Vagabond Synth Nerd’s Journal Vol. 153 - The Continuation of the Legendary Band King Crimson Part IV

The Ongoing Turmoil of King Crimson

This time, I’d like to explore King Crimson’s music by looking at the journey leading up to the creation of their miraculous masterpiece, Islands.

According to interviews with former Crimson members, Robert Fripp had a tendency to "revamp the band by changing its members." True to that statement, King Crimson’s turbulence continued even after the release of their second album.

Bassist and vocalist Greg Lake departed, leaving King Crimson with three core members: guitarist Robert Fripp, horn player Mel Collins, and lyricist Peter Sinfield.
Fripp then brought in bassist and vocalist Gordon Haskell and drummer Andy McCulloch, while also inviting Yes vocalist Jon Anderson as a guest, to record their third album, Lizard. However, shortly after the album's release, both Haskell and McCulloch left the band, causing Crimson to fall apart despite having just put out a new record.
Afterward, vocalist and bassist Boz Burrell and drummer Ian Wallace joined the band, and through many twists and turns, King Crimson finally released their fourth album, Islands.
However, due to conflicts with Peter Sinfield, Robert Fripp ended up dismissing Sinfield, who had been the creative brain behind Crimson, following the album’s release.

■ Recommended Album: King Crimson – Islands (1971)

Featuring artwork inspired by the Trifid Nebula (M20), known for its three-part division, Islands is one of King Crimson’s early masterpieces. The album cover concept is attributed to Peter Sinfield, and one can't help but see it as a reflection of the band's turbulent state at the time.
The Trifid Nebula, meaning "three-lobed nebula," symbolically parallels the fractured state of the band—divided among Robert Fripp, Peter Sinfield, and Mel Collins. Through this imagery, one can almost hear the poetic message Sinfield embedded in the artwork.
Despite the internal turmoil surrounding the band, Islands itself is an album steeped in a rich, aesthetic beauty, making it difficult to imagine the discord behind its creation.

Sonically, Islands features pianist Keith Tippett and members of his big band as guest musicians, who play a central role in shaping the album’s sound.
Solo instruments like the oboe and cornet add depth to the mood of the tracks, further enhancing King Crimson’s distinctive band sound on this record.

Recommended Track: "Islands"

Keith Tippett’s acoustic piano resonates beautifully, making Islands one of King Crimson’s most poetic, aesthetically rich, and breathtakingly beautiful songs.
Later Crimson albums would no longer feature the same ethereal, translucent beauty found in Islands. The importance of Peter Sinfield’s presence in early King Crimson became evident once the band dismantled. Listening to Larks' Tongues in Aspic or Red makes this shift undeniable.
Many tracks on Islands are co-written by Robert Fripp and Sinfield, yet by this point, Fripp already had a completely different musical vision in mind—one that diverged from Sinfield’s decadent, poetic world. Glimpses of this transformation can be heard in other tracks on the album.

Sonically, Islands is crafted like a watercolor painting, with woodwinds, brass, and strings layered across different registers to create a delicate and immersive atmosphere. Boz Burrell’s hushed, murmuring vocals fit the song perfectly, adding to its unique character within King Crimson’s catalog.
The song’s structure is unusual, likely shaped by the circumstances of the musicians performing it. The extended cornet solo in the latter half, while not inherently bad, stretches on for quite some time. However, the Mellotron’s atmospheric backdrop blends with the cornet, evoking an indescribable, decadent beauty—a testament to the arranging talents of Peter Sinfield and Keith Tippett. This is King Crimson at its finest.
Despite the band’s instability and the heavy reliance on session musicians, Tippett and his big band’s support stands out as exceptional. Their contributions form the backbone of the album’s sound.
Meanwhile, amid all this uncertainty, Fripp was likely already looking ahead, planning the next incarnation of King Crimson.

Recommended Track: "The Letters"

“The Letters” shifts dramatically from the beautiful melodies reminiscent of Islands to a heavy riff-driven section, where Robert Fripp’s guitar improvisation (which he refers to as “improvisation”) and Mel Collins’ saxophone solo explode with intensity. The song then returns to its opening vocal section, creating a “sandwich” structure.
This track feels less meticulously composed and more like a product of a spontaneous session—likely reflecting limited recording time.
While Peter Sinfield shaped the song’s lyrical concept, the backbone of the piece lies in the improvisational interplay between Fripp and Collins. The rest of the performance feels largely entrusted to the pianist and Collins, emphasizing a collaborative, impromptu energy.

This improvisational section might be the very essence of what Fripp wanted to pursue as a band. One can hear the seeds of a new kind of Crimson music emerging in this instrumental part—its direction aligning with what would later be explored in Larks’ Tongues in Aspic and the live album USA.

With Islands, the essence of the Crimson sound that had defined the band up to that point reached its peak, and with it, Peter Sinfield’s poetic world vanished.
The later incarnation of King Crimson would pivot toward instrumental music centered around guitar improvisation, marking a fundamental shift in the band's artistic trajectory.

Featured Musicians, Albums, and Recommended Tracks

• Artists: Robert Fripp, Peter Sinfield, Keith Tippett, Mel Collins, and more
• Album: Islands
• Tracks: "Islands," "The Letters"

The “sound & person” column is made up of contributions from you.
For details about contributing, click here.