Beat was released in June 1982 just eight months after the ’80s King Crimson lineup debut Discipline. It marked the first occasion where a Crimson line-up had remained intact for a two album stretch and was also the first album by the band to employ a separate producer – Rhett Davies. The juxtaposition of lyrics heavily influenced by ’50s beat luminaries Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady and the complex polyrhythmic musical textures of the ‘80s Crimson, the strength of the songs and the cohesion of the studio performances, all helped the album chart upon release in the U.S. and the U.K.

Songs like “Waiting Man,” “Neal and Jack and Me” and “Heartbeat” became firm fan favorites (“Heartbeat,” in particular, was an FM radio regular in the U.S. and even merited a promo film shot for the then-emerging music TV market). As ever, King Crimson was pushing forward, looking for new methods to communicate internally as a band and externally with an audience. It was, perhaps, the nearest King Crimson ever came to the rock music ‘mainstream’.

1. Neal and Jack and Me
2. Heartbeat
3. Sartori in Tangier
4. Waiting Man
5. Neurotica
6. Two Hands
7. The Howler
8. Requiem