Drummer reacts to "Starless" by King Crimson 

People couldn't deny that unweighted talent from these 3 dudes! Absolutely nuts.

Soft Machine would agree.😅

Zappa too ....

My fave quote from him plus ‘you weren’t expected to play anything you’d played before,’

There are more great quotes about King Crimson by band members and critics than any other band I can think of: "King Crimson are the band that kills your dog, burns your house down and stomps your face into the ground" - Stuart Maconie, BBC. "Everything you've heard about King Crimson is true: It is a terrifying place" - Bill Bruford. "Whatever it is you did to get into King Crimson you will cease doing whilst you're a member of King Crimson" - what Robert Fripp says to new band members. "In Yes there were endless discussions about whether you could play a B minor melody over a G major one. In King Crimson almost nothing was said: You were just supposed to know." - Bill Bruford. "Leaving Yes to join King Crimson was the musical equivalent of jumping over the Berlin Wall to defect into East Germany" - Prog Rock Britannia referring to Bruford joining KC. "When we choose to be, we're the heaviest sounding band in the world" - Tony Levin. Let that sink in: When they CHOOSE to be. "We'll play a nice tune to the others and Robert (Fripp) will sit there and nod along...then he'll say 'CRIMSONIZE IT!' and we have to deconstruct what we've written and put it back together" - Adrian Belew "Blood rack, barbed wire, politician's funeral pyre, innocents raped with napalm fire, 21st century schizoid man"...I'm not singing that!" - Bryan Ferry auditioning for KC in 1969. "Letting Robert Fripp mess around your songs is like leaving your favourite niece alone with a child molester" - Tony Levin.

Except it’s neither one note, nor a solo. Still glorious tho!

Two.

The sound coming out of his bass on this song is stunning. Comes through so clear and deep.

And his vocals!

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-W2nO_W9JZYw.html

The way he and Bruford click together on this record is simply astonishing.

Ever see a Roscoe Beck 5 string bass by Fender? I went to school with him. But really cool looking bass.

And the fights with Chris 😂

@@mattleppard1964 I'm going to give the reach advantage to Chris.

@@deanzaZZR And that Rickenbacker would swing a good ‘un

Dude you can totally hear It in the music too. He is totally engaged.

@@mattleppard1964 The Fish, God Rest His Soul

So far, amazing! I can't wait to finish it.

I think red, larks tongues in aspic and in the court of the crimson king are the best albums. Wait until he hears larks tongues in aspic part 1. I also love Lizard as well.

I agree, Red is their best.

This guy will LOVE RED

@@Saffy-yr8vo I bought my copy the year it was released, and I still have it. I think it's King Crimson's best album! Hands down

And once you've done that, "FraKCtured".

Note their piece “Trio” was improvised. Bruford spent the track with his sticks crossed, noting that what was happening didn’t need anything more. Fripp credited him with “admirable restraint.”

Bruford also said (paraphrasing here) that when he left Yes he thought he was hot s**t, but when he joined King Crimson for the new lineup that was to release Lark's Tongues, he realised he was only the second best percussionist in the band after Jamie Muir and had a lot left to learn. Bruford on Muir: "my biggest influence and the guy who turned my head totally around ... God, did he open my eyes. Jamie saw above and beyond chops. He was into the color of the music, the tone, and being intuitive about it." You can tell how Bruford really started expaning his palette of percussion after Muir left.

He had a great interview where he explained the difference between playing with Yes and Crimson and how with Yes it was this constant back and forth of "do we want it to be in G, or should we try an F minor, or how about we..." where in Crimson nothing was really said and you were just supposed to know.

Wasn't Starless an improv too, at least in its early stages ?

@@Shaktidej the song portion was written by John. The middle portion is based around a riff Bill played on the piano one day. The piece itself is quite structured, with the middle break a reprise of the verse melody (on sax), then the same bass motif, just faster, then a return to the opening main melody to close the piece. Within each section are improvisational elements (typically the sax and drums), but that’s typical, especially for KC.

Bro seriously when I heard about that it completely blew my mind. What a crazy track to go out on. It's fucking brilliant.

Me also

I have so much more to explore. Seems I have barely scratched the surface of this well.

🙌🏽

A big shout out for Earthworks - I saw them twenty plus years ago and they were superb.

@@kbrewski1 it was over twenty years ago, but IIRC it was a four-piece band. All instrumentals. Very jazzy. I'd been to quite a few jazz nights at the local jazz club. Mostly, the outfits were a named guy and some backing musicians. Often good, but no chemistry. Earthworks had been touring for years when I saw them and they were really good and really tight.

I'm gonna have to try the darkness out, it sounds like it would fit perfect 😁

it is not metal prog .....

​@@jabu003 It is prog metal. The album is like Black Sabbath playing it.

Totally agree, plus you ever thought that Lennon’s I am the Walrus is like an early kind of rapping?

It’s not metal prog, it’s only prog music. There’s no element of metal, only prog and jazz. Sabbath couldn’t play this song and ozzy never would sing it because he doesn’t have neither the vocal range, nor the tuning/technique and nor the patience to wait. so many minutes without do anything.

Man that's a culture shock right there probably after departing Yes l o l

Yes! I’ve seen a video interview with Bill where he said in Yes they would spend hours deliberation whether to play a B or a B minor, and that “In King Crimson you were just supposed to know”

​@@L33ReactsThere is an inprov live track titled Clueless And Slightly Slack. Sort of like Starless And Bible Black but more fripped out.

