''Discipline'' is the eighth studio album by English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

band

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

, released on 22 September 1981 by E.G. Records in the United Kingdom and by

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

in the United States. This album was King Crimson's first following a seven-year hiatus. Only band co-founder and guitarist

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...

and drummer

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English former drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording ...

remained from the previous incarnation. They were joined by two American musicians: guitarist, vocalist and lyricist

Adrian Belew Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual and impressionistic approach to ...

and bassist and backing vocalist

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (since 1 ...

. The album introduced a new sound for the band, influenced by new wave,

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

and world music, while retaining an

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

character, helping lay the groundwork for what would eventually be known as

post-progressive Post-progressive is a type of rock music distinguished from vintage progressive rock styles, specifically 1970s prog. Post-progressive draws upon newer developments in popular music and the avant-garde since the mid-1970s. It especially draws fro ...

rock.

Background and composition

''Discipline'' has been described as art rock,

, new wave,

, and

dance-rock Dance-rock is a dance-infused genre of rock music. It is a post-disco genre connected with pop rock and post-punk with fewer rhythm and blues influences. It originated in the early 1980s, following the decline in popularity of both punk and disc ...

. The title of the ballad "

Matte Kudasai "Matte Kudasai" ( ja, 待ってください) is a ballad by the progressive rock band King Crimson. Featuring vocals by Adrian Belew, it was released as the first single from the album '' Discipline'' (1981). In the UK, the single just missed th ...

" means “please wait” in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

(待って下さい). The original release of ''Discipline'' featured a guitar part on this track by

that was removed from subsequent releases of the album starting with the 1989 Definitive Edition remaster. The 30th and 35th anniversary editions, meanwhile, include both versions of the song. The lyrics of "Indiscipline" were based on a letter written to

by his then-wife Margaret, concerning a painting that she had made. " Thela Hun Ginjeet" is an anagram of "heat in the jungle". When it was first performed live, some of its lyrics were improvised around an illicit recording made by Robert Fripp of his neighbours having a vicious argument when he was living in New York; this recording is featured on the track "NY3" on Fripp's solo album '' Exposure''. While the track was being recorded for the ''Discipline'' album, Adrian Belew, walking around

Notting Hill Gate Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name. Location At Ossington Street/Ke ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

with a

tape recorder An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present ...

looking for inspiration, was harassed first by a gang and then by the police. On returning to the studio, he gave a distraught account to his bandmates of what had just happened to him. This account was recorded by Fripp, without Belew's knowledge, as well and is featured on the ''Discipline'' version of the track (as well as almost all live versions), in place of those earlier lyrics that were based on Fripp's New York recording. "The Sheltering Sky" is named after (and partially inspired by) the 1949 novel of the same name by

Paul Bowles Paul Frederic Bowles (; December 30, 1910November 18, 1999) was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator. He became associated with the Moroccan city of Tangier, where he settled in 1947 and lived for 52 years to the end of his ...

. Bowles is often associated with the Beat generation, which would be an inspiration for King Crimson's subsequent studio album ''

Beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...

''.

-Possible Productions knotwork- by Steve Ball

Live versions of "Elephant Talk", "Indiscipline", and "Thela Hun Ginjeet" included partial vocal improvisation during spoken-word parts. One such example can be found in the 13 August 1982 performance, which, as of 30 March 2021, was still available for download in both

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

and FLAC formats from DGM. The back cover features the statement, "Discipline is never an end in itself, only a means to an end". The original front cover features a variation on a copyrighted

Celtic knot Celtic knots ( ga, snaidhm Cheilteach, cy, cwlwm Celtaidd, kw, kolm Keltek, gd, snaidhm Ceilteach) are a variety of knots and stylized graphical representations of knots used for decoration, used extensively in the Celtic style of Insular ...

design by George Bain.
As it was found to be used without Bain's permission, it was replaced on later releases by a knotwork designed by Steve Ball on commission from Robert Fripp. Ball's design is also used as the

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...

Discipline Global Mobile Discipline Global Mobile (DGM, or Discipline GM) is an independent record label founded in 1992 by Robert Fripp (best known as guitarist and main composer for the band King Crimson) and producer/online content developer David Singleton. D ...

, the music label founded by Fripp, which has become the label for King Crimson, Fripp, and associated artists.

Reception

''Discipline'' reached number 41 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

and received mixed to positive reviews. John Piccarella's review in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' praised King Crimson's talent and artistry, particularly Belew and Fripp's "visionary approach to guitar playing", but criticised the "arty content" of the album itself, concluding, "Here's hoping that, unlike every other King Crimson lineup, this band of virtuosos stays together long enough to transform all of their experiments into innovations." ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...

''s Alan Entwistle was generally enthusiastic, writing that the band "tests new ground and revitalises older ground"; he highlighted the "more mature" second side of the album, noting its "distinct songs that are danceable as well as disciplined". Robert Christgau of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' described the album as "not bad— the Heads meet

the League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the live ...

". In ''The Village Voice''s year-end

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abs ...

poll, ''Discipline'' was voted by critics as the 35th best album of 1981. Greg Prato's retrospective review in

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

commended the album's "inspired performances", particularly applauding the unexpectedly successful combinations of Belew and Fripp's disparate playing styles. According to Prato, "the pairing of these two originals worked out magically." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' characterised the album's songs as "unfolding musical sculptures, played with precision and rare imagination, a mostly successful synthesis of ambition, simplicity and Kraftwerkian clarity."

Legacy

In 2002, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' considered ''Discipline'' an influence on

math rock Math rock is a style of progressive and indie rock with roots in bands such as King Crimson and Rush as well as 20th-century minimal music composers such as Steve Reich. It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (includi ...

and ranked the album at number 56 on its list of "The Top 100 Albums of the 1980s".

Track listing

All music written by

and

. Lyrics by Adrian Belew.

Personnel

;King Crimson *

–

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

guitar synthesizer A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical instrument systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partnersh ...

, lead vocals *

– electric guitar, guitar synthesizer, devices *

–

Chapman Stick The Chapman Stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the Chapman Stick usually has ten or twelve individually tuned strings and is used to play bass lines, melody lines ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocals *

– drums,

slit drum A slit drum or slit gong is a hollow percussion instrument. In spite of the name, it is not a true drum but an idiophone, usually carved or constructed from bamboo or wood into a box with one or more slits in the top. Most slit drums have one slit ...

, percussion ;Technical *

Rhett Davies Rhett Davies (born 1949 in London) is an English record producer and engineer. Davies' father was trumpet player Ray Davies (no relation to Ray Davies of The Kinks). Davies became a studio engineer at Island Records studios in the early 1970s, a ...

– production *Nigel Mills – assistant

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

*Graham Davies – gear * Peter Saville – graphic design *John Kyrk –

knot A knot is an intentional complication in cordage which may be practical or decorative, or both. Practical knots are classified by function, including hitches, bends, loop knots, and splices: a ''hitch'' fastens a rope to another object; a ' ...

work (uncredited; 1981, 1986 and 1989 issues only) *Steve Ball – knotwork (2001 issue onwards) *Paddy Spinks – strategic management

Charts

References

External links

*
Wiki with song lyrics
at fan-site Elephant Talk (inspired by ''Disciplines " Elephant Talk") {{DEFAULTSORT:Discipline (King Crimson Album) 1981 albums Albums produced by Rhett Davies King Crimson albums E.G. Records albums Virgin Records albums Warner Records albums New wave albums by English artists