Adrian Belew

Adrian Belew - The Acoustic Adrian Belew - 1993 - Discipline Global Mobile

Packaged in a sleeve that (not accidentally) reminds one of the Beatles' White Album, this first released collection of Belew's acoustic renderings is all around a pleasant listen. The classic Adrian Belew songs are great. It is refreshing to hear songs like "The Man in the Moon" and "The Rail Song" with new life breathed into them. Belew's delivery is a little subdued, which at times can have a postured to be included on an acoustic release feel to it at times, but, for the most part, the music sounds fresh and revitalized. He does include a couple treats on this outing. The first of these is a cover of the Beatles "If I Fell," which sounds like a dead-on impersonation of the John and Paul vocal harmonies from the original. Very cool. Also included is a Roy Orbison's "Crying," which is a nice as well. King Crimson's "Matte Kudesai" has some issues here — the verses are accompanied by a low somewhat seasick two-note guitar riff that at best is not very appropriate for the song. The final number on this collection is a tune called "Martha Adored," which is recording of "Dream Life" played backwards in its entirety. Unexpectedly and astonishingly beautiful. This track alone makes the whole set worthwhile. © Mark W. B. Allender © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kpfyxq9hldke

Nice "stripped to the bone" acoustic 11 track album by the very underrated ex-King Crimson guitarist. Adrian provides all the vocals and instrumentation on the album. Some reviewers have criticized the album as being worthless, and one reviewer called Adrian's guitar playing mediocre. They are missing the point. The album "is what it is" - a simple acoustic album of 11 short songs played without any fancy frills or guitar pyrotechnics. Adrian includes The Beatle's "If I Fell" and Roy Orbison's "Crying". The album was obviously done for Adrian's enjoyment, and it's a great listen. Listen to Adrian's "Belew Prints: The Acoustic Adrian Belew, Vol. 2" album.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 The Lone Rhinoceros - Belew 2:37
2 Peace on Earth - Belew 2:49
3 The Man in the Moon - Belew 2:12
4 The Rail Song - Belew 3:42
5 If I Fell - Lennon, McCartney 2:18
6 Burned by the Fire We Make - Belew 2:50
7 Matte Kudasai - Belew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin 2:18
8 Dream Life - Belew 2:19
9 Old Fat Cadillac - Belew 3:12
10 Crying - Melson, Orbison 2:39
11 Martha Adored - Belew 2:19

Adrian Belew - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Vocals, Voices

BIO

Although Adrian Belew has played with some of rock's biggest names over the years (Frank Zappa, David Bowie, the Talking Heads, King Crimson, etc.), he remains one of the most underrated and woefully overlooked guitarists of recent times. Like all great guitarists, Belew has his own recognizable style/sound (one that admittedly tends to be quirky and off-the-wall at times), and is an incredibly versatile player, as he's always found a way to make his signature style fit into a wide variety of musical genres: hard rock, funk, new wave, experimental, Beatlesque pop, and more. Born Robert Steven Belew on December 23, 1949, in Covington, KY, Belew's first instrument of interest was the drums, as he soon kept the backbeat in his high school's marching band. But not long after his discovery of the Beatles, Belew picked up the guitar, teaching himself how to play and to write original songs. Spending the remainder of the '60s and early '70s honing his skills, Belew opted to change his first name to Adrian in 1975 (for the simple reason that it was a name he'd always admired), as he joined a Nashville, TN-based cover band, Sweetheart, the same year. The group performed in '40s-era suits and became a popular local attraction — resulting in Frank Zappa checking out a show in 1977. With an opening for a guitarist in his touring band, Zappa invited Belew on the spot to come and audition for his band, which Belew eventually landed. It was during Zappa's lengthy 1978 U.S. tour (documented in the concert movie Baby Snakes) that David Bowie came to see a performance, which resulted in Belew being invited to join Bowie's touring band when the Zappa tour wrapped up. Once more, Belew accepted, touring the world alongside Bowie and appearing on his 1978 live recording, Stage, and 1979 studio effort, Lodger. Once more, just as Belew's latest gig was about to wind down, he received an offer he couldn't refuse from another artist. Through guitarist Robert Fripp, Belew met renowned producer Brian Eno, who in turn introduced the guitarist to the Talking Heads, who were in the middle of recording their classic 1980 release Remain in Light. Belew was invited to lay down guitar for the songs, which led to his participation on the album's supporting tour (which a portion of the live compilation The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads showcased). Belew also contributed to the Talking Heads' offshoot project, the Tom Tom Club, appearing on their self-titled 1981 debut album, as well as their hit single "Genius of Love" (although he wasn't given a songwriting credit originally, it became known years later that Belew helped co-pen the tune with the others). It was during The Tom Tom Club recording sessions (in the Bahamas) that Belew also began work on his first solo album, issued in 1982 as Lone Rhino. Predictably, it wasn't long before Belew was offered his next gig, this time with a newly reconstructed King Crimson. Belew, who handled lead vocal duties in addition to guitar, was joined by Crimson vets Robert Fripp (guitar) and Bill Bruford (drums), in addition to session ace Tony Levin (bass). With the group eschewing their previous prog rock leanings in favor of a more "modern" sound (akin to the Talking Heads), the '80s version of Crimson issued three outstanding albums: 1981's Discipline, 1982's Beat, and 1984's Three of a Perfect Pair (during which time Belew found the time to issue a second solo release, 1983's Twang Bar King). With Crimson on hiatus once more by the mid-'80s, Belew focused on further solo work (1986's Desire Caught by the Tail, 1989's Mr. Music Head), session work (most notably, Paul Simon's mega-hit Graceland), and also served as a member/producer of a new group, the Bears (1987's The Bears and 1988's Rise and Shine). The '90s continued to see Belew keep a busy schedule, as he hooked up once more with his old pal David Bowie, who named the guitarist musical director for his massive 1990 Sound and Vision tour. Also during the decade, Belew issued several more solo releases (including 1990's Young Lions, 1992's Inner Revolution, 1994's Here, and 1996's Op Zop Too Wah, the latter two of which Belew played all the instruments), in addition to guesting on other artist's recordings (Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral and The Fragile), and producing others (Jars of Clay). After a near-ten-year hiatus, King Crimson reunited, resulting in the 1995 album THRAK and supporting tour. Belew has shown little signs of slowing down in the 21st century, as he continued to tour and record with Crimson (2000's ConstruKction of Light, 2003's The Power to Believe), issued a third recording with the Bears (2001's Car Caught Fire), and is hard at work on compiling an extensive box set of rarities from throughout his career, to be titled Dust. 2004 saw rehearsals with the newest King Crimson lineup, additional recordings by the Bears and the completion of 3 (!) solo albums to be released in 2005. The first and third of these (Side One and Side Three) have Primus bassist Les Claypool and Tool drummer Danny Carey lending a hand while Side Two is more of a completely solo affair, with just a couple guest spots. © Greg Prato © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:hiftxqw5ldse~T1