Love Cannot Bear

Robert Fripp | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 31, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Discipline Us
• ASIN: B000BGR312
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,273 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Acceptance - Affirming

2. Affirmation: IMAC

3. On My Mother's Birthday

4. Affirmation: New York

5. Midnight Blue

6. Easter Sunday

7. Love Cannot Bear

8. Requiem - Affirming

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE PRACTICE OF MUSIC, November 8, 2005

By 

Kerry Leimer (Makawao, Hawaii United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Love Cannot Bear (Audio CD)

Fripp, of course, needs no advice from us. So, aside from questioning the wisdom of beginning his liner notes with the heading "From The Guitarist's Stool" this set of recordings -- the seventh or eighth or ninth installment in his Soundscape series -- requires that very little more need be said. Still, Love Cannot Bear proves to be a collection of some of the most approachable and deeply affecting performances of the series. Less preoccupied with the abstractions of vertical music, these pieces are the product of seemingly ideal settings -- small audiences in small venues witnessing the results of a virtuoso who lures and teases out a music of immediacy, intimacy and interest. The experience is one often based upon that which is left unstated, of that which results from restraint. Yet, at a recent soundscapes performance, Fripp shared his experience of being repeatedly and consistently booed during his G3 soundscape openers. Those audiences demanded "more notes". But here, safely back among the sane, even casual listening offers access to the momentary culminations of decades of dedication to craft, dedication to the shared experience of music. Somewhere in the mix there is also a good measure of the artist's sacrifice for his art. To be forever on the road, forever on the stage, at times before less than receptive audiences, while consistently working towards those few singular moments can't simply be about earning a living. So here, as with other Soundscapes, the music shudders among remote outreaches of beauty, never descending to "pretty". Along the way, the notion of virtuosity extends beyond the instrument to what Fripp has clearly devised as an entire system of music creation, one that emphatically and successfully includes the audience. After so many years, what's left to do? Addressing the never-ending imperative of doing.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A welcome return., November 8, 2005

By 

Michael Stack (North Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Love Cannot Bear (Audio CD)

After several years focusing on King Crimson and related activities, Robert Fripp returned his focus to soundscapes-- the result is 2005 was quite a rennaissance for Fripp's ambient work, seeing the release of his first collaboration with Brian Eno in thirty years ("The Equatorial Stars") and his first solo soundscapes record in seven years.

For any who are unfamiliar, soundscapes are quite a different beast then Fripp's work with Crimson and others. For historical context-- in the early '70s, Eno and Fripp developed a scheme by which infinite feedback and looping could be generated utilizing two tape loops in real time, this system was dubbed Frippertronics, produced two collaborative albums between the two musicians, and shaped Fripp's career outside of King Crimson for the next couple decades. At some point in the early '90s, Fripp moved this technology to the digital realm and retitled it soundscapes. The music on these recordings is not conventional-- Fripp soaks his guitar in processing and the sound is generally hazy, even when it becomes more aggressive. Fripp improvises his soundscapes, and as a result, they tend to be far be extremely expressive and emotive.

So the album itself is primarily culled from live performances in 2005, augmented by a few other tracks. The 2005 pieces all follow a similar formula-- slow to build, developing ideas over time, and reaching a state of shockingly overwhelming beauty. Two of the remaining tracks are from 2000 performances at New York City's World Financial Center, one featuring an odd, treated, spoken vocal, and a pair of pieces are culled from earlier releases. They all blend seemlessly with the remainder of the record.

One anomoly on the album is the presence of a piece from 1983-- "Easter Sunday", originally released (I believe) on a flex-disk in a magazine. It's a nice rarity to have, but it sounds nothing like the rest of the album, a mild loop plays over which Fripp solos delicately on acoustic and electric guitar.

When I first listened to this album, I was driving in my car and started thinking about death-- not in a morbid way, but in that sort of "what happens when you die" kind of way. This isn't generally something I think about, but the music elicited a response for me. To that end, it's rather successful. I suspect there's not much more for me to say-- the album is a thing of fragile beauty, I don't think it's his best ("A Blessing of Tears" gets that vote from me), but it is a welcome return. Highly recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MUSIC IS OUR FRIEND, March 1, 2006

By 

Jason M. Carzon (bowie, maryland United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Love Cannot Bear (Audio CD)

If only we can listen to our friend. Robert Fripp's solo ambient 'soundscapes' are an aquired taste for many, but for those willing to place expectations aside and let music wash over them for a hour may find LOVE CANNOT BEAR to be an emotional experience. With only guitar, Fripp creates vast sheets of sound and synth-like loops and patterns. The results are at once haunting, mourning, soothing, terrifying, and beautiful.

This is his first soundscapes release for some time, and already probably his best. He had released many ambient works throughout the 90's(Radiophonics, A Blessing Of Tears, 1999), but not all of it was successful in interesting me for some reason. I've always found that his best soundscape work was done in small doses, such as the material with his PROJEKCTS, with ENO or David Sylvian or even the odd Crimson bit. A whole album of it was perhaps a bit too much, and his 1998 release GATES OF PARADISE actually terrified me. LOVE CANNOT BEAR, however, is a work of immense scope and beauty, a long way from the nerdy bleeps and drones from 1980's LET THE POWER FALL. It doesn't suprise me, as the album is basically a compilation of unrelated soundscapes from different time periods. A few performances from the 90's, some from the World Financial Center in New York in 2000(a haunting, eerily silent work), and some from recent US tours.

As someone else mentioned, the one odd man out in this collection is EASTERN SUNDAY from 1983, which features some less ambient textures which include electric guitar solo and some classical-tinged acoustic guitar. I believe this is the first time Fripp has committed acoustic guitar playing to a new release in many, many years. This one track serves to show how Robert's style and advancements have changed since then. This track was taken from a flexi-disc from a Guitar World magazine from 1986, If I'm not mistaken. I remember, I had the disc once.

Another highlight is the haunting title track- a serene, unfolding performance which may make you feel comforted and somewhat humbled in its presence. A robotic voice issues actual lyrics, which are simple yet also very moving. This track and POWER TO BELIEVE IV(CODA) are probably two of the most moving pieces in Robert's entire catalogue, soundscape or otherwise.

If you're looking to buy only one solo Fripp soundscape album, this is the exact only one you'll really need. This is the point in which music takes you into it and through it. The artist was in touch with something with these performances. Something intangible, yet very real. Well worth hearing. It wouldn't hurt get Equatorial Stars(with Brian Eno) as well.