IN THE WAKE OF POSEIDON

This album, even though it sounds like a carbon copy of In The Court..., is still a great piece of Prog's more experimental side. The first track, "Peace-A Beginning" opens with a Greg Lake A cappella, portraying himself as wind, and other natural beings. Then, the similarities start: "Pictures Of A City" sounds extremely similar to "21st Century Schizoid Man", right down to the heavy riff and lightning-fast unison playing. "Cadence And Cascade", the only song on the album sung by Gordon Haskell, the vocalist on the next album, Lizard, sounds like another version of "I Talk To The Wind", with its pastoral mellotrons and whatnot. The side-closing title track is a ripoff of "Epitaph", yet with slightly less pretentious lyrics. Then we get another reprise of "Peace", which ends the side for good. Side 2 opens with "Cat Food", a jazz fusion piece in the vein of Frank Zappa's Hot Rats album. I highly recommend listening to the Pressurehed version for a more modern take on the track. Then, "The Devil's Triangle", a rewrite of Gustav Holst's "Mars" from the Planets Suite, does what King Crimson does best: shatters the conventions of songwriting. A sample from "In The Court Of The Crimson King" is inserted over top of the track about 3/4ths of the way into the song, which confused me at first, but then learned was part of a technique called "xenochrony", which Zappa used to effect on songs like "Inca Roads". And to close the album is yet another reprise of "Peace". All in all, it's a great album. If you like to be shocked and surprised by music, this album is for you.