This incarnation of King Crimson is probably my favourite - the early 1980s, Adrian Belew, Bill Bruford, Robert Fripp, Tony Levin lineup.
This album, a recent internet purchase is the second prduced by this line-up, and was the first time in Crimson history that Fripp named a team unchanged from the previous album.
Loosely based on a 'beat generation' theme, the opening track, Neil and Jack and Me, heavily references Kerouac and picks up musically where the previous album Discipline left off. It's bold, exciting, and fun to listen to. It's followed by Heartbeat, which, while listenable feels so 1980s American AOR hit single attempt and completely un-Crimson. Sartori In Tangier is s a jerky instrumental, very similar to the style Fripp had developed with his League Of Crafty Guitarists, and the first half ends with Waiting Man, a more laidback, percussion driven song and an interesting song.
The second half kicks off with the manic Neurotica, Belew's spoken vocals punctuated by some KC mayhem, with a classic Fripp procession undercurrent, it feels like the previous album's Indiscipline, but doesn't feel like one I'll grow to love. Two Hands is very minimal, sentimental, and while there's a hint of the Crimson way of doing things, it's not particularly memorable, followed by The Howler, which marches in discordantly, but never really establishes itself as a song. Final track, Requiem, is a much more abstract instrumental piece, consisting of Fripp soundscapes, with a looping guitar theme, accompanied by some seemingly improvised drumming from Bruford. It doesn't feel like it should work, but it hold together really well, and feels to me the strongest piece of the second half.
As a whole, Beat doesn't have the impact that Discipline had, and doesn't have the same strength of songs. It sounds like tensions were high in the band and the mix of material shows a band pulling in different directions. However, there's enough to keep me interested, and many enjoyable parts. Tellingly, the band played nothing from this album when I saw them in 2019.
3* - a patchy King Crimson album, although hinting at something more interesting than sometimes delivered.
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