The Power to Believe | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 24 February 2003 (UK) [1] 4 March 2003 (US) | |||
Recorded | 2002 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | ||||
Length | 51:11 | |||
Label | Sanctuary, Discipline Global Mobile (reissue) [3] | |||
Producer | Machine | |||
King Crimson chronology | ||||
|
The Power to Believe is the thirteenth and final studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson. It was released on 24 February 2003 in the United Kingdom and on 4 March 2003 in the United States [4] through Sanctuary Records and met with generally favourable reviews, with several critics appreciating its heightened aggression. The Power to Believe was preceded by the EP Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With (2002), which features alternate and otherwise unreleased tracks.
After a tour opening for Tool in 2001, King Crimson refined and focused their four-piece structure for their second album in that configuration. [5] The release of The Power to Believe was preceded by Level Five (2001) and Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With (2002), two EPs that functioned as work-in-progress reveals for the album, which Fripp described as "the culmination of three years of Crimsonising". [6] While Level Five was a live release featuring two songs that would appear on the full album, [7] Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With was a limited-edition studio release that, much like 1994's VROOOM to 1995's THRAK , featured alternate and early versions of its upcoming album's tracks. [8]
Originally titled Nuovo Metal, [5] [9] The Power to Believe continued the aggressive and occasionally industrial experimentation of King Crimson's previous album, 2000's The Construkction of Light , with several critics appreciating its increased weight. [10] [11] [12] Like that previous album, The Power to Believe was recorded with King Crimson as a four-piece. [5]
The album derives its title from "The Power to Believe", a four-part suite of songs that runs throughout the album. The phrase originally appeared in the song "All Her Love Is Mine" from Adrian Belew's 1996 solo album Op Zop Too Wah . [5] The album's second track, "Level Five", acts as the fifth and final entry in the "Larks' Tongues in Aspic" suite, which began with parts one and two from the 1973 album Larks' Tongues in Aspic . [13] [14] Lindsay Planer of AllMusic wrote that "Level Five" "is so intense that it could easily be mistaken for the likes of Tool, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, or KMFDM." [7]
The introduction track to "Facts of Life" features a sample of "The Outer Darkness II: Perimeter I", from Fripp's 1998 album The Gates of Paradise.
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 72/100 [15] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [10] |
BBC | Positive [5] |
Mojo | [16] |
Pitchfork | 6.3/10 [9] |
Rolling Stone | [11] |
Stylus Magazine | 6.5/10 [17] |
The Power to Believe was met with mostly positive reviews. The album received an average score of 72/100 from 8 reviews on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [15] AllMusic's Lindsay Planer praised the album's aggression and "sonic belligerence", writing, "If the bandmembers' constant tone probing is an active search to find the unwitting consciousness of a decidedly younger, rowdier, and more demanding audience, their collective mission is most assuredly accomplished on The Power to Believe -- even more so than the tripped-out psychedelic prog rock behemoth from whence (sic) they initially emerged." [10] David Fricke of Rolling Stone appreciated the album's contrast of heavy, frightening periods against peaceful moments, concluding with, "In the face of war, King Crimson make hopeful thunder." [11] In their 2003 review, Mojo wrote, "This is a more consistent set, and, hopefully, a revelation for a few young metal heads." [16] Chris Jones of the BBC called the album "simply stunning". [5] Still, some critics were more lukewarm on The Power to Believe. Writing for Pitchfork , Dominique Leone said, "I can admit to feeling some of that old Crim magic a few times during [the album], but would be kidding myself if I thought it was as potent a spell as their adventures of yore." [9] Stylus Magazine's Ed Howard called The Power to Believe King Crimson's best release since 1981's Discipline but thought it did not live up to the band's earliest releases. [17]
In 2019, King Crimson announced that The Power to Believe would be the fifteenth and final phase of their "40th Anniversary" release schedule. An enhanced and expanded master of the album was released in hi-res stereo audio as well as lossless 5.1 Surround Sound. [18]
All songs written by Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto with lyrics by Belew, except where noted.
No. | Title | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Power to Believe I: A Cappella" | 0:44 | |
2. | "Level Five" (instrumental) | 7:17 | |
3. | "Eyes Wide Open" | 4:08 | |
4. | "Elektrik" (instrumental) | 7:59 | |
5. | "Facts of Life: Intro" (instrumental) | 1:38 | |
6. | "Facts of Life" | 5:05 | |
7. | "The Power to Believe II" | 7:43 | |
8. | "Dangerous Curves" (instrumental) | 6:42 | |
9. | "Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With" | 3:17 | |
10. | "The Power to Believe III" | 4:09 | |
11. | "The Power to Believe IV: Coda" | Fripp | 2:29 |
Total length: | 51:11 |
Credits adapted from liner notes. [19]
King Crimson
Additional personnel
Chart (2003) | Peak position |
---|---|
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [20] | 65 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [21] | 25 |
French Albums (SNEP) [22] | 128 |
Italian Albums (FIMI) [23] | 45 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [24] | 40 |
UK Albums (OCC) [25] | 162 |
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [26] | 21 |
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [27] | 23 |
US Billboard 200 [28] | 150 |
King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London. The band drew inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, blues, industrial, electronic, experimental music and new wave. They exerted a strong influence on the early 1970s progressive rock movement, including on contemporaries such as Yes and Genesis, and continue to inspire subsequent generations of artists across multiple genres. The band earned a large cult following.
