As Bill Bruford wryly recalled with this correspondent, Crimson will be forever beholden to Belew for providing what the band's earlier line-ups frequently floundered over: good old-fashioned material.

Beat built on the strengths of the previous Discipline, with Belew's and Fripp's duelling twin leads soaring above the Levin/Bruford power axis. But Belew's songs, loosely themed around his affection for Jack Kerouac and his beat associates, give the album a unity and melodic thrust rare among the Crimson catalogue. But fear not, amid the art-pop balladry there's frantic instrumental fireworks aplenty, notably on the gorgeous sprung rhythms of ‘Sartori in Tangier’ and the Fripp-rich fantasy ‘Requiem’. The American thrust of the band gave Fripp plenty to chew on, while Bruford has rarely sounded so liberated in a rock context. Like Three of a Perfect Pair, Beat is released in the current series of Steve Wilson/Fripp remixes but is also central to the On (and off) The Road multiple CD/3 Blu-Ray boxed set that documents this classic line-up.