One intriguing anecdote occurred when Fripp was interviewed by Dave Mandl, for Reflex Magazine (1991): "Music tends to move in seven-year cycles. '56: Presley, rock 'n' roll; '63: Beatles; '70: progressive, psychedelic; '77: punk/new wave; '84: on one hand, New Music, on the other, World Music; 1991: something is going to happen, we don't know. But there is a need for something new, which as a musician I have a sense that something is about to emerge. I can only trust my musician's bones," Fripp stated. ("God knows what he thinks will happen in 1998!" remarked Fripp's personal assistant, Hugh O'Donnell, to me. The first wave of Napster-like file-sharing and the global reign of electronica are both candidates.)

Comments such as this lead many to accuse Fripp of over-intellectualising or philosophical abstraction, but he appears to be more on track than most. Other aspects such as his criticisms of commercialisation, the role of new technology, the importance of copyright and publishing control, and a strong anti drug stance have won him respect.

Ironically 1991 was the year that Nirvana's Nevermind spearheaded the Seattle-based grunge movement, and also marked the first commercial success of rave, dub and trance genre. Grunge's youthful energy became restricted by MTV/radio overexposure, self-defeating nihilism, stadium numbness and critical mutilation - the commodification of creativity (perhaps a synechdoche for the music industry as a whole between 1955-1990).

The Point of Seeing

In 1987 Fripp became involved with the soundtrack for a proposed film version of William Gibson's Neuromancer novel. According to him, "some of the music was distinctly Crimsoid. . . ." It had become clear to Fripp, although the film project failed to materialise, that "music was in the air waiting for King Crimson to give it voice."

He spoke to Tony Levin and Adrian Belew about reforming King Crimson in the summer of 1991, but problems soon erupted that delayed the reformation.

Coda: Marine 475

Whilst on tour with the League of Crafty Guitarists collective in 1991, Fripp discovered that his management company of over 20 years (E.G. Management, who had also managed Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno, and where Fripp met The Orb's Alex Patterson) had failed to pay outstanding artist royalties. An investigation revealed that its partners, Messrs S.G. Alder and M.A. Fenwick, were Lloyd's Names, and that according to Fripp, "their liability as a syndicate led to the loss of a property company, record and publishing catalogues, a security company and personal possessions."

The dispute and litigation took several years, and delays by Virgin Records led Fripp to near bankruptcy and created continuing problems for the Guitar Craft 1991 European tour. Fripp describes the complex business problems in the liner notes to Intergalactic Boogie Express (1995), a clear lesson to musicians about the harsh realities of the business. His letters about the dispute became underground legends and foreshadowed the on-line music wars of the late 1990s. His rift with the company that had represented King Crimson since 1969 was to later lead to the creation of a new company called Discipline Global Mobile.

The Merits of Musicology: A View from Inferno

By the early 1990s, as Fripp was battling his former managers and struggling to keep the Guitar Craft projects and tours on the road, there was growing acknowledgement of the importance of King Crimson's music and Fripp's collaborations by a new generation of artists and critics.

A musicologist named Eric Tamm released a study called Robert Fripp: From King Crimson to Guitar Craft (Winchester, MA: Faber & Faber: 1990) that critically examined Fripp's recordings and philosophy. It revealed the musical influences of Bach, Jimi Hendrix, Balinese gamelan music and Bartok, the spiritual doctrines of Pythagoras and the practices of intentional suffering and conscious labour. Tamm viewed Fripp as a monk of the musical world attempting in Fripp's own words to "explore how music might enter our sorry world, despite all of our efforts to keep it out." Fripp felt the work was indulgent, claiming that, "it was more about Eric Tamm than myself."

The Guiles of Generation Next: The Influencers and the Influenced

On these albums [the Eno trilogy of 'Heroes', Low and Scary Monsters] the collaboration between Bowie and Eno is so strong that the guitarist is out of the limelight. As a result the guitarists, including Robert Fripp, have to play with a lot more space and come up with different textures that work with all the electronic stuff. I guess I have to throw in Scary Monsters for good measure too, because Fripp's playing on it is totally amazing. He was doing burning arpeggio's before Yngwie [Malmsteen, neo-classical metal guitarist noted for 1980s work, but now regarded as self-indulgent]. I'm just a huge Fripp fan nowadays - his whole approach to the guitar is like a mad scientist's!
~~ Kirk Hammett, Metallica [2]

Bands influenced by Crimson included Living Colour, Anthrax, The Rollins Band, Corrosion of Conformity, Primus, Entombed, Anekdoten and Helmet. With a rapidly changing cultural landscape, Crimson influences now pop up in the most unlikely of places: the psychotic horns and jagged guitar riffs of "21st Century Schizoid Man" mutate into Mr Bungle (a side-project of ex-Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton), the mellotron riffs on "Mailman" from Soundgarden's Superunknown (1994); while Red-era Crimson can clearly be heard on The Rollins Band's Weight (1994), particularly on the breakthrough single "Liar" (the chorus riff borrowed from Crimson according to guitarist Chris Haskett). Crimson also influenced Tool, especially the improvisations on Lateralus (2001). Fripp's ambient work led him to collaborate with The Grid on two albums and also with The Future Sound of London.

That Way Out Sound from Seattle

Fripp himself seemed right at home with the frenetic energy and dedication of Seattle bands. Kurt Cobain told a French magazine in 1993 that Red had influenced the recording of Nirvana's In Utero (1993), particularly the distortion sounds and recording dynamics that were finally used. He continued the trademark "100 shitty grunge boxes" tone on The Priest They Called Him (1993) collaboration with William S. Burroughs. When Kim Thayil of Soundgarden spoke to Guitar Player in 1994, he made the offhand comment: "I grew up in a town just outside Chicago and the music scene sucked . . . People were into Todd Rundgren, King Crimson and the other prog rockers. I like some of that stuff now but I didn't then." Soundgarden were later rumored to jam on the raunchy Crimson track "Ladies of the Road" during their North American tour.

The Perils of Primus

The three major Generation-X flag-bearers for Crimson have been Primus, The Rollins Band, and Tool (who Crimson toured with in 2001). Whilst most critics have drawn comparisons between Rush and Primus, drummer Tim 'Herb' Alexander claims that Crimson's music is an overlooked influence.

"Les Claypool was influenced by Tony Levin's work with Peter Gabriel and the bass riffs of tracks like "Sleepless." He interviewed potential band members and ask them if they were familiar with the guitar work of Belew and Fripp," the ex-Primus drummer told me.