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The first part of Robert Fripp's fabled 'Drive to 1981', Exposure, his lone true solo album, is the contradictorily beautiful piece of work that reintroduced the former King Crimson leader back onto the music scene in 1979. Galvanised into action by his guest appearance on David Bowie's '''Heroes'", Fripp made an album in New York that neatly précised his past, present and future working primarily with Daryl Hall.
However, when Hall's manager, Tommy Mottola, was horrified with the results, Fripp kept two of his vocal performances and brought in guests such as Peter Hammill and Terre Roche to sing the other parts alongside stellar players such as Peter Gabriel, Brian Eno and Phil Collins. As a result, it remains one of the most nervously thrilling of all Fripp's recordings.
With its speech interjections, the work's light and shade seems in sharper relief than ever. The instrumental ''Breathless'' -''Larks Tongues III'' in all but name -is as aggressive as the Hall-voiced ''North Star'' is pure and mellow. The extremist, blocky funk of the title track and the subtle understatement of ''Here Comes The Flood'' take back Gabriel's originals and render them poignant.
With the comprehensive annotation and attention to detail that could only happen with a Fripp release, Exposure - in this double disc edition - remains a perfect entry point for those who want to know quite how thrilling the art-rock scene was at the turn of the 80s. --Daryl Easlea
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
50 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Robert Fripp's first solo album was less a straightforward musical testament than an audio documentary of where Fripp was back in 1979. After 6 years of keeping King Crimson a going concern, by 1974 he had enough of the rock and roll circus. Taking a sabbatical away from any form of performance for a number of years he was re-introduced into a changing musical world by virtue of David Bowie's "Heroes" and Peter Gabriel's first solo album. Decanting to New York was a savvy move for Fripp. The burgeoning New Wave scene saw him appear with a whole host of young, new bands contributing to albums by Blondie and Talking Heads. It was within this fresh, new musical setting that Fripp put together "Exposure".
In some ways Fripp's solo album is a personal overview of a transitionary period in Fripp's musical life. Located somewhere between the old guard of Crimson and a new musical perspective which would see him become a "small, mobile, intelligent unit", playing Frippertronics in small venues such as Pizza Restaurants and even Hair Salons! This is an attitude to touring he still carries out today with Soundscapes.
Musically there are signposts to the past and the future. "Breathless" is "Red" re-visited and is one of the best things Crimson never recorded. Here it is just Fripp with Tony Levin (future Crimson) on bass and Narada Michael Warden (Mahavishnu Orchestra) on drums. This is storming stuff and a highlight of the album. The more mellow "North Star" and "Mary" pre-date the type of song which 80's Crimson would do such as "Matte Kudasai". Special mention to Peter Hammill who really excels here, ripping apart "Disengage" and brooding on "Chicago". "NY3" points to Fripp's instrumental four piece "The League of Gentlemen". In between songs are snippets and quotes from Eno, Fripp's mother and J.G. Bennett amongst others. The album really concludes with a beautifully apocalyptic version of Gabriels "Here Comes The Flood". Simply Gabriel on piano, backed by Frippertronics this is sublime and leaves the listener with an uneasy feeling of what went before.
This re-release is a 2CD set, where on disc 1 you have the original 1979 album. On disc 2 is the 1983 re-mixed version with newly added tracks sung by Daryl Hall which contractual problems precluded their intended place within the original album. Fripp refers to this new version as volume 3. There are also some alternative versions of certain tracks added at the end just to confuse things even more. The fun part is that you can make your own version of "Exposure", a Hammill or Hall-centric version for instance. All have been remastered by Simon Heyworth to his usual exacting standards.
This special edition comes in a gatefold type mini-LP sleeve. Quite classy, but taking the CD's out from the centre sections can be a bit tricky and the excellent 24-page booklet just hangs loose in the middle if you throw away the plastic wrapping.
Overall this is an excellent re-release for a very individual recording. As significant a document of the times and place in which it was recorded, as is the recently remastered Byrne/Eno "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts".
In some ways Fripp's solo album is a personal overview of a transitionary period in Fripp's musical life. Located somewhere between the old guard of Crimson and a new musical perspective which would see him become a "small, mobile, intelligent unit", playing Frippertronics in small venues such as Pizza Restaurants and even Hair Salons! This is an attitude to touring he still carries out today with Soundscapes.
Musically there are signposts to the past and the future. "Breathless" is "Red" re-visited and is one of the best things Crimson never recorded. Here it is just Fripp with Tony Levin (future Crimson) on bass and Narada Michael Warden (Mahavishnu Orchestra) on drums. This is storming stuff and a highlight of the album. The more mellow "North Star" and "Mary" pre-date the type of song which 80's Crimson would do such as "Matte Kudasai". Special mention to Peter Hammill who really excels here, ripping apart "Disengage" and brooding on "Chicago". "NY3" points to Fripp's instrumental four piece "The League of Gentlemen". In between songs are snippets and quotes from Eno, Fripp's mother and J.G. Bennett amongst others. The album really concludes with a beautifully apocalyptic version of Gabriels "Here Comes The Flood". Simply Gabriel on piano, backed by Frippertronics this is sublime and leaves the listener with an uneasy feeling of what went before.
