ISLANDS

The conclusion of the Lizard recording sessions came with more (expected) bandmember turnover. As mentioned above, vocalist/bassist Gordon Haskell quit the band. He drew his primary influences from soul and Motown, so it's clear why he'd be a poor creative fit for King Crimson. Drummer Andy McCulloch would leave the band not long after Haskell. Haskell was replaced by Boz Burrell (one of the future founding members of Bad Company), and McCulloch's replacement was Ian Wallace. As is par for the course so far, this lineup would persist for just one album: 1971's Islands.

This section of the Deep Dive is probably going to be my hottest take. I don't like Islands. It is a sleepy, boring, aimless record that does little and says less. This was the first time in probably seven or more years I'd listened to the album, and I'd forgotten how many heavy moments there are here, since the string-heavy bookends always left the biggest (negative) impressions on me. But even when Fripp takes the lead, his playing is often overly-busy and scattershot. 

I genuinely do not understand the love this album gets. Normally, if a band has a well-received album I'm not a fan of, I can at least get why. This is an exception to that. Yes's Fragile is inconsistent and half-filler, but the highs are so high, I can see why people would put it so far up in their respective lists. I'm relatively critical of Wish You Were Here, but I understand why it resonates with people. Even The Wall and Hand.Cannot. Erase.?two records I didn't quite pan but gave overall-lackluster reviews to?have elements that make me understand why people like them so much. To me, Islands has no such redeeming qualities.

The album starts with the ten-minute "Formentera Lady". Jazz, classical, and chamber music influences are prominent throughout the whole record, and this song is no exception. Bowed double bass, piano, and flute swirl for a while before the vocals begin. Burrell's voice is very nice here, and these opening moments have some promise; it reminds me a lot of Atomic Rooster's gentler moments. However, it becomes clear that this song is content to just sort of drift along, alternating between subdued verses and the slightly-peppier chorus. Much of the final three minutes is consumed by a noodly sax solo and some warbling, wordless vocals. I can envision what the band was going for, but this simply isn't a success.

"Sailor's Tale" is my favorite song on the album. Opening with a high-energy, jazzy rhythm, guitar and sax share the lead. Some of the soloing can feel a bit purposeless, but at least it's relatively entertaining. When things slow down, Fripp throws some strange, clattering guitar chords over the top of lush Mellotron, and it works pretty well. The feeling of the song becomes urgent as the pace picks back up, and I especially like the drumming in this closing section. The song does end on a too-long drone, but I'll take what enjoyment I can get from Islands.

"The Letters" isn't without its redeeming qualities, either. The saxophones here have some great punch and power to them, and they contrast nicely against the quiet, calm verse. Moving deeper into the song, though, the instrumental section turns into a bunch of noisy nonsense. Burrell's vocals in the last minute are impassioned, and he's capable of being both delicate and strong.

Side two opens with "Ladies of the Road". Sinfield's lyrics aren't great here, and Burrell's delivery doesn't help them. This is a song about groupies, and it's trying to be dirty and raunchy, but it comes off as stilted and awkward. There are some blues flavors here, but Fripp clearly can't quite commit to it, constantly tossing in jazzy and avant-garde licks that don't really fit. During quiet moments, I do like the more complex vocal arrangements. The composition of this song does give a hint of where Fripp would take King Crimson in the near future: it is relatively stark, austere, and heavy.

"Prelude: Song of the Gulls" is an alright little instrumental. It contains no rock instrumentation, with a small string arrangement and Collins's flute being the only elements here. It doesn't make much of an impression, and it doesn't really add much.

It doesn't even serve as a natural introduction to the ten-minute title track. Piano, vocals, and bass flute start this song off gently, but it doesn't feel like an extension of "Prelude". In returning to Islands after so long, I found more to like in the preceding songs than I recalled (especially songs 2-4), but the unending, uninteresting, and aimless title track incinerates any goodwill I may have been fostering toward this record. It just keeps running in circles, adding nothing new. In its second half, trumpet and percussion enter, and it's obvious that a lot of post-rock bands that I'm not too fond of took inspiration from this song. 

After a minute of silence there's a hidden track, but it's just studio chatter and the string arrangement tuning up. I don't know why they included this.

Certain CD reissues have included the previously-unreleased bonus track "A Peacemaking Stint Unrolls", and it's more interesting than most of the record. The guitar is wiry and jittery, and Fripp's nimble riffs sound like a precursor to math rock. Bits of riffs that would be reused in future songs can be heard here, so this is a unique artifact of the band's songwriting process.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2024/04/15/deep-dive-king-crimson/