Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: King Crimson
Label: Discipline Global Mobile
Release: 1970
Rating: 5/5
In 1970, the mighty Greek god of the sea Poseidon clearly stirred up some serious waves around the original King Crimson ship. The dust had barely settled on their first, phenomenal record “In the Court of the Crimson King” (1969), which among other things officially marked the birth of progressive rock and earned the band cult status, and King Crimson were already shocking the music world again the following year. This time with a tough task ahead of them: to repeat the success of an incredible debut album despite small but radical changes in the lineup.
After their first tour wrapped up at the end of 1969, the band lost the brilliant multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald (later a founding member of AOR band Foreigner), while the oddball drummer Michael Giles already had one foot in their joint side project McDonald & Giles and only shows up on this record as a “session” musician.
Even the ever-excellent singer and bassist Greg Lake couldn’t resist Keith Emerson’s invitation, and this was his last record with King Crimson before the founding of the legendary ELP.
After McDonald’s departure the band was practically on the verge of falling apart, and it’s a true miracle that they managed to hold together and put out a work that some consider even stronger than the legendary debut.
Overall, “In the Wake of Poseidon” follows the musical mood and winning recipe of the first record in many ways. Musically and stylistically, at least in the first half of the record, there are no huge departures from the debut, which is actually unusual for this band, but in the second half we run into some of their most avant-garde pieces, and those make the real difference between this record and the last.
Thanks to those new avant-garde elements, “In the Wake of Poseidon” is an even less predictable record than the debut and therefore a real treat for music connoisseurs.
After all the trouble, Fripp, Sinfield and Lake, the only remaining members of the original lineup, did manage to surround themselves with brilliant “session” players and shore up the band. The standout was the brilliant flutist and saxophonist Mel Collins (ex-Circus), who was already a hugely in-demand “session” musician back then and was the only player (besides Fripp and lyricist Sinfield) who stayed in the band after this record. Gordon Haskell, a former schoolmate of Fripp’s, sings instead of Lake on the gorgeous ballad “Cadence And Cascade”. Fripp invited him to work on their third record as well.
Three tracks deal with the influence of the environment on humanity and vice versa (“Pictures Of The City” (originally “A Man A City”), “Cadence And Cascade” and “Cat Food”), while the whole “Peace” trilogy, the title track and “Devil’s Triangle” (originally “Mars”) are devoted to pacifism. So the band once again created an excellent record that in many ways built on the inimitable debut, only a bit more avant-garde.
Fripp was never under the influence of any rock band, except maybe the Beatles. On this record he started using the mellotron for the first time, which used to be the domain of multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald. His playing got a bit more sophisticated. There’s also lots of acoustic guitar (the “Peace” trilogy). After the record was done, Fripp almost became a member of Yes. Luckily for both sides, that of course never happened.
Greg Lake, normally a singer and bassist, this time only sings, since he was already itching to get to ELP. His bass duties were therefore taken over by Peter Giles. He proved once again why he was the best singer in the band’s history. “In the Wake of Poseidon” is his last record before leaving for ELP. And to be honest, I feel a bit sorry for Lake, because with ELP , dominated by Emerson’s organ acrobatics, he somehow never got the role a singer of his caliber deserves, in my opinion.
This time Fripp managed to bring in both Giles brothers from his first project, “The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp” (1968). Although Michael Giles, the original drummer, is here merely as a session drummer, since Fripp hadn’t managed to find a suitable replacement for him by the time the record was made (he was looking for a jazz drummer!). He proves once again why he was one of the best drummers of his time, even though he remained widely overlooked. Something that has long followed most of his excellent successors too. While the record was being made, Michael already had one foot in “Mcdonald & Giles”, a little-known project that released just one record and was led by him and former bandmate Ian McDonald.
Michael’s brother Peter was a member of the legendary project Giles, Giles & Fripp in 1968, before Greg Lake replaced him when King Crimson were formed. Technically, in my opinion, he was a somewhat more polished bassist than Lake. Today he’s a member of the 21 Century Schizoid Band, which plays old King Crimson songs.
Mel Collins, who came from the band Circus, successfully replaced Ian McDonald. Unlike McDonald, his sax playing leaned toward lower registers. Even then Mel was one of the most talented session musicians around and definitely a major asset for the band. He later became known for working with Alvin Lee, Camel, Brand X and Alan Parsons, and today, together with Peter Giles, he carries on the legacy of old King Crimson as a member of the 21 Century Schizoid Band
The esteemed classical composer Keith Tippet, the main man in the symphonic band Centipede, was never officially a member of King Crimson, but I’d still count him among the official members, since he worked with the band on the next two albums as well, while Fripp occasionally worked with his band. He’s responsible for the Wagnerian magic of the title track and brought lucidity and complexity with his piano playing on the excellent “Cat Food”.
