discipline Robert Fripp’s 20 greatest guitar moments

ROBERT FRIPP IS widely hailed as the king of progressive rock guitar — but he squirms visibly under that crown. In 2014, asked by Classic Rock if he’s always taken issue with King Crimson’s “prog” label, he made his feelings blatantly clear: “Yes, it’s a prison,” he said. “If you walk on stage and you’re playing music, fine. But if you’re walking on stage and you’re playing progressive rock — death.”

In a way, that discomfort makes sense. As King Crimson’s key guiding force — and lone consistent member — since their debut LP, 1969’s In the Court of the Crimson King, Fripp has typically veered away from popular tropes and trends. Across 13 studio albums (along with a smattering of EPs and live records), he’s evolved from the band’s early pseudo-symphonic style to infuse the avant-garde, classical, borderline jazz-fusion, free improvisation, heavy metal, New Wave, industrial and multi-drummer mayhem. No style has ever been off limits, and every Crimson era is an island unto itself.

You can attribute much of that range to Fripp’s vision as a bandleader: No other rock musician is more willing to call it quits, embark on an extended hiatus and start from scratch with a new lineup. (And few have recruited so well for a particular artistic aim; it’s hard to imagine King Crimson’s sleeker Eighties revamp without the two American recruits, singer-guitarist Adrian Belew and bassist Tony Levin.) After all, Crimson have never been a guitar-first band — it’s almost always been about ensemble composition, using the unique tools of the musicians in his company.

“If you listen to King Crimson’s records, you realize the guitar playing has always been one of in 1974. “One of the reasons for that is I’ve always been more happy in developing the other musicians; developing them as players.”