OK with U.K.'s "U.K.": Prog Review #30
U.K. - U.K.
My expectations were high for U.K., the prog supergroup formed well after the apex of the first wave of prog masters. Its 4 original members had previously played in a dozen other prog and prog-adjacent bands, including some of the biggest: King Crimson, Yes, and Genesis (Bill Bruford as a touring member).
Incidentally, it wasn't until listening to this album that I realized Peter Fripp doesn't sing lead for King Crimson. It was John Wetton, who also sings lead with U.K. on U.K.
Mental medication / Sweet music's conversation / Play for all creation here / Melody fair. - “Mental Medication”
Subtle Brilliance
With this incredible pedigree of musicians, U.K. should be something special. It kinda is, but only in a low-key sorta way. The album belongs here in the middle of Rolling Stone's list.
U.K. opens with a three-song suite ("In the Dead of Night," "By the Light of Day," "Presto Vivace and Reprise") that plays around with spacey synths and variations on a central melody—note how the titles of the first two tracks contain the same number of syllables. It's pretty satisfying hearing the same tune switch from major to minor key while the lyrics move from night to day.
Seamless transitions are the order of the day throughout U.K., and you know how much I love that. From jump, U.K. is in a good place sonically and production-wise. Plenty of showy virtuosity fills in the space, notably in the "Presto Vivace" section, and again throughout the album. The drums aren't anywhere all that flashy, but they're complex and give most of the tracks a bouncy, energizing rhythm. Guitars are mainly used as a supporting player to propel the songs and to leave plenty of room for the keys to shine.
Occasionally, bits of classical guitar and violin steal the show, such as in "Thirty Years," a melancholy, atmospheric piece that has Wetton exploring the emotional depth of his voice. On this fourth track, the album reiterates and cements the trick it plays throughout—a quiet-loud dynamic borrowed from King Crimson but here implemented much more tightly and with firmer melodic sense.
"Thirty Years" is my least favourite tracks on here. It nevertheless is a microcosm for everything the album is about. It's a jazzy, meandering piece full of sharp staccato interruptions set against whatever instrument happens to be playing lead at the time—synths, guitar, violin, whatever. Full of sudden changes and dramatic breakdowns, it often seems to shift gears just as it falls into a groove or a chorus.
If you're into the jazzier side of prog, albeit with rockier instrumentation, this is a solid pick. Unlike King Crimson or, say Can, the melodies, as short and shifting as they are at times, still carry the songs. It rarely lapses into the duller or more challenging aspects of prog. This might be disappointing given the calibre of musicians here, yet, I think they achieve something greater than if they had set out to push the envelope.
In Their Comfort Zone
U.K. is a bunch of veterans letting loose, taking their virtuosity to a surprisingly accessible place. It's not a grand statement about music, not an involved concept album—even the opening suite is based on the banal contrast of night and day, something in the roots of prog in the form of the Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed. In some ways, U.K. is like another notable supergroup, the Traveling Wilburys, who took immense talent from innovative songwriters and just played casual, easy to love music.
The visceral appeal of U.K. hits hard on "Alaska," a song that felt very familiar to me because I suspect it was the inspiration for one of the boss battle themes in Chrono Trigger. "Alaska" is an instrumental that gradually builds to an intense fury of synths punctuated with squealing guitar and a complex, hard-hitting drum beat. All this leads into the next track, "Time to Kill," that jazzifies the elements of "Alaska," beating them into a melody.
The bridge section of "Time to Kill" puts the drums forward, hi-hats clicking, and satisfying crashes as the guitar and keyboard switch off with increasingly plaintive whines, the meaty bass holding it all up before getting its own lead line.
"Nevermore" reintroduces some classical guitar and provides the album's most upbeat melody with synths that run the gamut from classical piano to spacey-effects.
The closer, "Mental Medication," as you might have guessed from the title, explores the psychedelic side of prog just a little bit. With its atonal intro and sweeping keyboard arpeggios, it, like every other track on U.K., travels a fair bit around the spheres of prog sound.
I expected U.K. to be a grand statement of prog heroes doing something coherent and deeply complex. Instead, it's a lot more fun and free-flowing. Each member gets frequent opportunities to show off his skills along the way through a 45-minute run of swirling melodies, vivacious rhythms, and dynamic shifts.
On the first listen, there's nothing coherent or exciting here, but U.K. is a very rewarding album. I've had a great time keeping it on in the background; it demands little and provides much.
Rolling Stone Rankings
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
Rush - Moving Pictures
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Yes – Close to the Edge
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
Can - Future Days
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Yes - Fragile
Rush - Hemispheres
ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
Pink Floyd - Animals
Genesis - Foxtrot
King Crimson - Red
Gentle Giant - Octopus
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All
Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico
King Crimson - Larks’ Tongue in Aspic
Camel - Mirage
Rush - 2112
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Magma - Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh
The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Dream Theater - Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory
U.K. - U.K.
ASK Rankings
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Genesis - Foxtrot
Camel - Mirage
Yes – Close to the Edge
King Crimson - Red
Gentle Giant - Octopus
Dream Theater - Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory
Genesis - Selling England by the Pound
Rush - 2112
Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick
ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
U.K. - U.K
Rush - Moving Pictures
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico
King Crimson - Larks’ Tongue in Aspic
Pink Floyd - Animals
Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All
Yes - Fragile
Rush - Hemispheres
Tangerine Dream - Phaedra
Magma - Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Can - Future Days
Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells
Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here