Well so far we've had an album that apparently even Fripp himself hated (until Steven Wilson came to save the day, it says here) and now one that is seemingly the weakest of their career up to this point. Don't think this one is going to change my current mindset on them, but let's give it a go anyway.
Islands (1971)
1. Formantera Lady: Came and went without leaving the slightest impression on me. Boring as all hell.
2. Sailor's Tale: A little better, bit of excitement in it, but still nothing much to get excited about.
3. The Letters: Starts off very low-key and quiet, then explodes into a VDGG hornfest (oooer!) but it's still not gripping me. Yawn.
4. Ladies of the Road: A boring, annoying attempt at hard rock on an album that doesn't quite know what it wants to be.
5. Prelude: Song of the Gulls: Nice little almost classical instrumental, the first track on this album I've given a **** about. Very enjoyable. Beautiful, in fact. A welcome respite from the tedium this album is weighing me down with.
6. Islands: Okay this is also very nice. I'm not wild about this third vocalist either (seems he, and everyone else, left after this album anyway) but the sax from Mel Collins is very easy on the ear, and it's a really nice relaxing tune.
Result: Basically pretty disappointing, though reading about it I had kind of expected this. Nothing will bring me back to this album again, so currently we're at a 2/2 split in terms of albums by King Crimson that I liked and didn't like. I see though that what is apparently widely accepted as the trilogy of their best work is up next, so maybe things will take an upswing. At the moment, they couldn't drop any further.
