich musical motifs that offer the most authentic of true 70s rock that KC ever delivered infused with a hard rock energetic performance. Just one of four tracks that featured lyrics, STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK was a mostly all-instrumental affair with complex liberties and creativity flourishing at every juncture.

“Lament,” the only other completely studio track, follows with a softer orchestrated intro ceding to another heavier rocker and “lamenting” the pitfalls of fame and losing one’s anonymity when on the world’s stage as a famous rock band. On tour, Wetton even received an impromptu marriage proposal from an unknown female fan accompanied by her brother to guarantee the success of her fanaticism run amok! After the first two tracks which in a way prognosticate what Fripp would revive in the 80s starting with the trilogy of albums that began with “Discipline,” the rest of the album takes on a more contemplative cerebral approach with thoughtful instrumental compositions that showcase the aleatoric improvisational skills that the band had honed into Olympic winning performances as each musician developed the perfect methodology of punctuating the silence between the other’s playing techniques, a feat almost unheard of in the context of rock music and more akin to the greatest masters of the classic world of jazz. The “Night Watch” showcased the band’s skillful studio mastery of removing any traces of live setting audience noises which was totally absorbed from the single night at the Amsterdam Concergebouw concert.

Being the head scratching shapeshifter that it turned out to be, STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK morphs into a chamber rock session with “Trio”, which found Bruford sitting out and twiddling his thumbs while violinist David Cross evoked more of an Antonio Vivaldi vibe than anything remotely resembling how the album began just a mere five tracks prior. The most daring and complex creations of the entire KC playbook emerge at the end of the album with “The Mincer” delivering an abstract almost Soft Machine style of free jazz only accompanied by Fripp’s eccentric guitar accompaniments. The track meanders instrumentally only to throw the curveball of Wetton’s lyrical contributions emerging towards the end. The track seamlessly cedes into the all instrumental title track which threw the entire world of classical, jazz, rock and chamber music into the cauldron and unleashed a monstrously bizarre track kept from losing any connection to reality by Wetton’s groovy bass lines. Cited as the most difficult composition to play guitar on of his entire career, the closing “Fracture” seems like a totally different band that how the album began with “The Great Deceiver.” The track in many ways showcases the apex of Fripp’s unique playing style that differed so greatly from any other guitarist of the era.

While often ignored for the more cohesive popular masterpieces that bookend it, STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK really is one of the more difficult nuts to crack in the KC playbook but attentive listens over long periods of time reveal its ingenuity and musical innovation in a way that a mere one exposure or even two, three or four could possibly achieve. In many ways the album showcases the pinnacle of the progressive rock paradigm that had apexed in the years of 1973 and 1974 and taking the visionary fusion of rock, jazz, classical and creative license to its logical conclusion. STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK may not be the most accessible of KC’s lauded string of masterworks that were crafted for the relatively short time span of 1969-1974 but after allowing it properly sink in and work its magic, it definitely stands high in the standards set out by the early pioneers of prog and has retrospectively garnered much more acceptance than it did initially when deemed inconsistent and arcane for many.

My personal experience is basically the same as most as my first several encounters left me feeling indifferent and only by attentively listening for many years has the album really gotten under my skin. The album proved to be the perfect transitional stage between “Lark’s Tongue” and “Red” and although the band was on the verge of breaking up, showcased the magnanimous nature of what talented dedicated musicians can achieve when they fully commit themselves. Perhaps just a smidge behind the album it followed and one that came after but nevertheless STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK now screams masterpiece every time i put it on. For those having a hard time with this one, don’t force it. Let it sink in. It truly is one of those albums that only reveals itself after numerous exposures and astute attentiveness. While many dismiss this as a mere space filler between “Lark’s Tongue In Aspic” and “Red,” STARLESS AND BIBLE BLACK is certainly no slacker when it comes to high quality and compositionally challenging progressive rock. In fact it was TOO complex for its own good in many ways but has more than stood the test of time and in many circles equally revered as just another classic in the impressive KC canon.