Talent In Excess

There's a lovely free little download available from the good people at DGM Live. It's the acoustic guitar bit that Robert Fripp played for Cirkus from Lizard - incidentally the first Crimson album I ever owned, and the strangest Crimson album of all, which explains a lot. I always loved the bits of the acoustic you could actually hear on Cirkus, but a fair amount was lost in the incredibly rich mix for the track.

Now hearing the whole thing in its pure naked glory three things come to mind. Firstly, confirmation of Mr Fripp's brilliant technique on any guitar. Secondly, confirmation of his genius for composing stunning parts for guitar. Finally, confirmation of his genius for composition in general bearing in mind how the guitar bit fits into the complex whole.

Cirkus also has one of my favourite Pete Sinfield lyrics, by the way, making it close to a Crimso fave - one of my top five. Remarkably the Islands line-up did a fine job of playing it live, proving just how underestimated they were.