Album of the Day

Islands, by King Crimson (1971): Today, I had a revelation. I can get excited about almost every incarnation of the Crim - except for this version, that existed between the debut releases and the killer Bruford/Wetton years. Something was lacking, but I couldn't pinpoint it. Sure, some bits - like the instrumental "Sailor's Tail" - were good, mostly when the band was cranked up in "Schizoid . . ." style. But the more pastoral acoustic stuff . . . well, it just sort of lays there. So today, I figure out that it appears that this era of the Crim is the only one that relied solely on Fripp as a composer (Pete Sinfield contributed lyrics only, AFAIK). Other variants of the band have had an Ian McDonald, Wetton/David Cross, or Adiran Belew who have a lighter touch than Fripp and have (I think) made major contributions to the less heavy bits of the Crim cannon. Or I think so, anyway.