Adrian Belew - Lone Rhino Outtakes

Since my asking about Fripp and Belew, I've received a ton of great advice which I really appreciate. I haven't done a Belew post though, and yotte reminded me the other day, so this one's for yotte and anyone else hoping for one.

Initially I wanted to post Adrian's first three albums as they appear to be long out of print but I couldn't confirm that so I decided to wait. Good thing about the waiting though because I found a collection of outtakes and roughs from the Lone Rhino sessions over at Dime A Dozen. Gotta give credit to sdc for sharing these gems, you're awesome man!

If you're unfamiliar with Adrian Belew, let me start by saying that he's just as incredible a guitarist as Fripp although he's more blatantly fun. Belew seems to have a zoo living in his guitar and he uses that to bring birds, rhinos, whales and all kinds of other beasts into his songs. On top of that, his goofy sense of humor really shines through just about every aspect of his songwriting. Goofy voices, ridiculous topics, a wide variety of instrumentation, Belew throws it all against the wall and most of it sticks. Songs like The Momur, pronounced mom-er, is about Belew's wife going buckwild and destroying his favorite guitar. The Lone Rhinoceros is sung from the perspective of the song's titular character, as it lives in a zoo dreaming of returning to it's wild home. I couldn't even tell you what Adidas In Heat or Stop It are about, but they're catchy as hell. And Naive Guitar is a stunningly beautiful instrumental of backwards and processed guitar. The man knows how to mix a catchy song and his off the wall humor with marvelous results. He's also got a voice best described as David Byrne minus the paranoia. Seriously, he sounds like Byrne, doesn't he?

Regarding these tracks, I've heard speculation that they're rough mixes from before additional overdubs were recorded. That sounds about right as it's clear that none of these tracks are anywhere near finished. There are vocals throughout but quite often they're barely audible. Belew's effects are all over the tracks but they're far more present in the final mixes. All in all, nothing here bests the finished Lone Rhino album but it's fascinating to hear Belew and his band working these tracks and having, to these ears, lots of fun.

If I can confirm that Belew's first three albums remain out of print I will share them here, but until then I hope you enjoy these gems. Thanks again to sdc over at Dime for sharing these wonders!


Adrian Belew - Lone Rhino Outtakes

01 The Lone Rhinoceros
02 Big Electric Cat
03 The Man In The Moon
04 Animal Grace
05 Naive Guitar
06 Pigs and Cars
07 Party Time
08 Adidas In Heat
09 Stop It
10 Swingtime
11 Bass and Drums (Nobody Monger?)
12 The Momur