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Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal 1984

King Crimson - Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal 1984 Audio CD

A fair review of the King Crimson "Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal 1984" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all King Crimson reviews here, or go back to the King Crimson tabs.

Band: King Crimson
Title: Absent Lovers: Live in Montreal 1984
Rating:

Release Date: 2007-09-25
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Entry of the Crims 2: Lark's Tongues in Aspic, Pt. 3 3: Thela Hun Ginjeet 4: Red 5: Matte Kudasai 6: Industry 7: Dig Me 8: Three of a Perfect Pair 9: Indiscipline 10: Sartori in Tangier 11: Frame by Frame 12: Man with an Open Heart 13: Waiting Man 14: Sleepless 15: Lark's Tongues in Aspic, Pt. 2 16: Discipline 17: Heartbeat 18: Elephant Talk 19: [CD-Rom Track]

Great Live Crim
Recorded really well. This 2CD set is a great live album. All but 2 songs (Red, Lark's Tongue in Aspic Part II) are from the 1981-1984 period. The music is robust, wild and amazing. It really rocks but, of course, in a very intricate and interesting way. Musically, some of this sounds like the Talking Heads "Remain in Light" album which came out in 1980 - an album that Adrian Belew played on.

Highlights are "Red", "Lark's Tongue Part 2", "Thela Hun Ginjeet", "Waiting Man", "Sleepless", "Frame By Frame", and "Discipline". These versions are better than the studio album versions. They have a raw freshness, a real kick to the percussion and the guitar playing is spectacular.

In comparing this kind of rock to other forms, I would say that if AC/DC is like a good cold beer (or whiskey shots!), then KC is like a fine, dry Cabernet. Interesting, complex, meaty - ultimately deeply satisfying.

Very few downsides to this set. Could be longer (only 52 minutes on each CD). Each side ends with the audience cheering abruptly cut off instead of a slow fade - but this only happens on the last song on each side. My CD set has the discs labeled incorrectly. The disc that has a number 1 painted on it is actually Disc 2, and vice versa. Also, the liner notes are truly over the top bad. When I saw that a good thick booklet was included I thought we would be treated to some really detailed insight on each of the songs by R. Fripp or other band members. No so! Instead we get extended meandering musings from Fripp about the record industry, critics of prog rock, the challenges of making a live recording, etc. And the musings go on and on (12 pages worth in very small font), very disjointed, boring and tedious to read. There is nothing about the songs on the disc except a note as to which album they were originally on. What a shame and a missed opportunity.

None of this would cause me to reduce the rating of the music here, however. A great buy.

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Brilliant performance from 80's King Crimson
This recording captured the last concert they performed in Montreal, 1984 before breaking up. I've started collecting live cds of the more recent iterations of King Crimson, and right now this is my favorite for the 80's lineup (Fripp, Bellew, Bruford, Levine). The sound quality is excellent, the performance is consistently brilliant.

The first disc is an enhanced cd with a somewhat interesting KC catalog. The liner notes are, well the liner notes are Fripp, rambling at best, but full of interesting tidbits for the King Crimson fan.

I'd highly recommend this for budding Crimheads, and those wishing to add to their collection of live KC.

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The last of the 80's performances
I really like this show although I do think they played a tad better on this tour. This show is the last one by the 1980's incarnation of the band. I saw them in Berkeley and LA on this tour and they were great. The first three songs on here all flow in and out of each other very well. Starting with the improv:Entry Of The Crims starting with Bob, Ade and Tony. Bill comes in near the end and Bob starts with the opening to Larks Tongues In Aspic Part 3. This is the 80's lineup at the top of their game, fast tight and intrecate. As this ends, Ade starts banging out the chords to Thela Hun Ginjeet which is played so fast it must have sent at least 300 dancers to the hospital that night. Next up is the instrumental Red. The 80's lineup of this band did such a wonderful job on this song. The pretty Matti Kudasai which is really a wonderful love song and a nice change of pace from what has come before. Next are three songs from the band's then newest Three Of A Perfect Pair. Industry, Dig Me and Three Of A Perfect Pair followed by Indiscipline. The second half starts with the Beat song Sartori In Tangier and then another Discipline song Frame By Frame. The band then returns to the new album with a nice Man With An Open Heart. This is followed by one of Beat's best songs Waiting Man. Followed by the song that was the new single Sleepless. I like what the 80's lineup also does with Larks Tongues In Aspic Part 2. Like in their versions of Red this lineup gives new life to this song. Discipline is nice. The band ends the show with probably this lineup's two most known songs Heartbeat and Elephant Talk. All in all, worth every penny. .

