Twang Bar King
	Produced by Adrian Belew
	Released on September 1983
	US CHART POSITION #146
	Find it at GEMM
910108-1 cover [high resolution photo]

A drian Belew apparently emptied out his bag of musical tricks on Lone Rhino, so hearing them again for the second time on Twang Bar King is something of a disappointment. He improves upon the originals in a few cases: “Fish Head” is better than “Swingline” (especially the Bowiesque ending), “Another Time” is even prettier than “The Man in the Moon,” “She Is Not Dead” gives an Eastern treatment to “Big Electric Cat” and the instrumental “Ballet for a Blue Whale” is at least a match for “Naďve Guitar.” The remaining material, however, falls short. Some of it is outright filler (“Sexy Rhino,” “The Ideal Woman”), some of it ill-advised posturing (the title track, a noisy cover of The Beatles’ “I’m Down”), and none of it adds one iota to what Belew accomplished with Lone Rhino. The backing band remains the same, adding Nashville session drummer Larrie Londin to free up Belew a bit (although the album isn‘t noticeably better for it). Twang Bar King ultimately feels like outtakes from the Lone Rhino sessions with a smattering of “A” material. Honestly, those interested in a followup to his debut would do better to buy the next King Crimson album, Three of a Perfect Pair.

90108-1 lyric gatefold	90108-1 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. I'M DOWN    (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)    2:54
2. I WONDER    4:39
3. LIFE WITHOUT A CAGE    3:20
4. SEXY RHINO    0:37
5. TWANG BAR KING    1:26
6. ANOTHER TIME    3:02
7. THE RAIL SONG    5:39
8. PAINT THE ROAD    3:19
9. SHE IS NOT DEAD    4:41
10. FISH HEAD    4:30
11. THE IDEAL WOMAN    4:08
12. BALLET FOR A BLUE WHALE    4:44
    
    All songs written and arranged by Adrian Belew unless noted

CREDITS

ADRIAN BELEW -- guitars, percussion, lead vocals
CHRISTY BLEY -- acoustic piano, vocals
WILLIAM JANSSEN -- saxophones, bass clarinet, vocals
LARRIE LONDIN -- drums
J. CLIFTON MAYHUGH -- bass, vocals
Rich Denhart -- engineer (5), production assistant
Stan Hertzman -- executive producer
Gary Platt -- engineer, remix engineer, bass trombone
Mike Getz -- album design and artwork

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