IN THE WAKE OF POSEIDON
In the Wake of Poseidon is the second studio album by the progressive rock group King Crimson. The album was recorded during instability in the band, with several personnel changes, but repeats the style of their first album, In the Court of the Crimson King. Also like their first album, the mood of this album often changes from serene to chaotic. (More from Wikipedia)
After In the Court of the Crimson King, King Crimson never quite reached those heights again (to these ears anyway), not least because several of the key members of the band had moved on (or were about to) before the release of their second album, In the Wake of Poseidon. One of the things that turned me off about the album was the three-part song, “The Devil’s Triangle” toward the end. I was growing weary of the Satanic streak in rock music, and this just seemed to be more of it, though there were few if any lyrics. It was a long time before I realized that the Devil’s Triangle is another name for the mysterious Bermuda Triangle out in the Atlantic Ocean, not anything to do with Satan. The music was even included in a documentary about the Bermuda Triangle many years later.
(October 2012)
* * *
After releasing their album, The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp in 1968, Giles, Giles and Fripp added Ian McDonald – who played saxophone, clarinet and flute – and vocalist Judy Dyble, the original lead singer of the legendary British folk-rock band Fairport Convention. After Peter Giles left the band, Michael Giles, Ian McDonald and Robert Fripp formed the original line-up of King Crimson with vocalist Greg Lake and lyricist Peter Sinfield. Peter Giles later returned as a bass guitarist on the band’s second album in 1970, In the Wake of Poseidon; though both of the Giles Brothers left the fold by the time of King Crimson’s third album, Lizard.
(March 2013)
