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MYSTERIOUS: 3 | Mind Blowing Facts

He's one of the most technically proficient of all prog rock guitarists, and his guitar parts would take several lifetimes to fully comprehend. Dare you enter the court of the Crimson King, Robert Fripp?

We delve into the mad, brilliant lead phrasing and fearsome alternate picking of one of guitar's true masters

Guitar World

“It dishonors that brand to say, ‘Now we’re King Crimson.’ But we do have the ability to say, ‘Look, this is legitimate – half of the band is onstage here”: Adrian Belew, Steve Vai and Tony Levin on how they made Beat – with Robert Fripp’s blessing

Performing material from King Crimson's trailblazing '80s oeuvre, Beat finds three kings of the strings with the peerless Danny Carey pushing the envelope and Steve Vai doing Robert Fripp proud

Guitar World

"We worked out a way for the whole world to tune in": King Crimson-affiliated act Beat announce global livestream of upcoming Los Angeles show

Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai and Danny Carey are currently on the road playing the music of 80s-era King Crimson

Louder

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“David Bowie asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner with John Lennon! I had a big ‘dilemma’ moment; I was hearing certain musical things in my head. I didn’t wanna go out and lose myself”: Carlos Alomar on making Fame, Heroes – and Bowie’s Berlin era

The former David Bowie guitarist talks Young Americans, Station to Station and the Berlin Trilogy, plus recording (and co-writing) Fame with John Lennon

Guitar World

“I felt like Ken Parker had taken 20 years to eliminate all the things that normally go wrong with a Fender or Gibson”: Adrian Belew on how he persuaded the famed luthier to create his mind-bending signature Parker Fly

Belew is using his signature Parker Fly as his go-to guitar on the 65-date Beat Tour with Steve Vai, Tool drummer Danny Carey, and King Crimson alumnus Tony Levin

Guitar World

“It actually goes up to infinity, which is what true tape flanging sounds like”: Beloved by Pat Travers and Adrian Belew, the A/DA Flanger was one of the greatest guitar effects of the ’70s

An original pedalboard classic, the A/DA Flanger was the first to sound like true tape flanging – with sounds ranging from the conventional to the esoteric

Guitar World

“You can rehearse until you're blue in the face, but once you hit the stage and the lights go out, all bets are off”: Steve Vai and Adrian Belew tackle King Crimson classics as their much-anticipated Beat tour kicks off

The pair have joined forces with Tony Levin and Danny Carey to perform King Crimson’s 1980s albums across a sprawling 65-date tour

Guitar World

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“It’s amazing to see Adrian Belew and Steve Vai playing together. My temptation is to pick up the camera! I have to remind myself to stick to my job playing bass”: For the King Crimson-channeling Beat tour, Tony Levin is a virtuoso among virtuosos

The bass icon on how he’s being challenged by parts he wrote, changing classic tracks –and when his Funk Fingers will make their next appearance

Guitar World

“I saw Adrian Belew playing fretless guitar with King Crimson and I got hooked. I began wearing out my wooden fingerboards – the glass fingerboards solved that problem”: Fretless glass-necked guitar pioneer Ned Evett on the risks of being a true original

Ned Evett has shared riffs with Joe Satriani, John McLaughlin and Sting, and modded a guitar for John Frusciante – but it’s been a brutal journey, and he understands why others haven’t followed him

Guitar World

“I was at a King Crimson show, I was signing autographs and somebody handed me Mariah Carey’s record and said, ‘Would you sign this?’” How Adrian Belew ended up on a number one single without even knowing

Belew’s playing on Tom Tom Club’s Genius of Love has been sampled 166 times by a host of artists, including Mariah Carey

Guitar World

“Seymour Duncan went to work. He dragged it through the grass. Put motor oil on it. Chipped it. Frank Zappa said, ‘If you wanted to ruin your guitar, Adrian, why didn’t you loan it to a friend?’” Adrian Belew’s number one Stratocaster has lived a life

Is this the first relic'ed guitar? Belew says so, and it's graced records by Zappa, Talking Heads, David Bowie and King Crimson. It has been on the cover of GW. It is still in service

Guitar World

King Crimson 1982 France concert to be released on vinyl and CD in September

King Crison's Sheltering Skies (Live in Fréjus, August 27th 1982) is the very first time a live album from the 1980s line-up has been released on vinyl

