In The Wake Of Poseidon
by King Crimson

"In the Wake of Poseidon" has been criticized for reminding a little too much of its predecessor, "In the Court of the Crimson King." Well, of course, there are similarities but also significant differences. Is it, by the way, that bad to point out a masterpiece like "In the Court of the Crimson King"?

A melodic and almost acoustic number like "Cadence and Cascade" is a kind of song you won't find on the predecessor, so already here you will find a difference between the two albums. This song is also one of the group's most moving, and my clear favorite in this album. Overall, the album more is boundary pushing than its predecessor, which, apart from parts on "21st Century Schizoid Man", is relatively accessible. "Pictures of a City" has similarities with that number, but the verse is more entrenched in the blues, while the instrumental part is more experimental.

The title track "In the Wake of Poseidon" is probably the track which is immediately recalling "Crimson King" the most; with its grandiose melotron and a slowly flowing melody.

The single "Cat Food" might be compared to the Beatles' "Come Together" - obviously a little more jazzy and experimenting.

The long instrumental "The Devil's Triangle" is for hardcore fans, I think, and obviously not the song you introduce to your friend first.

Three short tracks titled "Peace" are scattered throughout the album - quite nice, but apart from "Peace - an End" too short to really make any difference.

Two bonus tracks are the single version of "Cat Food" and the b-side "Groon", which is a jazzy instrumental. (Edited)

From JulianR TOP 100 COMMENTER 03/05/2018 02:58 | #210132 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

My dad owns this record, and I decided to pop it on today for no other reason that I was looking for something new. I was pleasantly surprised. This is quite a solid album. Side one is all pretty great. Side two is a little spottier; Peace - A Theme is pretty cool, and Cat Food is some truly amazing jazz-fusion type stuff, but Devils Triangle is just kinda weird, and far too long to justify its own existence. But overall its a pretty fun listen.

I see that this album seems to be thought of only in relation to its predecessor. I think that this should not really be the case; this album holds its own very well. The title track has some similarities to their work on In The Court, but other than that it is thoroughly original. I fail to see very many other similarities; It doesnt really have a similar structure, and the acoustic instrumental part as well as the wild experimentatio of Devils Triangle have no counterpart on In The Court. I do think that it is not quite as strong of an album, but not quite to the degree that this one should be 2,000th and the other should be sitting at 36th. (Edited)

This is a vastly underrated album. I am guilty of this also, having owned it on CD for a couple of years, I have never actually taken time to properly sit down and listen, rather I tend to have it on as background music in the car while driving, an issue I have with myself and many CD's in my collection. Having now got hold of the vinyl re-issue I have addressed this situation. If you are into your keyboards, the title track kicks off with some great Mellotron strings and the Mellotron provides a more soft string sound throughout this track, a sample tape quite different to the opening harsher string sound. The title track from this album is one of my all time favourite King Crimson tracks. The Mellotron is again used to amazing effect on 'The Devils Triangle' helping to create a truly terrifying atmosphere in parts. Superb! (Edited)

It does this album no favours at all to compare it with the preceding album, and although it does seem to be in a similar vein, it certainly comes off the worse for wear.

The title track is still a highlight and could quite easily have been from the debut, Cadence And Cascade was also very good and featured Gordon Haskell in a precurser for the following record.

Having said all that, Pictures Of A City is pretty good and Cat Food isn't the worst track in the world, maybe this one is a tiny bit overlooked afterall.

From flamingyesdept TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/12/2016 12:40 | #179941 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Extremely overlooked, especially with Crimson King in top 50! This is virtually the equal of that record, and who cares if they sound similar? It's a great sound! (Edited)