King Crimson - Lizard (1970)

For real though - I can't believe it's taken me this long to get into this one, guys and gals! What a prog gem in every sense of the word. I love the smoky early 70's production (you know, where you can "taste" the snare drum), to the jazz cirkus from hell themes, to the almost Zappa/Beefheart like free-jazz sections. Whatever the hell Fripp was on, it was working LOL.

The thing with Lizard is that it starts out as a typical Crimson record, i.e., the tritones that open up Cirkus. And then it goes in so many directions. At the time I never cared much for Side 2...I appreciate it more now, some 40 years on, but Happy Family and Indoor Games and that initial blast that is Cirkus are pure bliss.

are they making fun of the Beatles or paying homage, or something in between?  Or is it just clever commentary

Edited by kenethlevine - January 11 2020 at 12:27

The lyrics are a bit vague but the Beatles aspect on the cover art is well known and has been written about many times over the years.

keep in mind that the album was released 1970 Dec 10th in the UK (about 3 weeks later in the US) and the Beatles broke up in 1970. all 4 members also released solo albums that year; they "blew their own canoes" (this is actually a double metaphor that also refers to their drug abuse). lots of other references to the Beatles in the lyrics, like for example "each to his revolving doors" (again a double metaphor referring to their split and their album "Revolver"), "BEAT the clock", "Sergeant mirror", "barber's win" (a reference to "Penny Lane"), "silver rolls from golden rock" (referring to their Rolls-Royces and their golden records)


Edited by BaldJean - January 11 2020 at 10:11

BaldJean wrote: Frenetic Zetetic wrote: Barbu wrote: The idiotic laughter at the end of indoor games is atrocious...even worse than the easy money one. Dude yes thank you glad I'm not the only one! That's the only bad part of the entire album for me! I can't believe they let that go on as long as they did. They could have cut that like 25 seconds sooner. Minor smudge. I love every track. Happy Family is super catchy with its melody. I had no clue it was about the Beatles! Happy family one hand clap, four went by and one came back... Indoor Games might be my favorite at the moment. "Walking through the parlor in nothing but your armor." RULES! As a fusion fan I lean towards this one a bit more. The free sax, flute, etc. reminds me of all the best parts of early VDGG on HtoHE, lots of Fusion-era Zappa noises (even though this was first); I hear lots of Waka/Jawaka-esque movements in here. the Beatles even appear on the album cover, including Yoko Ono who appears as a ghost out of a bottle held by John Lennon left to right: George Harrison alias Cousin Silas, Paul McCartney alias Brother Judas, Yoko Ono as ghost out of the bottle, John Lennon alias Nasty Jonah and Ringo Starr alias Uncle Rufus

Frenetic Zetetic wrote: Barbu wrote: The idiotic laughter at the end of indoor games is atrocious...even worse than the easy money one. Dude yes thank you glad I'm not the only one! That's the only bad part of the entire album for me! I can't believe they let that go on as long as they did. They could have cut that like 25 seconds sooner. Minor smudge. I love every track. Happy Family is super catchy with its melody. I had no clue it was about the Beatles! Happy family one hand clap, four went by and one came back... Indoor Games might be my favorite at the moment. "Walking through the parlor in nothing but your armor." RULES! As a fusion fan I lean towards this one a bit more. The free sax, flute, etc. reminds me of all the best parts of early VDGG on HtoHE, lots of Fusion-era Zappa noises (even though this was first); I hear lots of Waka/Jawaka-esque movements in here.

Barbu wrote: The idiotic laughter at the end of indoor games is atrocious...even worse than the easy money one.

^Well, I think it´s weakest track in Lizard, although fit very well in the end of a-side. It´s just so obvious, for example "I Talk to the Wind", "Cadence & Cascade" & "the Letters" are much more interesting melancholy songs with beautiful instrumentation. I really love "Happy Family".

Edited by Mortte - January 10 2020 at 22:52

Sean Trane wrote:   The only weaker points are Lady Of Dancing Waters, and the Big Top album recapitulative