ISLANDS

This album is the end of an era for King Crimson. After this tour, there is a complete change in lineups. The band would abandon wind instruments and their signature sound for a harder, raw rock approach that has pretty much been the crux of their sound ever since. Nevertheless, this album is another excellent outing. By this point, Robert Fripp is the only original member in the band. The new vocalist, Boz Burrell, was most likely chosen for his range, as he can more easily sing Greg Lake's parts. His voice is an aquired taste.

The beginning of this album is excellent. It starts softly with flutes and othe classical instruments weaving through Boz's soft voice. After the inital parts are sung, it drifts into a jam that slowly gets more dissonent and chaotic. Finally the song rips into Sailors Tail, quite possibly the best instrumental track King Crimson has ever recorded. It is fast, it is catchy, and it is dark. Once the mellotron kicks in and drowns out the rest of the music, it is clear that King Crimson is a force to be reckoned with. The Letters is another dark and evil sounding song that is reminiscent of schizoid song, but much slower. It actually comes across as a much darker song because of this. Ladies of the Road is the most well known song off this album, but in my opinion it is the worst song on the album. Prelude is a beautiful string arrangement that balances the dissonance of the first side of the album perfectly. Finally, the album ends with Islands, another soft song, similar to Formentera Lady, except this one doesn't all go to hell. Not quite as interesting because of that, but still beautiful.