Customer Reviews

Damage: Live (1994 mix)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The early '90s found vocalist David Sylvian and guitarist Robert Fripp on the road together in a band that Fripp had wanted to call King Crimson, performing material that sounded quite a bit like King Crimson. After recording a studio record (the superb "The First Day"), the pair released this live album in limited edition. It was eventually reissued with a David Sylvian production credit and a slightly different track listing and track ordering (the original was produced by Fripp and then-frequent production partner David Bottrill). This is the original issue.

The music first--what a performance! Sylvian (on vocals, guitars and keyboards) and Fripp (on guitar) had assembled a fine supporting cast-- infinite guitarist Michael Brook and future King Crimson members Trey Gunn (Chapman stick) and Pat Mastelotto (drums) to work up a really potent stew. The addition of Mastelotto and his admittedly somewhat heavier hand provides the live performance with a fantastic energy-- everything is powerfully rendered with Mastelotto's tribal-tinged rhythms providing a backbone that certainly seems to inspire Fripp-- his performances masterfully trump the studio recording with jaw-dropping energetic solos on pieces like "God's Monkey", "20th Century Dreaming" and especially "Firepower" that really make the album cuts look like pale shadows in comparison.

Along the way, the band performs a few songs from Sylvian's catalog-- "Gone to Earth", "Wave" and "Riverman" from "Gone to Earth" (all of which featured Fripp on the album) all get readings here as does Rain Tree Crow/Japan reunion classic, "Every Colour You Are". "Wave" and "Riverman" both get great readings-- Sylvian really seems to take advantage of the opportunity to not have the onslaught of guitars that is the majority of the material to dig in-- his vocals are nothing short of earth-shattering. But "Every Colour You Are" is the gem here-- just pure magic of a performance, Sylvian's vocal is haunted and disturbed and a fantastic solo (from Brook I suspect) provides a great angular contrast.

Additionally, three pieces left off the studio record get performances here as well-- two ballads in "Damage" and "The First Day" and straight rocker "Blinding Light of Heaven". The ballads being left off the record is a real mystery-- while they pulled the material away from its King Crimsonesque sound, both of them are fantastic, with Sylvian's vocals and Fripp's guitars laden in passion. "Damage" in particular really grabs you.

The Sylvian/Fripp collaboration bore enormous fruits-- it's really a pity that they have yet to reconvene in any significant fashion. Nonetheless, "Damage" serves as a calling card for their collaboration, and it should not be overlooked. Highly recommended.

This was my introduction to David Sylvian, coming from being a Fripp + King Crimson fan of long standing.

This album is a nice work by a very capable live ensemble.

Of course I was originally interested mainly in Fripp's and Trey Gunn's contributions, but I got to like the drummer Pat Mastelleto (who later joined King Crimson), and Sylvian himself, who is a great lyricist and singer with a hypnotic voice and mannerisms.

I find this essentially 3 star music compared with Syvian's other stuff. But the fact they could produce such intricate music in a live situation elevates it to 4 stars. The title, Damage, is quite apt as I remember leaving this concert in Berkeley thinking "that big, bad Mr. Fripp just brutalized poor little David". Now, if we could have a live album from the "Gone To Earth" tour with David Torn, Mark Isham, et. al. then we'd really be getting somewhere.