KING CRIMSON:
A Short History
Part 1: 1969-1974 (Continued)
Crimson III: 1972-1974
It took until mid-1972 for Fripp to put together a new Crimson,
but the new lineup proved to be more durable than the previous
incarnations of the band. In addition, Crimson took a new
direction that effectitively seperated them from the first
group and gave them their very own identity. First off,
the group had a new lyricist, Richard Palmer-James, who,
like Sinfield, did not play in the group. The instrumental
lineup consisted of drummer Bill Bruford, who Fripp snagged
from now-successful progressive band Yes, David Cross on
violin and Mellotron, and John Wetton on bass and vocals.
The sound of the group was edgier, with the Mellotron pushed
farther into the background, and the often furious assualt
of Cross’ violin, Bruford’s virtuosic drumming,
and Fripp’s rapidly developing signature guitar work
made the group livelier and more interesting to audiences
who were listening to the more accessible work of Yes and
Emerson, Lake & Palmer. In addition, Wetton was the
group’s strongest vocalist since Greg Lake’s
departure, often sounding rather like Lake. Palmer-James’
lyrics were still mystical at times, but much more contemporary
and, ultimately, edgier.
The group’s debut, Larks Tongues In Aspic,
reclaimed Crimson’s reputation as a cutting-edge and
unique outfit, having little in common with the work of
other prog rock bands of the time. While the more hippy-dippy,
psychedelic aspects of the band had disappeared by the time
of Islands, Larks Tongues In Aspic makes
clear that those days are gone for good. The opening and
closing “Larks Tongues In Aspic” (Parts I &
II) are piledriving slabs of rock riffing interspersed with
quieter sections. The seeds of Crimson’s eventual
re-emergence as a completely different band in the 1980s
are sown here as well.
There’s still a link with the Crimson
past, though, in the Mellotron work. Though pushed farther
back in the band’s sound, it still provides a link
that lets you know it’s Crimson. So too does the band’s
way with a ballad—“Book of Saturdays”
could have come from one of the first two Crimson albums,
but there is a new conception here overall that, while still
heavy with progressive rock signposts, is leaner and meaner
than before. The group toured extensively throughout 1973,
and reconvened in ’74 to cut Starless and Bible
Black, making it the most stable Crimson lineup up
to this time.
Starless
and Bible Black is a challenging recording that gives
the lie to Crimson’s ‘prog rock’ label.
The group here is exploring ideas that are very musically
complex and could well have been the work of some of the
more adventurous fusion groups of the time. Both fusion
and prog rock were becoming formulaic, even though in many
ways 1974 proved to be the heyday of the genre. The album
featured lyrics about the devil (‘The Great Deceiver’),
the difficulties of life on the road (‘Lament’),
and a famous Rembrandt painting (‘The Night Watch’).
Fripp’s concluding instrumental, ‘Fracture’
points the way toward the future, not only of Crimson, but
of Fripp’s guitar work as well.
Cross
exited the group in mid-1974 during the recording of the
album Red, leaving Crimson to tour as a power trio.
The album itself features contributions from Ian McDonald,
Mel Collins, and Marc Cherig, all of whom had played on
albums by the first-era Crimson. Red is a pretty
good album overall, with the title track pointing again
in the direction Fripp would eventually go with later models
of Crimson.
In September 1974 Fripp disbanded this edition
of Crimson, declaring that the group was finished. That
turned out not to be the case, but no one could have guessed
that then as Fripp busied himself with a variety of projects
that put him in the underground of the music industry, turning
him into something of a legendary and mysterious figure.
It took until mid-1972 for Fripp to put together a new Crimson,
but the new lineup proved to be more durable than the previous
incarnations of the band. In addition, Crimson took a new
direction that effectitively seperated them from the first
group and gave them their very own identity. First off,
the group had a new lyricist, Richard Palmer-James, who,
like Sinfield, did not play in the group. The instrumental
lineup consisted of drummer Bill Bruford, who Fripp snagged
from now-successful progressive band Yes, David Cross on
violin and Mellotron, and John Wetton on bass and vocals.
The sound of the group was edgier, with the Mellotron pushed
farther into the background, and the often furious assualt
of Cross’ violin, Bruford’s virtuosic drumming,
and Fripp’s rapidly developing signature guitar work
made the group livelier and more interesting to audiences
who were listening to the more accessible work of Yes and
Emerson, Lake & Palmer. In addition, Wetton was the
group’s strongest vocalist since Greg Lake’s
departure, often sounding rather like Lake. Palmer-James’
lyrics were still mystical at times, but much more contemporary
and, ultimately, edgier. 
Starless
and Bible Black is a challenging recording that gives
the lie to Crimson’s ‘prog rock’ label.
The group here is exploring ideas that are very musically
complex and could well have been the work of some of the
more adventurous fusion groups of the time. Both fusion
and prog rock were becoming formulaic, even though in many
ways 1974 proved to be the heyday of the genre. The album
featured lyrics about the devil (‘The Great Deceiver’),
the difficulties of life on the road (‘Lament’),
and a famous Rembrandt painting (‘The Night Watch’).
Fripp’s concluding instrumental, ‘Fracture’
points the way toward the future, not only of Crimson, but
of Fripp’s guitar work as well. 
Cross
exited the group in mid-1974 during the recording of the
album Red, leaving Crimson to tour as a power trio.
The album itself features contributions from Ian McDonald,
Mel Collins, and Marc Cherig, all of whom had played on
albums by the first-era Crimson. Red is a pretty
good album overall, with the title track pointing again
in the direction Fripp would eventually go with later models
of Crimson.