Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 61

Thread: King Crimson - "Lizard" Released on This Day

  1. #1
    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Sunset Blvd.
    Posts
    385

    King Crimson - "Lizard" Released on This Day



    This day in 1970, King Crimson released their third effort, "Lizard". After having their previous effort, "In the Wake of Poseidon" (also 1970), an album which drove the original lineup apart, Fripp was forced to hire a new band to produce this controversial classic album. Retaining their jazz fusion influences, Fripp and company chose to ramp up the humor from the first two darker records (musically speaking) meaning "Lizard" was a wilder and denser ride. I absolutely love this record, from the front cover painting beautifully illustrated by Gini Barris and spelling the band name with each song representing a letter, to the scattered solo section of "Happy Family", the Mingus-esque wind / horn duel in the "Bolero" section and Keith Tippet's one note piano solo! Even Jon Anderson makes an appearance here in a an almost unrecognizable cameo! Unfortunately, after the release of this album, singer Gordon Haskell and drummer Andy McCulloch left the band, forcing Fripp to once again have to revamp the lineup (a theme of the early years) and he was not able to take the material on the road until the tour to promote the equally underrated followup, "Islands" (1971). Not exactly a universally loved record in the Crimson canon, but certainly one of my favorites. How about you guys?
    Last edited by zombywoof; 12-11-2012 at 09:19 AM.

  2. #2
    I love this album! Probably my 3rd favorite of the 69-74 Crimson albums after their debut album and Red.

  3. #3
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    800kpc from home
    Posts
    196
    This is another of their albums that just about created and defined Prog. Truly under-appreciated.

  4. #4
    W.P.O.D. Dan Marsh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Media, PA
    Posts
    222
    I agree, totally under-appreciated!

  5. #5
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    in a cosmic jazzy-groove around Brussels
    Posts
    6,091
    I think it's my preferred one, just ahead or Aspic and Court

    I love the Tippett-boys guest musicians' inputs
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  6. #6
    My first hearing of the title track was unusual, I'd fallen asleep listening to (I think) Radio Luxenbourg. Woke up an hour so later and this incredible music was playing. It was the "battle" section, it certainly woke me up!

  7. #7
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    in a cosmic jazzy-groove around Brussels
    Posts
    6,091
    Quote Originally Posted by Progtastic View Post
    My first hearing of the title track was unusual, I'd fallen asleep listening to (I think) Radio Luxenbourg. Woke up an hour so later and this incredible music was playing. It was the "battle" section, it certainly woke me up!
    That part is amaaaaazing, still nowadays...definitely among the most descriptive music ever recorded....
    You can feel the cannon balls wizzing by your head to crash into the soldiers behind you...
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  8. #8
    Banned
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Bucks County PA
    Posts
    0
    Bit with Jon Anderson is fantastic.
    Last edited by 80s were ok; 12-11-2012 at 01:15 PM.

  9. #9
    I love this record. It was probably the third KC I ever listened to (after Discipline and Red.) I have found some incredible analysis of the lyrics on the web, it seems that many people have found historical allusions and new-age symbolism that perhaps even Sinfield wasn't aware of...
    American Hollow - my prog band.

  10. #10
    Member rottersclub's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Out there, somewhere
    Posts
    170
    Needless to say, I was a bit confounded by this album when I first heard it as a teenager, but over the years, this and Islands are the two that I reach for most often.

    I just listened to this on audiophile vinyl last week and it was absolutely stunning.

  11. #11
    It is definitely one of my favorite Crimson albums, especially the title track. Especially perfect for listening late a night. I know Fripp was unhappy with it for a long time, but said he changed his mind after hearing Mr. Wilson's version. I have always loved it, but definitely appreciate what was done with the 40th Anniversary Edition.

  12. #12
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Behold the Arbutus
    Posts
    35
    A desert island disc for me. I just bought some thingies where you can put an LP in a frame and hang on the wall. Lizard is one of the albums that's hanging in my living room.
    A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice.

  13. #13
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Wisconsin
    Posts
    717
    I appreciated this album but thought it was kinda terrible until the 40th anniversary remaster. I've never come around on an album so quickly. The nightmarish feel of songs like "Happy Family" just didn't come across on my old CD.

