Album · 45 years old this year
Discipline
Discipline is King Crimson's eighth studio album, released on 2 October 1981. It arrived after a seven-year hiatus, and only Robert Fripp, the band's co-founder and guitarist, and drummer Bill Bruford remained from earlier line-ups. They were joined by two Americans: Adrian Belew, who had played with Frank Zappa and David Bowie and toured with Talking Heads, taking on vocals and guitar, and Tony Levin on bass, Chapman Stick and backing vocals, whom Fripp had met while working with Peter Gabriel.
The sound was new for Crimson. New wave, post-punk, minimalism and Indonesian gamelan music all fed into it, yet the band kept their experimental streak. The result has been described as art rock, progressive rock and even dance-rock, and it helped lay the groundwork for what became known as post-progressive rock. It reached No. 41 in the UK and No. 45 in the US, and it is the place to start for this second chapter of the band.
Discipline: tracklist, credits and charts
7 tracks · 37:43Tracklist
- 1Elephant TalkBelew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin4:40
- 2Frame by FrameBelew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin5:05
- 3Matte KudasaiBelew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin3:46
- 4IndisciplineBelew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin, Belew4:30
- 5Thela Hun GinjeetBelew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin6:23
- 6The Sheltering SkyBelew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin8:19
- 7DisciplineBelew, Bruford, Fripp, Levin5:00
- Produced by
- Rhett Davies, King Crimson
- Recorded at
- Basing Street Studios, Island (Notting Hill, London)
- Recorded
- May and June 1981
- Engineered by
- Rhett Davies
- Labels
- Warner Bros. Records, E.G., Warner Bros.
- Length
- 37:43
Line-up
- Adrian Belew · guitar family, vocals, guitar, lead vocals, spoken vocals
- Robert Fripp · guitar, guitar synthesizer
- Tony Levin · Chapman stick, electric bass guitar, background vocals, bass guitar
- Bill Bruford · drums (drum set), electronic drum set, percussion, slit drum
Singles
- “Matte Kudasai” · November 1981
- “Thela Hun Ginjeet” · 1981 (Spain)
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1981–82 | 41 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1981–82 | 45 |
| New Zealand Albums · 1981–82 | 13 |
| French Albums (SNEP) · 1981–82 | 17 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1981–82 | 18 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1981–82 | 33 |
| Swedish Albums · 1981–82 | 37 |
| Dutch Albums · 1981–82 | 43 |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
74.1
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
3.1k
ListenBrainz listeners
150k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
11k
Deezer fans (all editions)
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Full discography →
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1969
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1970
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1970
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1971
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1972
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1973
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1974
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1974
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1975
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1975
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1982
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1984
The Compact King Crimson
1986
The Abbreviated King Crimson: Heartbeat
1991
Frame by Frame: The Essential King Crimson
1991
King Crimson The Great Deceiver 1992
The Great Deceiver
1992
Sleepless: The Concise King Crimson
1993
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1994
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1995
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1996
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1997
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1998
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The Beat Club, Bremen 1972
1999
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1999
Cirkus: The Young Person’s Guide to King Crimson Live
1999
On Broadway 1995
1999
The Deception of the Thrush: A Beginners’ Guide to ProjeKcts
1999
The ProjeKcts
1999
A Beginner’s Guide to the King Crimson Collectors’ Club
2000
Live at Plymouth Guildhall May 11, 1971
2000
Live in Hyde Park July 5, 1969
2000
Live at Summit Studios, Denver March 12, 1972
2000
Live in Central Park, NYC 1974
2000
The ConstruKction of Light
2000
Live at Moles Club, Bath – April 30, 1981
2000
Heavy ConstruKction
2000
Live in Mainz: March 30, 1974
2001
Live in Berkeley, CA – August 13, 1982
2001
Live in Detroit, MI, December 13, 1971
2001
Level Five
2001
VROOOM VROOOM
2001
Live in Nashville, TN: November 9 & 10, 2001
2002
Live at the Zoom Club
2002
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2002
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2002
February 27, 1972: Kemp Coliseum, Orlando, FL
2003
Live in Guildford, November 13, 1972
2003
The Power to Believe
2003
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2003
Live at Fillmore East, 1969
2004
Live in Philadelphia, PA: July 30, 1982
2004
The 21st Century Guide to King Crimson, Volume 1: 1969–1974
2004
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2005
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2006
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2015
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2016
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2016
Live in Chicago
2017
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2018
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2018
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2018
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2019
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1981-10-02; musicbrainz + wikidata 1981-09-22 (10 days apart, likely another territory)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 22 September 1981 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 2 October 1981 | |
| Wikidata | 22 September 1981 | |
| US release | 1981 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 22 September 1981 | earliest UK or European date |
25 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XW | Discipline Global Mobile | other | |
| — | CA | Virgin Music Canada | 077778677727 | other |
| 1981 | US | Warner Bros. Records | 075992362917 | other |
| 1981 | NL | E’G | other | |
| 22 September 1981 | GB | E’G | original | |
| October 1981 | JP | Polydor | other | |
| 1983 | DE | E’G | 3259180009922 | other |
| 1986 | US | Warner Bros. Records | 075992362924 | other |
| 1 May 1987 | JP | E’G | 4988006612457 | other |
| 1989 | US | E’G | 017046159227 | other |
| 1989 | GB | Virgin | 077778686224 | other |
| 1989 | GB | E’G | 5012985304924 | other |
| 2001 | GB | Caroline Records | 724381012321 | other |
| 2001 | GB | Virgin | 724381012321 | deluxe |
| 2001 | US | Caroline Records | 724381012321 | deluxe |
| 2001 | GB | Virgin | 724384407629 | deluxe |
| 18 April 2001 | JP | Discipline Global Mobile | 4988013047501 | other |
| 2004 | US | Discipline Global Mobile | 633367050823 | other |
| 15 November 2004 | XE | Discipline Global Mobile | 633367050823 | deluxe |
| 3 October 2011 | GB | Panegyric | 633367400826 | other |
| 24 October 2011 | US | Discipline Global Mobile | 633367400826 | deluxe |
| 2016 | XW | — | deluxe | |
| 18 March 2016 | XW | Discipline Global Mobile | 633367880925 | other |
| 15 June 2018 | XE | Discipline Global Mobile | 633367910813 | other |
| 2022 | XW | Discipline Global Mobile | 633367794512 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · cropped: cropped from 1589x1575 to 1575x1575
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 1589×1575 | cropped: cropped from 1589x1575 to 1575x1575 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |