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''The Power to Believe'' is the thirteenth and final 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 ...
. It was released on 4 March 2003 through
Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...
and met with generally favourable reviews, with several critics appreciating its heightened aggression. It is the second and final album to feature the "Double Duo" lineup of
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Trey Gunn Trey Gunn (born December 13, 1960) is an American musician, known for his membership in the progressive rock band King Crimson from 1994 to 2003, playing Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick. Biography A native Texan who now resides in Seattle, Washi ...
and
Pat Mastelotto Lee Patrick Mastelotto (born September 10, 1955) is an American rock drummer and record producer. He has been a member of King Crimson, Stick Men, Mr. Mister and O.R.k., as well as working as a session drummer with XTC, The Pointer Sisters an ...
, and the last studio album to feature Belew and Gunn. ''The Power to Believe'' was preceded by the EP '' Happy with What You Have to Be Happy With'' (2002), which features alternate and otherwise unreleased tracks.


Background

After a tour opening for
Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...
in 2001, King Crimson refined and focused their four-piece structure for their second album in that configuration. Prior to its release in 2003, ''The Power to Believe'' was preceded by ''Level Five'' (2001) and '' Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With'' (2002), two EPs that functioned as work-in-progress reveals for the album, which Fripp described as "the culmination of three years of Crimsonising". While ''Level Five'' was a live release featuring two songs that would appear on the full album, ''Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With'' was a limited-edition studio release that, much like 1994's ''
VROOOM ''Vrooom'' (stylised as ''VROOOM'') is an EP by the band King Crimson, classified as a mini-album due to its length. It was released in 1994 as a companion to the subsequent full length album ''THRAK'' (1995). It is the first King Crimson rel ...
'' to 1995's ''
THRAK ''Thrak'' (stylised in all caps) is the eleventh studio album by the band King Crimson released in 1995 through Virgin Records. It was preceded by the mini-album ''Vrooom'' in 1994. It is their first full-length studio album since '' Three of a ...
'', featured alternate and early versions of its upcoming album's tracks.


Content and composition

Originally titled ''Nuovo Metal'', ''The Power to Believe'' continued the aggressive and occasionally industrial experimentation of King Crimson's previous album, 2000's '' The Construkction of Light'', with several critics appreciating its increased weight. Like that previous album, ''The Power to Believe'' was recorded with King Crimson as a four-piece. The album derives its title from "The Power to Believe", a four-part suite of songs that runs throughout the album. The phrase originally appeared in the song "All Her Love Is Mine" from
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 ...
's 1996 solo album '' Op Zop Too Wah''. The album's second track, " Level Five", acts as the fifth and final entry in the " Larks' Tongues in Aspic" suite, which began with parts one and two from the 1973 album '' Larks' Tongues in Aspic''. Lindsay Planer of
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 ...
wrote that "Level Five" "is so intense that it could easily be mistaken for the likes of Tool, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, or
KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project. ...
." The introduction track to "Facts of Life" features a sample of "The Outer Darkness II: Perimeter I", from Fripp's 1998 album The Gates of Paradise.


Critical reception

''The Power to Believe'' was met with mostly positive reviews. The album received an average score of 72/100 from 8 reviews on
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
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 ...
's Lindsay Planer praised the album's aggression and "sonic belligerence", writing, "If the bandmembers' constant tone probing is an active search to find the unwitting consciousness of a decidedly younger, rowdier, and more demanding audience, their collective mission is most assuredly accomplished on ''The Power to Believe'' -- even more so than the tripped-out psychedelic prog rock behemoth from whence they initially emerged." David Fricke of ''
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 ...
'' appreciated the album's contrast of heavy, frightening periods against peaceful moments, concluding with, "In the face of war, King Crimson make hopeful thunder." In their 2003 review, ''
Mojo Mojo may refer to: * Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * ' ...
'' wrote, "This is a more consistent set, and, hopefully, a revelation for a few young metal heads." Chris Jones of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
called the album "simply stunning". Still, some critics were more lukewarm on ''The Power to Believe''. Writing for ''
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 ...
'', Dominique Leone said, "I can admit to feeling some of that old Crim magic a few times during
he album He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
but would be kidding myself if I thought it was as potent a spell as their adventures of yore." '' Stylus Magazines Ed Howard called ''The Power to Believe'' King Crimson's best release since 1981's '' Discipline'' but thought it did not live up to the band's earliest releases.


Re-issue

In 2019, King Crimson announced that ''The Power to Believe'' would be the fifteenth and final phase of their "40th Anniversary" release schedule. An enhanced and expanded master of the album was released in hi-res stereo audio as well as lossless 5.1 Surround Sound.


Track listing

All songs written by
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
Trey Gunn Trey Gunn (born December 13, 1960) is an American musician, known for his membership in the progressive rock band King Crimson from 1994 to 2003, playing Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick. Biography A native Texan who now resides in Seattle, Washi ...
and
Pat Mastelotto Lee Patrick Mastelotto (born September 10, 1955) is an American rock drummer and record producer. He has been a member of King Crimson, Stick Men, Mr. Mister and O.R.k., as well as working as a session drummer with XTC, The Pointer Sisters an ...
with lyrics by Belew, except where noted.


Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes. King Crimson *
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 ...
– guitar *
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 ...
– guitar, vocals *
Pat Mastelotto Lee Patrick Mastelotto (born September 10, 1955) is an American rock drummer and record producer. He has been a member of King Crimson, Stick Men, Mr. Mister and O.R.k., as well as working as a session drummer with XTC, The Pointer Sisters an ...
– acoustic and electric drums and percussion *
Trey Gunn Trey Gunn (born December 13, 1960) is an American musician, known for his membership in the progressive rock band King Crimson from 1994 to 2003, playing Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick. Biography A native Texan who now resides in Seattle, Washi ...
– Warr touch bass Additional personnel * David Singleton – mastering, management * Machine – production, programming, engineering, mixing * Simon Heyworth – mastering *Jeff Juliano – additional engineering *Ken Latchney – haiku voice recording * P. J. Crook – artwork * Hugh O'Donnell – sleeve design *Tim Faulkner – voice source (track 4)


Charts


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Power to Believe, The King Crimson albums 2003 albums Discipline Global Mobile albums Sanctuary Records albums Albums produced by Machine (producer)