Cheap Islands (Music) (King Crimson) Price

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Customer Reviews of Islands

"Here I wander where sweet sage and strange herbs grow..."
In contrast the synth-infused, electric ambience of their progrock peers, King Crimson created a distinctly organic sound on 1971's Islands. Founding members and general KC conceptualizers, Robert Fripp (guitar) and Pete Sinfield (lyrics) lead newcomers Boz Burrell (bass, vocals), Mel Collins (flute) and Ian Wallace (spectacular percussion) through a lush, hypnotic, dreary, classical-infused wash of sound. Throughout the easy-flowing arrangements, the band melts together splendidly. From Mr. Sinfield's pagan-inspired lyrics to Mr. Burrell's sensual vocals to Mr. Collin's gentle flute and so on, each member seems to compliment the other. Specifically on the jangley "Formentera Lady" and the dreamy "Ladies of the Road," they sound like one beast with many hands. It is surprising and unfortunate that they were a one-time-only fixture. Together they produced a finely crafted, gently invigorating work that stands as Crimson's must subtle albums and also one of their best. There was no need for a sonic assault here. Islands contains the kind of musical power that is gently inhaled by the listener then intoxicates him or her.

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Not a excellent line-up, neither a very good album: Just OK
First, I gave three stars because these King Crimson album is part of the 70's albums (it should deserve a miserable two stars), and I REALLY like this KC era. Second, all KC 70's albums (except the disgusting EARTHBOUND) are five stars for me, except ISLANDS, from 1971. This album is an interesting effort to make symphonic progressive rock with some jazzistic influences. LIZARDS, from 1970, has a MARVELOUS jazzy touch and its musical structure is simply perfect. The album is quite complex and the band fit very well in the context.
In ISLANDS, the line-up is weaker than in LIZARDS. Boz Burrel is sometimes horrible playing bass. His voice is not that bad, but who listened to KC wih Greg Lake really thinks: "What this guy are trying to sing?". Ian Wallace is too much economic on drums, there is NO creativity in his movements. I'll not talk about Fripp's talents, he's a genious, but in Islands Fripp are not experimenting, exploring all of his guitar abilities, like in RED, or LARKS'. The rest of the band is ok, altough tedious in 50% of the album, and Collins is not as inspired as in LIZARDS.
The album has a good and clean sound. It's a relaxing KC album, but sometimes boring. The best tracks are Sailor's Tale (with a strong sax line and some Frippish guitar tunes), The Letter (a complex song, reminding something from LIZARDS) and Ladies of the Road (a KC hard rock, with some blues vocals and Beatles-like tunes). Formentera Lady is troughly beautiful, but it goes to nowhere in 10 mins ! The first part is simply pure heaven... Islands is really boring, with some nice melodic arrangements in the beggining. Prelude: Song of the Gulls is an orchestrated track, beautiful, but totally out of the context.
ISLANDS is not a TOP KC album, but there are some NICE songs that deserves attention. The line-up has less qualities than in the previous albums but works OK. (Boz Burrel is mediocre anyway). WE have to remember that we're comparing ISLANDS to LARKS', RED, LIZARDS and even to the perfect IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSOM KING ! Check these albums before Islands, if possible...

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The Passion Of The Crimson
With the "Lizard" line-up of King Crimson history, Crimson leader & guitarist Robert Fripp formed a new line-up to record 1971's "Islands"---bassist/vocalist Boz Burrell, "Lizard" man Mel Collins on flute & saxophone, and drummer Ian Wallace. "Islands" may surprise some Crimheads, as this is far & away the "prettiest" sounding album in the band's entire catalog, though that's not at all a bad thing. "Islands" still has it's moments of classic Crimson rock---more about that in a little bit---but for the most part, this a very celestial, quiet, beautiful, *passionate* King Crimson album. I'll even go so far as to say that "Islands" is the only Crimson album that qualifies as perfect lovemaking music. Not that I speak from experience, but I DO have a friend of mine who says that playing "Islands" one night did wonders for him and his girlfriend, and, although it sounds pretty funny, I can certainly believe it.There's only six pieces on "Islands," but they're all winners, and they gel together marvelously well. "Formentera Lady" is a beautiful, tranquil opener, featuring lovely flute decorations from Collins, before it gives way to the extended 12 1/2 minute jam, "Sailor's Tale," which builds and builds until it becomes a steady, assured Crimson rocker, with some tasty guitar & mellotron work from Fripp, fat basslines from Burrell, and powerful drumming from Wallace. "The Letters" is a haunting number, with simple but memorable lyrics and a strong, instrumental rock bridge, featuring some killer saxophone from Collins. "Ladies Of The Road," which seems to be a song about groupies, is a very slinky, sultry number. "Prelude: Song Of The Gulls" is a fine orchestral piece, and finally, there's the 9-minute title song, a gorgeous track that puts the album to bed on a very peaceful note.Sadly, the "Islands" line-up of King Crimson fell apart after a brief U.S. tour, documented on the rare live album, "Earthbound." But this version of the band was truly excellent, and they were indeed responsible for one of King Crimson's most unique releases. Even though I think the inclusion of one or two more rockers on the album would've been appreciated, "Islands" is nonetheless a truly *beautiful* King Crimson disc. Robert Fripp & company have never recorded anything else like it, and it is truly wonderful stuff.