''Three of a Perfect Pair'' is the tenth studio album by English 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 in March 1984 by record label

E.G. Eg or EG may refer to: In arts and media * ''E.G.'' (EP), an EP by Goodshirt * ''EG'' (magazine), a journal dedicated to chess endgame studies * Eg White (born 1966), a British musician, songwriter and producer * E.G. Records, a music record l ...

It is the final studio album to feature the quartet 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 ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

Content

According to Fripp: "The album presents two distinct sides of the band’s personality, which has caused at least as much confusion for the group as it has the public and the industry. The left side is accessible, the right side excessive." The "other side" on the 2001 CD remaster consists of instrumental material from the 1983 sessions, and a 1989 a cappella recording (first published in the 1991 "Frame By Frame" box set) in which Tony Levin performed his humorous song "The King Crimson Barber Shop". The title of the album is based on the idea of “perfect opposites”, or someone's truth, someone else's truth, and an objective truth (the idea of “three sides to every story”). The Peter Willis designed artwork illustrates the

sacred–profane dichotomy ''Profanum'' is the Latin word for "profane". The state of being profane, or "profanity," refers to a lack of respect for things that are held to be sacred, which implies anything inspiring or deserving of reverence, as well as behaviour show ...

while being a simplified version of the '' Larks' Tongues in Aspic'' cover; a rising phallic object represents a male solar deity about to penetrate the crescent figure, a female

lunar deity A lunar deity or moon deity is a deity who represents the Moon, or an aspect of it. These deities can have a variety of functions and traditions depending upon the culture, but they are often related. Lunar deities and Moon worship can be found ...

. According to Fripp, the artwork is “a presentation of a reconciliation of Western & Eastern Christianity..the front cover has the two elements, representing the male & female principles. The back cover has the third element drawing together & reconciling the preceding opposite terms”. Tracks 10-15 were added for the 2001 30th Anniversary remaster. The aforementioned instrumentals, “The King Crimson Barbershop”, and three alternate mixes of " Sleepless". Two of the three were previously released on the UK 12" single. The

Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born January 15, 1953) is an American recording engineer, mixer and record producer. He has worked with many major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Toto (band), Toto, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams, with whom he ...

mix appeared (incorrectly credited and against the band's wishes) on the U.S. Warner Bros. pressing of the LP. The hip hop duo

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts rapper Guru. For the entirety of their association, they were based out of Brooklyn, New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2 ...

would later sample the intro to "Dig Me" in their song "Words I Manifest (Remix)" from their 1989 debut album '' No More Mr. Nice Guy''.

Release and reception

Released on 27 March 1984, ''Three of a Perfect Pair'' reached number 30 in 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 ...

. ''

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 ...

'' described it as "a most disjunct album from a band that prided itself on carefully matched contradictions. The Left Side sports four of Adrian Belew's poorer songs and a self-derivative instrumental; the flip is nearly all-instrumental, nearly free-form, nearly brilliant. ..Apparently the Frippressive 'discipline' that forged the critically acclaimed pop/art synthesis of the first two latter-day Crimson albums is not a permanent condition." During an interview on BBC Radio 1 in 1984, Robert Fripp described the album's 'left' side as "accessible" and 'right' side as "excessive". A new

5.1 surround sound 5.1 surround sound ("five-point one") is the common name for surround sound audio systems. 5.1 is the most commonly used layout in home theatres. It uses five full bandwidth channels and one low-frequency effects channel (the "point one"). Dol ...

mix by

Steven Wilson Steven John Wilson (born 3 November 1967) is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosi ...

and

was released in October 2016 for the 40th Anniversary Series as a standalone CD/DVD package and as part of the '' On (and off) The Road (1981 - 1984)'' boxed set.

Track listing

Personnel

;King Crimson *

– fretted and

fretless guitar A fretless guitar is a guitar with a fingerboard without frets, typically a standard instrument that has had the frets removed, though some custom-built and commercial fretless guitars are occasionally made. The classic fretless guitar was first ...

s, lead vocals *

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

frippertronics 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 ...

–

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 ...

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 ...

, synthesizer, backing vocals *

– acoustic and electric drums ;Additional personnel *Brad Davis –

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 ...

*Tony Arnold (Arny's Shack) – co-engineer on "Industry" and "Dig Me" *Nick James, Ray Niznik, Peter Hefter – assistant engineers *Tex Read – social services *Peter Willis (Trevall Mill Studio) – cover symbol design basis *Timothy Eames – cover art

Chart performance

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Three Of A Perfect Pair King Crimson albums 1984 albums E.G. Records albums Warner Records albums Virgin Records albums New wave albums by English artists