King Crimson - In the Wake of Poseidon

Possibly the most unsubtle attempt ever by a band to clone a successful album, in King Crimson's case their debut "In The Court of the Crimson King".

"Pictures of a City", the blues-rock workout, has nothing like the energy of "21st Century Schizoid Man". "Cadence and Cascade" fills the pastoral acoustic slot, with a flute solo just like "I Talk to the Wind". But on the title track the copying becomes even more blatant, with a practically identical tune and chords to "Epitaph". Although instead of the stoned twiddling of "Moonchild" we have "The Devil's Triangle" - a weird adaptation of Holst's "Mars". This goes on for far too long and destroys all the dynamism and power of the original (it was covered more stylishly by Isao Tomita). At the end it descends into random avant-garde thrashing and plonking, with an oh-so-knowing quote from the title track of "Court".

"Cat Food" is the one piece of individuality here. It's a lighthearted jazzy piece, with some nicely random piano plonking from Keith Tippett. With Greg Lake singing, one is reminded of ELP's comedy numbers, but this is a lot more interesting. The short "Peace" pieces are pleasing enough hippy fluff, sharing the same tune.

If you'd never heard "Court of the Crimson King" before, you might rate this more highly. But it's impossible to judge it on its own merit once you realise how stuck for ideas they were at the time.

December 16, 2003

4 out of 10

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