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Review Summary: It’s the weirdest album of the band. One of their most experimental works. “Starless And Bible Black” is the sixth studio album of King Crimson that was released in 1974. The line up on the album is Robert Fripp, John Wetton, David Cross, Bill Bruford and Richard Palmer-James.
Most of the lyrics on the album are satires and commentaries to the sleaziness materialism of our society. It continued to explore the sound and style of “Larks’ Tongues In Aspic” and proved that King Crimson could handle it very well. Many of the fans and critics always saw “Starless And Bible Black” as a transitional album, both in terms of musical progression and line up, between the twin behemoths of “Larks’ Tongues In Aspic” and “Red” than as a great album, on its own right. Still, to see this album in that perspective is to undervalue it considerably. I think it’s more than that.
“Starless And Bible Black” is a switchback ride through the collective musical genius of Fripp/Wetton/Bruford axis, ably abetted by Cross. On this album, the mighty King Crimson takes another leap forward from their previous work “Larks’ Tongues In Aspic”. With Muir gone, Bruford comes to the fore on this album. Some of Bruford’s work on this album, particularly on the improvisation, is spectacular. Cross also shows his invaluable contribution with the subtle use of electric piano and Mellotron. For once, Wetton leaves his trusty wah wah pedal alone and relies on pure but powerful pounding rhythm, another ingredient of the success of this album. Finally we have Fripp. He is simply amazing as ever.
The majority of the pieces on “Starless And Bible Black” consist of free live improvisations, really. The concerts of King Crimson in Wetton’s era relied heavily on such improvisation, with nothing pre-arranged. This is a facet of the band that didn’t come through in their other previous studio albums. On “Starless And Bible Black” the proportion of these impros is relatively high. Whether for that reason or not, “Starless And Bible Black” is probably the most inaccessible King Crimson’s album of the 72-74 phase and makes a somewhat mixed impression on me, perhaps due to the pieced together nature of the many different sources of the recordings. Nevertheless, it offers some great moments like “The Great Deceiver”, “Lament”, “The Night Watch”, “Trio” and especially “Fracture”. As a whole this is another great work.
“Starless And Bible Black” has eight tracks. “The Great Deceiver” is an aggressive rock song that marries a powerful riff with some of King Crimson’s most weird lyrics. It’s dominated by violin with a precise guitar performance. In the back we have a great rhythmic work by percussion and bass that proves a perfect communion between Wetton and Bruford. “Lament” is another heavy rock song with a great work led by Wetton and Bruford. But here, all four musicians are in their best shape. “We’ll Let You Know” is a weird instrumental piece very dissonant. It’s an improvised track with strange sounds and where the percussion section sounds chaotic. This is one of the least interesting songs on the album. “The Night Watch” is a commentary in the form of a musical piece deriving directly from Rembrandt’s painting with the same name. It’s a calm and melodic song that captures the feelings in the context of the painting. “Trio” is the most serene song, an instrumental piece, composed for violin, bass guitar and Mellotron with the sound of a flute. The performance is perfect, giving us a nice relaxing piece. “The Mincer” is another weird song with a dark atmosphere with good musical notes. We need to learn to like it. This is also a less interesting song on the album. The title track is an interesting improvised piece. It’s also strange and weird, but it’s better than “We’ll Let You Know” and “The Mincer”. It has fantastic and brilliant parts. This is a very good song that needs a lot of listening to enjoy it. “Fracture” is the lengthiest track on the album. It represents its epic magnum opus and is my favourite track on the album too. This is a masterful and colourful semi-improvisation piece with a strong superb performance by the band. It reminds me of their other masterpiece track “Starless” from “Red”. We may say this song, by itself, deserves the price of the album. This is one of the best pieces composed by Fripp. We can say that there could be no better way to end this great album.
