King Crimson – Lizard (2012 Reissue on 200g Vinyl)

This album features the original stereo mix of Lizard and is newly cut from masters approved by Robert Fripp. 

Released on 10 December 1970, Lizard is the third studio album by King Crimson. It was the second consecutive King Crimson album recorded by transitional line-ups of the group that did not perform live, following In the Wake of Poseidon. This is the only album by the band to feature singer and bass guitarist Gordon Haskell (apart from his appearance singing Cadence and Cascade on the previous album) and drummer Andy McCulloch as official members of the band.

In his retrospective review, AllMusic’s Dave Lynch described it as, ‘Seamlessly blending rock, jazz, and classical in a way that few albums have successfully achieved, Lizard is epic, intimate, cacophonic, and subtle by turn – and infused with the dark moods first heard when 21st Century Schizoid Man and Epitaph reached listeners’ ears the previous year.’ Classic Rock described Lizard as ‘a decidedly Miles Davis-influenced hodgepodge of classical and jazz influences brought to their logical, near-chaotic end’ and definied its music ‘mind-bending, unclassifiable creative stuff.’

Track Listing

Side One

1. Cirkus (including Entry of the Chameleons)
2. Indoor Games
3. Happy Family
4. Lady of the Dancing Water

Side Two

1. Lizard