Court Of The Crimson King vs. Wake Of Poseidon

I believe there is a underlining concept that ties In Court, In Wake and Lizard, loosly but a theme non-the-less

I agree that Posiedon is probably better. I always perfected Pictures of a City over Schizoid Man. On Posiedon, you get the funny piano-happy Cat Food, but on ITCOTCK, your stuck with Moonchild. I love Court, but Poseidon just has better songs and a better tune

In the Wake of Poseidon. It may not have the historic significance of Itchycock (which may be considered the first sign of maturity of prog), but I think it is in many ways an improvement.

uduwudu wrote: Any similarity between ITCOTCK and ITWOP is largely due to the composition and recording time period - they're very close. Had CDs been around in 1969 much of the material may have been just one album; it's a little like part 1 and 2 (a little like Sgt Pepper and Mystery Tour for me). The music is all part of an era which is hardly a problem; few negatively criticize Mozart piano sonatas for being similar at times. It's really a perception defined by the limitations of the record medium. I would note that personnel changes on Poseidon give it a different, um, for want of a better word, mottled patina.

For me the problem is not so much that the songs are similar, but that I just don't like them as much. If they had all been as good as their counterparts from Court I would really love the album and not care if it followed the same pattern.

Pity lake didn't sing on lizard. Would have improved indoor games and and happy family

Edited by dr prog - May 30 2016 at 03:13

My vote is Wake by a very large margin. 

KingCrInuYasha wrote: Magnum Vaeltaja wrote: ...<span style="line-height: 1.4;">I find it interesting people think that Wake is just a carbon copy of Court, but never pick up on the fact that side one of Larks' Tongues follows the exact same mold (i.e. distorted jump-scare song, peaceful number, morose ballad)...</span> Holy , I'm not the only one who thought that!  I think some fans do pick up on that, but give it a pass because it changes up the formula a bit. "Schizoid" and "Pictures" have a verse/verse/wacky jazz instrumental/verse/noisy code structure, while "Larks..., Part 1" structure is more complex, which is ambinet/heavy metal/funk/Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Quadrophenia-era Who/violin solo/another heavy metal/ambient. "Book Of Saturday" is written in a different key than "I Talk To The Wind" and "Cadence And Cascade" and it's similarities are not as explicit. As for "Exiles", it... well... okay, it's another ballad, though, interestingly, I think it has more in common with "In The Wake Of Poseidon" than "Epitaph".  <span style="line-height: 1.4;"> </span> <span style="line-height: 1.4;">Oh, and for a bonus, "Easy Money" kind of reminds me of "Ladies Of The Road" and "Talking Drum" is the "Devil's Triangle" of the album, though its sound is less Holst and more, say, Santana. "Larks,... Part 2" is the one track that comes closest to being its own </span>entity<span style="line-height: 1.4;">.</span>

I hadn't thought about the "Larks Tongues" similarity, but even if it follows the same (or similar) mold, it's got very important differences that make it different. Besides, it does have better songs than "Poseidon". "Larks part one" is instrumental and mostly sounds like an improv... it actually doesn't sound anything like either "Schizoid Man" or "Pictures" to me. "Book of Saturday" is... well, it's forgettable, but it doesn't have any flute (which is a key element for "I Talk to the Wind" and "Cadence". "Exiles" may be a ballad as "Epitaph" or "Poseidon" (and "The Court of the Crimson King" too)... but the great difference is that the other 2 are heavy on "Mellotron" sound in a Moody Blues stile, giving them a sound that "Exiles" doesn't have. For me, "Easy Money" sounds closer to "Schizoid Man" than anything else (mostly because of the live versions, which are sort of heavier and I listen to them more often), and has nothing to do with "Moonchild". "Talking Drum" may have a little to do with the "Moonchild" ambient part, or "Devil's Triangle", but really, not a copy at all. And "Larks 2" indeed doesn't seem to have any counterpart at all.    Also, the completley different line-up and rather different instruments use make a very big difference in the sound. No sax nor flute; much less use of Mellotron, and when it's used it doesn't take the shining spot as with "Epitaph", "Court", and "Poseidon"; Wetton sounds very different than Lake (and for me much less enjoyable); the inclusion of the violin, of course; and the rhythm section works very different... even more so because of Jamie Muir.

Edited by Dellinger - May 31 2016 at 22:09

Dellinger wrote: I find it rather curious that on the posts there are mostly people praising Poseidon over Court, but on the votes Court is winning by a very large margin. And this is not the first time I note this sort of things on polls.

That's because the ones voting court don't really care and just vote it because it came first and is meant to be a landmark album. But listening seriously Poseidon is a high quality album and debut is just good enough to get a pass mark imo

Edited by dr prog - May 30 2016 at 22:23

In The Court Of The Crimson King.

KingCrInuYasha wrote: dr prog wrote: Once Sinfield, Giles, McDonald and Lake all left, the band were just a bits and pieces band who lost their melody "Book Of Saturdays", "Exlies", "Larks...,Part 2", "The Night Watch", "Fracture", "Red", "Fallen Angel", "Starless", "Frame By Frame", "Matte Kudasai", "Indiscipline", "Waiting Man", "Man With An Open Heart", "Dig It", "Three Of A Perfect Pair", okay, I'll stop now.