By 2005, it had been nearly eight years since Adrian Belew had unleashed an all-new solo studio effort. That's not to say he wasn't busy, though, as he toured/recorded with both King Crimson and the Bears during this time. And in the process, he became quite friendly with two of rock's top players -- Primus' Les Claypool and Tool's Danny Carey -- who happened to be major Belew fans. As a result, Belew invited the duo to play on several tracks on Side One. But be forewarned: they do not appear on the entire album, which is a shame, because the two best tracks -- "Ampersand" and "Writing on the Wall" (the latter of which is a fierce funk-rocker, quite reminiscent of early-'80s-era King Crimson) -- are the ones that contain this stellar lineup. But that's not to say the other tracks aren't worthwhile; other standouts include the noisy, repetitive epic "Madness" (which could have fit snugly on Crimson's 2003 effort, The Power to Believe) and a tribute to pachyderms everywhere, the appropriately titled "Elephants." At barely over 30 minutes in length, some fans who have patiently waited this long for a new Belew release may be disappointed initially, before finding out the good news -- the guitarist will be releasing two additional solo releases in 2005 (Side Two and Side Three).
Adrian has been around. Most well known as the vocalist and a guitarist for prog-rock's longest lasting band, King Crimson, since its 1980s incarnation, he's also worked with David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Peter Frampton, The Talking Heads, Nine Inch Nails, Porcupine Tree, and Tori Amos, among others. This is his 10th solo album.
This album is only 33 minutes long, which perfect, in my opinion, but it still costs the same as an LP. It's the first in a trilogy of albums to be released this year. The production is bright and open, verging on thin, but gives the instrumental seperation necessary for this type of record. Les Claypool of Primus and Danny Carey of Tool appear on the first three songs.
For guitarists and especially progressive rock fans, Adrian Belew needs little introduction. Having worked with the likes of Frank Zappa, David Bowie, The Talking Heads, Nine Inch Nails as well as being a member of the new "renaissance" version of King Crimson that re-emerged in the 80's, he's a wildly prolific musician who has also released many solo albums. Much of his time has been taken up by both King Crimson and his other project entitled The Bears with his solo material having to be recorded during the brief breaks between his other band commitments. His latest solo album, Side One, is the first of a three part project with parts two and three being aptly named Side Two and Side Three. Both of those albums will emerge later this year or early next year. Largely recorded and performed entirely by himself except for a couple of tracks, this album contains all the avante garde weirdness and quirky guitar playing that he's so noted for. Wanting to record for the first time as a classic power trio format, Adrian enlisted the services of Primus bassist Les Claypool and Tool drummer Danny Carey for a few tracks on this album.
The first three tracks (Ampersand, Writing On The Wall and Matchless Men) all feature Les Claypool and Danny Carey with Ampersand featuring Adrian's trebly guitar style over an abstract 60's psychedelic feel. Writing On The Wall is more of the classic King Crimson sound with the ultra fuzzy guitar tone and Adrian uses a "distant" vocal style to chant the only lyrics to the song "I see the writing on the wall". Both Ampersand and Writing On The Wall benefit from the pounding bass of Les Claypool and Danny Carey's intricate drumming style. The experimentation with the "power trio" format is a huge success with both of these tracks. Matchless Men again uses a 60's psychedelic vibe but with more of an eerie tone accentuated by Danny Carey's bongo stylings. The rest of the tracks feature all instrumentation by Adrian himself except for a couple of guest appearances and range from chaotic King Crimson styles with Madness to a Police influenced Walk Around The World. Adrian explores more ambient tones with the tracks Beat Box Guitar and Under The Radar and he even revisits the elephants (in reference to Elephant Talk) with a track simply entitled Elephants. It's a weird sort of track with spoken word vocals. The album ends with the track Pause which is essentially a minute and a half of sound effects.
Track listing:
1. Ampersand (4:23)
2. Writing On The Wall (3:53)
3. Matchless Man (2:32)
4. Madness (6:54)
5. Walk Around The World (4:58)
6. Beat Box Guitar (5:08)
7. Under The Radar (1:39)
8. Elephants (2:15)
9. Pause (1:20)
Total Time 33:03
Personnel:
- Adrian Belew / vocals and instruments, producer
- Les Claypool / bass guitar (1-3)
- Danny Carey / drums (1,2), tabla (3)
- Peter Hyrka / violin (4,9)
- Gary Tussing / cello (4)
- Ian Wallace / voice of BBC
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