King Crimson - "Islands" (1971); Thoughts? |
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Frenetic Zetetic
Forum Senior Member Joined: December 09 2017 Location: Now Status: Offline Points: 9233 |
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Posted: July 10 2020 at 04:30 |
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This is one I haven't heard much of, and I'm about to put it on in the car for my trip across town and back this morning. What are PA's thoughts on this particular entry into the KC discography?
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DamoXt7942
Forum & Site Admin Group Avant/Cross/Neo/Post Teams Joined: October 15 2008 Location: Okayama, Japan Status: Offline Points: 17459 |
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^ A good album, my favourite of all KC stuffs, but it's a tad free-jazzy and eccentric for KC. Not recommended for all KC fans actually.
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BaldFriede
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I prefer "Lizard" to "Islands", mostly because of the drummer. I much prefer Andy McCulloch's style to Ian Wallace's.
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BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
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someone_else
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If you don't like it while driving, try it again at home. It's KC's best, the only of their albums I would rate 5/5.
OK, I belong to the minority that is not a diehard KC fan...
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Tom Ozric
Prog Reviewer Joined: September 03 2005 Location: Olympus Mons Status: Offline Points: 15916 |
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Islands is very special either way. Unique. Just listened to it the other day. I have the U.S. press with some opal looking blotches on the gatefold cover. Luxurious I say. |
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Sean Trane
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Yup, you are in the minority. Personally, I find it the weakest of the 70's, including the two live albums (Eartbound 40th extended disc is rather good) along with SABB. There are some really boring moments but also some brilliant ones: The Letters and Sailor's Tale with the recently toned-down guitar-on-steroids solo on the remasters. When it was recorded, Fripp lacked enough new ideas and recycled a few old tricks (some from GG&F). Many of these tracks will be present on the many of the KCCC issues and very much bettered (IMHO). Edited by Sean Trane - July 11 2020 at 01:52 |
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BaldFriede
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"The Letters" is in my opinion the best song of the album, followed by "Ladies of the Road" and "Formentera Lady". The rest is so-so.
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BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
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SteveG
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Well, I like the album cover..
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Mortte
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Least fav of mine after Earthbound from their seventies albums, but anyway a lot greater than any of their albums after seventies. Really love A-side, B-side is weaker but still good.
Really not good album to listen in a car, there very silent and also very LOUD parts.
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Blacksword
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Love this album. It could be joint favourite with Red.
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Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!
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Prog-jester
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My second favourite 70s KC album, right behind Red. It's so mellow and hypnotic, later-day Talk Talk were definitely taking cues from it
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kenethlevine
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it's unique, kind of doing to classical what Lizard did to jazz. My favourites are the first track and the last two. Love that soft KC but sometimes it's so soft you can't hear it
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jamesbaldwin
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My review: Fripp's creature still changes skin, and produces another epochal album, which marks the story, the third in three years (Poseidon was not remarkable). Fripp changes the singer (out Haskell, inside Boz Burrell, voice with a similar tone but more beautiful timbre and better sensitivity) and the drummer (out the talented overflowing jazzman McCulloch, inside the sober, talented Ian Wallace), holds Sinfield to the lyrics, Mel Collins on flute and saxophone, and produces an album where he is the author of all the music. This is Fripp's record more than any other Crimson's record. The Lp starts with the double bass (Harry Miller) and the flute, which depict an impressionist painting ("Formentera Lady", ten minutes, vote 7,5/8) that already tends towards the abstract: a slow progression almost free-folk introduces the whispered voice of Burrell; after three minutes arrives the bass and percussion and Burrell sings: "Formentera Lady", a sort of slow-motion refrain. Then the flute and the double bass return for a while, then the "Formentera Lady" refrain again; after that, comes the saxophone, which in dissonance, with percussive and lyrical background, climbs into landscapes never heard before. Lizard's liquid jazz seems light years away. Here we are on the edge of avant-garde. The song fades into the next ("The Sailor Tale", seven and a half minutes, vote 8+); it has a jazzy rhythm and an oblique, menacing sound, with Fripp's guitar that anticipates the abrasive sound of "Larks Tongue in Aspic". We move in ever more abstract forms, in