Bassist and singer Gordon Haskell was an old colleague of Fripp’s from the early music days. Fripp invited him into the band after Lake left early, in mid-1970. Soon after he became the new singer and bassist and sings on the next record, “Lizard” (1970). His voice is lower and not as melodic as Lake’s, but he did a fine job on “Cadence And Cascade”. He’s made for drama, and he reminds me a little of Peter Gabriel at times. He later built a successful solo career.
The band’s spiritual father and author of the most unusual and intelligent poetry in the history of progressive rock, Peter Sinfield, deserves congratulations this time too. Hats off for an extraordinary lyrical concept about the decline of one age of humanity and the rise of another, even though most people still don’t get it today. King Crimson were a band truly blessed with such an exceptional lyricist as Sinfield. The truth is that back then he and Fripp were the only members in the true sense of the word, while the rest had more of a session-musician status.
According to him, the previous record was dedicated to Zeus, aka Frederick II, and this one to Poseidon.
The opening intro “Peace-A beginning” is a short, light vocal overture from Lake, accompanied by Fripp on acoustic guitar. “Peace” is a sort of central trilogy, split into three segments that tie the record together conceptually. Mood-wise it’s a peace elegy that’s relevant for all time.
Next comes a sudden bolt from the “cloudy sky” with “Pictures of a City”. It’s a wonderful, punchy opening track and a fitting spiritual and stylistic successor to the “schizoid man of the 21st century” from the previous album. Originally titled “A Man A City” and inspired by the filth of the suburbs and slums of New York, where the band found this inspiration on their first US tour. The lyrics deal with the problems of modern urbanization and air pollution. A brilliant combination of rock, essentially early heavy metal, and jazz. Lake’s vocals are stretched to the limit here, and as soon as Fripp’s brilliant solo kicks in, followed by a proper showdown between Collins’ sax and Giles’ drums, you get a real speed-fueled climax of different vibrations, which then calms down mid-song and finally erupts again with full force. An excellent track that will thrill all the music connoisseurs who aren’t afraid of experimentation and love jazz-rock fusion.
The vocals of Gordon Haskell on the ballad “Cadence and Cascade”, who after this record succeeded the inimitable Lake as singer and bassist, radiate incredible warmth. At first I didn’t even realize it wasn’t Lake singing on this track, which means Haskell did his job superbly. How great a singer he is also shows on the successor to “Poseidon”, the album “Lizard”. “Cadence and Cascade” is a gorgeous ballad in the style of “I Talk To The Wind” from the previous album. Lots of Fripp’s acoustic guitar and the excellent Mel Collins on flute, with a xylophone in the background too. Sinfield’s lyrics once again hide a deeper meaning. Someone once claimed these lyrics are just a product of bad taste because, according to them, it’s about “groupies”, but when I visited Sinfield’s website I realized its deeper meaning. Jade is the name of a rare turquoise stone, while Cascade means river rapids. It’s about the unspoiled, virginal side of nature, which fits the whole ecological mood that runs through this album.
The title track, “In the Wake of Poseidon”, is one of the best songs in the band’s history (and my absolute favorite), but also their most overlooked song at the same time. Why it was never on their set lists is a big question for all of us. Every time I hear it I get goosebumps. The song is about the new, bright, coming Age of Aquarius that is supposed to revive this declining and sick world of ours. In my opinion this romantic epic is the most overlooked song in the band’s history and I badly want to hear it live, even though I know that’s practically impossible today. Every single instrumentalist shines here, especially composer Keith Tippet and flutist Mel Collins, and of course Fripp on the mellotron, which is here in abundance. The ambience really makes it feel like you’re in the middle of a cold, stormy ocean, before the throne of the legendary king of the sea, who split the ocean floor with his trident. Definitely one of the best epics in the band’s history. The Wagnerian main motif with its extensive use of mellotron is a bit reminiscent of “Epitaph” and the title track of the previous record. And of course let’s not forget “Libra’s Theme”. Looks like Wagner was one of Fripp’s spiritual fathers too.
“Peace-A theme” is a short, simple but very beautiful instrumental from Fripp played on acoustic guitar. In general, the master Fripp threw himself into the acoustic guitar heart and soul that year (most noticeable on their next record), and although these days he no longer reaches for it, which is actually a shame, he was known back then as one of the best acoustic guitarists around.
“Cat Food” is surely the track that differs the most from everything they had done before on their debut, and there’s no comparing it with the earlier songs. A grotesque, groovy jazzy “humoresque” about the plastic food that modern civilization lives on is genuinely fun and loosens up the otherwise fairly serious atmosphere of the record. This song is the biggest departure from the previous record and shows that the band’s style was already constantly changing, or “evolving”. The song also shows the band’s sense of black humor, and its Zappa-esque chorus really draws a mental line to the aforementioned artist. Jazz fusion, then. Keith Tippet’s brilliant, at times lucid piano will give you goosebumps every time. A superb track that most obviously shows the band’s progress compared to the previous record. Former member Ian McDonald also earned a writing credit. “Cat Food” came out as a single with the b-side instrumental “Groon” (an excellent, groovy improvisation), but it didn’t see any real commercial success, though it’s the most representative song on this album and best shows the band’s progress. The single version of this song and the aforementioned instrumental “Groon” are on the latest remaster of the record, which came out last year on Discipline GM.
