Twang Bar King

Adrian Belew | Format: Audio Cassette

Product Details

• Audio Cassette (October 17, 1990)
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B00000ESFT
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,547,386 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

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 [Instrumental]

9. She Is Not Dead

10. Fish Head

11. The Ideal Woman

12. Ballet for a Blue Whale [Instrumental]

Editorial Reviews

Japanese exclusive reissue, limited to 5,000 pieces, of 1983 album that's out-of-print domestically, packaged in a miniature gatefold LP sleeve. Island. 2002. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The King, November 8, 2006

By 

Lovblad (Geneva, Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twang Bar King (Audio CD)

While I preferred Lone Rhino overall, this is a solid record. The guitar playing is of course ultra-flashy for those who like that kind of thing. Coming at the time from a new wave angle (i knew him from his work with the Talking Heads), this was somewhat surprising and even not politically acceptable music to like back then when it originally came out. Of course it turns out he would record with King Crimson, another guilty favourite. It is very fun music.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Second solo album from "the King", July 22, 2003

By 

WTDK "If at first the idea is not absurd, the... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Twang Bar King (Audio CD)

I have to wonder if the title is a pun on the role Belew saw himself in as part of King Crimson. Belew's second album lacks some of the snap and sizzle of his debut but is, for the most part, a very good follow up. The highlight is undisputedly his frantic reworking of The Beatles' I'm Down. He Belewizes it. There's a number of originals that are as good as his first album but following so closely on the heels of Discipline, Beat and Lone Rhino may have diminished its impact.

I Wonder meanders a bit but has a worthwile lyric and bouncy melody. THe real highlights (besides I'm Down)is She is not Dead and Life Without a Cage. The former song is an odd, mournful tune with a Middle Eastern flavor. The latter song opens with a series of oddly phased piano chords before parading into a strident rocker. It's one of Belew's best songs on the album with its odd time signature changes. Belew grafts three distinct different melodies. It creates the effect of an musical roller coaster and there's more than one or two tips of the hat to The Beatles (particularly songs like We Can Work It Out and A Day in the Life). The phased effect on the tune recalls without imitating Revolver's She Said and Tomorrow Never Knows. A sudden shift of gears is represented by two contrasting pieces. Sexy Rhino is little more than a fragment. The Blast of Twang Bar King kicks the album back into high gear and helps close out what used to be the first side of the LP/cassette with the one-two punch of Another Time and the affecting The Rail Song.

The odd instrumental Paint The Road paves the way for the stunning She Is Not Dead. The album's quality dips with the twin tracks Fish Head and The Ideal Woman. Fish Head is the most disappointing of the original songs. It's imitative without the spark of originality one has come to associate with Belew. The album closes with the stunning and mournful Ballet for a Blue Whale. It's an instrumental using the many guitar effects Belew had at his disposal at the time.

Although not quite as surprising as his debut Twang Bar King is actually a better, braver and more consistent record. It proved that the highlights of both Lone Rhino and the King Crimson album Discipline were no accident. Belew had arrived as both musician and artist.

3.0 out of 5 stars Ni fú ni fa, June 10, 2003

By 

J. B. Fresno (Madrid, Spain) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Twang Bar King (Audio CD)

Este es el segundo disco de Adrian Belew tras su, bastante mejor, debut en "Lone Rhino". En este caso muestra su vertiente más rokera, empezando por una potente versión del I'm Down de los Beatles. Sin embargo, cuando Belew tiene a endurezer su música en exceso, pierde buena parte de sus signos de identidad. El disco no está mal pero podría haber sido firmado por cualquiera. Es uno de los menos personales de este estupendo cantante y guitarrista.