LIZARD

As it's my first review, I have chosen Lizard from King Crimson, because it's the album which taught me not to judge anything at first sight. As you all know, some prog is hard to understand at first listening : what I had heard about Lizard didn't encourage me much, seeing as I was still a low level listener. Then, one day, I decided to give it a try. In The Court was a great album, along with the very special Islands, the main album to discover between these two surely is Lizard. When I listened to it, everything seemed clear to me : this is an astounding album with extremely inventive songs, and most of all the real classic Lizard (the song).

Cirkus remains one of my favourite Crimson songs ever : from the mellow introduction to the powerful riffs the structure of the song is incredible. I particularly enjoy the beautiful guitar work on this one, it gives me chills with its harmonies. Indoor Games is less emotional, but also quite experimental, with saxes and synth effects, there is a great jazz feeling during the whole song. Happy Family is really darker and VERY experimental at some points. At 1:00 the voice is coupled with a special effect, which really sticks with the atmosphere of the song. Lady Of The Dancing Water is a lovely ballad, with a great vocal offering and incredible flute work, the line Farewell my lady of the dancing water is probably one of the mellowest ever written by King Crimson. Finally, there is this monster track : Lizard. Jon Anderson is really impressive here, at first I thought it was someone else. Though I describe his voice as funny and powerful in Yes, here it's all the opposite. I had never heard such calm and emotion from him. All the instruments are used at their best here, especially winds and piano. The song is the ultimate blend between Rock, Jazz and Classical music. Its length does not endanger the quality of the material at all.

All in all, a must have for a King Crimson fan, but everyone should give it a try at least once, just to see and feel the power of real music.

5 Stars.