LARKS' TONGUES IN ASPIC

1973 signaled the start of a new era for King Crimson. After sacking Boz Burrell, Mel Collins, and Ian Wallace, KC guitarist Robert Fripp was looking to form a new lineup. John Wetton, formerly of the band Family, replaced Burrell on vocals and bass. David Cross, a violinist was brought in as well. To complete the percussion section, ex-Yes drummer Bill Bruford joined along with percussionist Jamie Muir. This album would prove to definitely be one of their most aurally significant out of their entire discography.

The album opens with the instrumental title track "Lark's Tongues in Aspic Part 1". After hearing a quiet intro dotted with the sounds of marimbas andchimes we hear Cross's eerie violin playing entering the picture. After what sounds like the themeto the infamous Psycho shower scene, Fripp's bombastic guitar playing enters the picture tearing open the quiet canvas we were treated to before. After that destructive piece, we are treated once again to a soft moment with the second track and shortest on the album "Book of Saturday". Wetton's vocals are mournful and are accompanied by a bluesy guitar piece and wailing violin.

"Exiles", the third song starts out with some discordant noise before Cross enters with his usual tortured violin playing and Wetton literally screaming the vocals, sounding like an exiled refugee himself. Exiles is actually quite a beautiful sounding song and proves that King Crimson is quite capable of putting together some lovely pieces of music rather than sounding like a dark moody group. "Easy Money" the next song is a hard rocking foot stomping rocker with Wetton scatting along to the music. It has some interesting percussive backing, with what sounds like castanets being played. The song ends with ten seconds of maniacal laughter, as if the Crimson King himself is making an appearance. The fifth song "The Talking Drum" is a fascinating song. It opens with the tribal drumming we've heard so far on this album and leads into a Middle Eastern tinged violin driven melody. Wetton's bass chugs along as this instrumental song spirals out of control.

The sixth and final song is another instrumental and the sequal to the first song. "Lark's Tongues in Aspic Part II" is a very heavy dark piece where the guitar and violins keep going higher and higher before reaching a thunderous conclusion. Fripp sounds as if his guitar amp has been possessed by some unnatural force and the rest of the band plays along effortlessly. This is quite an astounding end to an already astounding album.

This album I feel is one of the essentials to progressive rock, mainly due to the heavy blend of intricate percussion, violin, rhythmic bass and snakey guitar work. If you're going to get a King Crimson album, this is definitely a must have.