Lizard - KING CRIMSON***

Cirkus/Indoor Games/Happy Family/Lady Of The Dancing Water/Lizard/Prince Rupert Awakes/Bolero-The Peacock's Tale/The Battle Of Glass Tears/Big Top

With Lizard King Crimson move away from their progressive roots to embrace a more jazz influenced sound, following significant changes in personnel. Album is divided between shorter progressive tracks and more lengthy jazz instrumentals. (US:113 UK:29)

“Here we have an interesting and enjoyable album of a very British sounding whimsical psychedelia. The first side of the album is more song oriented and quite upbeat and danceable, while the second side is more instrumental, dreamy, mellow, and ethereal.”

“A slump in early KC's discography, on one hand the material here feels fractured and schizophrenic, and on the other it's full of irritating Victorian style pomposity. There's the set of four shorter psychedelic tracks and then a large instrumental jazz fusion epic that's not particularly engaging or dynamically fluent.”

“Lizard is much further into jazz than the previous two albums. It's also a great deal more twisted and avant-garde. This makes it, along with its slightly less loved sibling Islands, a pair of albums that divides listeners. All bands, especially in the realm of prog, go through that part in their career, especially when they are experimenting.”

“The sound is a lot more jazz oriented than their previous records. None of the songs on the A-side impresses me that much. They are all quite solid pieces but I expected a lot more from this band. The B-side however is the stronger side here.”

“This album represents a more jazz-like feel, and incorporates more woodwinds and piano than other King Crimson works before or since. I like the variance in compositions and sounds, as this showcases another aspect of the creative side of Robert Fripp.”

“The general formula for the first two albums was a blistering opening track, followed by melodic quietness, then a massive Mellotron-driven ballad, then a grand finale. Lizard broke away from that and used the following: Three songs that go straight to the point (more or less), melodic quietness, and finally a through-composed suite. Lizard is the most jazz-oriented album of the Crimson's discography. As a result, it has a somewhat loose and chaotic sound.”