Customer Reviews

Islands: 30th Anniversary Edition

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I really enjoy this 1971 release by King Crimson in spite of the fact that it is neither as wildly virtuosic nor heavy as the first album and the trio of brilliant albums released during 1973-1974. In contrast, Islands is largely quiet and brooding, with dark, low tones played on reed, brass, and string instruments, woodwinds, along with moody mellotron pads here and there. With respect to the new band members, bassist Boz Burrell's lack of familiarity with the electric bass and his admittedly simplistic approach to the instrument might not have worked in any other setting but works well in this stripped down context. Fortunately, his lack of playing ability is more than compensated for by his great vocal abilities, superior acoustic bassist Harry Miller (his bowed and plucked parts are featured on the first piece), and superb drumming by Ian Wallace. Fripp of course is excellent as both a composer/arranger and guitarist, although his guitar playing is not featured prominently on this album - in fact, with the exception of a single, frenzied guitar solo on Sailor's Tale, the electric guitar is pretty much absent. Keboardist extraordinaire Keith Tippett is another person that I wish there was more of on this album. The pieces including Formentara Lady/Sailor's Tale, The Letters, and Islands are more or less similarly sullen, quiet, and acoustic, while the classically influenced instrumental Song of the Gulls is hauntingly beautiful and features a wonderful string arrangement written by Robert Fripp. In stark contrast to these five pieces is Ladies of the Road, which is a brash and vulgar song (with Beatle-esque undertones) that pays homage to groupies and is not terribly good, although Mel Collins sax solo is perfectly "brash and vulgar". Although this album may not be a fan favorite and the lineup was pretty awful live (listen to Earthbound for proof), I find great pleasure in the overall darkness and gloom of the recording. Although King Crimson would go on to greater things following this album, I consider this an excellent addition to any King Crimson collection.

Not nearly as weird and as jazzy as it's predecessor ' Lizard ' and not as heavy as it's studio successor ' Lark's Tongue ', 'Islands ' is to me an underrated classic by King Crimson. The arrangements are sparse, the mellow moments (which there are a bunch of here) are absolutely beautiful, the band rock out a few times (though maybe not enough), and the production nearly flawless.

As one other reviewer pointed out, Boz Burrell is given relatively simple bass lines, probably due to the fact that he didn't even PLAY bass before joining King Crimson...he was chosen as their bassist after Fripp heard him noodling around on a bass guitar and liked what he heard. Boz does play his bass parts well, however and also does a fine job singing. Saxist/flutist Mel Collins is his usual brilliant self, drummer Ian Wallace gives some underrated performances. As for Fripp himself, this album really was a showcase for his writing and arranging skills. He does get in some terrific guitar playing here and there, particularly on the very nasty and funny ode to groupies ' Ladies Of The Road ', especially during his solo, during which he seems to be fighting the rather awkward blues of the song itself! I also love Sinfield's naughty lyrics, Mel Collins entrance after the line " I smiled and just unzipped her.. ", the way Wallace comes in after the first verse, the refrain (done in 3/4 time), etc...

The only word to desribe the last two songs, ' Prelude: Song Of The Gulls ' and ' Islands ' is gorgeous. Actually, I CAN think of other words, like melodic, peaceful, tranquil, wonderful, sleep inducing, blah blah blah. My youngest brother and youngest sister thought that Boz sang ' eyelids ' instead of ' Islands '!

I like the second half better than the first, though that is certainly not a knock on the first half, which definitely has it's moments, like the opening song and Fripp's evil professor guitar playing during ' The Letters ', which gets my vote as the most depressing King Crimson ever..at least the lyrics.

This is a great album!

What makes King Crimson so good is the fact that they write music in such a way where ANYTHING is possible. This means they can write music anyway they want. With that in mind, Islands continues with the enjoyable "weirdness" that Lizard did so well. The music on this album is only weird because it's unlike anything else I've heard.

I'm sure you'd agree that there's nothing more rewarding than being able to discover new things in music even after hearing the same songs over and over, a hundred times? That's what King Crimson did so well in the early days- they were apparently a band on a mission to toss in as many instruments and songwriting styles as possible, and putting songs together any way they felt like. The results are not only fantastic, but able to be played over and over, as you hear more sounds the more times you listen to the music. What a great band.

Islands doesn't quite remind me of an island, or outer space (well, except for Track 2). It's really a strange album. You'd be crazy if you went in expecting every note to click the first time you hear them. It doesn't happen that way. In fact, only the title track and that classical instrumental will be the only tunes you'll remember the first time you play the album. This is certainly an album that requires repeated listens.

Pick up Lizard first, then Islands. Two great albums.