Louder

“He took the lighter fluid, squirted it on the guitar and set it on fire. That might be the first relic’d guitar – and you can thank Seymour Duncan for that”: That time Adrian Belew DIY aged his Strat with a screwdriver, spray paint and motor oil

Belew bought a brown sunburst Strat to take on tour with Frank Zappa – but it wasn't deemed fit for purpose until going through a drastic cosmetic overhaul

Guitar World

The Strat turns 70 and the return of the cooler-than-ever Creed – only in the new Guitar World

Featuring new interviews with Ritchie Blackmore, Brian May, Buddy Guy, Alex Lifeson, Adrian Belew, Tom Morello, Yngwie Malmsteen and Mick Mars and a review of the new PRS Mark Tremonti MT 100 amp

Guitar World

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Louder

The story of King Crimson's Red is on the cover of the new issue of Prog, on sale now!

Plus BEAT, Anthony Phillips, Hawkwind, The Tangent, SIx By Six, Whom Gods Destroy, Trifecta and loads more...

Louder

“My discipline is doing what needs to be done, whether you like it or not… Robert decides what to do and Fripp has to go and do it”: How to survive over 50 years of King Crimson, by the only person who’s been there

Serious leader of a prog behemoth, hugely influential guitarist, half of the Toyah & Robert party band… who is the real Robert Fripp? He offers some tantalising hints

Guitar World

“David Bowie and Brian Eno used to laugh at me, saying: ‘You’re not supposed to be able to play that!’” Adrian Belew on Frank Zappa’s lessons, Robert Fripp’s synth guitar, and what’s coming up with Steve Vai

Still amazed that he managed to gather Vai, Tony Levin and Danny Carey into new band Beat, Belew reflects on his light-speed journey from 1977 to 1982, and how he plans to reactivate King Crimson’s ‘80s albums on stage

Guitar World

“Robert had a plan laid out that we would do three records in three years”: Adrian Belew on how King Crimson made an underrated prog classic in “this industrial musical junkyard we created”

Adrian Belew reveals what went on behind the scenes during the making of the band’s dual-personality 10th album, Three of a Perfect Pair – the final studio release from the Fripp/Belew/Levin/Bruford crew

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Guitar World

“His style is so specific and refined. It's not something I could just jump into”: Steve Vai explains the hardest part of replicating Robert Fripp’s playing style

Vai will be touring King Crimson’s ‘80s material with Beat in the fall, and he’s spoken about his preparations – which includes working with Roland on three purpose-built guitars

Guitar World

“We started thinking, ‘Well, who could possibly be in the band?’ The only person I could think of was Steve”: Adrian Belew on how he and Steve Vai are forming a new guitar partnership ahead of a King Crimson supergroup tour

'Beat' will tour the band's ’80s material later this year, and the group's guitar duo is working on a partnership that can do the Belew/Fripp double act justice

Louder

"I call Bill Bruford and blurt out 'how would you like to be in a rock band again?' Bill says, 'And do what? Sit around a luggage carousel all day?' But he gave us his blessing." Adrian Belew opens up on the formation of Beat

Adrian Belew has formed Beat with Tony Levin, Danny Carey and Steve Vai to perform King Crimson's 80s reportoire

Guitar World

“Robert Fripp is one of our historical geniuses… I will be putting my best foot forward to respect this great music”: Steve Vai, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Danny Carey reveal full details of new King Crimson supergroup tour

The Fripp-approved band – which will revisit and reinterpret tracks from Crimson's Discipline, Beat, and Three of a Perfect Pair albums – will hit virtually every corner of the US and Canada this fall

Louder

King Crimson outfit Beat add 21 more dates to North American tour

Adrian Belew has teamed up with Tony Levin, Danny Carey and Steve Vai as Beat to perform King Crimson's 80s reportoire

Guitar World

From King Crimson to A-list hired gun with Talking Heads, Frank Zappa and David Bowie, Adrian Belew created his own language on the guitar – here are his 10 greatest guitar moments

With King Crimson, Talking Heads, as a solo artist, it didn't matter: Adrian Belew manipulated the guitar like no-one else, bending sound into new shapes

Guitar World

“Steve Vai is the only guitarist who could play my parts. I’m totally psyched for this”: Robert Fripp gives his blessing for a new King Crimson supergroup, featuring Steve Vai, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Danny Carey

The star-studded lineup will perform tracks from King Crimson's ’80s albums – and it was Fripp who suggested the group's name

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