Damage

this is quite good, although i could do without damag or the first day. firepower is my ringtone. one reads that the fripp version includes Darshan - a great cut on the studio album - instead of Jean the Birdman - the weak cut on the studio album. "Sad". And i read that Mr Sylvian mixes himself way too much in the front. I can live with this - Sylvian isn't much of a singer but he has a nice timbre to his voice (ie, he has no range, but he is quite pleasant to listen to on the notes he can hit). I like him as a lead vocal. This might be the last Robert Fripp lead guitar album, he's had other roles since then.

David Sylian is one of may favourite musicians, certainly his vocal style, this has to be a real showcase for Sylvian and Fripp, and dare I say some of his best guitar work. David himself can be no slouch on guitar. I'm not really up to date on their live performance whether both played guitars or not but this is an excellent live performance.

Music is part ambient, part psychedelic, part avantgarde Jazz, some interesting rhythms too. Couldn't keep from tapping with my feet. Track 9 calls for ballroom rumba but there are stranger rhythms. I must say while I knew Robert Fripp, at least the name, I had not heard of Sylvian before. He has a great voice (often reminds me of Greg Lake, on track 11 of morphine) The music is surprising and fascinating. One of my best recent buys. Will certainly become a favourite.

Emotions flow deep in this awesome live. David Sylvian's voice will make your heart crumble and melt in the same time. Fripp and the other musicians are pure joy. Don't miss this album!

perfection

"Damage" is the live album resulting from the brief collaboration between David Sylvian (vocals, keys, guitar) and Robert Fripp (guitar, frippertronics) in 1993, significantly featuring the talents of future long-term King Crimson members Trey Gunn (chapman stick, vocals) and Pat Mastelotto (Drums), further augmented by Michael Brook ("infinite guitar"). The concert recording features most of the tracks from the duo's sole studio album "The First Day", along with new arrangements of older Sylvian tracks and some new collaborative songs. The album has been released in two very different editions. The first, in 1994, was produced by Robert Fripp and David Bottrill, and mixed by Bottril. The second, and the version offered here for review, was a new mix and edit produced by David Sylvian alone in 2000.The songwriting and performances are among the best work from all involved. This music manages to be very dark, yet strangely uplifting, but does not in any other way resemble blues music. It is also very musically sophisticated, while in no way resembling progressive rock. There is no index-tab genre shortcut that can be used to convey the nature of this music. This is the synergy of intelligence and spirituality, informed by experience, played by musicians who have evolved beyond showing off their hot licks, in favor of a more mature song-centered performance.The second edition edit maintains the song order of the original live performance, includes one song, "Jean The Birdman", which did not appear on the first edition, and excludes, sadly, the song "Darshan".In terms of the mix, this second edition represents a very organic less-is-more approach to mixing a live album. Basically, all the faders are thrown up and every mic and pickup is live throughout, allowing leakage and the occasional unintended noise to occur where they may. Ambiance mics over the audience are kept live and at a steady level, even during the quietest and most delicate moments in the music.By contrast, the first edition, featuring digital editing by David Singleton, is a very pristine yet richly textured representation of the same performances. The end result sounds more like a live in-studio recording than a concert, with ambiance mics only audible between songs and very briefly over the intros and endings. Fripp's edition, dedicated to his recently deceased mother, alters the track order to begin and end on very quiet and somber songs.I have lived with and loved the first edition of the album for too many years to pretend at any degree of objectivity in comparing the two. As they are both out-of-print, my advice is to vigorously search out whichever edition you can, with a personal preference for the first. This is rare intellectually satisfying and emotionally nourishing music which should not be missed. I would further encourage you to seek out the even more rare Japanese Laserdisc of a concert from the same tour, for yet another perspective, and a full-length set, featuring what may well be the only professionally recorded and released live performance of Robert Fripp's song "Exposure", originally from the 1979 album of the same name (and also appearing, in a different mix, on Peter Gabriel's second solo album).