The longer conceptual opus “Devil’s Triangle”, originally called “Mars”, after the work by the famous German classical composer Gustav Holst from his “Planets suite”, is the band’s first studio instrumental, built around the concept of the “devil’s triangle”, and basically the only “cover” in the band’s history (if you can even call it a cover, because the band’s piece differs quite a lot from Holst’s original “Mars the Bringer of War”). It conjures up the truly dark atmosphere of Dante’s Inferno and at times sounds downright wicked. After the intro it differs somewhat from the original version of the piece that the band played under the name “Mars” at their live shows before this record came out. It’s the only song in their history that was split into three segments. Yes later practiced something similar in the structures of their songs extensively. Fripp first “dictates” a sort of military march on the mellotron in the opening part called “Merday Morn,” which later turns, in the second part, “Hand of Scarion”, announced by a kind of battle blast of a Viking horn, into a ride through a long, dark tunnel through the underground abysses of hellish war. Finally, in the last part, “Garden of Worm”, the whole atmosphere builds to a moment of madness, when all the tension suddenly lets go. The song is so dark that even their peers from the “dark side” Black Sabbath look laughable next to it. This song can push some people to the brink of a nervous breakdown, and spiritually cleanse others. King Crimson played this piece a lot in all kinds of forms in their early period. A masterpiece for the ages.
The acoustic theme returns at the end as “Peace-An end”. The light at the end of the dark passage shines with full force. The best possible ending to the record, with an excellent chorus from Lake. But what I like most is the final message, which is also the main message of the whole record: “you look everywhere but not inside you”. We look everywhere for the truth (inner peace, love, freedom) except inside ourselves, which is usually humanity’s main tragedy.
Let me also mention one of the best album covers I’ve ever seen, by the mystic artist Taam De Jong. It depicts 12 human archetypes that are also opposites (each has its counterpart). On the cover we see (following Sinfield’s concept), among others, the Greek god Dionysus (called “Madman” in the lyrics, the smiling red-faced hedonist), the goddess Demeter (a serious dark-haired woman with a moon, ancient wisdom, forces of nature), Hades (a horned, bearded figure in a helmet, (symbol of) the god of the underworld, war and death), a light-haired girl with a key (symbol of purity, innocence), a harlequin (courage), a black man (Slave), an old man with glasses (“Cold Plato Spawn”, the cold spawn of rationalism, the scientist) and an old woman reaper (Harvest Hag, representative of old knowledge, a conservative, resists progress), Hecate (Midnight Queen, a witch, a woman with blue hair), the sea god Poseidon (an old man with a crown), a sage or astronomer (a guy with a pointy hat and stars), and Mother Nature (a serene, sleeping face in the grass).
“In the Wake of Poseidon” was the first studio album by the band that I bought and it’s still my favorite, right after the immortal “In the Court of the Crimson King”. A very good follow-up to an album that was hard to follow. King Crimson have every right to be proud of this album, which in many ways even surpassed its commercially far more successful predecessor. Musically, stylistically and in its message. “In the Wake of Poseidon” is at the same time yet another masterpiece that faithfully follows its predecessor in style. Sadly, it’s also one of the band’s most overlooked albums, which will apparently stay forever in the shadow of its more famous predecessor. Let most critics say what they want, the truth is that they were never actually satisfied with any of the band’s later albums, because they always expected them to be like the predecessor, and if they weren’t, they accused them of repeating themselves, which is completely atypical for this band. “In the Wake of Poseidon” came closest to that principle, and most critics still weren’t happy, even though to this day it counts as their highest-charting album commercially, having reached number 4 on the chart of the highest-ranking albums of that year.
Line-up
Greg Lake – vocals
Robert Fripp – guitar, mellotron, devices
Michael Giles – drums
Peter Giles – bass guitar
Keith Tippet – piano
Mel Collins – saxophone & flute
Gordon Haskell – vocals on ‘Cadence And Cascade’
Peter Sinfield – lyrics
Production
Robert Fripp & Peter Sinfield
Track list
1. Peace – A Beginning (0:49)
2. Pictures of A City(including 42nd at Treadmill) (8:03)
3. Cadence and Cascade (4:27)
4. In the Wake of Poseidon (incl. Libra’s Theme) (7:56)
5. Peace – A Theme (1:15)
6. Cat Food (4:54)
7. The Devil’s Triangle (11:39)
a) Merday Morn
b) Hand of Scairon
c) Garden of Worm
8. Peace – An End (1:53)
Album length: 40:56
Bonus tracks on the DGM reissue (2004):
9. Cat Food [Single Version][Edit]
10. Groon [Single B Side]
