Starless
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- "Starless" is also the name of a song by post-grunge band Crossfade from their 2004 album Crossfade.
| “Starless” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Song by King Crimson | |||||
| Album | Red | ||||
| Released | November 1974 | ||||
| Recorded | 1974 | ||||
| Genre | Progressive rock | ||||
| Length | 12:16 | ||||
| Label | Atlantic Records | ||||
| Writer | David Cross, Robert Fripp, Richard Palmer-James, John Wetton | ||||
| Producer | King Crimson | ||||
| Red track listing | |||||
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"Starless" is a song by British progressive rock band King Crimson. It was featured on the Red album in 1974.
The song is roughly 12 minutes and 15 seconds in length, the longest on the Red album. As the last track on the last King Crimson album of the 1970s, it features several moments which recall earlier releases. It starts with mellotron strings, electric guitar and a saxophone, playing in a style recalling "Epitaph" from In the Court of the Crimson King. These introduce a vocal segment in conventional verse-chorus structure. The middle section of the song is a build-up which recalls "The Talking Drum" from Larks Tongues in Aspic. Starting with a single distorted guitar, little drumming and clean bass, the playing gradually becomes louder and much wilder, though the tempo stays constant and all the while Fripp's guitar plays only two different notes. [actually it is one note, played in pairs.] The song's final section begins with an abrupt transition to a fast, jazzy saxophone solo with distorted guitars and bass, and expressive tribal drumming by Bill Bruford. This recalls the wilder section of "21st Century Schizoid Man", the band's signature piece from that era. The song ends with a short reprise of the opening melody.
Though the phrase "Starless and Bible Black" serves both as the chorus for the song's vocal segment and as the title of an instrumental track on the album Starless and Bible Black, there is little apparent similarity between the two pieces.
"Starless" is the only song off Red that was performed live by the album's lineup, being a standard of the band's 1974 concerts.
The song was also covered live by Asia, a supergroup of which John Wetton became a member. A recording of the song is available on an album documenting a performance at Moscow in 1990.[citations needed]
The song has been performed by the 21st Century Schizoid Band, going against their usual setlists of performing material the first four King Crimson albums (when members of 21st Century Schizoid Band were in King Crimson).
The song has been covered by Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy and Randy George and will feature on a bonus disc of Morse's upcoming studio album. [1]
[edit] Personnel
- Robert Fripp: guitar, mellotron
- John Wetton: bass guitar, vocals
- Bill Bruford: drums, percussion
- David Cross: violin
- Mel Collins: soprano saxophone
