LIZARD

Wake saw more lineup churn in its wake. For King Crimson's next album, Lizard, which released just seven months later, Gordon Haskell (who sang on "Cadence and Cascade") joined as the new vocalist/bassist; and Andy McCulloch became the band's new drummer. Mel Collins was promoted to full member, too. A number of session musicians were utilized, especially for keyboards and assorted wind instruments.

King Crimson has (almost) always had great album art, but the intricate, medieval-style lettering of Lizard might be my favorite. Woven in among the letters are images associated with the lyrics of five songs here.

I should note that I am reviewing Lizard based on Steven Wilson's remaster of it. The original is muddy and murky, and Fripp himself called the album "unlistenable." Wilson did an amazing job of decluttering things and letting the individual elements truly shine. Even Fripp has (kinda) come around on it. It's clearly not his favorite, but King Crimson played some material off it during their 2016-2017 tours.

Twinkling electric piano and soulful vocals kick off "Cirkus (Including "Entry of the Chameleons")", but that quickly shifts to a darker mood. Stabs of ominous Mellotron contrast beautifully against twangy acoustic guitar. Lizard is King Crimson's most keyboard-forward album, and I've always appreciated that unique character. Even before Steven Wilson's remaster, I might not have enjoyed it as much, but I appreciated its place in the band's oeuvre. Despite all these lovely textures, this song (and most of the others) do feel a bit long.

"Indoor Games", compared to the drama of the opening cut, has a bouncier, more lighthearted and fun feel to it. Synthesizers and saxophones twist in instrumental moments, and the verses are underpinned with Fripp's unique, idiosyncratic guitarwork. Despite the relatively light, poppy mood, there are plenty of strange jazz, classical, and avant-garde elements on display here. Some of the instrumental futzing-about in the song's middle drags on for a bit, but it's not terrible.

At The time Lizard was being recorded, The Beatles were going through a very messy, very public break-up, and "Happy Family" documents public perception of that drama. The vocals on this song are run through strange effects, and bizarre, piercing guitar and piano lines jump between the left and right audio channels rapidly. I like this song overall, but it does show Fripp leaning perhaps a bit too heavily on chords that eschew traditional considerations of tonality. The jazzy guitar noodling is especially egregious here, and even the awesome lead synth line (played by Peter Sinfield) couldn't fully abrogate this cut's excesses.

The final song on side one is the brief "Lady of the Dancing Water". It's a short, sweet acoustic ballad that adeptly blends folk and jazz elements. It's a nice palate cleanser after the strange, dense songs that preceded it.

Side two is consumed by the 23-minute suite "Lizard", King Crimson's longest studio recording. Jon Anderson of Yes provides vocals for the first part of the song, and he's a great inclusion. There's a sense of foreboding in the verses, but the chorus is warm and hopeful, despite the less-than-cheery lyrics.

(In doing some reading for this piece, it turns out Jon Anderson's guest inclusion wasn't as simple as Fripp & Co. inviting a prog-rock peer to work with them, like Van der Graaf Generator did with Robert Fripp. There are rumors that Haskell had already left the band over creative differences with Fripp, and other rumors simply state that this song was written too high for Haskell's range.)

After those very pleasant first four minutes, "Lizard" unfortunately goes a bit off the rails. To reiterate, I enjoy "Lizard" overall, but it suffers from the same ills as the other songs on the album. It's overlong, unfocused, and too-often-dissonant. Before Wilson's remaster, it really was a chore to get through the "Bolero" section.

Cornet, trombone, and piano get too much time in the forefront, bringing this opus to a rather Miles Davis-y place I'm not particularly fond of. There's a bolero beat underpinning all this activity, and it's a very long six minutes.

Haskell shows up about halfway through the song, as it enters its third movement. This segment begins with a stripped-back, tense arrangement, and a piercing English horn adds to the tension. All of this complements his voice wonderfully. The song finally regains a sense of purpose as the Mellotron comes in, leading the way on a weary, determined march. There's a great, gritty sax line that barges in, but the backing is too scattered to really support it with the oomph it needs, at least at first. Once things finally coalesce, this piece becomes what "The Devil's Triangle" was striving for: dark, impactful, classical-rock fusion. It's just a pity it takes such a meandering path.

Despite my many gripes, Lizard is greater than the sum of its parts.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2024/04/15/deep-dive-king-crimson/