Thrak

1995 studio album by King Crimson

Thrak (stylised in all caps) is the eleventh studio album by the band King Crimson released in 1995 through Virgin Records.[1] It was preceded by the mini-album Vrooom in 1994, which contained early versions of some of the same material. It was the group`s first full-length studio album since Three of a Perfect Pair eleven years earlier and their 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 the group`s final studio album to feature either Bruford or Levin.

Recording

Thrak was recorded in late 1994 at Peter Gabriel`s Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire, England, with producer David Bottrill. Bottrill had previously produced Fripp and David Sylvian`s 1993 album The First Day, which had featured Trey Gunn as a session player. 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 in each stereo channel.

"Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream" and "One Time" were developed at studio rehearsals for the 1994 mini-album Vrooom in Woodstock, New York, during the spring of 1994. 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".

"Fashionable" was another instrumental from The Vrooom Sessions that was re-recorded at Real World during the sessions. It features a guitar line reminiscent of David Bowie`s "Fashion", on which Fripp played. Despite being reworked with various additions and refinements by the band members, the piece was ultimately cut from the album.[2]

"Vrooom Vrooom" incorporates a middle section originally composed by Fripp in 1974 for Red’s instrumental title track.[3] The band had also experimented with this material 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 most recent release to make the chart.[4] 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 in October 2015 for the “40th Anniversary Series”.[5] This edition also featured a reimagined new stereo mix by Fripp and Jakszyk. These two mixes were also included in the 2015 THRAK BOX alongside previously unissued studio and live recordings from the period.

Reception

Trouser Press described Thrak as "an absolute monster, a cerebral sextet adventure stunning in its precisely controlled rock power."[8]

In a retrospective review of the album, Daniel Gioffre of AllMusic called King Crimson "the only progressive rock band from the `60s to be making new, vital, progressive music in the `90s" and expressed high regard for the various ways they exploited the double trio format on the album. While noting the album often referenced previous King Crimson works, he felt that this was a subtle acknowledgment of King Crimson`s established fan base rather than a preoccupation with their own past.[6]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Adrian Belew, except "Coda: Marine 475" by Robert Fripp; all music is composed by King Crimson (Belew, Bill Bruford, Fripp, Trey Gunn, Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto).

Notes

• "Vrooom", "Thrak" and "Vrooom Vrooom" are stylised in all caps.

Personnel

King Crimson

• Robert Fripp – electric guitar, guitar synthesizer, Mellotron, soundscapes
• Adrian Belew – electric and acoustic guitars, guitar synthesizer, lead vocals
• Tony Levin – bass guitar, Chapman Stick, electric upright bass, backing vocals
• Trey Gunn – Chapman Stick, Warr guitar, backing vocals
• Bill Bruford – acoustic and electronic drums, percussion
• Pat Mastelotto – acoustic and electronic drums, percussion

Production personnel

• David Bottrill – production, engineering
• David Singleton – production assistant, digital editing
• Russell Kearney – additional engineering
• John Sinks – equipment, strategic liaison
• Richard Chadwick – coordinator
• Bill Smith Studio – design
• Lewis Mulatero – photography
• Kevin Westenberg – additional photography

Charts