Adrian Belew: Twang Bar King

Adrian Belew: Twang Bar King

1983

	Island Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. I'm Down  2. I Wonder  3. Life Without a Cage  4. Sexy Rhino  5. Twang Bar King  6. Another Time  7. The Rail Song  8. Paint the Road  9. She Is Not Dead  10. Fish Head  11.The Ideal Woman  12. Ballet for a Blue Whale

This is the second solo album by King Crimson guitarist/vocalist Adrian Belew., and holy shit, does he sound exactly like David Byrne of the Talking Heads (as opposed to David Byrne of the US Postal Service.)

I mean, it kind of makes sense, he was heavily involved in the Talking Heads (contributing guitar to the Talking Head's 1980 classic "Remain in Light" and he was also their live guitarist during this time period...Hell, he even received an offer to replace David Byrne when some of the other band-mates were sick of him...), and while it is sometimes distracting, really, you learn to overlook it a little, if only because you're listening to the real star of the show: Adrian's warped guitar, which usually sounds like it's melting or being played backwards...

Outside of that, it's a fun and eclectic album...Adrian tries out all kinds of things...He starts out the record  with a near-perfect replica of "I'm Down" by the Beatles, only going wonky during an avant garde guitar solo...and after that he's all over the map...bizarre instrumentals, pop songs, street interviews,  rockabilly, world music recorded backwards, you name it...

I really enjoy "The Rail Song."It makes me want to tie up all my possessions in a handkerchief and tie them to the end of a stick and hop a train...

Yea, it makes me want to be a bindlestiff! It captures that romantic and adventurous spirit beautifully...

"When we climbed up the great Appalachians,
Her engines would be raging like hell,
Then we'd come back down to the rising towns,
Where the cattle stare In the frozen air..."

 All in all, I think everybody's record collection needs something like this; When you're tired of hearing verses, choruses, and the standard chord progressions, and just want to hear a guy
pursue whatever crazy idea interests him...I found this in the $3.00 bin at the local FYE in Tempe, AZ and if you run into a copy at the same price, I'd say it's worth checking out...Hell, I'd go as high as $5.00!

Now it's time to check out Adrian's video for "I'm Down." It's a good 80's video because it has juggling in it...All great 80's videos have juggling...