![]() The DVD graphics are easy-on-the-eye, the menu simple to navigate, the sound fabulous. The DVD is once again the star, with the music offered in MLP Lossless 5.1 surround, DTS 5.1 digital surround, MLP Lossless stereo, PCM stereo 2.0, plus the 30th anniversary remaster of the original 1970 stereo mix. Fripp mentions that Steven Wilson has `redeemed' the music of `Lizard' and restored it to its original glory. A 16-page colour booklet with the song lyrics and story behind the music, written by Bob Fripp and Crimson biographer Sid Smith, completes the package. Like other KC releases in this series you get a CD plus audio-only DVD presented in a gatefold sleeve decorated with the distinctive original album cover artwork, images of the album's content presented in the visual style of the Lindisfarne Gospels. ![]() like Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture) & its aftermath `Prince Rupert's Lament' with Fripp producing some long, sustained wailing guitar over a slow bass line, and a closer `Big Top' which returns to the `Cirkus' theme. The suite continues with a battle scene orchestrated in a classical-style (i.e. The theme continues in the same key with `Bolero' where the brass players & Tippett take over and stretch-out the piece into a long, fine jazz improvisation, to return finally to the main theme. Jon Anderson sings the opening piece `Prince Rupert Awakes' over a simple piano accompaniment, the song then opening out into one of KC's `big sound' numbers with choral backing. The stand-out track of the album is the `Lizard' suite which took up the whole second side of the original vinyl release. A pair of light-hearted jazzy tracks `Indoor Games' & `Happy Family' (describing the then-contemporary break-up of the Beatles with the fab four given pseudonyms) follow, then the short `Lady of the Dancing water' with some fine flute work. `Cirkus' opens the album, a classic mellotron-dominated Crimson track a la ItCotCK with Sinfield on top lyrical form describing a circus in full swing - with sinister undertones. The outstanding cameo is from Jon Anderson, vocalist & founder-ember of `Yes', who Fripp persuaded to sing `Prince Rupert Awakes' which opens the long `Lizard' suite. Brass/woodwind players Nick Evans, Robin Miller & Mark Charig act as session musicians to help create the album's unique sound. Jazz pianist Keith Tippett (who started playing on the band's studio sessions at the beginning of 1970 & contributed to `Cat Food' on `Poseidon') again makes an outstanding contribution Fripp unfortunately failed to persuade him to join the band full-time. Mel Collins again plays woodwind & sax, with Bob Fripp on guitars & Peter Sinfield on VCS synthesizer. Andy McCulloch plays drums with a precise & understated soft-jazz style, one of the defining characteristics of the album. ![]() Haskell's voice is neither strong nor distinctive, but does a workmanlike job. Gordon Haskell (who made a brief appearance on `Poseidon' singing `Cadence & Cascade') joined the band as full-time bass player/vocalist. However `Lizard' contains some stand-out pieces, and still sounds fresh after 40 years. It sold less well than almost all KC's other albums up to 1980, and is often seen as an oddity. It has a very jazz feel and makes liberal use of classical orchestral instrumentation & musical structures. `Lizard' was released in December 1970, King Crimson's 3rd album & a radical departure in style from their previous recordings. Review of `Lizard' 40th Anniversary CD plus MLP Lossless 5.1 & DTS digital surround DVD package.
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