The Construkction of Light is the twelfth studio album by English band King Crimson, released in May 2000 by record label Virgin. It is the first of two studio albums to feature the "double duo" line-up of Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto. It is the only King Crimson studio album not to chart in the US.
Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With is the third EP by prog rock band King Crimson released in 2002, a companion to the subsequent album The Power to Believe (2003). Many of the songs on Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With can also be found on The Power to Believe, but there are differences between recordings; this version of "Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With" is longer by one chorus, and "Eyes Wide Open" uses primarily acoustic instrumentation.
Heavy ConstruKction is a live three CD set by the band King Crimson, released by Discipline Global Mobile records on 1 December 2000. The album features recordings of the European tour of May to July 2000, from DATs made at the front-of-house mixing desk.
King Crimson On Broadway is a live album by the band King Crimson, released through the King Crimson Collectors' Club in July 1999. The tracks on the albums were recorded at the Longacre Theater in New York City, New York, US, on November 20, 21, 22, 24 and 25, 1995, as the band was touring to promote the album THRAK.
B'Boom: Live in Argentina is a live album by the band King Crimson, released in 1995. All songs were recorded between 6 and 16 October 1994 at the Broadway Theatre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, except for "Heartbeat" which was recorded in Córdoba.
Live in Nashville, TN is a live album by the band King Crimson, released through the King Crimson Collectors' Club in February 2002.
EleKtrik: Live in Japan is a live album by the band King Crimson, released in 2003. It consists of most of the audio soundtrack from the first disc of the band's double DVD Eyes Wide Open.
A Beginners' Guide to the King Crimson Collectors' Club is a 2000 album by the band King Crimson, compiled from King Crimson Collectors' Club albums - limited release live recordings of concert performances, studio sessions and radio sessions.
Live in Mexico City is a live album by band King Crimson, first released as a free Windows Media Audio download in 1999. Some tracks later appeared on the live albums Cirkus: The Young Persons' Guide to King Crimson Live (1999) and Vrooom Vrooom (2001), and as part of the expanded "THRAK BOX" in 2015. The album was recorded at the Metropolitan Theater, Mexico City, Mexico, 2–4 August 1996
THRAK is the eleventh studio album by the band King Crimson released in 1995 through Virgin Records. It was preceded by the mini-album VROOOM in 1994. It is their first full-length studio album since Three of a Perfect Pair eleven years earlier, and the only full album to feature the "Double Trio" lineup of Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Trey Gunn, Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelotto. It is also the last time all members from the Discipline era would work together, the last new album to feature Bruford, and Levin.
The Roar of P4 is a live album from ProjeKct Four, a King Crimson offshoot band. It was recorded on November 1, 1998, in San Francisco and released by the King Crimson Collector's Club in August 1999.
The ProjeKcts are a succession of spin-off projects associated with the band King Crimson.
"Larks' Tongues in Aspic" is a musical suite by the English progressive rock band King Crimson. Spanning thirty years and four albums, the series comprises five parts, all of which carry unifying musical motifs. Parts I and II were released as the introductory and final tracks on King Crimson's 1973 album of the same name, part III was featured on their 1984 album Three of a Perfect Pair, part IV appeared on 2000's The Construkction of Light, and the final part, "Level Five", was included on the 2003 album The Power to Believe. Despite breaking the naming convention, Robert Fripp, King Crimson founder and only constant contributor to the suite, insists that "Level Five" is part of the pentalogy.
The 21st Century Guide to King Crimson – Volume Two – 1981–2003 is a compilation album by the highly influential English progressive rock band King Crimson, containing the best-known songs from the group's 1981–2003 phase. No material from the album the construKction of light (2000) was included in this box set. It was released in 2005.
Vrooom Vrooom is a live two CD set by the band King Crimson, recorded in 1995 & 1996, and released in 2001. It features the six member “double trio” lineup of the band, with guitarists Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew, bassists Tony Levin and Trey Gunn, and drummers Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelotto.
Live at the Orpheum is a live album by the band King Crimson, released by Discipline Global Mobile records in 2015. The album was recorded on 30 September and 1 October at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California on the band's The Elements of King Crimson US tour of 2014.
Eyes Wide Open is a live 2-DVD set by the British progressive rock band King Crimson, released in 2003. It presents two concerts filmed in the early 2000s, the band lineup featuring Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto.
THRAK is the fifth of the major box set releases from English progressive rock group King Crimson, released in 2015 by Discipline Global Mobile & Panegyric Records.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)