"Pictures of a City" seems meant to pick up where "20th Century Schizoid Man" left off, with it's furious ensemble passages, knotty Fripp guitar leads and Greg Lake's authoritative vocal. "Cadence and Cascade" helps fill out the ballad quotient with a beautiful, wispy vocal from transitional singer Gordon Haskell. A valuable note of humor is interjected into the proceedings via the jokey, off-handedly jazzy "Cat Food." Keith Tippet's piano and Mel Collins' sax–both soon to play larger roles–were introduced on POSEIDON as well.
Recorded over a period of 10 days in August 1969 & released on October 10th of the same year In The Court Of The Crimson King stands as one of the defining albums of British rock music & one of the finest debut albums of all time. Described at the time as "an uncanny masterpiece" by Pete Townshend, the album has achieved legendary status over the years. It is the only studio document of an extraordinary year in the life of King Crimson; a year that began with the group's first rehearsals on January 13th, included a residency at the Marquee Club, a concert in Hyde Park with The Rolling Stones, the recording and release of the album and ended with the dissolution of the lineup at the close of Crimson's 1st American tour in December.
'Larks' Tongues In Aspic', from 1973, is widely regarded as one of the truly great King Crimson albums. With its raw tone, inspired improvisations and hard hitting odd-metered rhythms, the album marked a radical departure for this most forward thinking of groups and was the first to include Bill Bruford and John Wetton as band members. This 40th Anniversary edition features new mixes by Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) and Robert Fripp.