Album of the Day

Desire of the Rhino King, by Adrian Belew (1991): Belew's first few solo albums - made during his first stint in King Crimson - weren't initially released on CD and are hard (if not impossible) to find. In their place, Island produced this 21-track release, compiling tunes from each album on one disc. The first two, Lone Rhino and Twang Bar King are Belew and band ripping through his unique brand of off-kilter rock/pop. Highlights include the raucous "Paint the Road" (which shares its main riff with Crimson's "Thela Hun Ginjeet"), "The Ideal Woman" (complete with man in the street interview clips!), and two quasi-bookends dealing with the rigors of change ("The Lone Rhino" and "The Rail Song"). The remainder are from Desire Caught By the Tail, which is just Belew doing lots of things guitars generally shouldn't do, but end up sounding very cool.