Quintessential Crims
This got me into the 80's incarnation of Crims and almost immediately made Adrian Belew my favorite vocalist for the band (although it is a difficult to say because Lake was probably the best vocalist, Wetton sings on my favorite album, 'Red', and Belew is probably my favorite vocalist). This has got to be one of the GREATEST archive releases I have ever heard along with the Who's 'Live at the Isle of Wight 1970'.

The track selection here is great. Aside from the opening improv 'Entry of the Crims', all of the songs are amazing. For those of you that like old-school Crims, there's the instrumentals 'Red' and a sped-up 'Larks Tongues in Aspic Part II'. For those that like 80's Crimson atonality, there's 'Indiscipline', 'Dig Me', and the instrumental 'Industry'. For those that like tight instrumentals, there's 'Sartori in Tangier', 'Larks Tongues in Apsic Part III', and 'Discipline'. And for everyone else, there's the groovy 'Thela Hun Ginjeet' and 'Heartbeat', the Genesis-like 'Man With an Open Heart', the classic 'Elephant Talk', the almost frightening 'Sleepless', the slowed down 'Frame by Frame', the cryptic 'Waiting Man' and 'Three of a Perfect Pair'. And of course the beautiful 'Matte Kudasai'.

Well, I believe I just covered the whole album. It's certainly the best Crimson live release I've heard (and I've heard alot, 'The Nightwatch', 'USA', 'B'BOOM', 'Epitaph', 'VROOOM VROOOM', and 'Heavy ConstruKCtion') and the one where the tightest playing is. Buy it today.

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Very good; but could have been better
This was the last show of the tour. I don't think that this CD quite captures the best of the 1984 tour. It probably would have been better to take highlights from the tour instead of doing a complete show.

This is the early eighties version of King Crimson. It is really a superstar band with Robert Fripp (of course) and Bill Bruford, along with the great Tony Levin and Adrian Belew.

Each disc is around 52 minutes long. The sound quality is very good, with very little audience noise. There is some talking between some of the tracks by Adrian Belew (Belew became the spokesman for the group; in previous versions of the band, it used to be Fripp). At the end of the second disc, there is a couple of minutes of silence, followed by more Belew talking.

The second disc is also "enhanced". It includes some files you can play on your PC. It is basically advertisements for other CD's. It doesn't work very well.

Overall, this is a very nice concert, with energetic performances. Most of it is like the 3 albums King Crimson put out at the time, Beat, Discipline and Three of a Perfect Pair. There is a lot of Belew's personality put into the songs.

Much of the music contains driving rhythms. Levin on bass and Bruford on drums are more like lead players than a background rhythm section. They pull and drive the band.

My memory of seeing them during this tour (in Berekley) was that they were even more energetic, and more of the concert centered around those driving rhythms. The whole audience was up and dancing and weaving back and forth. It was an unusual sight as the audience bopped up and down perfectly to the rhythms. Also, Belew was a wildman and all over the place. You don't quite get that feeling with this CD set. Maybe this particular concert isn't as good, or maybe you just have to be there.

It is interesting to see Bruford continuing his collaboration with Fripp, being burned a couple of times. He left Yes, at the height of Yes's popularity to join King Crimson in the seventies. But, a few years later, Fripp thought the world was going to end and he disbanded the band.

Adrian Belew has an interesting solo career and has played with many different bands. He had a really interesting stint with Frank Zappa.

Tony Levin is currently puttin out some of the best music around. Check out his Upper Extremeties, or his collaboration with Bruford.

You can see a complete list of all King Crimson discography, or go back to the King Crimson tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.