True or False: Discipline is the best King Crimson studio album

[KevShmev]

Feels like the answer is yes.  It is flawless from start to finish, which I cannot say about any other KC album, and its highs are tremendous.

And for the purposes of this thread, "best" can be synonymous with "your favorite."

[HOF]

I love Discipline, but I love Beat and Red more. It's close though.

[WildRanger]

No way.
ITCOTCK, Red and Larks exist.

[Stadler]

I will say this: it's one of the two or three best SOUNDING records I own, and I'm up over 2,000 CDs at this point.   It is PRISTINELY recorded, mixed and mastered IMO, and the recent Wilson remaster is just liquid gold from my speakers. 

Having said that, while it's my favorite of the Belew years, it is behind Red and ITCOTKC in terms of "best" or "my favorite". 

[KevShmev]

I love Discipline, but I love Beat and Red more. It's close though.

I am not a fan of Providence, otherwise Red would be unbeatable, especially since it has Starless, the band's best song. 

[Max Kuehnau]

It's their cleanest album, which to me is a good thing. (and possibly the one I listen to the most by them)

[KevShmev]

I will say this: it's one of the two or three best SOUNDING records I own, and I'm up over 2,000 CDs at this point.   It is PRISTINELY recorded, mixed and mastered IMO, and the recent Wilson remaster is just liquid gold from my speakers.

Having said that, while it's my favorite of the Belew years, it is behind Red and ITCOTKC in terms of "best" or "my favorite".

Damn, I need to get that.  I can only imagine how great that sounds.

One of the great things about Discipline is that it managed to retain the KC craziness while incorporating some new wave elements and production styles, which I am sure came about as a result of the addition of Adrian Belew who had worked with Talking Heads the year prior.  In a way, Discipline is like Remain in Light on steroids.

[devieira73]

I love Discipline, it's the start of modern KC, which I like more than classic KC. But my personal favorite is THRAK.

[Max Kuehnau]

I will say this: it's one of the two or three best SOUNDING records I own, and I'm up over 2,000 CDs at this point.   It is PRISTINELY recorded, mixed and mastered IMO, and the recent Wilson remaster is just liquid gold from my speakers.

Having said that, while it's my favorite of the Belew years, it is behind Red and ITCOTKC in terms of "best" or "my favorite".

Damn, I need to get that.  I can only imagine how great that sounds.

One of the great things about Discipline is that it managed to retain the KC craziness while incorporating some new wave elements and production styles, which I am sure came about as a result of the addition of Adrian Belew who had worked with Talking Heads the year prior.  In a way, Discipline is like Remain in Light on steroids.

in a way it is (incorporating African influences) and in a way it is not (far less messy than Remain In Light), although there is that psychotic element in the lyrics in both of them
and yes, SW's remix is great. (and still available too AFAIK)

[HOF]

I love Discipline, but I love Beat and Red more. It's close though.

I am not a fan of Providence, otherwise Red would be unbeatable, especially since it has Starless, the band's best song. 

I agree on both counts, though I can appreciate Providence if I am in the right mood. Starless is such a great track that is up there for me as an all-time favorite. Beat for me has Sartori in Tangier and Waiting Man which I really really love, and I really like the overall mix of synth-pop and avant-garde on that album.

The weak(ish) spots on Discipline for me are Indiscipline and Thela Hun Gingeet. They're both fine, but I don't love them. Discipline also doesn't have one standout track that I like as much as a Starless or Sartori. It's definitely a great album though.

[Phoenix87x]

There is no best King Crimson album imo, but its probably my fav

[Stadler]

I will say this: it's one of the two or three best SOUNDING records I own, and I'm up over 2,000 CDs at this point.   It is PRISTINELY recorded, mixed and mastered IMO, and the recent Wilson remaster is just liquid gold from my speakers.

Having said that, while it's my favorite of the Belew years, it is behind Red and ITCOTKC in terms of "best" or "my favorite".

Damn, I need to get that.  I can only imagine how great that sounds.

One of the great things about Discipline is that it managed to retain the KC craziness while incorporating some new wave elements and production styles, which I am sure came about as a result of the addition of Adrian Belew who had worked with Talking Heads the year prior.  In a way, Discipline is like Remain in Light on steroids.

in a way it is (incorporating African influences) and in a way it is not (far less messy than Remain In Light), although there is that psychotic element in the lyrics in both of them
and yes, SW's remix is great. (and still available too AFAIK)

It's funny; I like not love Discipline as a record and I think Thrak is a much more mature, complete vision of what that era could have been.  And one of the things that got jettisoned was that Talking Heads influence (for the record, I can't stand the Talking Heads).

[KevShmev]

I haven't listened to Thrak in a while, but I seem to recall that record having a handful of really good songs and then a bunch of songs I didn't care if I ever heard again.  Of course, that sentiment sums up more than a few KC albums for me, but one of the major checkmarks for me in Discipline's favor is its consistency.

