Robert Fripp & The League Of Crafty Guitarists - Show Of Hands (1991)

Review by Mike DeGagne
Guitar wizard Robert Fripp joins forces with some of the finest six-string pickers around, offering up a truly intricate variety of music on Show of Hands. With 17 guitarists contributing to 19 tracks, the likes of Trey Gunn, Paul Richards, and Curt Golden (just to name a few) decorate the album with elaborate string arrangements that range from avant-garde to classical in nature. Anyone who is a guitar enthusiast will be astonished at how tight Fripp comes across with his unique style. From time to time, vocalist Patricia Leavitt displays her beautiful falsetto voice a cappella for a fresh change of pace. The music is shaped, bent, and twisted with guitar atop guitar to culminate thick layers of movements, suites, and passages. Some of the songs have a Latin flavor to them, some African, and some are just plain bewildering, representing a progressive rock angle. While no two songs sound the same, the onslaught of guitars may be a bit too much for some. Listening to each track as a whole results in some stunning mood music, and the pleasant addition of a viola and textured keyboards adds to the beauty.