Dude I am so glad I discovered them on here. Absolute masterclass in progressive music. Basically helped write the book on prog. They are in absolute control of every last note they play even though it doesn't sound like it sometimes. They build tension like nothing else.

that first UK album does rule. my recommendation: if you are going to do In The Dead Of Night, make sure to do the whole suite of the first three tracks, as it all works as one piece. That is In The Dead Of Night/By The Light Of Day/Presto Vivace And Reprise. A real mind blower

Saw them live, UK 🇬🇧 Rendezvous 6:02. Fricken Jobson, Bozzio a killer drummer in his own right, saw him and his wife with Missing Persons live in Tampa back in the day!

Bruford's three jazz fusion albums from the late 70s and early 80s are fantastic.

Awesome thank you for the recommendations bro! I will definitely check out UK

Yes indeed- check out the album, the band UK. 🤘🏼🎧🤟🏼

I am pleasently surprised as well. This is one of my new favorite songs :)

You can feel the somber depression like sound permeate this entire track. Its kind of wild.

This song is killer. One of my favorite KC.

Red is a fricken Masterpiece!

Thanks again James! This was incredible! I will tackle larks next.

Care to talk?

Good one

Hey bro!! Great to see you Thank you as always my friend. I will definitely check it out. If I don't post it on here I will post it on patreon and send you a link for it

I listen to this song every couple days now. . . It's so just so damn good lol

I’m older

Same, except I am 58.

Great to see the young ones liking this. Saw Wetton with KC very early days Glasgow Scotland. I knew he was something good, but now I REALLY KNOW.

For further mind blowing, here is a recent tour version with three drummers: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FhKJgqxNDD8.html&feature=sharec

One thousand percent agree with this recommendation.

Own it, Great Album!

As far as where to go with King Crimson, if you haven’t yet, start with their first album, IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING, with another legendary prog drummer, Michael Giles.

David Cross does not play the cello.

@@atlasking6110 Correct! Violin, Viola and Mellotron.

Bro I'm so glad you enjoyed it! It's one of my most replayed songs from the channel so far. It's absolutely amazing 🙃

I can tell you really understand music - I'm going to subscribe. Very impressed. Crimson has probably the most diverse sounds of any band I can think of. Nothing is quite like Starless, but you might like Fallen Angel (also on the album Red), In the Court of the Crimson King, Epitaph... and about 50 others. As a drummer, you might like 21st Century Schizoid Man in particular. Talk about tight musicianship. @@L33Reacts

@TheLordofShadow64 my friend, if I may direct you to my patreon, I have a TON of Crimson on there for free. I just upload it there cuz it usually gets blocked on here. I mean a ton of crimson.... Www.patreon.com/L33Reacts

@TheLordofShadow64 I've done 21st century. I'm sure it's on there too. kc is one of new favorite bands that I've discovered on here lol

Thank you so much Joseph comments like these make me feel pride in what I do... and sadly for a lot of my life I was not proud of anything I was doing So thank you. This makes my hard days feel worth it 👌

If people of my generation are continued to be fed slop for art eventually a lot of them will reach back into the past to discover the real stuff. I'm glad I caught on. 😌

@@L33Reacts Glad you discovered this music 🎶 cause without it, life would be a Mistake!"

@@josephnaja Well spoken, fellow from the past 😊

@@progperljungman8218 Thanks ✌🎶

Don't forget B.J. Wilson, the "octopus in a bathtub"!

I have so many tracks left to tackle of KC. I CANT WAIT lol. And yeah it's hit or miss now they either leave it up or take it down. Your agitator, sir.

This is a heavy one! You can hear the despair and sadness in each droning note. It's wonderful haha

Starless It's an awesome song!! My opinion as Rocker and Metal of a little more than 4 Decades ago, is that Progressive Rock is Classical Music that was born in the twentieth century, the Artists of this Genre are too Virtuous, obviously leaving aside bands like: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Doors, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, The Who, and a very Long etc... which are pillars del Rock in general

👏 👏 👏

Bill Bruford was Yes's drummer for their first 5 studio albums, through Close to the Edge Then looking for a new challenge in 1972 Bill left Yes to join King Crimson.

@@mrtyreus0 Bruford was the drummer for Yes until he quit to join Crimson, Banks Kaye Squire and Anderson along with Bruford formed the band Yes. The original drummer for Crimson was Giles.

@@josephnaja tell me something I don't know... How convenient it is to be able to edit comments these days 🤣

@@mrtyreus0 saw an interview I think it was with Rick Beato when Anderson made that comment. He was talking about back in the day when Yes first formed they saw Crimson in a club in London somewhere and there again he was so blown away by KC he said to the other guys Bruford, Kaye, Banks and Squire, "we need to practice!" Which I think says a lot coming from the lead singer of Yes! Totally unedited, it is a nice feature. I'm 67 years old and I grew up listening to this music.

Hey Kevin! Glad you enjoyed it. This is one of my favorite tracks I've ever found on the channel. It's just perfect in every way.

You are absolutely correct bro. I owe it all to you guys, yall put me on to this amazing art.

One of my favorites!

I actually just did a reaction to fracture but it JUST got taken down lol. It is still up on my patreon though (for free obviously) www.patreon.com/L33Reacts