Islands stands alone among the rest of the King Crimson catalogue, which is saying something considering the many different line-ups (and differet sounds) the band has had over the decades. Does it break open new musical boundaries, like the debut? No. Is it as schizophrenic and untamed as Larks Tongues In Aspic, or as hard rocking as Red? No and no. Is it worth a listen? Yes...it is worth dozens.

Islands contains some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard. Another reviewer called it progressive chamber music, which seems about right. It is slow paced and gentle. Don't listen with the idea that it should have rocked harder, listen with appreciation for what it is.

We all know Fripp has more technical proficiency than a machine, but this album finds him taking a break from those riffs only a computer could imitate. Here he just flows with the songs; "Sailors Tale" has some nice guitar work in it especially. There is also the hauntingly serene "Prelude: Song of the Gulls", a powerful instrumental that is like a balm for your mind, and "Islands" (the closing track) swooping down like a musical blanket to tuck you into a comforting sleep.

While it has some moments of blistering rock (great ones, I might add), this is mostly a quiet, delicate listening experience. It's like a story being whispered to you instead of read aloud. As such, don't throw this on in the afternoon while doing the dishes and expect to be blown away. Music is not a commodity and cannot all be treated the same, and Islands demands a different kind of attention. This is the album you put on in late evening with a glass of wine and a view of the stars, or the album you listen to an hour before the sun rises when the whole world is silent.

5/5. If Islands pales in comparison to other King Crimson releases, then it just shines all the more brightly on its own.

By the time "Islands" was recorded, Mr. Fripp's inability to keep a bassist/lead vocalist apparently had gotten around, and Fripp had to settle for "Boz" Burrell - who would go on to fame and fortune with Bad Company - and who had prior to his "gig" with KC, never played bass before.

His voice is pleasant enough, but he's certainly no Greg Lake, and even a notch below Gordon Haskell, whom he succeeded.

Not to speak ill of the dead - Burrell passed away in September of this year due to heart disease - but Burrell was hardly a great solution to Crimson's vocal woes. The entire album seems to meander, not really knowing where it wants to go. The biggest strike against it is the decidedly unclever and downright foul-mouthed "Ladies of the Road." Why Fripp and Co. wanted such a public statement of their participation in rock 'n' roll's "wretched excess" is beyond me. Fripp has always been rock's intellectual anti-hero. Maybe just a bit of male braggadocio?

The record has moments of beauty, but considering many of the same sidemen as appear on the sublime "Lizard," including wind-player Mel Collins and pianist Keith Tippett, I really expected better. I admit that I purchased this one last of all the early Crimson records when I was an active fan during high-school, even after I already had "Larks' Tongues in Aspic," "Red," and "Starless and Bible Black" in my collection, and did so only with a view toward completism.

I would not recommend this record as an introduction to the neophyte. There is some good material, but I suggest doing as I did originally, and listening to this one after you're done sampling the rest of the 60s-70s output of King Crimson.

I bought this album when it first came out on vinyl and listened to it a lot back in the day. The remastered sound of this CD release brings out so much more detail that it is virtually a new listening experience. There's plenty of contrast here between different moods, tones, and energy levels. Things can veer from idyllic to downright ugly (but in a good way). Peter Sinfield's lyrics are in top form as well, with a touch of dry humor here and there.
I recommend this for fans of King Crimson. It is most certainly not for everyone. You might want to sample some sound clips before throwing down your cash.

With the passing of Boz Burrell in September 2006 and of Ian Wallace on this very day (Feb. 22nd 2007), a review of King Crimson's "Islands" album seems appropriate:

1971 marked another transistion for Prog-rock giants King Crimson. After some unsteady line-up changes following the split of the original 1969 band, Robert Fripp emerged with Crimson's second stable line-up consiting of lead singer and bassist Boz Burrell, sax player and flautist Mel Collins and drummer Ian Wallace. Besides Fripp, the only other original holdover was lyricist Peter Sinfield whose swansong would be this very album, "Islands".
Unlike the almost psychedelic feel of the previous three King Crimson albums, "Islands" has an almost laid-back classical feel to it. The orchestrated feel is definitely felt in the epic title track and the "Prelude-Song of the Gulls" which preceeds it. The opening track, "Formentera Lady" also has a quasi-classical feel as well as a slight George Harrison-Indian vibe to it.
Elsewhere on the album are some hard rocking moments such as the dynamic instrumental "A Sailor's Tale" which features an outstanding drum rhythm from Ian Wallace and some truly Coltrane-inspired sax work from Mel Collins. "Ladies of the Road" is a brilliant pop song that could very well be the band's first foray into risque humor while "The Letters" ventures out into more darker territory. Boz's voice really shines here as it does on the aforementioned title track.
While "Islands" is the only studio album to feature the Fripp/Burrell/Collins/Wallace/Sinfield line-up, this band would continue on for nearly another year (minus Sinfield) with some relentless touring and a live album "Earthbound". "Islands" has personally grown on me since I first heard it back in 1992 (21 years after it was released). While this is not THE place to start when discovering King Crimson, it is definitely worth picking up after discovering the so-called 'indispensible classics' (ie: In the Court Of The Crimson King, Larks Tongues in Aspic, Discipline). The playing on this album is tight and focused and the musical arrangements are flawless.
Definitely an underrated gem from an underrated line-up of King Crimson.

