In 1984, Robert Fripp dissolved the then-current lineup of King Crimson after three albums. Discipline, Beat and Three of a Perfect Pair might have been well-received, but the ever-restless Fripp felt that the quartet – completed by Adrian Belew, Bill Bruford, and Tony Levin – had fulfilled its original artistic purpose.
Besides, he wasn't happy, later telling Prog magazine that recording of the third album had been "the most awful record-making experience of my life, and one I would never choose to repeat."