astral landscapes like the photo of the cover, where the voice is only an occasional appearance, a sign of life inside a mysterious cosmos. The song is as beautiful as it is demanding. The melody is completely absent. The only elements are rhythm, and dissonance. By spreading more and more the development of the songs, Fripp anticipates the post-rock in slow-motion of "Talk Talk": the music will have to overcome a strong inertia to move forward. The listener is in awe, he can't relax, he feels approaching something looming, mysterious, formless that with the passage of time becomes more and more looming but remains formless. It's like being inside a completely dark tunnel where light never comes. In the third song ("The Letter's", four and a half minutes, vote 7,5) the voice of Burrell returns, always whispered (what Haskell could not do), accompanied by the saxophone, which remains the main instrument of the album. The track is hard, solid, angular, quite the opposite of the liquid and soft consistency of "Lizard" (in fact in the whole Lp the piano, played by Tippet, is almost missing). End of first side. Side B continues the angular and rocky sound of the last song, with "Ladies of The Road" (five and a half minutes, vote 8), which takes on a sarcastic tone already heard in the two previous albums. The arrangements are thin, the guitar of Fripp proposes that oblique and abrasive sound never heard in previous records. The song leaves room for some melodic chorus reminiscent of the Beatles (it's inspired by "Come Together", written by Lennon). Mel Collins's saxophone, never so much protagonist , closes the song (it's the only piece on the album that looks like a real conventional song) with a virtuosistic solo. It follows an instrumental symphonic piece ("Song of the Gulls", vote 7,5), almost angelic, which breaks the homogeneity of the album, but arrived at this point, perhaps it is good. Fripp inserts an atmosphere worthy of Bach, almost eighteenth century, as if to recover the melody so far lost. The piece with the oboes (Robin Miller) is particularly beautiful. The record ends in a romantic way because after the symphonic and calm "Song of the Gulls" comes "Islands" (twelve minutes, vote 8; but there is an hidden symphonic track after a minute of silence), an atmospheric piece, where you can finally hear the beautiful voice of Burrel singing here with taste, without whispering, and you can finally hear the piano played by Tippet! The melody is beautiful, but not very developed, it remains an evocation and perhaps the arrangement, in this case, is lacking. To enhance a melody that touches epic vertices like this one, it would take a more consistent arrangement and a greater rhythm. Who knows what a masterpiece would become this song with McDonald on keyboards and Lake on lead vocals! Anyway, "Islands" is the final worthy of this great album thanks to the instrumental progression led by Mel Collins, which is the real factotum of the Lp: Fripp is the composer, he is the main performer. "Islands" is an austere, sober, dissonant, timeless album, completely out of every classification. It requires a different listening from the one reserved for rock songs, because it has no rhythm, it proceeds by expanding every passage of sound. "Islands" is not dated at all, in fact is a seminal album because it has free-folk, free-jazz, avant-garde, post-rock moments. Masterpiece. Medium quality of the songs: 7,83. Vote album: 9. Five Stars. |
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O666
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The Unique album with unique sounding and unique atmosphere . I am a huge KC fan and IMO KC is the best progressive band for all time. Islands is in my Top 5 KC's albums chart...
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SteveG
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Lewian
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Well said. I respect this album and find it very interesting, probably a good thing to try out for them... but I am rarely in the mood to listen to it. I'd probably rank it low in their catalog, but not because I think it's bad, rather because it doesn't resonate strongly with me personally. This is one of the albums I still think have the potential that at some point in my life I may like them much more.
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lazland
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Over the years, I have grown to love this album. It now rates as a solid 4.5 minimum to me, and is comparable to Red in terms of its impact, musicianship, daring soundscapes, and moments that move one to gawp in wonder, particularly on the title track, which I must say was the highlight of the live gig in Cardiff in the latest triple drummer iteration.
It was a shame this lineup imploded as it did, and I say that as a massive fan of the Wetton era of the band.
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Hrychu
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I love this album.
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Tom Ozric
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Judging by Earthbound, this line-up veered into Jam-band territory. Very different to Islands.
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AFlowerKingCrimson
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I think this was the first King Crimson album I ever bought (oddly enough). It almost turned me off completely from the band. I think I first heard about them from my cousin but then saw their name again in a guitar book because Robert Fripp was mentioned. The author of the book called "red", "larks tongues in aspic" and "starless and bible black" excellent albums so I was determined to keep trying.
The album did eventually grow on me but nonetheless I still think it is their weirdest album for sure.
Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - July 10 2020 at 19:02 |
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