Search - King Crimson :: Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With

Repackaged and Prepackaged Music

kireviewer | Sunnyvale, Ca United States | 10/04/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Robert Fripp, along with the Doors and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, are the Kings of repackaging music old music and trying to milk every cent out of the fan base. These are my some of my favorite groups, so I keep buying it up.



This CD contains material from the previously released Contruktion of Light and the then to be released The Power to Believe. Plus it has some short odds and ends. The CD is only 34 minutes long.



Since there is only a few moments of material that isn't already available, this CD is really a rip-off, especially at the price. You wouldn't want to buy this, when you can own the far superior Construktion of Light and Power To Believe.



Except for the title track, everything on this CD is pretty good. Happy.... might be a good tune if it were cut in half. It is a joke that just goes on way too long.



This CD costs about the same as full length CD's of classic albums and is definitely not worth the price.



I really don't understand this repackaging of material. Fripp continues to release compilations. Any fan of King Crimson will already have it all. Give us some new stuff."

A cash call, rather than a calling card, to those generous e

Eddie Konczal | 09/03/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Unless you must absolutely own every recorded note by King Crimson, you can safely skip this EP and proceed to their fine 2003 full-length release, "The Power to Believe." "Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With" is catalog filler, containing instrumental snippets and alternate versions of songs from "The Power to Believe" and 2000's disappointing "The ConstrucKtion of Light." It's a cash call from Robert Fripp, who seems obsessed with documenting Crimson's every musical utterance and passing on the results to you, the consumer.



Fripp and company have done this before with better results. 1994's "VROOM" EP broke a 10-year gap in the Crimson discography, offering a snapshot of their epic 1995 release "Thrak" along with some outtakes that didn't make that album. While VROOM whetted one's appetite for more Crimson, "Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With" might leave you feeling a little queasy. The title track's joke tires quickly: singer Adrian Belew, stumped for lyrics, sings lines like "I'm gonna have to write a chorus." While that number doesn't differ much from the version on "The Power to Believe," there is an interesting acoustic version of "Eyes Wide Open," from the same album. The highlight of this disc is a rollicking remake of 2000's "Larks Tongues in Aspic, Part IV", which packs more punch than the version on "The ConstrucKtion of Light" - though Crimson purists may lament the absence of Belew's "I Have a Dream" coda. The one complete song that doesn't appear elsewhere, "Potato Pie" recycles various Crimson riffs into a throwaway blues number. It's all surrounded by heavily processed vocal fragments and instrumental bits that are interesting enough but don't add up to a satisfying listening experience.



If you already own both "The Power to Believe" and "The ConstrucKtion of Light," you might find "Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With" rather redundant. Crimson completists will be undeterred, but may spend more time admiring the P.J. Crook cover art than actually spinning the disc."

A step in the right direction

Dark Star-The Other One | The Bus To Never Ever Land | 12/25/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"After an album that was the worst that the band has ever done. This finds the band headed back in the right direction. While there are a couple of weak spots like the title track this finds the band rebounding quite nicely. Eyes Wide Open is a wonderful song and maybe the best on here. This "acoustic version" makes me wish that the band tried this sort of thing more often. Many of the other tracks on here are quite nice also. Several of the songs here would be on the band's next album The Power To Believe and I think a couple turn out better here. If you find a good deal on this I would recommend buying it."