“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

Steve Vai and Adrian Belew performing onstage with the Beat
(Image credit: Daniel Knighton/Getty Images)

“I’ve had guitar partners in my life,” says Adrian Belew, simultaneously looking backward and forward.

It’s an interesting thought. Given the glorious absurdity and rainbow-like color of his parts – the frenetic samurai-chop rhythms; the effects-heavy solos that can sound like car horns and elephant growls and frazzled dial-up modems, depending on what the song requests – it’s almost shocking that any band could accommodate both his playing and someone else’s.

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