Re: The Bears

[uiucdcs!pur-ee!uiucuxf.cso.uiuc.edu!david@UUNET.UU.NET]

	Just so we have the opposing viewpoint ... John D'Agostino is
	a great critic and writer. He did like the Bears and was very
	impressed by their recent concert in San Diego. I wonder if he
	has heard the album?  I purchased the CD and found it to be a
	bit too pop oriented for my taste. Considering the people
	involved on this recording, it is surprisingly
	non-adventurous. Given that this is a POP album, I was also
	surprised that the songs were not 'catchy'; I had been led to
	believe that they were. That's my opinion ... you might like
	it. I didn't.

	Mike McCurdy
	San Diego State University


     I can't agree more as far as their (Adrian Belew's) recent
musical venture.  If anyone is interested in finding out what Adrian
Belew has/does/can do/etc.  on the electric guitar, please check out
his work with King Crimson on their last three albums together.  These
are: Discipline, Beat, and Three of a Perfect Pair.  The band at
this time consisted of some of the hottest rock instrumentalists in
the business: Robert Fripp (guitar, synth-guitar, effects),Adrian
Belew (guitar, synth-guitar, lead vocals, effects, etc.), Tony Levin
(bass, Chapman Stick), and Bill Bruford (drums and percussion).
     The music that came out of this group was and still is very
experimental in nature.  The vocals and lyrics were top-notch and
actually said something, instead of "fear is never boring" or whatever
the latest "Bears" song says.  I get the feeling that Adrian has
decided that after all his creative work, it's about time he makes
some REAL money.  He has refused to live New York or Los Angeles all
these years and instead lives in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  Up until
last year, he lived for many years here in Champaign, not far from the
University of Illinois campus.  He thought the midwest would be a more
suitable place to bring up his two children.  As a result, I don't
think he got the recognition he deserves.  It's kind of hard to work
with others in the business when you live in the middle of nowhere.
     It's kind of sad to think that someone who has played with the
likes of: David Bowie, Talking Heads, Paul Simon, Laurie
Anderson,--you name it--had to give in to the pop scene in order to
make some money for himself.  I don't mean to knock those of you out
there who like his latest work with the Bears, it's just that his REAL
musical ideas and feelings are on these earlier works.  Whether people
know it or not, Adrian Belew has left his mark on modern guitar
playing, its techniques, and approaches.  He and Robert Fripp were
pioneers on the early Roland guitar synthesizers long before other
people even knew what synth-guitar was.  Adrian's approach to the
guitar as being a source of new, untapped sounds and timbres has yet
to be eclipsed.  His playing had so much feeling--so much to say, in
an age when most guitarists were worried about fingerboard gymnastics
or their hairstyles.
     I'm sorry that I had to drag on about this--it's only that he
made a definite impact on my guitar playing and changed my approach to
listening/ composing music.  Enough said, I hope this clarifies some
questions that people might have had about Adrian Belew and his work.
Thanks,

                 David Winston  (CSO Unix/Sequent)
                                University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign