| 1970 |
| Derek and the Dominos Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs | 2.5 |
| John Cale Vintage Violence | 3.5 |
| King Crimson Lizard | 3.5 |
Finally Fripp and his band get it together! Nothing here sounds like anything done before by the band or anyone else. This nearly makes up for the last album's complete worthlessness. Only two of the songs here are particularly good, but one is twenty four minutes long and the bad songs are at least interesting and creative so I have a hard time saying much of anything worse of them.
The album is much less symphonic sounding and has a much broader use of Jazz instruments and stylings. The first song, Cirkus, is the best here. Three tracks go by quickly, and the sidelong epic, Lizard, begins. It has several parts, and not every one of them is great but many passages are well performed and soothing.
Overall, this is King Crimson's best record up to this point. 3.5 / 5 |
| Grateful Dead American Beauty | 2.5 |
| Elton John Tumbleweed Connection | 2.5 |
| Frank Zappa Chunga's Revenge | 3.0 |
| Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin III | 3.0 |
| Pink Floyd Atom Heart Mother | 4.0 |
| Black Sabbath Paranoid | 3.5 |
| The Velvet Underground Loaded | 4.0 |
| Neil Young After the Gold Rush | 4.0 |
| King Crimson In the Wake of Poseidon | 3.5 |
| This record follows a pretty similar formula to the previous one. Outside of Cat Food, each of the main songs has a corresponding similar song on IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING. Pictures of a City is 21st Century Schizoid Man, Cadence and Cascade is I Talk to the Wind, and In the Wake of Poseidon is Epitaph. The final track The Devil's Triangle, a long, noisy, often unnerving piece, is a welcome change to the already flogged to death early Crimson sound but it goes so far as to sample the last record! And there are these cheesy, minute long, hippie bits about peace and water and air and other fluff that dates the embarrassment. The only reason this should be purchased is for Cat Food and the awesome Devil's Triangle. Otherwise this is a retread of something better, dated, formulaic, and otherwise unnecessary. |
| Jethro Tull Benefit | 2.5 |
| Charles Manson Lie | 3.5 |
| Black Sabbath Black Sabbath | 5.0 |
| The Mothers of Invention Burnt Weeny Sandwich | 3.5 |
| Randy Newman 12 Songs | 3.5 |
| The Mothers of Invention Weasels Ripped My Flesh | 4.0 |
| Nico Desertshore | 4.0 |
| Scott Walker 'Til the Band Comes in | 4.0 |
| Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band Lick My Decals Off, Baby | 4.5 |
