King Crimson - Starless And Bible Black (1974)

When it comes to progressive rock, one of the biggest names has to be King Crimson. Robert Fripp (guitarist and only member who remained a member of the band) and his friends are clearly one of the greatest bands of all times. 

Starless And Bible Black is the 6th album by the Crim', the second with John Wetton on lead vocals after Larks' Tongues In Aspic released the year before and before Red released later the same year (1974), Red being the last album by King Crimson before the group splits before Fripp starts using the name again in 1981 for his Discipline project.

The line-up on this album is composed of David Cross (violin, viola and keyboards), Robert Fripp (guitar, mellotron and devices (?)), John Wetton (bass guitar, vocals) and William "Bill" Brudford (drums). The tracklisting goes:

A1. The Great Deceiver

A2. Lament

A3. We'll Let You Know

A4. The Night Watch

A5. Trio

A6. The Mincer

B1. Starless And Bible Black

B2. Fracture

Some trivia regarding this album:

most of this album was recorded "live" with some studio overdubs, most of the live stuff being from a show played in Amsterdam in 1973 and which has been released on CD (well, a 2-CD set) in 1997 as The Night Watch. 

A 4-CD set (now 2 2-CD sets) featuring live material from the Wetton era (1972-1974) was released in 1992 under the title The Great Deceiver.

While the titletrack of this album is an instrumental, the line "Starless and bible black" can be heard in another King Crimson song (Starless, from the album Red)

Personally, I'd say this masterpiece is among my very favorite King Crimson albums along with Lizard (1970), Red (1974), In The Court Of The Crimson King (1974) and In The Wake Of Poseidon (1970). The first side has some very nice tracks, The Great Deceiver, Lament or The Night Watch, the only songs with lead vocals are solid material, The Night Watch being one of my very favorite King Crimson songs with a very moving motive (the song almost makes me cry, that can tell alot) while Lament has really beautiful harmonies and The Great Deceiver is merrier, with a jazzy feel. The rest of the album has good instrumentals, We'll Let You Know being a pretty good prelude to The Night Watch while Trio, which is made up of bass, guitar and violin has its moments. The Mincer is probably my least favorite track, it's dark and not really thrilling but the 2 pieces off side B are also quite dark, though more interesting. Fracture is a very long and complex instrumental, having some parts which are reminiscent of the instrumental pieces Larks' Tongues In Aspic off the album of the same title.