  14. #14
    ItalProgRules's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Niagara County, NY
    Posts
    0
    Quote Originally Posted by raconteur troubadour View Post
    A desert island disc for me. I just bought some thingies where you can put an LP in a frame and hang on the wall. Lizard is one of the albums that's hanging in my living room.
    Love those album frames. I currently have a bunch of 'em in the ol' man cave. Make great conversation pieces. I pick out ones that, in my opinion, work as stand-alone art.

    Currently displaying:

    In the Court of the Crimson King, Breakfast in America, Candy-O (The Cars,) the first Ramones album, REM's Reckoning, Some Girls by the Stones, and of course, Dark Side of the Moon.
    High Vibration Go On - R.I.P. Chris Squire

  15. #15
    Member Joe F.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Bothell, Washington
    Posts
    402
    My favorite Crimson album out of the first four and probably just slighly behind Red as my favorite overall.

    This was the second of theirs I bought, after ITCOTCK. The acoustic guitar and mellotron in Cirkus just floored my little 16-year old mind.

  16. #16
    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Sunset Blvd.
    Posts
    385
    Quote Originally Posted by JAMOOL View Post
    I appreciated this album but thought it was kinda terrible until the 40th anniversary remaster. I've never come around on an album so quickly. The nightmarish feel of songs like "Happy Family" just didn't come across on my old CD.
    Don't get me started on that 40th anniversary. It RUINED the album, in my opinion. But let's not turn this into another remix argument...

  17. #17
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Wisconsin
    Posts
    717
    I do believe that's the first time I've ever heard that! (I don't want to argue either. The appeal of Lizard is so strange I find it difficult to really explain what draws anyone to it)

  18. #18
    Progga mogrooves's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    The Past
    Posts
    1,900
    Bought it the week it came out, and it remains a demented fave. I only wish McCulloch were more prominent in the mix; he sounds miles away.

    Given that the American rock press ignored these guys, I was stunned when a review of this LP appeared in Jazz & Pop magazine; if memory serves, the review was (mostly) positive.
    Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes

  19. #19
    Member rottersclub's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Out there, somewhere
    Posts
    170
    Quote Originally Posted by mogrooves View Post
    Bought it the week it came out, and it remains a demented fave. I only wish McCulloch were more prominent in the mix; he sounds miles away.
    My vinyl has McCulloch very forward in the mix. There were a few passages when his snare work had me thinking he was channelling Michael Giles
    Last edited by rottersclub; 12-11-2012 at 04:37 PM.

  20. #20
    Along with ITWOP, my fave Crimson.

  21. #21
    Progga mogrooves's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    The Past
    Posts
    1,900
    Quote Originally Posted by rottersclub View Post
    There were a few passages when his snare work had me thinking he was channelling Michael Giles
    Not to mention Giles's triplet conception....
    Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes

  22. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by zombywoof View Post
    [IMG]Not exactly a universally loved record in the Crimson canon, but certainly one of my favorites. How about you guys?
    I think my review says it all. Fripp said: "Perhaps the leading very-strange-Lizard-lover is Steven Wilson...And, from time to time, in different places, I have met others who admit to the same strange passion. "

    I'm one of 'em. I remember where I was and what I was doing the day I heard Lizard, and this album remains one of my absolutely favorites, despite being one of the absotively posolutely scariest records I've ever heard.

  23. #23
    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Sunset Blvd.
    Posts
    385
    Quote Originally Posted by jkelman View Post

    I'm one of 'em. I remember where I was and what I was doing the day I heard Lizard, and this album remains one of my absolutely favorites, despite being one of the absotively posolutely scariest records I've ever heard.
    I'm a very strange Lizard lover, too. And yes, I remember the day I heard it. Easter Sunday ... I was 16. I put on the headphones and fell into a twilight sleep and listened to the whole album in that state. After it was over, I played it twice more that day. Awesome album and I still love it.

  24. #24
    The first King Crimson record I bought, and my favourite. Nothing they ever released compares to it. I think that they only played two of the songs live, and that didn't work IMO.

  25. #25
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    in a cosmic jazzy-groove around Brussels
    Posts
    6,091
    Quote Originally Posted by rottersclub View Post
    Needless to say, I was a bit confounded by this album when I first heard it as a teenager, but over the years, this and Islands are the two that I reach for most often.
    Yeah, this album wasn't an immediate hit for me either... I was wondering WTF after Court and Poseidon, but it certainly has more meat than their other albums (save Aspic maybe)... there is so much embedded, waiting for you to discover it...
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •