LIZARD

Okay, it's finally time to post a review of this well-regarded album. My first and most important comment is that I much like the voice and vocal sytlings of bassist Gordon Haskell. But then, anything is preferable, in my esteem, to those of the horrid and grossly over-rated John Wetton. 1. "Cirkus" asking drummer Andy McCulloch to do Michael Giles-type drumming is criminal. I like the addition/stronger presence of horns. Still, it's too close to the sound and stylings of the band's previous two albums. (8/10) 2. "Indoor Games" Crimson does avant jazz! (I hear a little KINKS in there, too.) (7.5/10) 3. "Happy Family" King Crimson tries psychedelic blues! I actually like all the different things happening at the same time on different tracks--with widely diverse effects. The flute is my favorite. (8/10) 4. "Lady of the Dancing Water" Mel Collins is so talented! No wonder he has been the most popular guest in Prog World over the past 50 years! (8.5/10) 5. "Lizard" over its 23 minutes, the title song takes the listener through an interesting and entertaining epic journey. Unfortunately, it's sound engineering and Jon Anderson/Gordon Haskell vocals and lyrics make it sound like a 1960s rendering for television. This is a nice confirmation that the band has left behind the now-monotonous sound and stylings of their debut (something they, unfortunately, chose to try to replicate in their sophomore effort, he ill-fated Poseidon Adventure). Mellotrons are still used, but a new jazziness is being prominently displayed through extended use of piano, horns, and reeds. One might say that there is a rather pleasant pastoral, even mediæval feel to much of the first 14 minutes. But then we break into a kind of Beat-Generation display of free coffee-shop jazz that builds into a ind of LEONARD BERNSTEIN crescendo before breaking into alternating pause and explosions. At 19:30 things stop, quiet, and shift to a spacious room of interesting time signatured bass and tom supporting a gradually moving-to-the-fore Fripp solo. (46/50)

A solid four star contribution to Prog World and a nice show of a (finally) evolving King Crimson.