[EdipisReks]

i've always been a fan of Adrian Belew's work with Talking Heads and King Crimson, and of his work as a producer, but i hadn't picked up any of his solo works. i saw Young Lions for three bucks at my local halfpriced books, and i picked it up. wow! i realized after listening to it through the first time that i'd heard several of the songs without really knowing who it was, but the album has a great coherence, and there are some great hooks, licks and lyrics. it's well recorded and mastered, too. the two good David Bowie songs that are on it (Pretty Pink Rose and Gunman) are a great bonus.

i'll definitely be on the lookout for the rest of his stuff.

 

[Absorbine_Sr]

I've also been a fan for a long time - seen him with Zappa, Bowie and several times in Crimson. Though seeing your post made me realize that my collection is woefully short on his solo stuff. The one I do have is Lone Rhino, and I can recommend it.

A_Sr.

 

[BillC]

Belew just released two new albums:

"Side One" (with guests Les Claypool and Danny Carey)

"Side Two"

and "Side Three" expected soon. "Side One" includes a track nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental but don't hold that against it.

If you're filling out some older stuff, don't forget about Belew's work with the Bears.

 

[nick danger]

Inner Revolution is also nicely done. Great melodies and sentiments, "The War in The Gulf Between Us" and "Big Blue sSun" are my favorite tunes.
I have an old tape of "The Bears" but have not found them on CD.

 

[BillC]

The Bears website:

http://www.thebearsmusic.com/

Says the first two Bears albums may be re-released soon on Ryko records. They've been out of print for a while and are hard to find.

 

[Davey]

Hmm, I was a pretty big Belew fan back in those days and that album was a big letdown for me. Not that any of his solo work was that strong overall, but I thought most of it was better than Young Lions. I really only like the tiltle track and Phone Call From The Moon. Never liked either Bowie track. And never understood why he redid the KC tarck, but didn't really change it. Not a very good KC song anyway. Oh well, I thought the CD before and the one after were much better overall, showing more Beatles influence, and on "Inner Revolution" he does a song that does sound a lot like KC, but isn't a retread. Still like the early Twang Bar King the most, mainly because it's fun and quirky.

But yeah, very talented guy. He also did some work with Laurie Anderson and showed up with her too on the very cool Zoolook album by Jean Michel Jarre. That's one to look for in the used bins if you haven't heard it before. Quite different (and much better IMO) than Jarre's other stuff.