The summer of 1982 saw the advent of a musical first: a King Crimson
album with the exact same personnel as the previous album. In "Beat",
the group pays homage to the 'Beat Generation', opening with "Neal and Jack and Me". "Heartbeat" has the distinction of being not only an almost typical-sounding love ballad, but the closest KC ever came to having a 'hit'. So what is going on here? Did Fripp sell out the King Crimson name to make money? Did KC become commercial? A lot of the cuts on "Beat" actually bear a strong resemblance to the instrumental forays of the '73-74 Crimson, especially "Requiem". What was established on the previous album and is just as important on "Beat" is the relationship between Fripp and Belew's instruments, and the manner in which the two guitars weave in and out of each other.
 
 
  The Songs:
  Neal and Jack and Me
  Heartbeat
  Sartori in Tangier
  Waiting Man
  Neurotica
  Two Hands
  The Howler
  Requiem
 
Often what appears as a phase shift or a difference in timing is in fact a calculated effect. Fripp's complicated cross-picking patterns and Belew's ability to bend sounds from his guitar made this virtuoso interplay a delight for guitar fans. King Crimson had always been a guitar-players band, and now even more so. Perhaps the primary difference between this version of King Crimson and the 70's version was the fact that, on the older albums, 'songs' (music with lyrical accompaniment) where written with lyrics as a context. That is, Sinfield and Palmer-James supplied a lyrical content the KC musicians used as a starting point for musical enterprise. Belew, on the other hand, wrote both music and lyrics. One criticism leveled against Belew is that his song writing is too 'pop' oriented to fit as King Crimson material.
 

 
 
 
 
  Musicians:
  Robert Fripp: Guitars and Frippertronics
  Adrian Belew:  Guitar and Lead Vocal
  Tony Levin:  Bass and Stick
  Bill Bruford:  Drums
 
Copyright 1982 by EG Records