Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Sinfield, Peter
Released: 1973
Length: 42:51
Rating: 3/5
“Still” is the first and so far only album under the name of Peter Sinfield, the English poet and musician best known as the lyricist on the first four albums by prog rock giants King Crimson. Sinfield was an original member of the band, active in the group from 1969 to 1971. He made his name as a superb writer of metaphysical lyrics and as the mind behind the concepts for their album covers. His most important contribution as a King Crimson member was probably that he was the one who came up with the name. After a verbal showdown with guitarist Robert Fripp over leadership of the band at the end of 1971, he had to pack his bags, since Fripp was threatening to one day split his skull open with a mellotron. After leaving King Crimson, he stayed an active and constructive force in the progressive rock world for a few more years. Among other things, he did plenty of good work as producer of Roxy Music’s debut album and as lyricist for Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Premiata Forneria Marconi.
“Still” is Sinfield’s attempt to marry his lyrical genius with musical visions drawing on both his King Crimson legacy and some forms of 70s popular music. On the album he got help from a whole host of celebrated musicians as special guests, all connected in one way or another (mostly as former members) to King Crimson, led by John Wetton, Greg Lake, Keith Tippett, Mel Collins, Boz Burrell and Ian Wallace. As an instrumentalist, Peter acquits himself decently on acoustic guitar and synthesizer.
The album, which will be most interesting to King Crimson devotees, delivers pretty mixed results: from a few almost magnificent achievements that even the original King Crimson wouldn’t have been ashamed of, to a handful of truly pitiful stabs at dabbling in pop. Peter is not a born singer, and that’s an undeniable fact, even though he has a pleasant, velvety timbre. The problem is his extremely limited range, which keeps most of the melodies on the album from reaching their full potential. An even bigger issue is that he often can’t decide whether he’d rather sing the lyrics or narrate them. This usually results in a peculiar narrative-vocal hybrid that can come across as downright irritating at times.
Musically, I’d roughly describe “Still” as a partial continuation of the ethereal-pastoral symphonic arrangements and harmonies created by the early versions of King Crimson, but without that musical discipline, complexity and dissonant improvisation that Fripp polished even further after Peter’s departure. You could say “Still” partly reflects the gentle, pastoral side of King Crimson that you could find on some of their early tracks, like “I Talk to the Wind”, “Moonchild”, “Cadence and Cascade” or “Islands”. In that sense, the album offers a very laid-back pastoral approach, at times bordering on pop rock. You also won’t find any dark or chilling experiments in the vein of “Devil’s Triangle” here, since Peter was always a rather gentle, typical poet’s soul.
Let me start with the album’s highlights, the compositions that, thanks to their ethereal-symphonic-pastoral arrangements, at least partly come close to that original King Crimson magic. First up is the ethereal “The Song of the Sea Goat”, built on an arrangement by classical composer Antonio Vivaldi, so it can hardly be a dud. On top of that, it boasts gorgeous arrangements for flute, piano and mellotron that conjure up a truly magical atmosphere. “Under the Sky” is a remake of an excellent song dating back to the pre-Crimson project Giles, Giles & Fripp, and as such it has the most in common with Peter’s famous past. A pleasant melody rests on ethereal mellotron arrangements and flute sounds, and there’s also a very good piano solo. One of Peter’s songwriting and lyrical peaks is the nostalgic “Envelopes of Yesterday”, which has plenty of psychedelic shades, a strong central melody and a hypnotic flute solo. Peter’s singing style works best here. The title track, where Peter sings himself into his own personal dreams, also counts among the successes. After that Lake’s mighty vocals take over, which spoils the message of the piece, since his vocal superiority totally overshadows Sinfield’s dreamy mumbling from before.
The lion’s share of the remaining pieces falls under the less interesting experiments with fairly average results. Most of them don’t do him any particular credit, though none of them could be called a disaster. On them, Peter wanted to try himself out as a more personal singer-poet and to experiment with more direct rock styles, which sadly don’t suit him at all, like “Will It Be You”, where he tried his hand at country and went down in flames instantly, not to mention “Wholefood Boogie”.
With its crossing of art rock and pop elements, “Still” is really a transitional work in Peter’s professional career, since it both hinted at his future in the pop world (starting with the atheist Christmas anthem “I Believe in Father Christmas”, followed in the 80s by writing lyrics for a number of popular acts) and recalled his prog rock past. “Still” is an interesting solo effort from a brilliant poet who, as a musician and composer, managed to exceed all expectations, but don’t go expecting a lost King Crimson album. For anything like that, Peter would have had to let Lake take over the lead vocals for the entire album. And even then, without the guitar of his “best friend”, it would have been mission impossible. Despite all its flaws, “Still” is a solid record of historical significance that belongs in the collection of every King Crimson fan. And one last tidbit for all you collectors: in 1993 the album was reissued on CD as “Stillusion”, with two additional tracks and a changed running order.
Lineup
Peter Sinfield – vocals, 12-string guitar, acoustic guitar, synthesizer
Min – drums, percussion
Chris Pyne – trombone
Stanley Roderick – trumpet
W.G. Snuffy Walden – guitar
Ian Wallace – drums
Tim Hinckley – electric piano, piano
Snuffy – electric guitar
Brian Flowers synthesizer
Don Honeywill – baritone saxophone
Keith Christmas – guitar
Greg Lake – electric guitar, vocals
Robin Miller – woodwinds
Greg Bowen – trumpet
Richard Brunton – guitar
Boz Burrell – bass guitar
B.J. Cole – guitar
Brian Cole – guitar
Mel Collins – flute, saxophone
Steve Dolan – bass guitar
Tim Hinkley – piano
Don Honeywell – saxophone
Phil Jump – keyboards, Hammond organ, glockenspiel
The Box – bass guitar
John Wetton – bass guitar, drums, percussion
Keith Tippett – bass guitar, piano
Production
Peter Sinfield and Greg Lake
Tracklist
1. The Song Of The Sea Goat
2. Under The Sky
3. Will It Be You
4. Wholefood Boogie
5. Still
6. Envelopes Of Yesterday
7. The Piper
8. A House Of Hopes And Dreams
9. The Night People
