ISLANDS

This obscure Crimson Lp is often discredited because it was recorded during a 'lost' period for the band. But there is a very special thing about this album - it doesn't sound like anything before or after.

Frankly, it sounds like a few unemployed jazz musicians in an opium den.

A couple spurts of artistry do stand as refreshing changes from already-tread territory. The instrumental jam "Sailor's Tale" carries an enchanting electric guitar show by Fripp. He begins with an exotic riff then shifts to loud and distorted. Drummer Ian Wallace keeps it all sewn together with a really cool jazz beat (Phil Collins would mention this as an influence). "Sailor's Tale" then trails off via mellotron, which is uniquely overlaid onto Wallace's jazz rhythm.

Side two's "Ladies of the Road" is a brief return to the cool jazz beat. But this is a weird song: lounge-lizard and very austere. It contains some disturbingly raunchy lyrics. In fact I'm not sure why anybody would want a song to sound like this. But that cool beat keeps it interesting.

Islands closes with two authentic sounding, pseudo-classical pieces. Symphonic freaks deem them to be beautiful and, indeed, these tracks ("Prelude." and "Islands") sound more sincere than anything Yes ever recorded with Rick Wakeman. But they are sleepy.

Whether or not Islands is essential depends on one's tolerance for the weird. The follow-up Lp, Lark's Tongues in Aspic, sounds like Top-40 in comparison to this.