King Crimson: Lizard LP

The third in a series of King Crimson high quality vinyl reissues marks the return of Lizard, newly cut from masters approved by Robert Fripp. Manufactured on 200g super heavyweight vinyl and housed in a reprint of the original beautiful gatefold sleeve, this edition also contains bonus MP3 codes giving access to a download of a transfer of the original 1970 pressing. 

King Crimson's third studio album and second recording of 1970, was, like its predecessor In the Wake of Poseidon, the product of a studio band. It was also the first Crimson album for which Robert Fripp provided all of the music. Remarkably self contained and sounding somewhat atypical for a King Crimson album, even by the standards of a band that rarely sounded similar from album to album, Lizard is an often overlooked and under appreciated gem from their early years.

Certainly at the time of release, anyone expecting an extension of the soundscapes introduced and explored on the band's earlier two albums was in for a surprise.  As this lineup never toured, very little of the material was performed live and Lizard remained a product of the studio environment and the musicians who performed on it. Lizard remains a fascinating, intriguing album, one only a band called King Crimson could make, even if it was a very different King Crimson to that which had gone before or would come after.