Three of a Perfect Pair is the tenth studio album by English band King Crimson, released in March 1984 by record label E.G.. It is the final studio album by the 1980s lineup of the group.
Content
The album balances traditional song structures on the "left side" with more free-form improvisation on the "right side", fitting somewhere between the experimental Discipline and the more commercially accessible Beat. Tony Levin had more input than on any other King Crimson album. The "other side" on the 2001 remaster consists of bonus tracks including an a cappella in which all four members supposedly sing in a barbershop quartet but is really Levin's voice overdubbed to create harmonization. The name of the album is based on the idea of perfect opposites and "three sides to every story", or his, hers, and an objective truth. The Peter Willis designed artwork illustrates the sacred–profane dichotomy while being a simplified version of the Larks' Tongues in Aspic cover; a rising phallic object represents a male solar deity about to penetrate the crescent figure, a female lunar deity. According to Fripp, the artwork is “a presentation of a reconciliation of Western & Eastern Christianity..the front cover has the two elements, representing the male & female principles. The back cover has the third element drawing together & reconciling the preceding opposite terms”. Tracks 10-15 were added for the 2001 30th Anniversary remaster. Two of the three "Sleepless" mixes were previously available on the UK12" single. The Bob Clearmountain mix appeared on the U.S. Warner Bros. LP pressing. The hip hop duo Gang Starr would later sample the intro to "Dig Me" in their song "Words I Manifest " from their 1989 debut album No More Mr. Nice Guy.
Release and reception
Released on 27 March 1984, Three of a Perfect Pair reached number 30 in the UK Albums Chart Trouser Press described it as "a most disjunct album from a band that prided itself on carefully matched contradictions. The Left Side sports four of Adrian Belew's poorer songs and a self-derivative instrumental; the flip is nearly all-instrumental, nearly free-form, nearly brilliant. Apparently the Frippressive "discipline" that forged the critically acclaimed pop/art synthesis of the first two latter-day Crimson albums is not a permanent condition." During an interview on BBC Radio 1 in 1984, Robert Fripp described the album's 'left' side as "accessible" and 'right' side as "excessive". A new 5.1 surround sound mix by Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp was released in October 2016 for the 40th Anniversary Series as a standalone CD/DVD package and as part of the On The Road boxed set.
