LIZARD

For the longest time, "Lizard" was considered the red-headed stepchild of sorts of the King Crimson discography. Panned by Robert Fripp himself, who went so far as to deem those who liked it "strange", marked the band's first major shift in sound, towards the jazz fusion scene that was sweeping across the UK at the time. It also features a completely new, yet similarly short-lived, lineup of musicians, perhaps the most obscure in the band's history. While Fripp and lyricist Peter Sinfield remain the only original members of the band, vocalist Gordon Haskell was brought in to replace Greg Lake, who had joined ELP. Haskell's tenure in the band was especially short-lived; a childhood friend of Fripp, his voice is especially hushed and unaccustomed to the sound of the band. In fact, Haskell wasn't even much of a fan of progressive rock, and instead liked the R&B/Soul music popular in the United States at the time.

To say Haskell was uncomfortable in King Crimson was an understatement. The recording process for "Lizard" was absolute hell for him and new drummer Andy McCulloch, with Fripp often berating the two men. Haskell recalls that McCulloch was even brought to tears due to the harsh treatment by the band leader. It was no surprise that this would be the only King Crimson album that both men would feature on as "official members" (Haskell did sing on "Cadence and Cascade" from the previous album "In the Wake of Poseidon"). Another musician who would prove more resilient would be saxophonist Mel Collins, who had featured as a session musician on ITWOP, replacing the void left by Ian McDonald, although Fripp would still leave the duty of the mellotron to himself. While not credited as an official member of King Crimson, pianist Keith Tippett has a profound impact on this album, with his virtuosity on the piano contributing heavily to the sound the band was trying to create.

"Cirkus" is by all means this album's "Schizoid Man" or "Pictures of a City", although it does not draw any influence in sound from either. It is here the listener can get his first taste of the heavily classical and staunchly progressive "Lizard", with its medieval instrumentation and surreal imagery. Haskell's hushed voice clashes hard with the intermittent dissonance of the saxophone, before breaking off into a whimsical instrumental that makes up much of the album. Perhaps one of the biggest problems of "Lizard" is its reliance on Haskell's vocals, which are gruff and crude in comparison to Greg Lake's. "Indoor Games" is the band's effort to distance itself from the structure of the first two albums, with a more conventional and upbeat tone. I really like the drum fills on this song by McCulloch; he is by no means a bad drummer, but compared to Michael Giles or the eventual Bill Bruford, his work is easily lost in the band's catalog. The distorted uncanny laughing at the end by Haskell has a bit of a dark backstory to it; it was the manifestation of Haskell's discomfort and unhappiness with recording the song. Both "Indoor Games" and its abstract cousin "Happy Family" both stand out as being pretty forgettable songs, with the latter being the first King Crimson tune of the Sinfield era to perilously draw upon the aura of the Beatles (if you look closely at the beautiful album artwork you will indeed find an artist's rendition of the Fab Four). It features heavily distorted vocals that are drowned out by some pretty abrasive piano and saxophone cuts. It's almost accidentally psychedelic, a quality that I actually kind of enjoy, even if it's not by any means one of my favorite King Crimson compositions. "Lady of the Dancing Water" is the sequel to "Cadence and Cascade", a beautiful acoustic ballad sung by Haskell in a more normal and tender tone, albeit also easily bested by its predecessor.

Side two brings us to the epic twenty-three minute title track, split into four parts. Beginning with "Prince Rupert Awakes", we are greeted by the angelic voice of one Jon Anderson, at the time vocalist for the fledgling progressive rock band Yes (you may have heard of them). It is baffling to think that this appearance would come before the dawn of that band's commercial fame, as they would release the seminal "Fragile" just one year later. Anyway Anderson only appears for this first part, which is a pretty average introduction in line with much of the material we already heard, but lighter in tone, which justifies Anderson's inclusion as I doubt Haskell's voice was fit for this sort of theme. Things begin to get more progressive with the second part "Bolero - the Peacock's Tale", which is quintessential progressive jazz in technique, featuring a slew of saxophone, rhythmic jazz drumming and fast-paced piano. I really like the pastoral atmosphere and imagery that this song evokes; it is very classical and European, owing to the inclusion of a three-man brass section. However, the most famous part of this epic is the eleven- minute "The Battle of Glass Tears", further split into three parts. "Dawn Song" signals the return of Haskell's vocals, which coincidentally would be his last with King Crimson, laid upon a minimalist silent background. On cue, he is followed by an outburst of hard-hitting gothic prog in the "Last Skirmish", which is permeated by hard-thumping drums and sinister mellotron. This maelstrom signifies the battle in the story of the album, and is concluded by the first true cutting Frippertronic guitar solo "Prince Rupert's Lament", with the trademark guitar tone of Fripp that any seasoned prog fan can identify. The simple yet hypnotic bassline, in tandem with the drums, makes for one hell of a backing rhythm section that Fripp can solo over. "Big Top" is a reprise and a bit of a musique concrete book-end for the song, but I personally feel like the epic would have been ended even better with a drown out of Fripp's guitar. Overall, by all means a very musically engaging and complex epic, and the only one that King Crimson would ever compose.

In recent years, a lot of people have emerged with extremely favorable reviews for "Lizard", some going as far as to deem it essential. Personally I think there is a bit of peer pressure involved in this school of thought, as I'm sure a lot of people may be more susceptible to want to positively favor an album that was originally considered to be a failure. Indeed, Steven Wilson's 2009 remaster of "Lizard" changed the mind of Robert Fripp himself, who has since come to incorporate much of this album's content into King Crimson's live shows, with "Cirkus" and "The Battle of Glass Tears" being frequent staples of the band's live shows. While I agree, this is an excellent album and it definitely showcases a very elegant and experimental freeform kind of jazz that was becoming popular in the UK and greater Europe at the time, I would not go as far as to deem it an essential album, mainly because of the weakness of the first side. I like the title track a lot, but the songs "Indoor Games" and "Happy Family" are throwaways in my opinion, while "Lady of the Dancing Water" is more of a token listen. It is however an improvement on ITWOP in the sense that the band finally decided not to include an improvisational piece. One can only wonder how the band could have built upon this sound had they decided to retain it for their next album; in typical King Crimson fashion the band's lineup would implode, and by 1971 the band would essentially start from scratch with an entirely new sound.

OVERALL RATING: 4.4/5

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