review by daniel

The beauty and the beast. It is dark, dense, heavy and ugly. And beautiful in a melancholic way that never borders on pretty. Cross’ strings usually lead the quiet parts, while Fripp’s heavy electric guitar lead the loader parts supported by some serious percussion battery from Bruford and Muir. The sinister sounding mellotron is of course lurking beneath the surface as well (it never takes the lead as on previous albums). Wetton does a nice job as a bass player, but he is not my favourite singer. His voice is dark and it almost sounds as if he is struggling to keep it that way. I must admit that it fits the music, though. It must be pointed out that this is not easy listening. Things often get ugly and the band never compromises. As a consequence it really is an acquired taste. On the other hand it will likely continue to grow on you for quite a while. Unique and essential stuff.