“Beat” was released in June 1982 just eight months after the 80s Crimson lineup debut album “Discipline”. It marked the first occasion where a King Crimson line-up had remained intact for a two album stretch and was also the first album by the band to employ a separate producer – Rhett Davies. The juxtaposition of lyrics heavily influenced by 50s beat luminaries Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady.
The complex polyrhythmic musical textures of the ‘80s Crimson, the strength of the songs and the cohesion of the studio performances, all helped the album chart upon release in the US and the UK.
Songs like ‘Waiting Man’, ‘Neal and Jack and Me’ and ‘Heartbeat’ became firm favourites with fans and concert goers. ‘Heartbeat’ in particular was an FM radio regular in the US and even merited a promo film shot for the then-emerging music TV market, while one of the album’s twin instrumental tracks ‘Sartori In Tangier’ anticipated the emerging interest in African based rhythmic styles that would become such a fascination for musicians in the latter part of the decade. As ever, Crimson was pushing forward, looking for new methods to communicate internally as a band and externally with an audience. It was, perhaps, the nearest King Crimson ever came to the rock music ‘mainstream’.
The complex polyrhythmic musical textures of the ‘80s Crimson, the strength of the songs and the cohesion of the studio performances, all helped the album chart upon release in the US and the UK.
Songs like ‘Waiting Man’, ‘Neal and Jack and Me’ and ‘Heartbeat’ became firm favourites with fans and concert goers. ‘Heartbeat’ in particular was an FM radio regular in the US and even merited a promo film shot for the then-emerging music TV market, while one of the album’s twin instrumental tracks ‘Sartori In Tangier’ anticipated the emerging interest in African based rhythmic styles that would become such a fascination for musicians in the latter part of the decade. As ever, Crimson was pushing forward, looking for new methods to communicate internally as a band and externally with an audience. It was, perhaps, the nearest King Crimson ever came to the rock music ‘mainstream’.