Thrak

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Thrak
THRAK - Original Album Cover.jpeg
Studio album by
King Crimson
Released3 April 1995 (1995-04-03)
Recorded24 October – 4 December 1994
StudioReal World, Box, Wiltshire
Genre
Length56:35
LabelVirgin
Producer
King Crimson chronology
Vrooom
(1994) 		Thrak
(1995) 		The Construkction of Light
(2000)
King Crimson studio chronology
Three of a Perfect Pair
(1984) 		THRAK
(1995) 		The Construkction of Light
(2000)
Singles from Thrak
  1. "Dinosaur"
    Released: 1995 (US)
  2. "Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream"
    Released: 1995 (US)

Thrak (stylised in all caps) 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 1994-1997 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, and the last new album to feature Bruford (who left in 1997) and the last studio album to feature Levin.

Recording[]

Recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire, U.K. with producer David Bottrill, the recording presents the group in a series of unique ways. With the band consisting of two guitarists, two bassists and two drummers, the opening track begins with all six musicians in the center of the audio mix. As the album progresses, they are split into two trios, with one guitarist, bassist and drummer heard in the left channel and the other guitarist, bassist and drummer heard coming from the right channel.

"Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream" and "One Time" were developed at studio rehearsals for the 1994 Vrooom mini-album in Woodstock, New York during April and May 1994, shortly after the reformation of King Crimson. Instrumental outtakes and improvisations from these sessions would later be released as The Vrooom Sessions in 1999. "Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream" developed from the instrumental outtake "No Questions Asked", with a riff that differs significantly from the finished song later recorded at Real World Studios.

"Fashionable" was another instrumental from The Vrooom Sessions that was re-recorded at Real World Studios during the recording of Thrak. It features a guitar line reminiscent of David Bowie’s Fashion, on which Fripp played in 1980. Despite being reworked with various additions and refinements by the band members, the upbeat piece ended up being dropped off the final album.[1]

"Vrooom Vrooom" incorporates a middle section originally composed by Fripp in 1974 for Red’s instrumental title track (which is actually a rhythmical variation of Red's original middle section).[2] The band also experimented with said section in 1983, while working on Three of a Perfect Pair; evidence of this is the track "Working on Sleepless" from the 2016 compilation Rehearsals & Blows.

Release[]

First released on 3 April 1995, THRAK reached number 58 in the UK Albums Chart, their last release to chart.[3] The album was reissued on CD in 2002 in a remastered edition. A significantly different 5.1 surround sound mix by Jakko Jakszyk was released as a CD/DVD-A release [4] in October 2015 for the “40th Anniversary Series”. This edition also featured a reimagined new stereo mix by Robert Fripp and Jakszyk. These two mixes were also included in the THRAK BOX, that also included previously unissued studio and live recordings from the 1994-1997 period.

Reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [5]
Maxim
Q
Rolling Stone [6]
Trouser Pressfavourable [7]

Trouser Press described it as "an absolute monster, a cerebral sextet adventure stunning in its precisely controlled rock power."[7]

Track listing[]

All lyrics are written by Adrian Belew; all music is composed by Belew, Bill Bruford, Robert Fripp, Trey Gunn, Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto.

No.TitleLength
1."Vrooom" (instrumental)4:38
2."Coda: Marine 475"2:42
3."Dinosaur"6:37
4."Walking on Air"4:38
5."B'Boom" (instrumental)4:11
6."Thrak" (instrumental)3:59
7."Inner Garden I"1:47
8."People"5:53
9."Radio I" (instrumental)0:44
10."One Time"5:21
11."Radio II" (instrumental)1:03
12."Inner Garden II"1:16
13."Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream"4:50
14."Vrooom Vrooom" (instrumental)5:50
15."Vrooom Vrooom: Coda" (instrumental)3:01

Personnel[]

King Crimson
Technical

Chart performance[]

Chart (1995) Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[8] 24
UK Albums (OCC)[9] 58
US Billboard 200[10] 83

References[]

  1. ^ Live, D. G. M. (10 October 2016). "King Crimson, 30 October, 1994 Fashionable, 1994". DGM Live. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  2. ^ Live, D. G. M. (7 November 2016). "The Double Trio - Robert Fripp". DGM Live. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  3. ^ "King Crimson | Full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  4. ^ "Fripp's DGM Live diary". Dgmlive.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  5. ^ Gioffre, Daniel. King Crimson - THRAK (1995) album review, credits & releases at AllMusic
  6. ^ Bambarger, Bradley (19 September 2008). "King Crimson - THRAK (1995) album review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ^ a b Grant, Steven; Fleischmann, Mark; Robbins, Ira. "TrouserPress.com :: King Crimson". TrouserPress.com. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  8. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  9. ^ "King Crimson | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  10. ^ "King Crimson Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 February 2016.

External links[]

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