Customer Reviews

Vrooom

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I actually find this short CD a more direct and more rewarding listening experience than the official Thrak album. The sound is a bit rawer, but you can litterally feel the high energy fields flowing between the six players, in a way that is so unique to Crimson.

The title track is a reworking of "Red", from a different perspective : with its coda it reaches an unbelievable intensity, but then it pales in comparison to the track "Thrak" which is the sonic equivalent of a volcano eruption. "One time" is certainly one of the most beautiful songs ever written by Belew ; "Cage" is like a strong and quick uppercut in your jaw.

The balance between sonic assault, experimental improvisation and songs is striking and makes this CD filable along the best of Crimson. Too bad the "Thrak" album did not live up to such high standards.

A must for all King Crimson fans, this is a 'calling card', as the liner notes suggest, a means to introduce King Crimson's Double Trio lineup to the listening audience. The casual listener unfamiliar with Crimson can find plenty here that will open their ears, if they are willing to be receptive, but the real treat is for dedicated Crimson fans: exceptionally tight preliminary readings of four songs that would later appear on the full-length THRAK CD, as well as two other tracks that didn't make it to that disc. As a musician and Crim aficionado, I find that these tracks offer intriguing glimpses of how these songs were interpreted early on. The arrangements are largely similar to the THRAK versions, but the performances of this particular combination of musicians means that the songs not only stand on their own, apart from THRAK, but also reveal how this group can shape and transform compositions over time. The other songs, "Cage" and "When I say Stop, Continue" merit further listening in their own right, and are not mere filler.

For me VROOOM sounds much better than Thrak and the best songs are here (without People of course).Just listen to Vrooom and One Time (longer than the Thrak version), and you will buy this Album. Of course, the live album B'Boom is a very good choice but not better than my 2 favourites : RED and Absent Lovers (6 stars rating). ps:excuse me for my poor english, it's a bit difficult

After having released some rather tedious, wave-pop-influenced albums in the 80's, King Crimson returned to top-form with their first new studio-record since over 10 years. This is uncompromising, aggressive avantgarde-rock without radio-friendly melodies. Some of the tracks have also appeared on the studio-album "Thrak", but "Vroom" is far preferable, because it provides a rougher and more original sound.

Purists may reel in disgust, as the cerebrally metallic noodling can sound abrasively hollow, but this is still a decent enough EP holding at least a few moments of majesty amidst trying experimentation.

This CD is completly worth your time. I was worried that this would just be an inferior teaser to thrak when I bought it, but it turns out to be a wonderful compliment to thrak. THis CD is rawer and grittier, which is in a way absolutly refreshing if you are used to all their polished studio LPs. Thrak is a little better mixed and is longer and somewhat more satisfying. I can listen to thrak and be done, but this leaves me wanting more King Crimson. I prefer the song Thrak on here as oppossed to on the CD Thrak, since it has an extended middle section. This is significantly different from thrack to warrent music fans a listen.

When thios came out, I was comletely blown away. I owned some old Crimson stuff and I had liked Discipline a lot but this was so much better. As the other reviews point out, it is a rather expensive EP with a slightly different sound from the long playing CD that would follow (Thrak) but I prefer this one sonically. It is very brutal and comes over really well). I saw them in Massachusets later I think in 1996 and it was simply great as well. A great band.

This album makes a great introduction for those who are new to Crimson. This was first Crimson album I bought, and I was inspired to buy more after listening to it. Having said that, it is clear to me that this EP is a rather terrific example of a band really caring about their fans. Released in 1994 as a prelude to their forthcoming album Thrak, VROOM contains several totally different advance mixes of four tracks from Thrak, plus two songs ("The Cage" and "When I Say Stop, Continue") not included anywhere else. All of the songs are engaging, if a little industrial and lacking in a lighter side. Especially good is the title track, a delightfully serious instrumental. Superb musicianship abounds also, utilizing the double trio format, i.e. two guitarists, two bassists, and two drummers. Personally, I prefer the mixes on Thrak; the separation is better and the guitars stand out better, but this by no means indicates that the EP isn't worth your time, and some will prefer the rougher mixes here. Like I said, it's also a good introduction for non-fans. Well worth the price.

First, when I see the word "purists" pop up here, it looks to me like these are people who like early King Crimson (circa "In the Court of the Crimson King" to maybe "Red"), before Adrian Belew joined the band. I always found King Crimson interesting, but when I first heard "Discipline" I began to love them. They became heavier and more "experimental" beginning in the 1980s and have continued to grow and change ever since. Early "purists" may not like it, but those with open ears get it. "Vrooom" exemplifies the direction the band was taking around the period from "Thrak" (1995) to "Construcktion of Light" (2000). To my ears, "Discipline" (1981), "Beat" (1982), and "Three of a Perfect Pair" (1984) are so closely connected musically that they could have been a three-disc box set. It was a period of some of King Crimson's most beautiful work, including "Heartbeat," "Man with an Open Heart," and "Sleepless." In 1995, "Thrak" began a new phase, one of heavier sounds and more experimentation. I admit that it took me a while to "get" their new sound. This more recent phase is exemplified in the aptly named live set "Heavy ConstruKction" (2000), one of the band's most challenging (and rewarding) live recordings. Another excellent live set from that period is "B'Boom: Live in Argentina 1994."

Returning to the present CD, the track listing on this page is not complete. Beginning with a short 18-second "Intro," the band goes into "Vrooom" (7:17), a complex instrumental that features both the current heaviness of Crimson music, plus the beautiful intricacy of Fripp's amazing guitar playing. "Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream" is classic Adrian Belew music. It's not your three-chord rock and certainly not the progressive rock of the band's early years. "Cage" (1:36) is a vocal race to the end of the world. The appropriately named "Thrak" (7:19) is one of the band's most beautiful heavy pieces. "When I Say Stop, Continue" (5:20) is another complex piece of music, even farther out than "Thrak." Maybe this is where one reviewer got the notion that the band was just "noodling around." It's definitely not linear music, but the sort of music many think of as "experimental." To me, it's just great music. "One Time" (4:27) slows down and closes the CD with a more conventionally melodic song, featuring a vocal by Adrian Belew.

I would say that my only complaint is that "Vrooom" is short. For those who appreciate the more recent work of King Crimson, check out "Vrooom Vrooom" (2001). It features much of their best work from the eighties and nineties, as well as the inevitable "21st Century Schizoid Man" and "Larks' Tongues in Aspic." In the end, "Vrooom" is an excellent introduction to the early-1990s period of one of the greatest bands around.

Completists, only - Grab it if you can get a good deal, like I did.