Comus

Lizard has quite a spectacular start considering it's high point is the 23 minute epic title track. Cirkus has vocals that would fit in easily on any King Crimson album and parts which would fit perfectly into Red, yet I wouldn't have it anywhere but here. The total insanity of the construction is a beautiful preview of what is to come, you will be hit by a wall of sound and at the same time, not very much at all, it is never overwhelming but at all times changing. Trying to focus solely on the music will lead you dizzy, and that is a very real prelude to what is coming. However while this is a musically good song it is missing soul, that little bit extra that makes you care. It has atmosphere, intensity and beauty, but lacks that little bit extra, and that is the most dissapointing thing about this song that would be perfect... if only it was more memorable.

Indoor Games has very much the same feel to Cirkus however it adds something extra to what came before it, and because it already has the context of Cirkus to build upon, it is a much more enjoyable track. What Cirkus lacked in soul, Indoor Games very much makes up for it, infact the whole rest of the album does. The various effects use all add something meaningful to the song never seem to be there just so effects can be used. The song focuses blissfully on parts of simplicity that work so very well, eventually settling into a very nice, pallatable groove. It is very much jazzy but at the same time not, which is basically what the whole album is about. Sax improvisations are very aptly played by Mel Collins who also played on three other KC albums and other albums by popular artists of the time. The song ends wtih Gordon Haskell laughing about the lyrical subject matter, which he felt was ridiculous.

Along with Indoor Games, Happy Family borrows heavily from Dazed and Confused, but the humour on Happy Family is far more obvious. The lyrical aspect here is the most important on the album and focus heavily on the four members of The Beatles; "Judas, Rufus, Silas and Jonah". The vocals are laden with effects and adds a completely different tone the songs, while the jamming is all very much entrenched in what King Crimson have done before, but also there is a geniune attempt at jazz which will start to shine as we get to the title track.

Lady of the Dancing Water is a beautiful little piece put together to be very much like parts of their earlier work, where the focus was on calm melodies and intricate beauty. Mel Collins playing the flute here does a brilliant job defining the song, and very much complements the guitars and vocals. The vocal mix is curious and well coreographed and at times it makes it seem less natural than it should be, but it can be overlooked by the sheer beauty of the song. The calm ending is very much in contrast to the title track.

With Jon Anderson on guest vocals, the introduction (Prince Rupert Awakes) to the track features verses sung in two diferent styles, the first, calmer verses and the second more folky, harsh verses contrast each other. While the music contrasts the calmer style and complements the more folky harsh verses creates a very interesting set of changes. The song flows brilliantly here and the intro is definitely one of the highlights to the album. The verses eventually come to a huge, emotional climax which is absolutely stunning the first, second and fiftieth time around. The replay value of the album is absolutely cemented within the first four and a half minutes of the song. However there is so much more to come.

This is Mel Collins finest hour, and he deserves it the next 19 minutes or so is a musical journey into the deep, a journey which melds so many different melodies, styles and genres into one, all focusing towards a jazzy yet classical feel. This is especially felt by the "Bolero" which comes immediately after "Prince Rupert Awakes". Many more guests make their appearance here, and their jazzy improvisations around the general theme under very Bolery like drumming. There is much repetition between each artist, but all of these work to build the theme, the overall result is something which alters the way time is percieved. 10 minute in real time is turned into one minute Lizard time, and it is over far too soon. Each new solo brings a whole new set of emotions, and it runs the gambit of all of them. Hope, despair, joy, inspiration, happiness and an overwheling sensation that everything should remain.

That however is not to be, under a drumroll minor climax the whole nature of the composition changes and leaps into a repetitive section yearning to break free. Your heart will flutter and you will wish to be rid of this spell. And soon enough the vocals return and for a breif moment of serenity you are treated to relative calm. The overall experience is very draining as you're built up, only to be let down time and time again. This album is a master of emotion, suspense and time. More than anything Time in the album is handled in a way which will leave you hanging at the edge of your seat for a musical resolution! Such is the power of this composition that it becomes not only a musical experience, it becomes a visual and even sensual experience.

Many of the same raw emotions experience with metal styles can be found here, the whole atmosphere, and at times, lack of it, serve to create a whole new creation within the song itself. Yearning to break free, but I know it will never quite get there, the main themes return in a plethora of sounds and varying melodies all returning to the main theme revolving around the song. This proves to be incredibly powerful and moving.

The main risk King Crimson toom with this album was the fact that they decided to go with an excessively long title track. If they had not been able to make it entertaining it would have failed, spectacularly so, in the way in which many of the longer prog rock compositions have. However the one and only weak point to the song as a whole is that it's too overwhelming. It will take many listens to come to grips with, and while many will see this as an advantage, the fact that at times it can be so inaccessible due to the sheer length and power of the track will have to be considered a downfall.

Prince Ruperts Lament is the most beautiful piece of that King Crimson have created, it features a haunting rhythm supporting a guitar that seemingly comes closer and closer as it progresses. You march in the funeral train towards the guitar and that is the feeling you're left with, it evokes an incredible sense of sadness, but the same time there's a feeling of relief as the guitar fades further and further away to the same marching beat. The whole part is incredibly moving, and yet so simple, it is definitely one of the best context driven guitar solos.

The song ends very much like it started, it feels much like a Cirkus reprise, and it would have to be, because if it ended with the Lament you'd never want to listen to the album again, so much is the despair that is evoked from it.

On the whole Lizard is many things, beautiful, mindblowing, atmospheric to a fault and in complete control of your emotions, but it is also disjointed at times, especially in the first few songs. I will have to try hard to find flaw with the title track itself however I'm sure it is there, but it is the imperfections that make this... perfect.


How this album SHOULD have influenced music is painfully obvious to me, it should have shifted the direction of the prog scene. The jazzy style of the album is something which has been overlooked, much to the detriment of the genre as a whole. Yes certain albums have jazz undertones, but nothing as striking as this. The whole way that this album progresses and the way that it feels is breathtaking, and it should have aspired many more to try to be like this. Yet for some reason they didn't, Lizard is generally not held in very high regard, and I'm at a total loss to see why. To me it is one of the most perfect albums of all time, and it will always stay this way.

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