Twang Bar King is the second solo album by American musician Adrian Belew. It was released in 1983 on Island Records. The album peaked at No. 146 on the Billboard 200.

Production

Made while Belew was the frontman of King Crimson, Twang Bar King was recorded in between the sessions and tours for Beat and Three of a Perfect Pair in 1982 and 1983. Like Belew's debut album Lone Rhino, it features the members of Belew's pre- King Crimson band GaGa (this time augmented by session drummer Larrie Londin). This would be the last album on which Belew would feature the GaGa band, and he would largely perform all the instruments on his future albums himself. The R&B parody interlude "Sexy Rhino" continues the "rhino" theme from Lone Rhino and utilizes a Roland TR-808 drum machine and vocoder.

Critical reception

Trouser Press wrote that the album "does underscore his contributions to King Crimson: the distinctive vocabulary of extra-musical noises, the personality and, especially, the humor, which is in abundant evidence here." The Globe and Mail wrote that "despite Belew's cleverness, the rhythm section of J. Clifton Mayhugh and Larrie Londin does little that can be considered interesting."

Track listing

All songs written and arranged by Adrian Belew except “I’m Down” written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney and “Paint the Road” written by William Janssen

Personnel

Musicians

Technical