King Crimson followed up Lizard with a masterpiece called Islands, a jazz fusion monster with long stretches of solos and jams mixed within well-defined and tightly structured song arrangements.
Good points!!! Islands does in fact contain a different Classical approach than Lizard. For example on Lizard..."Prince Rupert Awakes" is melodic and has a Classical mentality prior to getting jazzy and improvising like madmen...but Islands has a much more consistent style of gentle Classical...Example.."Islands", "Song Of The Gulls", sections of "Formentera Lady". "A Sailor's Tale" and "The Letters" express loudness in abrupt dynamics... "Ladies Of The Road" always reminded me of Plastic Ono Band . If you remember "Instant Karma" it sounds like Ian Wallace has his drums tuned the same or that he's attempting to create that sound. In the late 70s I brought my portable battery operated stereo to the beach late at night with a few friends. We sat listening to Islands by the ocean...the nightsky was lit and the moon was bright. The music on Islands blossomed even more with those surroundings.
Yes! I agree with this and everything you just said about loudness and abrupt dynamics. KC really did a great job with Islands making it sound different from the previous 3 albums!
