While not the only top class album to take complexity to new levels in the year 1970 (to my knowledge only Marsupalami, Soft Machine and Magma were contenders at this level), Robert Fripp steered his KING CRIMSON project into new grounds a mere fourteen months after the extraordinary “In The Court Of The Crimson King” was unleashed on an unsuspecting public and proved that he was a serious force to be reckoned with. With LIZARD, the second album of 1970 and third album overall, it feels like Robert Fripp and company took the whole project to a new level of complexity by not only keeping the previous elements that came before but also by upping the ante in pretty much every way. While KING CRIMSON took the world by storm only a year previous in 1969 with their game changing debut, their follow up “In The Wake Of Poseidon” has always felt to me like a collection of B-sides from the leftover bin of tracks from the initial sessions that created them. But I gave it a few listens, and the payoff was great. The rock critics were never kind to this album, even some fans thought they went off the tracks here. There are some bolero/big band jazz passages, and some really strange typical Crimson type parts with Mellotron and even Fripp's trademark sustained lead guitar at the end. Jon Anderson made a guest appearance (Yes apparently wanted Robert Fripp to replace Peter Banks in Yes, but Fripp declined because he probably knew where Yes was heading, and wouldn't be compatible with the band, and Yes was more democratic than Crimson). The title track is the only side-length piece Crimson ever done. "Lady of the Dancing Water" is probably the weakest thing on the album, a pleasant ballad, but nothing much more. "Indoor Games" shows a less serious side, while "Happy Family" appears to address the breakup of the Beatles (you can even see the Beatles on the cover of the album). "Cirkus" shows that Gordon Haskell has his own voice distinct from Greg Lake. This is without a doubt the jazziest of the King Crimson albums.
CIRKUS THE YOUNG PERSONS GUIDE TO KING CRIMSON LIVE PLUS
On Lizard, Greg Lake and Michael Giles were gong, in comes Andy McCulloch (who later played in Fields and Greenslade)and Gordon Haskell (who already provided vocals on "Cadence and Cascade"), plus a horn section, many members coming from Soft Machine. True "Pictures of a City" has a "21st Century Schizoid Man" approach, "Cadence and Cascade" resembles "I Talk to the Wind", and the title track is similar to "Epitaph", but that's just side one.
That's a bit unfair, because you really can't imagine "Cat Food" and "The Devil's Triangle" having been already explored on its predecessor. Some probably felt King Crimson hit a brick wall with In the Wake of Poseidon, considering it nothing more than a clone of its debut. The debut line-up of the band was influential but read more. The band's line-up (centred on guitarist Robert Fripp) has persistently altered throughout their existence, with eighteen musicians and two lyricists passing through the ranks though a greater degree of stability was achieved later in their history, with Adrian Belew having been a consistent member since 1981. Though originating in England, King Crimson have had a mixture of English and American personnel since 1981. They have been influential on many contemporary musical artists and have gained a large cult following, despite garnering little radio or music video airplay. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band has incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history (including jazz and folk music, classical and experimental music, psychedelic rock, hard rock and heavy metal, new wave, gamelan, electronica and drum and bass). King Crimson is a rock band founded in London, England in 1969.
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