[DTA]

Poseidon is their best overall imo while Discipline is my least favorite of the 80's trio.

[HOF]

I haven't listened to Thrak in a while, but I seem to recall that record having a handful of really good songs and then a bunch of songs I didn't care if I ever heard again.  Of course, that sentiment sums up more than a few KC albums for me, but one of the major checkmarks for me in Discipline's favor is its consistency.

Thrak is a trying album for me. The Belew-ish tunes are good (Walking on Air, One Time, People), Dinosaur is OK and kind of a fun call-back to the 70s KC sound, but the instrumental portions of the album are really hard to get through.

[The Letter M]

No, but it's probably my favorite of their 80s trio of albums. I'd say it's definitely a Top 5 KC album, but I would pick the debut, Red, Larks, and TPTB in my Top 5 with Discipline, but it wouldn't hit the top spot.

TBH, I'm not sure I could pick a single Top album.

-Marc.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

The honor for best KC album goes to Red for me.

[wolfking]

Feels like the answer is yes.  It is flawless from start to finish, which I cannot say about any other KC album, and its highs are tremendous.

And for the purposes of this thread, "best" can be synonymous with "your favorite."

I don't know.

[Trav86]

I want to like Discipline more than I do. I’m just not a big fan of Adrian Belew. It’s like he’s trying to be a weirder David Byrne. Who I’m not a fan of either.

[KevShmev]

I want to like Discipline more than I do. I’m just not a big fan of Adrian Belew. It’s like he’s trying to be a weirder David Byrne. Who I’m not a fan of either.

Is such a thing as a "weirder David Byrne" even possible? LOL, I guess you never know. 

[Trav86]

I want to like Discipline more than I do. I’m just not a big fan of Adrian Belew. It’s like he’s trying to be a weirder David Byrne. Who I’m not a fan of either.

Is such a thing as a "weirder David Byrne" even possible? LOL, I guess you never know.

Point well taken.

[ytserush]

Could be.  Or not.

[darkshade]

I love Discipline, but Discipline lacks a lot of the heavy, evil riffs that can be found on most other KC albums. That's not to say Discipline is not sinister, though. Plenty of moments like that. I think warts and all, Red just wins this one, maybe the debut. I've grown to like the weakest tracks on Red and ITCOTCK, they break up the album nicely IMO, though I wouldn't listen to them on their own. I would even call The Power To Believe better than Discipline, and any other post-70s album. It has everything I love about classic KC and 80s KC, with something more... There's a certain quality to it I can't quite describe, but they were moving in a cool direction at that point.

Beat is the David Byrne meets Robert Fripp album more so than Discipline.

[Dedalus]

I want to like Discipline more than I do. I’m just not a big fan of Adrian Belew. It’s like he’s trying to be a weirder David Byrne. Who I’m not a fan of either.

Is such a thing as a "weirder David Byrne" even possible? LOL, I guess you never know.

Well... maybe Acid Mother Temple or Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band or Einstürzende Neubauten ....

[Nekov]

Discipline, ITCOTKC, Red. That is the order for me.

[Lupton]

Out of the the trio of 80s records I'll take 3 of a Perfect Pair over either Beat or Discipline every time. Not a favorable opinion I know. Maybe it's all the poppy stuff on the "Left" side that drags it down for most people.

No Warning is probably the ONLY Crimson improv I like. It just sounds so dark and engaging. Funny, as a rule of thumb I'm not too fond of Crimson's improvisations. To me it always sounds like a bunch of musically frustrated guys struggling to find something they can all be happy playing. Occasionally Broof/Wetton strike up a nice groove, hope shines briefly, then Fripp comes in with his usual flurry of chaotic notes that he might as well be playing alone all by himself. No interplay, just a bunch of boring noodling with not a tuneful idea in sight. I'm thinking mostly of the '72-'74 lineup but I also recall also disliking the improvs on the Heavy Construction live CD too. Fripp: a) pointless wanking b) when in doubt, the riff from the Frying pan song. Take your pick.

[Mladen]

1. Court
2. Red
3. Larks
4. Discipine

So no, not quite. 

[Trav86]

I want to like Discipline more than I do. I’m just not a big fan of Adrian Belew. It’s like he’s trying to be a weirder David Byrne. Who I’m not a fan of either.

Is such a thing as a "weirder David Byrne" even possible? LOL, I guess you never know.

Well... maybe Acid Mother Temple or Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band or Einstürzende Neubauten ....

I meant a weirder version of David Byrne...not something weirder than him. But yes... those groups are weirder. And even though you didn’t ask, I’m not a fan of them either. Now you know. And knowing is half the battle.

[Trav86]

Also I gave Discipline and Beat each another spin yesterday. I liked Discipline more than I remembered. Beat...eh. I’m going to hit up Three of a Perfect Pair in a minute.  I still would say that I would put most of the 70s albums above Discipline.

[hefdaddy42]

I can't say for sure, so I voted "No".  I think I like Red a little more.

But I get the consistency argument.