King Crimson: Adrian Belew (vocals, guitar); Robert Fripp (guitar); Tony Levin (bass, Chapman stick); Trey Gunn (Chapman stick); Pat Mastelotto, Bill Bruford (percussion).

Recorded at Applehead, Woodstock, New York between May 4 & 7, 1994.

With the release of IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING, an ambitious young British guitarist-composer named Robert Fripp erupted on the popular music scene with a mixture of rock, jazz and classical sources that came to be known as progressive rock--and spawned a slew of like-minded bands and musicians through the '70s.

Over the course of the last 25 years, each new edition of King Crimson has distilled Fripp's vision of modern electronic-rhythmic trance music, perhaps none so well as the '80s edition featuring guitarist-vocalist Adrian Belew, bassist/Stick player Tony Levin, and acoustic-electronic percussionist Bill Bruford. Now with VROOM, Fripp has reconstituted Crimson as a double-trio by adding a second drummer in Pat Mastelotto and Stick player Trey Gunn.

VROOM is a sneak preview of the band's first week of rehearsals during May of 1994. The music is a loud, dynamic, acerbic web of dissonance, from the thrashing title tune to the gaga gamelan polyrhythmic wail of "Thrak," positioning this new edition of Crimson on the very outer edges of tonality. Having said that, it's worth noting that the title tune and "Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream" betray a continuing fascination with harmonic devices first popularized by the Beatles and Hendrix. Elsewhere, "Cage" and "One Time" alternately display Crimson's jagged, jittery brand of modern dysfunction and spatial romance, while "When I Say Stop, Continue" showcases the double trio's unique brand of...free rock, for want of a better term.

Rolling Stone (12/29/94-1/12/95, p.174) - "...This Crimson...are already a lethal beast: part LARKS' TONGUES IN ASPIC (diamond-drill riffing, avalanche percussion), part DISCIPLINE (Belew's full-moon croon) and no pulled punches. A reunion...with a future."

Option (3-4/95, p.112) - "VROOM is the sound of a man trying to kickstart his new label and his old band with pretty good results....the material veers between the sounds of the mid '70s and early-80's Crimson models, which means there are spacey bits and gentle arpeggios, but also passages where the band grinds it out..."

Jazziz (6/95, p.94) - "The King is alive. Long live the King....[VROOM] concentrates more on the experimental, paint-peeling excursions of past Crimsons than pop attempts....There are plenty of adventures in rock dissonance for the die-hard Crimsonhead..."