Larks' Tongues In Aspic
by King Crimson

"A poor man's Dark Side Of The Moon."

Oh God no. This album is everything DSOTM only wishes to be (and it's a pretty bad comparison anyway).

Finally, King Crimson blossoms on this album. The first four albums showed flashes, particularly the first two, but this is a whole 'nother level. Not a cliche in sight, it sounded like nobody else, and they found a level of heaviness the previous lineups didn't--Bruford is part of that, and also Fripp is only now reaching the beginning of his peak as a player. As always with KC, I wish there were a little less of the off-speed pitch and more of the fast ball, but this is a great album for sure.

"Larks' Tongues in Aspic" released in 1973 is King Crimson's fifth album. Musically, there have been radical changes since the symphonic debut "In The Court of the Crimson King" from 1969. The magnificent melodic numbers are replaced by complex compositions, where the melodic only in flashes are predominant. It's obvious that the group under its distinctive musical metamorphosis has lost some fans but on the other hand has managed to win others.

The fact that the musical changes have been so striking, is partly due to large changes in the group's lineup. Thus it is only guitarist Robert Fripp, who is left from 1969 debut. This is only a part of the explanation, because there is little doubt that leader Robert Fripp, never had any desire simply to repeat himself, but always wanted to explore new musical expressions.

Half of "Larks' Tongues in Aspic" is instrumental, with the two title tracks playing more than twenty minutes. These numbers are pretty complex, especially Part One contains several very different sequences, some of which may be heavy for the ear.

Also "The Taking Drum" is instrumental, and as the title suggests, the number is a showcase for drummer Bill Bruford. It should be no secret that these types of instrumentals are not really my cup of tea, so I must resort to the second half of the album to find numbers that justify expanding my music collection with the album.

There are fine things in the short and quiet "Book of Saturday", though John Wetton never reaches the magic of Greg Lake. The closest you get to the classic King Crimson sound is on "Exiles" which has some of the melodic approach that typified the group's earliest albums.

"Easy Money" is more hard hitting, and it can glimpsewise appear reminiscent of Pink Floyd. The group's desire to experiement is also reflected in these vocal-numbers, but they are generally more accessible, and the reason why I still think that the album belongs to a King Crimson collection.

I had seen them in 1971, had all of their albums (including Earthbound) and was excited when LTIA was announced. Bruford leaving Yes at their most successful? This ought to be exciting.
It knocked me out.
A friend complained that they were adjusting the volume controls on his stereo.
I saw them three times in the next year. Once with Slade. (Edited)

From Boltzmann TOP 100 COMMENTER 03/14/2020 19:55 | #248724 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Let's get one thing straight: this is in no way rock music. When the percussionist notices it has emphasized the back beat once, it immediately corrects itself the next beat, "we can't have people enjoying our music; this is King Crimson". The guitars are used in the same way as the strings, they're just a different timbre. And they don't seem to want to explore the possibilities of what makes the electric guitar and its effects, they don't seem to appreciate that like Hendrix; they just put it in one setting and play it. The only thing they seem to think they can do to make it interesting to listen to is the melodies themselves. Which makes this classical music. Which isn't a compliment, nor an insult. The question is: Is it good classical music? No.