This re-release is a 2CD set, where on disc 1 you have the original 1979 album. On disc 2 is the 1983 re-mixed version with newly added tracks sung by Daryl Hall which contractual problems precluded their intended place within the original album. Fripp refers to this new version as volume 3. There are also some alternative versions of certain tracks added at the end just to confuse things even more. The fun part is that you can make your own version of "Exposure", a Hammill or Hall-centric version for instance. All have been remastered by Simon Heyworth to his usual exacting standards.
This special edition comes in a gatefold type mini-LP sleeve. Quite classy, but taking the CD's out from the centre sections can be a bit tricky and the excellent 24-page booklet just hangs loose in the middle if you throw away the plastic wrapping.
Overall this is an excellent re-release for a very individual recording. As significant a document of the times and place in which it was recorded, as is the recently remastered Byrne/Eno "My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts".
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Robert Fripp is on the fringe of rock music to an extent, but his band King Crimson are one of the most awesomely powerful and inventive bands of the last 30 years.
Exposure is Fripp's first solo album after temporaily disbanding King Crimson. Not wanting to sound like the 'dinosaur' prog bands, Fripp was heavily influenced by the New Wave scene in New York in the late 70s. But it is New Wave with an art-rock edge. Unlike KC (5 songs per album), this has 17 wildly diverse tracks. For me, highlights include the ultra heavy 'Breathless', New Wavey 'You Burn Me Up', and the beautiful 'Here Comes the Flood' featuring Peter Gabriel. Mind you I am not sure about 'First Inaugural Address to IACE Sherbourne House' but that is not a huge problem as the track only lasts 4 seconds!
If you are interested in King Crimson then I would recommend this above most of his other solo work - it is not easy listening, but a challenging and impressive meeting of the new wave and prog rock - while all his comtemporaries (Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis) were rehashing former glories with less and less success.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
As released back in 1979 this album made nonsense of the idea that prog and new wave were incompatible. Not everyone was listening, unfortunately, but for those of us who got the point, it was immediately mind-opening. So it's a real treat to finally get to hear the whole thing.
This album is startling, beautiful, seductive, abrasive, funny, deadly serious and more. Short fragments of songs burst into taped conversations (and vice versa), heavy guitar riffage-mania is juxtaposed with drones, gorgeous frippertronics and vocals which are at times crooned while at others sound spat or throttled.
The newly released Daryl Hall material is thrilling, particularly his version of "Disengage" which - pitch black as it is - puts the song as previously released out to pasture (and given that the previous version, also on this set, was sung by the great Peter Hammill, that's no mean feat).
Fripp designed this album as one of a trilogy to include Peter Gabriel's second album and Daryl Hall's "Sacred Songs". Although each stands very well alone, hearing all three adds enormous resonance to the project.
Essential.
This album is startling, beautiful, seductive, abrasive, funny, deadly serious and more. Short fragments of songs burst into taped conversations (and vice versa), heavy guitar riffage-mania is juxtaposed with drones, gorgeous frippertronics and vocals which are at times crooned while at others sound spat or throttled.
The newly released Daryl Hall material is thrilling, particularly his version of "Disengage" which - pitch black as it is - puts the song as previously released out to pasture (and given that the previous version, also on this set, was sung by the great Peter Hammill, that's no mean feat).
Fripp designed this album as one of a trilogy to include Peter Gabriel's second album and Daryl Hall's "Sacred Songs". Although each stands very well alone, hearing all three adds enormous resonance to the project.
Essential.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
a stunning tribute to the memory of Joanna Walton, and the skill of...
A friend of mine asked if the 2006 2CD remaster of Exposure has bonus tracks? - indeed it does, but that's not all. Read more
Published 6 months ago by John Frame
NOT the original 1979 release
Contrary to the other reviews on here Disc 1 is not the original album. Some of the tracks have different vocal and musical
arrangements as compared to my original vinyl copy. Read more
arrangements as compared to my original vinyl copy. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Keith Thompson
Exposure
Strangely, this album that I thought was probably lost forever, has been completely rejuvenated and is much more powerful with the sound remastered. Read more
Published on 13 Nov 2009 by M. A. Hinchliffe
Exposure
Terrific music and great to hear the re-mix alongside the original. They just don't make them like this anymore!
Published on 10 Sep 2009 by L. Woods
ROBERT FRIPP - EXPOSURE
Hello everyone
There is not a lot i can say about this wonderfully eclectic album by Mr Fripp.
I first bought this album on vinyl in 1979 when it was released. Read more
There is not a lot i can say about this wonderfully eclectic album by Mr Fripp.
I first bought this album on vinyl in 1979 when it was released. Read more
Published on 1 Sep 2009 by Mr. S. Cavalli
You need Daryl Hall's Sacred Songs too
This has been one of my favourite albums since I first heard it in the early 1980s. Unlike many of Fripp's other albums (and I love them all), this one covers a huge range of... Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2008 by Philip Barden
Eclectic mixture
I went to a gig at a friend's insistence, and it featured Robert Fripp on his own, doing something he introduced as "Frippertronics" - playing a guitar line, then overlaying it by... Read more
Published on 17 Oct 2006 by Simon Uglow
A Very Personal Album
Whilst this is clearly a stopping point in Robert Fripp's journey to find a new direction and the rediscovery of a line-up that would develop into the 1980's excellent King Crimson... Read more
Published on 17 Oct 2006 by Kevin Mcclure
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