IN THE WAKE OF POSEIDON

According to many prog fans, "In the Wake of Poseidon" is nothing more than a clone of the far superior "In the Court of the Crimson King". However, though obviously I recognise that KC's debut album is the real thing, I must also admit that "In the Wake..." is rather high on the list of my most-often played records.

It may be true that the album's strongest tracks, "Pictures of a City" and the title-track, are rather reminiscent of "21st Century Schizoid Man" and "Epitaph"; nevertheless, calling them imitations is grossly unfair to two excellent songs, both of which feature some of Greg Lake's best vocal performances. "In the Wake..." is an especially stunning piece of music, not only vocal-wise but also for its hauntingly beautiful, Mellotron-soaked coda. I am not too keen, though, on the single "Cat Food", as much as I like Sinfield's vitriolic lyrics and Lake's biting delivery. As to the mellow, lilting "Cadence and Cascade", with lyrics full of sophisticated double-entendre ("licked his velvet glove"... that's quite brilliant to me!), it is the only track sung by Gordon Haskell that I can tolerate. The lengthy instrumental "The Devil's Triangle", which is a reworking of Holst's "Mars" (though the composer is uncredited), starts off in an intriguing way but gets somewhat boring after a while.

"In the Wake..." is not by any means an essential masterpiece like its predecessor, but it is definitely a worthy addition to any prog record collection, as are all KC albums.