KING CRIMSON - LARKS' TONGUES IN ASPIC (1973)

 

In my opinion, this album is an example of one of those extremely rare things, the perfect album. This is hands-down my favorite and most frequently listened-to album. Nothing is wasted on this album, each cut is absolutely classic!

It also features one of the most stable line-ups in King Crimson history, pre- Adrian Belew. It was a five-man group, fronted of course by Robert Fripp. It included:

Robert Fripp: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mellotron and devices.

John Wetton: vocals, bass guitar, piano.

Bill Bruford: drums.

David Cross: violin, viola, mellotron, flute.

Jamie Muir: percussion, drums, all-sorts.

with Richard Palmer-James: lyrics.

LTIA is the first album with this lineup, which became slimmer and slimmer with each album. Jamie Muir left after LTIA to become Trappist monk, and David Cross left after Starless & Bible Black. The album is known for its stripped-down production style (later to be called audio verité), its extremes in dynamics and its classical/folk/jazz stylings, and its new lyrical style.

Track 1: Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part One (13:37): Instrumental piece that starts out quiet with light percussion, builds somewhat, then comes in suddenly with bass and guitar playing with power DA-DA-DA-DA-DUM DA-DA-DA-DA-DUM . . . . From there it alternates between light and heavy soundscapes and a variety of irregular, rhythmic forms. Above all of this soars David Cross's lyrical violin.

Track 2: Book of Saturdays (2:53): A short vocal piece, with beautifully tranquil instrumentation and breathtakingly beautiful, evocative lyrics, that may or may not mean something. (I really don't know.) 

   All completeness in the morning

    Asleep on your side
    I'll be waking up the crewmen
    Banana-boat ride

    She responds like limousine
    Brought alive on the silent screen
    To the shuddering breath of yesterday

    . . .

    As the cavalry of despair
    Takes a stand in the lady's hair
    For the favor of making sweet sixteen

Track 3: Exiles (7:40): Starts out quietly, with odd-scraping violin noises that sound nothing-so-much to me as some dogs fighting over some stray meat scraps. Suddenly the bass comes in, and the violin shifts into a sweeping, lyrical strain. Again, the lyrics are wistful and simply beautiful. 

    Now, in this faraway land
    Strange, that the palms of my hands
    Should be damp with expectancy

    Spring, and the air's turning mild
    City lights, and the glimpse of a child
    Of the alleyway infantry

    Friends, do they know what I mean?
    Rain, and the gathering green
    Of an afternoon out-of-town

    . . .

    My home, was a place near the sand
    Cliffs, and a military band
    Blew and air of normality

Track 4: Easy Money (7:54): Straight-out rock song about the vagaries of gambling and luck, i.e., "Easy Money." This is one of those nearly perfect rockers, as far as I'm concerned. Nice hooks, some chordal and fingering complexity, driving drums and percussion, etc. And sandwiched in the middle of the song, one of the most fascinating developing guitar solos of all-time, in my opinion. The lyrics are sardonic and relatively straightforward.

    Your admirers in the street
    Got to hoot and stamp their feet
    In the heat from your physique
    As you twinkle by in moccasin sneakers

    . . .

    With your figure and your face
    Strutting out at every race
    Throw a glass around the place
    Show the colour of your crimson suspenders

    We could take the money home
    Sit around the family throne
    My old dog could chew his bone
    For two weeks we could appease the Almighty

    . . .

    Got no truck with the la-di-da
    Keep my bread in an old fruit jar
    Drive you out in a motor-car
    Getting fat on your lucky star

Track 5: Talking Drum (7:26): The last two tracks are instrumentals. This one sneaks up on you. It starts off with barely audible drums and percussion. Bass, guitar and violin slowly building, until it reaches a pounding, pulsing crescendo, which leads directly into . . .

Track 6: Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part Two (7:07): For the most part, this instrumental runs at a consistently loud volume, albeit with some slight drops into a more moderate volume. It is repetitive and highly rhythmic, with a driving DA-DUM DA-DUM DA-DUM DA-DUM DA-DUM riff. Like the previous track, it too builds -- but not so much in volume as in intensity. And then . . . it's over!

Grade: In my opinion, this is one of those incredibly rare things . . . the perfect album. My favorite album and one which I tend to listen to at certain intervals pretty much incessantly. For this, I have to invent yet one more category: A+ for perfection!

Postscript: The CD has some outstanding outtakes from those sessions. The standout here is from "Talking Drum" which is exceptionally intense, so much so that you can hear surprised and ecstatic laughter from the crew erupt from the crew when it is finished!