IN THE WAKE OF POSEIDON

King Crimson's sonic experimentation on their monumental "In the Court of the Crimson King" from 1969, discovered a new world of possibilities that began to gain a lot of territory in the beginning of the decisive decade of the 70's for the nascent progressive genre. With that panorama on the horizon, Robert Fripp and his band added a second chapter to their proposal with "In The Wake of Poseidon".

The album develops pieces of intense instrumental content that move between the peaceful and the luminous, as with the beautiful "Cadence and Cascade", an acoustic melody whispered by Gordon Haskell, accompanied by the piano of Keith Tippet and the sweet flute of Mel Collins, and also between the weary and forceful pace of "In the Wake of Poseidon (incl. Libra's Theme)", the backbone of the work, where Fripp's persistent melotron and Michael Giles' restrained drumming, give a bucolic frame to Greg Lake's demanding singing, exclusively on vocal duties for the occasion. An excellent song more than reminiscent of the British band's first work.

But "In the Wake of Poseidon" also constantly challenges conventional structures, pushing them to new limits to engender an unmistakable sound of their own, as with the wandering, jazzy "Pictures of a City (incl. 42nd at Treadmill)" featuring Collins' saxophone and Fripp's sanatorium keyboards and guitars, or the chirpy "Cat Food" and Greg Lake's strained singing amidst an equally intricate jazz instrumentation featuring a schizoid piano, but above all with the hostile "The Devil's Triangle", a dark and disturbing instrumental exercise.

The naked and brief "Peace", both at the beginning, in between and at the end, give an additional acoustic and reflective ingredient to "In the Wake of the Poseidon", a very good album that despite having been eclipsed in part by the repercussions and transcendence of its predecessor, knew how to shine with its own light.

3.5/4 stars