Rest in Peace, Boz and Ian. You both will be missed.

It is gratifying to me to read so many reviews of KC by people who listened to them long after the albums first came out. If you put them into a contemporary context they have to be heard alongside everything that came after. Maybe that is why so many Amazon reviews don't get it?

For those of us who first listened to ISLANDS when it first came out it is the KC masterpiece, precisely because it doesn't conform to what you would expect of a rock album. There was nothing else like it. It alternated between music in the "classical" style, pastoral folk and grinding, gritty rock. Then there is Fripp's guitar - reason enough for some of us.

I know I'm getting old when someone says in a review that "Ladies of the Road" was brash and crude. Well Yes!!! Hello? That's the point. Confronting. Don't get too comfortable. Then I guess we baby boomers were not all that politically correct.

The music. "Formentera Lady" is obviously Eastern influenced (hints of Japanese flute) and captures an Eastern stillness in a jazzy web. "Sailor's Tale" is the kind of Fripp guitar magic many of us hung in there for album after album - stunningly intellegent modulations creating mystical soundscapes. "The Letters" is an intriguing piece of musical theatre much favoured by KC which makes me think they had their own ideas about caberet - dark and confronting. "Ladies of the Road" is a bitter-sweet satire of rock band mythology and often put me in mind of Joe Cocker's encounter with the "butter queen" in MAD DOGS and Joe's wry smile - part embarressment, part respectful joy.

The rest of the album slips away into the beautifully executed classicism of "Prelude: Song of the Gulls" (evocative, nostalgic - childhood by the sea), and then the title track: "Islands" - whistful, unexpectly quiet and still, taking us to unexpected places: peacefully. And yes, Mark Charig's cornet playing is lovely.

The whole is a wonderful creation but it may seem like a confused muddle to younger ears. It always made perfect sence to me.

After a stunning debut and a pair of albums that were greater and greater letdowns, Robert Fripp finally managed to produce a Crimson record that was reasonably good. Again having lost most of the band, Fripp (guitar, mellotron), lyricist Peter Sinfield, reedman Mel Collins are now joined by Boz (bass, vocals) and Ian Wallace (drums) as well as Keith Tippett (piano) and several members of his family supporting them. Fripp's orchestral leanings, illustrated poorly last album, do much better this time.

Opener "Formentera Lady", featuring a voice over string bass and flute, and eventually great horn solos is a good enough opener-- certainly its nice to see the band drifting away from the same styled openers the previous three albums had featured. While the piece itself isn't spectacular, it really is setup for the stunning "Sailor's Tale"-- a great instrumental featuring a driving rhythm, an explosive sax solo, and some of the most brilliant and angular playing Fripp had done to this point (the famous chord solo), its good to see the band beginning to arrive into their own. Skipping around a bit, this group's signature tune, "Ladies of a Road", is a real oddity in the Crimson catalog-- sexual, both musically and lyrically, if features a great vocal delivery by Boz and a racey baritone sax solo from Collins and is really just a spectacular song.

"Ladies of the Road" is bookended by two recycled pieces-- "The Letters" has its origins in live material ("Drop In", performed by both Giles, Giles & Fripp and eventually the '69 Crimson band) and "Prelude: Song of the Gulls" has its origins in pre-Crimson composition. The former is ok, starts off as a quiet ballad, punctuated by riffing saxaphones and blazing guitar, the latter is a piece of chamber music, and is nice enough, but like similar experiments previously, feels out of place.

The album's closer and title track, "Islands", is nice enoguh, a building, quiet, mellow piece, its pretty lifeless until Mark Charig's brilliant cornet solo kicks in.

Unlike the last couple albums, this band got on the road, but like the '69 band, fell apart there. This album feels like a beginning, one wonders what would have happened had they continued. In any event, Crimson moved on to incredible works, however this album is a unique piece in their catalog and stands well enough on its own.

This is one of my favorite King Crimson CD's. It's some of the best music they've written. If you like this album and you're unfamiliar with other King Crimson albums, I recommend:

In The Court Of The Crimson King
In The Wake Of Poseidon
Lizard