IN THE WAKE OF POSEIDON

If you mixed In The Court of the Crimson King and Lizard together, this album that appeared between them is pretty much what you would get. One could find many analogies track by track, e.g. 'Pictures of a City' reminds of '21st Century Schizoid Man'; 'In the Wake of Poseidon' is a gorgeous prog song similar to 'Epitaph', in which Greg Lake's strong vocals and good ol' Mellotron sound better than anywhere else; 'Cat Food' is an ironic song with manic jazz pianism of Keith Tippett, like 'Happy Family' on Lizard. 'Cadence and Cascade' features the main singer of Lizard, Gordon Haskell, and is a peacuful ballad like 'I talk to the Wind' or 'Lady of the Dancing Water'.

But the idea of this one being a mixture of Court and Lizard albums unfortunately doesn't imply that it's the best of both worlds without faults. It simply can't compete with the famous debut by copying things from it - though I adore the title track. Nor can it surpass the follower since in here the new chemistry of the line-up to be (if only for one album only) is just forming - though 'Cat Food' rocks and jazzes like hell. To my taste the stark instrumental 'Devil's Triangle' is representing the side of King Crimson I'm not so fond of. The three tiny pieces of 'Peace' is something not familiar from either of the other two albums, but I consider the beginning and theme starting the album sides rather useless extension of the ending track, which is a charming little acoustic song with tender lyrics. In short, this album lacks some coherence, it is literally a mixed bag of the preceding and following works. But its highlights are worth having it. For a Crimso fan this is an obligatory album anyway.