ISLANDS

Following the release of their third studio album "Lizard", which is now considered a bit of a masterpiece but at the time was panned even by members of the band itself, King Crimson saw yet another opportunity to radically reinvent itself. "Islands" is largely the manifestation of the power struggle between guitar Robert Fripp and lyricist Peter Sinfield. Fripp wanted to explore more experimental and progressive themes in the music, while Sinfield envisioned a more baroque and admittedly pretentious artsy sound. In many ways, this album is more the elucidation of Sinfield's vision for the band than Fripp's, being King Crimson's quietest album by far.

Following the departure of vocalist Gordon Haskell and drummer Andy McCulloch after the recording of "Lizard" (neither would ever perform live with the band), King Crimson would bring in Boz Burrell (yes, the guy from rock supergroup Bad Company) to play bass and sing, while McCulloch's flatmate Ian Wallace was drafted to play the drums. Burrell's voice is extremely soft and delicate in contrast to Haskell's gruffness; it is no surprise that he would never sing with the band he would eventually become famous as a part of, and the music is sort of forced to reflect the more delicate sounds the band was capable of, at least when there were lyrics involved.

"Formentera Lady" is a very slow and uneventful opener to the LP, especially in contrast to the past three King Crimson albums. Being the longest song on "Islands", it boasts a slow burn led by an oboe. Sinfield is no stranger to writing exotic lyrics rife with imagery, and while the subject matter is not necessarily evocative of the island of Formentera in the Balearic Islands, it certainly is exotic, especially compared to the British Isles. It's almost as if the subject matter on these lighter tracks are derivative of light-hearted European pop while remaining progressive. I recommend checking out Sinfield's 1973 solo album if you're a fan of this kind of sound, but to me this is a step down from the excellent and dissonant work of the past few albums. "A Sailor's Tale" is much more interesting; this is a Fripp-penned tune, and it is perhaps the part of the album where he is allowed to really shine as a song-writer. There's a lot of derivation from the "In the Wake of Poseidon" track "The Devil's Triangle", except infinitely more dynamic and exciting. Beginning with strong saxophone from now official band-member Mel Collins, a brief interlude then gives way to one of the best buildups I've ever heard; Fripp's jazzy guitar solo is shattered by the glorious mellotron used to perfection, aided by wonderful drum fills by Wallace. This is a pretty common Crimson live track, and it's definitely one of the highlights of the album.

"The Letters" is one of two songs heavily inspired by Giles, Giles and Fripp compositions. It is a revamped version of the live song "Drop In" heard during the band's performances in 1969. Burrell's voice barely penetrates the surface to sing the opening lyrics, before a wave of music hits the listener for a wild middle instrumental. Burrell then comes back to recite his "heaviest" lyrics of the album before the song fades back into darkness. I will say this is a good song for the middle of the album, it may be filler-tier but it's an enjoyable listen. This is another piece that gets played in the band's concerts to this day. "Ladies of the Road" is where things take a bit of a turn for the worst; it is perhaps the most pretentious song about having the kinds of women from Zappa's "Joe's Garage" that I've ever heard, to the point that it borders on parody. Especially in progressive rock which is probably the least "wetting" album for the female gender, it just comes off as hilarious to me. It's also an extension of that "Beatles" sound that Sinfield was experimenting with at the time. Not necessarily a terrible song (don't think King Crimson ever wrote one), but definitely near the bottom for the band's discography. It's songs like this that make me happy that Robert Fripp was able to win control of the band at the end. I can only imagine if this was ever played live (I believe it was for the band's 1972 tour a few times), the sheer look of frustration on Fripp's face as Burrell sings "I smiled and just unzipped her...". Mel Collins even comes in to provide the 1970's cliche porn saxophone to only make it more of an uncomfortable listen. Will say that the chorus is not all that bad though, it's def the most memorable part of the song.

"Prelude: Song of the Gulls" is the King Crimson revamp of a Giles, Giles, and Fripp song titled "Suite No. 1". It makes use of a string section and is entirely instrumental. It is arguably the most forgettable song of the album, as it really strikes me as more of a cherubic elevator song straight out of a movie soundtrack. The band just really does not do anything exciting with this composition. The title track is where band historians consider the first "era" of King Crimson to end; in many ways it is a fitting sendoff of Peter Sinfield, who would be fired from the band following the album's supporting tour. To a point, the lyrical subject matter of the song focuses on the "islands" we create for ourselves, an allegory to our souls being islands in a sort of archipelago. The lyrics are beautiful, capturing the exotic and tropical literal imagery of the island chain. While the song is long at nine minutes and takes a while to build up, eventually we get to the swan song of "Islands", the beautiful Mel Collins saxophone solo which closes the album.... or does it. Yes, there is a "hidden track" at the end of the album, but it's really nothing more than some loose string sounds combined with the band talking in the background. It isn't really a song, and it's a bit of a weird addition to the album. King Crimson lately has done something weirdly consequential with this garbled bit of noise, alluding to it in the band's opening "song" for their live shows.

"Islands" is, unfortunately but largely due to the standard of material King Crimson created at the time, the weakest album of the band's first era. The real problem is that the band's penchant for intense and dissonant instrumentals which the listener became accustomed to over the first three albums is ditched with the sole exception of "A Sailor's Tale", which of course was the album highlight. "Islands" and "The Letters" are also good songs of note. Filler-wise this album contains some of the band's weakest, with "Ladies of the Road" being perhaps the band's first flop of a song on a critical level. I think the relative mediocrity of this album was enough reason for Fripp to pull the plug and assume absolute power over the band's direction, firing literally everyone else and starting an entirely new band, marking the beginning of King Crimson's incredible second generation. While I personally like a lot of the music on "Islands", this is by no means an essential album, and lacks the consistency to get a four-star rating. I can appreciate the unique sound of this album in the Crimson discography, compared to 1980's albums such as "Beat" and "Three of a Perfect Pair" that largely drew upon the "Discipline" template, but this is certainly one of King Crimson's more mediocre offerings. Their next album however, was far from mediocre.

OVERALL RATING: 3.4/5

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