IN THE WAKE OF POSEIDON

The second album: same formula, different results

After the success of "In the court of the Crimson King", King Crimson released their second album which is sometimes considered as a copy of their previous album, which I defer since I find it similar, yes, but quite original as well.

King Crimson split up and while Robert Fripp and Peter Sinfield were trying to reform a band, some session musicians appeared and formed this temporary band who created the material for their second album; Ian McDonald left the group, Michael Giles was lowered to the category of recording musician (not an official member of the band) and Greg Lake was only the singer and didn't play any instrument. Two musicians joined the band to replace McDonald: Keith Tippett on piano and Mel Collins on saxophone and flute (both of them considered still as recording musicians), Michael Giles' brother Peter played bass and Gordon Haskelll sang in "Cadence and Cascade", and would become the lead singer of the band in the next album.

The A-side (the "In the court of the Crimson King" twin):

1.- Peace (a beginning) (00:49): The album starts with an a-cappella song, very quiet and calm that lasts less than a minute, a soft introduction to the hard song that comes after it.

2.- Pictures of a city (08:03): Aggressive, jazzy, and moved, the same mood of "21st Century schizoid man" but more rehearsed than improvised.

3.- Cadence and cascade (04:27): Acoustic and melodic, Gordon Haskell singing instead of Greg Lake, the same mood of "I talk to the wind" but with more presence of acoustic guitar.

4.- In the wake of Poseidon (07:56): Quite similar to "Epitaph" but with a little fewer instrumental passages.

The B-side (the new experience):

5.- Peace (a theme) (01:15): An acoustic ballad with beautiful vocal arrangements opens the second side of the LP.

6.- Cat food (04:54): A relaxed jazzy tune with complex time signatures; the bass, drums, and piano give the soul to this piece.

7.- The devil's triangle (11:39): The longest song of the album is also the only instrumental one; it's an interesting composition that goes from dark moments to some relaxed ones. It resembles a little bit to "In the court of the Crimson King" in some moments.

8.- Peace (an end) (01:53): The end of the album is the third part of "Peace", in the same soft ballad mood of the first two parts, closes the album quite nicely with a beautiful acoustic-y arrangement.

Some CD versions of the album include as bonus tracks "Groon" which is a hard rock instrumental piece that was B-side of the "Cat food" single and "Cadence and Cascade" with Greg Lake as a lead singer instead of Gordon Haskell and without the flute arrangement. Yes, the album has a lot of similarities with the first King Crimson record, but it has a lot of original music itself. I don't consider it a cheeky copy but rather a wonderful new experience. By the way, I share my birthday with this baby.

SONG RATING: Peace (a beginning), 4 Pictures of a city, 5 Cadence and cascade, 5 In the wake of Poseidon, 5 Peace (a theme), 5 Cat food, 4 The devil's triangle, 5 Peace (an end), 4

AVERAGE: 4.63

PERCENTAGE: 92.5

ALBUM RATING: 5 stars

I ranked this album #96 on my TOP 100 favorite Progressive Rock albums of all time.

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