Islands is the fourth studio album by King Crimson, formed in 1969.
By the time of Islands, the original line-up of King Crimson was down to guitarist Robert Fripp and lyricist/general visionary Peter Sinfield.
The duo recruited Mel Collins, who had appeared on In The Wake Of Poseidon (1970), to play wind instruments and Ian Wallace, who had played drums with Jon Anderson in The Warriors, to play drums.
The most surprising choice for the new line-up was vocalist Boz Burrell, who had previously worked mainly in R&B bands. But that wasn’t the surprising part, it was the fact that Burrell also became the bass player of the band, even though he had never played an instrument before. Fripp and Ian Wallace taught Burrell and surprisingly he ends up doing well on the album. Fortunately, in a few passages, double bassist Harry Miller provides backing.
Alongside Miller, the album features a few other accomplished jazz musicians such as pianist Keith Tippett and cornetist Mark Charig. One track also features a full string section.
Islands was another stylistic departure for King Crimson. Whereas their previous album Lizard (1970) was like a fast-paced tracking shot through the most colourful and crazy circus in the world, Islands is a much more serene album. Islands paints for me a curious and monochromatic picture of a Mediterranean archipelago viewed through a haze. Every now and then the mist disperses a little, revealing fascinating details of some ancient high culture. There is also a certain understated warmth to the album at times that has not been heard before in Crimson’s music.
The ten-minute opening track ”Formentera Lady” is the album’s foggiest offering and with its double bass, winds and all sorts of screeching percussion it brings to mind the so-called spiritual jazz masters of the 60s/70s, such as Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane. The song wavers and drifts like a ship without an anchor, but somehow strangely seems to end up in port.
Continuing straight from ”Formentera Lady”, the instrumental ”Sailor’s Tale” ups the intensity and features not only great drumming from Ian Wallece but also one of the hottest guitar solos Fripp has ever played. The slightly banjo-like electric guitar solo lasting over a minute is truly original and dizzying to listen to! At the end, the menacing Mellotron, which takes the lead role over Wallace’s intense drumming, is also majestic to listen to.
The subtly opening ”The Letters” takes advantage of the extreme dynamics, hitting wild wind passages in between, and includes a soaring section where Burrell delivers an extremely convincing scream of Sinfield’s pompous verse:
IMPALED on nails of ice
And raked with emerald fire
From ”The Letters” we move on to ”Ladies Of The Road”, which is perhaps the closest Crimson have come to ” ordinary rock” so far in their career. Ordinary is relative, of course, because although the song even has some bluesy nuances, which is unusual for Crimson, the song, which is driven by Burrell’s thumping bass and contains extremely heavy saxophone solos, is, after all, quite far from basic rock. The lyrics are quite misogynistic, especially from today’s point of view, and describe the relationship between rock musicians and groupies.
The rock moods swing surprisingly smoothly into pseudo-classical music. ”Prelude: Song Of The Seagulls”, composed by Fripp for string orchestra, does not feature any of the band members but is performed entirely by a small string orchestra assembled for the album, with Robin Miller on oboe. The composition is beautiful, though perhaps not so wonderful in itself. The song shouldn’t, by all rights, work as part of Islands, but for some reason I’ve always accepted it myself.
The album’s nine-minute title track ”Islands” is one of King Crimson’s most beautiful songs. Beginning quietly, mainly with Keith Tippett’s lyrical piano, Miller’s shimmering oboe and Burrell’s delicate vocals, there is something heartbreaking about the song. In the middle of the song, we hear a stunning cornet solo from Mark Charig. However, the song does not remain a simple ballad of one musical idea, but slowly builds up throughout its duration, with elegant variations in instrumentation. At the end, Charig gets to solo more intensely, with Fripp accompanying in the background with organ harmonies and Mellotron. A really impressive song.
All in all, Islands is a magical experience. Like its predecessor Lizard, Islands is a very unique album. Music that no one else had ever done before, and hasn’t really done since. Crimson themselves changed direction again with their next album.
Islands is a masterpiece of melancholic jazzy progressive rock.
Best tracks: ”Formentera Lady”, ”Sailor’s Tale”, ”Ladies Of The Road” ja ”Islands”
Author: JANNE YLIRUUSI
Tracks
- ”Formentera Lady” 10:18
- ”Sailor’s Tale” 7:29
- ”The Letters” 4:28
- ”Ladies of the Road” 5:31
- ”Prelude: Song of the Gulls” 4:14
- ”Islands” 9:15
King Crimson:
Robert Fripp: guitar, mellotron, harmonium Peter Sinfield: lyrics, sounds and vision, cover design and painting Mel Collins: saxophones, flute, backing vocals Ian Wallace: drums, percussion, backing vocals Boz Burrell: bass guitar, vocals
Guests:
Paulina Lucas: soprano vocals (1) Keith Tippett: piano Robin Miller: oboe Mark Charig: cornet Harry Miller: double bass (1, 6) Wilf Gibson: violin (1), conducting (5, 6) String section: strings (2, 5, 6)
Pienemmät Purot 
Jätä kommentti