| Three of a Perfect Pair | ||||
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| Released | March 1984 | |||
| Recorded | May – November 1983 | |||
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| Length | 41:15 1:08:14 (2001 remaster) | |||
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| Producer | King Crimson | |||
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| King Crimson studio chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Three of a Perfect Pair | ||||
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Three of a Perfect Pair is the tenth studio album by English band King Crimson,released in March 1984 by record label E.G. [2] It is the final studio album to feature the quartet of Robert Fripp,Adrian Belew,Tony Levin and Bill Bruford.
According to Fripp:"The album presents two distinct sides of the band’s personality,which has caused at least as much confusion for the group as it has the public and the industry. The left side is accessible,the right side excessive." [3]
The "other side" on the 2001 CD remaster consists of instrumental material from the 1983 sessions,and a 1989 a cappella recording (first published in the 1991 "Frame By Frame" box set) in which Tony Levin performed his humorous song "The King Crimson Barber Shop". [4]
The title of the album is based on the idea of “perfect opposites”,or someone's truth,someone else's truth,and an objective truth (the idea of “three sides to every story”).[ citation needed ]
The Peter Willis designed artwork illustrates the sacred–profane dichotomy while being a simplified version of the Larks' Tongues in Aspic cover;a rising phallic object represents a male solar deity about to penetrate the crescent figure,a female lunar deity.[ citation needed ] According to Fripp,the artwork is “a presentation of a reconciliation of Western &Eastern Christianity..the front cover has the two elements,representing the male &female principles. The back cover has the third element drawing together &reconciling the preceding opposite terms”. [5] [6]
Tracks 10-15 were added for the 2001 30th Anniversary remaster. The aforementioned instrumentals,“The King Crimson Barbershop”,and three alternate mixes of "Sleepless". Two of the three were previously released on the UK 12" single. The Bob Clearmountain mix appeared (incorrectly credited and against the band's wishes) on the U.S. Warner Bros. pressing of the LP.
The hip hop duo Gang Starr would later sample the intro to "Dig Me" in their song "Words I Manifest (Remix)" from their 1989 debut album No More Mr. Nice Guy .
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [7] |
| Robert Christgau | B− [8] |
| Kerrang! | mixed [9] |
| Rolling Stone | [10] |
Released in March 1984,Three of a Perfect Pair reached number 30 in the UK Albums Chart. [11]
Trouser Press described it as "a most disjunct album from a band that prided itself on carefully matched contradictions. The Left Side sports four of Adrian Belew's poorer songs and a self-derivative instrumental;the flip is nearly all-instrumental,nearly free-form,nearly brilliant. [...] Apparently the Frippressive 'discipline' that forged the critically acclaimed pop/art synthesis of the first two latter-day Crimson albums is not a permanent condition." [12]
During an interview on BBC Radio 1 in 1984,Robert Fripp described the album's 'left' side as "accessible" and 'right' side as "excessive".
A new 5.1 surround sound mix by Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp was released in October 2016 for the 40th Anniversary Series as a standalone CD/DVD package and as part of the On (and off) The Road (1981 - 1984) boxed set.
All lyrics are written by Adrian Belew; all music is composed by Belew, Bill Bruford, Robert Fripp and Tony Levin, except "The King Crimson Barber Shop", with music & lyrics by Levin
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Three of a Perfect Pair" | 4:13 |
| 2. | "Model Man" | 3:49 |
| 3. | "Sleepless" | 5:24 |
| 4. | "Man with an Open Heart" | 3:05 |
| 5. | "Nuages (That Which Passes, Passes Like Clouds)" (Instrumental) | 4:47 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 6. | "Industry" (Instrumental) | 7:04 |
| 7. | "Dig Me" | 3:16 |
| 8. | "No Warning" (Instrumental) | 3:29 |
| 9. | "Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part III)" (Instrumental) | 6:05 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 10. | "The King Crimson Barber Shop" | 1:37 |
| 11. | "Industrial Zone A" | 1:44 |
| 12. | "Industrial Zone B" | 4:33 |
| 13. | "Sleepless" (Tony Levin mix) | 7:26 |
| 14. | "Sleepless" (Bob Clearmountain mix) | 5:24 |
| 15. | "Sleepless" (Dance mix - F. Kevorkian) | 6:18 |
| Chart (1984) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [13] | 43 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [14] | 58 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) [15] | 37 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [16] | 30 |
| US Billboard 200 [17] | 58 |
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, 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.
Beat is the ninth studio album by the British rock band King Crimson, released in June 1982 by record label E.G. This is the second King Crimson album to feature the band's line-up of co-founder Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford. It is the first release in King Crimson’s discography to feature the same lineup as the previous studio album.
Discipline is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band King Crimson, released on 22 September 1981 by E.G. Records in the United Kingdom and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States.
Heavy ConstruKction is a live three CD set by the band King Crimson, released by Discipline Global Mobile records on November 7, 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.
The Champaign–Urbana Sessions is an album of studio sessions and rehearsals by the band King Crimson, released through the King Crimson Collectors' Club in December 2002. These were originally intended for their album Three of a Perfect Pair, but the material was scrapped and the group would re-convene at several later dates. On The Road (1981–1984) included this disc along with two new tracks, under the new title Fragmented.
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.
Frame by Frame: The Essential King Crimson is a 4-CD box set by the band King Crimson, released in 1991.
Cirkus: The Young Persons' Guide to King Crimson Live is a live album compilation from King Crimson. It was released in 1999 through Virgin Records.
"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.
Neal and Jack and Me is a live DVD by the British progressive rock band King Crimson, released in 2004. It is a compilation of two vintage concerts by the band in the 1980s, The Noise: Live in Frejus and Three of a Perfect Pair: Live in Japan. Both concert videos were originally released on Betamax and VHS.
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.
Rehearsals & Blows is an album of studio sessions and rehearsals by the band King Crimson, released through the King Crimson Collectors' Club in January 2016. As with The Champaign-Urbana Sessions, this album shows the development of material intended for the group's 1984 album, Three of a Perfect Pair. King Crimson biographer and historian Sid Smith described the album as "work-in-progress sketches, outtakes, bright ideas, dead-ends and cul-de-sacs ... where ideas either bloomed or withered." Two recordings present on this release were later included in the box set On The Road, and one of them is also included in the 40th Anniversary Edition of Three of a Perfect Pair. While this release is numbered Club 42, it was released several years after Club 46 as it was delayed several times.
