Join Prog, Record Collector, Classic Rock, MOJO and The Wire journalists Jo Kendall, Sid Smith and Mike Barnes for another King Crimson celebration – this time it’s a Listening Party for the newly reissued Lizard. And as it’s the season, there will be free King Crimbo mince pies.
In Part I Jo, Sid and Mike will discuss the making of the album – and we hope to have a very special commentator for this (no, not initials RF, sadly). More news when this is confirmed.
After a refreshment break, in Part II we’ll have a full playback of Steven Wilson’s 2025 stereo mix.
Mike and Sid will have their books A New Day Yesterday and In The Court Of King Crimson available to buy.
Says Sid Smith: “As beautiful as it is challenging, King Crimson’s third studio album, their second of 1970, stands as a remarkable fusion of musical ideas. With its idiosyncratic blend of jazz and rock, Lizard emerged from an exceptionally turbulent period in the band’s history as Robert Fripp found his compositional voice. A strange, unlikely triumph against the odds, nothing else in the Crimson canon sounds like this record.”
Mike Barnes adds: “Lizard is a bizarre, flawed, but at times brilliant album and remains King Crimson’s strangest offering. There’s a strange anti-chemistry at work on Lizard. The songs feature Peter Sinfield’s most opulent, rococo lyrics allied to near-pop melodies, grandiose prog rock fantasias and Gil Evans-style arrangements, all disrupted by blasts of free jazz skronk. It beat a path that few rock groups, Crimson included, chose to fully explore.”
Jo Kendall shrieks: “For me, one of the best things about Lizard is the many opportunities there are to play kazoo along with it. And the extraordinary artwork and music, of course.”
Sid’s book is available here: In The Court Of King Crimson
Mike’s book is available here: A New Day Yesterday Remastered, with a foreword by Steve Hackett
Jo’s 2024 Record Collector King Crimson Bookazine is on sale here: Record Collector Presents King Crimson