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21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wake Up, World!!! This Is Perfect Rock!!!, June 10, 2006
I bemoan a world where rock critics and so-called purists still routinely pass off everything that came after John Wetton in the history of King Crimson. As if the majority of people know the first thing about King Crimson outside of perhaps hearing "21st Century Schizoid Man" and a few other noteworthy tracks from _Court of the Crimson King_, a great moment almost four decades removed and certainly remotely connected to the mastery, emotion, and experimentalism exhibited on _Three of a Perfect Pair_.
I've never really understood why people dismiss Crimson after Belew came in the band. The reason that Belew has led the band twice as long as all its other singers combined is because THIS IS THE BEST LINE-UP!!! _Three of a Perfect Pair_ is a better album than their most famous release, _Crimson King_, and its only rival for best KC release ever is the Belew-led _Discipline_. Don't get me wrong, KC had many a moment before Belew, especially _Islands_, _Lizard_, and a handful of classics from the otherwise bloated _Crimson King_. What they finally got with Belew is a match for Fripp in all the most important departments: songwriting, guitar-playing, and bold spirit. And perhaps their first totally coherent release with _Discipline_. Add the fact that Belew creates harmonies worthy of Yes and writes existentially intriguing lyrics (and doesn't sound like a feathered college boy like John Wetton), and you've got albums that works on more fronts than most anyone else can dream of creating.
_Perfect Pair_ starts in pop nirvana with a quartet of songs that, yes, seem to put the new wave in Crimso (spec. Talking Heads), but have an infectiousness, musical dexterity, and poetic scope that mark them as being all their own. The album nimbly and uncannily switches gears on the second side (yeah, we're going back to LP days, kids), which doesn't contain any lyrics until its third song, "Dig Me," that rare paean to a junked automobile's emotions that despite all odds is able to attain choral transcendence after the pre-NIN industrial grindscape of the verse. An unforgettable rock moment, that, alas, far too few of my compeers can claim to have encountered even in passing. What kind of world do I live in?
One where I alone amongst my friends can know the subtly jagged instrumental interplay between Bruford, Levin, Fripp, and Belew. One where I have yet to hear a song by one of the top ten rock bands ever played on classic rock radio (that band is Crimson). A lonely world made so much more tolerable by the enduring genius displayed on _Three of a Perfect Pair_.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
they have their cross to share, three of a perfect pair, December 20, 2006
After the somewhat uneveness of Beat, the band bounced back into top form with this album which is one of the band's best. I find this album to be a perfect mix of songs. From classics like Sleepless and the title track to less known songs like Model Man(another classic by the way). The instrumental tunes like Larks, Tongues In Aspic Part Three are some of the most interesting tunes recorded. I feel that this album has never quite gotten the respect it deserves. The new cd version also has some cool bonus songs. If your getting started or if you have others by the band DON'T MISS THIS.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Strong CD, but not the best of the 1980s studio work, November 30, 2008
Three of a Perfect Pair is certainly a strong CD, but of the 3 released during the mid 80s (Discipline, Beat, and Three of a Perfect Pair), it is not as strong a Discipline, but certainly much better than Beat. I really wish I could give 4 ½ stars because it is a very strong CD. The CD adds some interesting materials to the original album such as KC as a barber shop quartet on track 10 (which is a hoot - my 15 year old son loves to listen to this track) and the 3 different versions of sleepless. Likewise, Industrial Zone A and B are interesting tracks. I've always loved the variations on Lark's Tongues but found Part III to be the weakest of these - but it is still an interesting take on the original song that KC has developed across the years. I strongly recommend it but don't feel it was as strong of an effort as Discipline - but I feel Discipline is one of KC's top studio efforts up there with Red and In the Court of the Crimson King.
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