Conclusion: I don’t agree with the opinions of many prog fans about this album. In my humble opinion, “Starless And Bible Black” is a great King Crimson’s album and it’s also, in some way, superior to “Larks’ Tongues In Aspic”. It’s more balanced, is a more cohesive album and has also one of the best songs of the band, “Fracture”. It’s true that “Starless And Bible Black” isn’t a perfect album. Despite that, “Starless And Bible Black” is one of the heaviest albums of the band, is one of the most cohesive and it’s also an album where, in my humble opinion, the musical performance of John Wetton and Bill Bruford is absolutely perfect. However, this isn’t particularly an accessible album and it needs repeated listenings to be fully appreciated by its own merits. It’s a must have for every fan of progressive rock. Anyway, that is what happened with all King Crimson’s albums in the 70’s. Besides, the band hasn’t many weak points, really.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
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Album Rating: 4.0
Finally, with this album, I complete my reviews about the studio works of the 70's by King Crimson.
I'm a huge fan of the band and the 70's was, for me, the golden era of the band. I love all their works of that era, especially "In The Court Of The Crimson King" and "Red", a common point with almost of there fans.
Despite I love "Starless And Bible Black", this is, for me, probably, my least favourite work of them, reason why I I left its review for last. I know that many consider "In The Wake Of Poseidon" or "Island" the weakest, because the first one is almost a clone of their debut and "Island" is a very strange work, probably too jazzy for many. I disagree. Despite in "In The Wake Of Poseidon" has many common points with their debut, it has its own charme and is amazingly good. About "Island", I simply always felt it a very special work. I sincerelly love it. Besides, I like works with a jazzy touch.
Returning to "Starless And Bible Black", you should find plenty to enjoy here. It's also an amazing work that seems to be a very chaotic, energetic and heavy work that ends with a masterpiece track, "Fracture", one of their best pieces and when we can see the geniality of Robert Fripp.
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I too love Wake of Poseidon.
Admittedly, aside from the first 2 and Red, I don't listen to anything from this band. But they are stellar pieces of work.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Absolutely. We both agree. You should try some more.
Thanks for the comment, mate.
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I did try, when my obsession with them was at its peak about 10-15 years ago or so. I remember not being impressed with THRAK.
Actually I now do remember enjoying Three of a Perfect Pair a few years ago, more than I did when I was going through their discogs, because some other artist I enjoy mentioned it -- perhaps John Martyn?
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Great review as always. Haven't listened to this (or King Crimson in general for a while) so this has inspired to spin this.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Ok. Great. I'm glad of my small contribution to that.
Thanks, Confessed.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
@ pourradass
Three Of A Perfect Pair and Discipline are two great albums of the band in the 80's. I also like of THRAK. But I think that The Power To Believe is better. It's a very strong work that reminds me at times of earlier material.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Fracture is such a wild ride. just wish this record was more focused on studio material rather than overdubbing live improvs.
anyways, have a pos, amigo.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I absolutely agree with you, pal. I would have preferred that too.
Obrigado, amigo. É sempre um prazer falar contigo.
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been on a huge 70s crimson kick, listened to this on the bus the other night and it hit harder than ever
fuckin dynamite from beginning to end, some of their hardest grooves on this one
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Nice to know that you're on a huge 70's Crimson kick.
You're right, this is probably the hardest and most experimental album by them. It's a hard ride, but quite a rewarding one.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Great Deceiver, Lament, and especially Fracture are classics, the improvs I usually only jam when listening to the live albums
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I can see your point and agree. Those are classic tracks. I also agree with Zig. I lament that the album hasn't more studio material. I love live albums, but in this case, this isn't properly a live work.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Excellent review of a great album. Another impressive work from KC. Pos.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Well written as always, e! I confess that I am in the camp that sees this as a transitional album between Aspic and Red, but you've inspired me to go relisten with some fresh ears.
I do rank this one over Wake and Islands, though. Still, overall, I think the most underrated album by Crimson remains Lizard, even if this one may be ripe for rediscovery.
Oh, one other thing: some of the tracks (Fracture, Starless, maybe some others) on this that were done on recent-ish live albums, like Live in Vienna and some other later live ones, are wonderfully reinvented and performed.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I agree that somehow it can be considered a transition album. In my case, I still prefer, by a thin hair, Wake and Islands to this one, by the reasons pointed out by me in my first comment.
About Lizard, I also agree that it's probably the ugly duckling of the band. I myself took some time to can appreciate and cosider it one of their best works.
Thanks for the tips about the recent live recordings of those tracks. I'll check them. Thanks for the pos, trickert.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Agreed, too. Thanks for the pos, Intruder.
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