I’m a pretty big Claypool fan and a massive fan of Carey and only feel “meh” about Belew, is this CD worth picking up if I’m mostly looking for insane instrumental stuff, or does Adrian sing a lot on it?
He doesn’t sing. Much. Pick up the whole trilogy if you’re looking for some insane instrumental stuff but only if you dig his stuff. I mean, it’s very muchly Belew, but it’s the best material he’s ever released. Hop into a used record shop and take a listen to one of the used CDs you’re bound to find or download a song or two and see what you think. You’ll know really fast if you’ll like it or not. As I said before, though, he does sing.
Adrian Belew’s one of those absolutely brilliant guitarists that shines when part of a band and not left to their own devices. Like Steve Vai, I find most of Belew’s solo catalogue unlistenable without a bandleader to give them some direction.
Yeah, he’s great with Crimson.
I thought he was trying a little too hard (at least when singing) on the Crimso records to emulate that odd hiccupy speak-singing sound like early David Byrne.
His vocals on The Bears records were sorta revelatory to me; he can sing rather well, and he can let his formidable instrumental skills service the song, instead of vice-versa.
I have some fondness for “Oh Daddy.”
“Mr. Music Head” holds up pretty well.