ISLANDS

The compulsive need of Robert Fripp and his band to compose works that are dissonant with the prevailing conventional structures, but at the same time use them to create just such a contrast, finds a new chapter with "Island", the fourth album by the unclassifiable King Crimson. Elements of jazz, classical music and rock are intermingled with the mission of creating an instrumental chaos that challenges the senses and forces the listener to the complicated task of entering into them and interpreting their messages.

From the indolent opener "Formentera Lady", through the lingering instrumental "Sailor's Tale" and the intriguing "The Letters", to the latter-day beatlenian "Ladies of the Road", "Island" features the wandering, dislocated sax of Mel Collins, and the distorted, screeching guitars of Fripp, as common elements that persist in disrupting the melodies of each piece, under the mantle that the jazzy, incisive drumming of newcomer Ian Wallace bestows upon them.

And as with King Crimson, the only thing to expect is the unexpected, the last section of the work offers two pieces of considerable value: the orchestral "Prelude: Song of the Gulls" and Robin Miller's oboe, and above all "Island", homonymous with the album's title, dominated by a restful and melancholic melody that the also recently arrived singer and forced bassist Boz Burrell unravels with great sensitivity, accompanied by Keith Tippet's delicate piano, Mark Charig's cornet, and Fripp's ever-present mellotron. The best track on the album.

After the recording of "Island" and following the constant dynamic of King Crimson, both Burrel and Wallace left the band with only one album completed, and frequent guest Tippet would no longer be called upon.

3.5 stars