From: "George Khouroshvili"
> David Cross "Testing to Destruction" You have this? Could you please
comment on it? David has three solo CDs,and I have not-a-one :-)
Well, I'm afraid my English won't let me describe this album properly. But
I'll try. By the way, DC has 4 solo albums, besides "Exiles", "Testing to
Destruction" & "Big Picture" he recorded another one (I don't remember the
name but you can find the info on www.elephant-talk.com). I bought "Exiles"
(with Wetton, Fripp & Hammill) this winter and was very impressed by this
work. I can't say that the title song is better than the original KC version,
but it's quite good. Album has many more merits, I think they didn't have to
cover old song to improve the recording. There are some hard, Fracture-like
instrumentals on this CD, one composition is RF's soundscapes, two very
impressive songs performed by P.Hammill (I visited his show two months ago -
still can't forget this), and one lovely ballad performed by J.Wetton
(written by Cross & P.Sinfield). So it's some kind of modernized 70's King
Crimson, but not just the nostalgic continuation of LTiA or SaBB. Album
sounds fresh and some new ideas by DC presented there. Later I found another
DC album - "TtD" in a small record store. I purchased it at once (I never
supposed to find his other works in Moscow but the tide is turning and the
situation with good music has improved greatly here). I found that there is
no need for David to invite his old collaborators from KC to make the great
album. "Testing..." is rough-sounding (sometimes even hard rock) album. There
are lots of improvisations there (I loved the Paul Clarks guitar work), the
texts are very interesting (have you ever heard about John Dillon? I
haven't). BTW Dillon's vocals are very powerful, impressive and sometimes
very gentle. I think this album even better than "Exiles". You see, I'm a big
fan of KC (it's my favorite band) but I'd prefer to hear something new, less
related to their old stuff, though I like it very much. Of course, the roots
of TtD are "crimsonish" but it's an independent work of maser helped by some
very good musicians. I especially loved the song Calamity from the album. It
kicks off! That's all. NB.But if you decide to buy these albums
remember that the comments were made by Crimson-driven guy from Russia.
From: Gary Davis <> Subject:
Re: Rock Violinists
>Hey guys, a friend of mine would like to check out some rock violinists
>specially in the metal side if any. Any sugestions?
He should definitely check out former King Crimson violinist, David Cross.
Ironically when he was in Crimson he was eventually let go because the sound
of his violin couldn't compete with the increasingly heavy sound of Crimson.
Personally I think part of the problem was the available technology of the
time. After Crimson
Cross went on to do some session work, most notably on Clearlight's Forever
Blowing Bubbles <>. But for the most
part kind of disappeared from the recording scene. But several years ago he got back into it
and has released a number of solo albums. And although he might have been
responsible for the more acoustic side of Crimson when he was in it, his solo
albums are nothing short of ferocious!!! I think any fan of that period of
Crimson would really love these releases. I've got them at <>
Here are some soundbites to check out: <>
<> <>
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