The early '90s found vocalist David Sylvian and guitarist Robert Fripp on the road together in a band that Fripp had wanted to call King Crimson, performing material that sounded quite a bit like King Crimson. After recording a studio record (the superb "The First Day"), the pair released this live album in limited edition. It was eventually reissued with a David Sylvian production credit and a slightly different track listing and track ordering (the original was produced by Fripp and then-frequent production partner David Bottrill). This is the reissue.The music first--what a performance! Sylvian (on vocals, guitars and keyboards) and Fripp (on guitar) had assembled a fine supporting cast-- infinite guitarist Michael Brook and future King Crimson members Trey Gunn (Chapman stick) and Pat Mastelotto (drums) to work up a really potent stew. The addition of Mastelotto and his admittedly somewhat heavier hand provides the live performance with a fantastic energy-- everything is powerfully rendered with Mastelotto's tribal-tinged rhythms providing a backbone that certainly seems to inspire Fripp-- his performances masterfully trump the studio recording with jaw-dropping energetic solos on pieces like "God's Monkey", "20th Century Dreaming" and especially "Firepower" that really make the album cuts look like pale shadows in comparison.Along the way, the band performs a few songs from Sylvian's catalog-- "Gone to Earth", "Wave" and "Riverman" from "Gone to Earth" (all of which featured Fripp on the album) all get readings here as does Rain Tree Crow/Japan reunion classic, "Every Colour You Are". "Wave" and "Riverman" both get great readings-- Sylvian really seems to take advantage of the opportunity to not have the onslaught of guitars that is the majority of the material to dig in-- his vocals are nothing short of earth-shattering. But "Every Colour You Are" is the gem here-- just pure magic of a performance, Sylvian's vocal is haunted and disturbed and a fantastic solo (from Brook I suspect) provides a great angular contrast.Additionally, three pieces left off the studio record get performances here as well-- two ballads in "Damage" and "The First Day" and straight rocker "Blinding Light of Heaven". The ballads being left off the record is a real mystery-- while they pulled the material away from its King Crimsonesque sound, both of them are fantastic, with Sylvian's vocals and Fripp's guitars laden in passion. "Damage" in particular really grabs you.The Sylvian-mixed reissue makes a few sequencing changes-- pushing "Damage" from the beginning to the middle of the record (where it was in the set) and subbing "Jean the Birdman" for "Darshan". Personally, I wish they'd included everything from the set in a reissue (between the two issues, the only missing track is "Exposure", from Fripp's solo record of the same name). In terms of production values, as I'm playing the reissue now immediately after listening to the original, what I notice is a distinct level of almost studio-like clarity-- Fripp I think lives that live mix sound, the occasional unbalance, the guitars subsuming the vocals now and again, etc. Sylvian's opted for a very clean approach. Both certainly have their merits, though I think I prefer Fripp's slightly.The Sylvian/Fripp collaboration bore enormous fruits-- it's really a pity that they have yet to reconvene in any significant fashion. Nonetheless, "Damage" serves as a calling card for their collaboration, and it should not be overlooked. Highly recommended.

Originally released in 1994, 'Damage' was a blink & you missed it live album from Sylvian/Fripp's 'The Road to Graceland' tour 1993 (supporting their so-so 'First Day' album)...The original came in lovely packaging and (to these ears, anyway) some brilliant takes of old & new tracks. The new songs included the heavenly ballads 'Damage' & 'The First Day' (bizarrely not on the 'Everything & Nothing' retropsective)and the 'Station to Station'-esque 'Blinding Light of Heaven' (better than the studio version on ltd. E & N cd)...'Brightness Falls' & '20th Century Dreaming' are fleshed out live- the former moves from feedback to glacial ambience...Best here are re-workings of older tracks: the Rain Tree Crow classic, 'Every Colour You Are' & some tracks from 'Gone to Earth' (where Fripp first collaborated with Sylvian). Of these, 'Wave' & 'River Man' improve on the originals...You are struck by the po-faced ness of these 'rock-outs'. Other Sylvian classics would have fitted in here: 'Pulling Punches', 'The Art of Parties', 'Heartbeat', 'Quiet Life'...As with 'Everything & Nothing', this repackage is part of Sylvian's remodel of recordings past. Sadly 'Darshan'- the centrepiece of this concert- is culled to make space for 'Jean the Birdman' (couldn't both have fitted on?). There is also a new running order- which doesn't work for me, having played this recording frequently over the last 7 years. If you don't have the original, this will be most welcome- and I expect the same will be true to those who already have it (will we be able to tell the difference in sound?)...Will we see another reissue of 'Damage' a la The Who's 'Live at Leeds'?- as 'The First Day' came out of a Japanese tour by Sylvian & Fripp- so there must be other tracks/versions from this era worthy of release. Yes, I'm thinking of 'Jean'-b-sides, 'Earthbound/Starblind' & 'Endgame'- which rank with the best of Sylvian...Whatever, still an excellent live recording...

Disc had obviously been put in a machine in an attempt to get rid of scratches to the point of losing much of the information on it, would have returned it but you have to use there label and unfortunately I don’t have a printer but won’t be buying anything else from music magpie.

This is an exceptional CD, and whether you buy this version produced by David Sylvian or the earlier Fripp/Bottrill production ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Damage-David-Sylvian-Robert-Fripp/dp/B000008NHL/ref=sr_1_50?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1444776025&sr=1-50&keywords=fripp+robert which will cost you more, but has the excellent Darshan on it and if you can get it for a reasonable price - there are some ridiculous prices out there! - is worth every pound!) and if you have an affection for the music of either or both David Sylvian or Robert Fripp I very much doubt you will be disappointed. It is an incredible live performance by every member of the band, is more compelling than The First Day from which a number of tracks come, is full of emotional and spiritual power and that timelessness which both of the 'headline' artists possess in their art, and both versions (although not everone agrees!) capture it brilliantly. I'd get both, but as an introduction this one is generally cheaper and so a good place to start! 5 stars simply isn't enough.

Another winning album by one of the best in the music "industry". This album is a classic any music lover should buy

Arrived in time and as expected fit for purpose :)