Islands

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Islands
Studio album by King Crimson
Released	December, 1971
Recorded	October 1971
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	43:34
Label	Island Records Atlantic Records Polydor Records E.G. Records Virgin Records
Producer	Robert Fripp, Peter Sinfield
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (C) link Rolling Stone (mixed) link
King Crimson chronology
Lizard (1970) Islands (1971) Earthbound (1972)

Islands is the fourth album by the British band King Crimson, released in 1971.

The last King Crimson studio album before the group's trilogy of Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black and Red, it is also the last to feature the lyrics of Peter Sinfield and the last to feature the band's 'traditional' progressive sound.

The album received mixed reviews. There are four tracks with lyrics on this album, and three of them concern women. One of them, "Ladies of the Road", has been criticized for perceived misogyny.

Trivia

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• The original U.K. and European cover depicts the Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius. The original U.S. and Canadian album cover (as released by Atlantic Records) was a Peter Sinfield painting of off-white with coloured "islands". This was used as an internal gatefold sleeve in the U.K. When the King Crimson catalog was re-issued by EG, they standardised on the "Trifid Nebula" cover world-wide.
• Robert Fripp taught Boz Burrell how to play bass so that he could perform the instrument as well as sing on the album. Burrell later became the bassist for the band Bad Company.
• The original LP cover displayed neither the name of the band nor the title.
• "Islands" was covered by Japanese artist Ai Aso on the She's So Heavy split 7". The song was also covered on Alice's Viaggio In Italia.
• The harmonic basis for the tune "The Letters" is derived from the Giles, Giles, and Fripp song "Why Don't You Just Drop In," available on The Brondesbury Tapes compilation.
• On the original vinyl issue of the album, after a few silent rotations of the disc at the end of side two, some rustling sounds became audible, followed by the sounds of feet shuffling, the odd instrument being tuned, and finally a voice, possibly Fripp's, saying "Alright, let's try it twice more, once with the oboe, once without it." A single note or two are heard before the needle lifts from the record. This little surprise bonus was not included on the initial CD release but was restored on all subsequent reissues.

Track listing

Side one

1. "Formentera Lady" (Robert Fripp, Peter Sinfield) – 10:14
2. "Sailor's Tale" (Fripp) – 7:21
3. "The Letters" (Fripp, Sinfield) – 4:26

Side two

1. "Ladies of the Road" (Fripp, Sinfield) – 5:28
2. "Prelude: Song of the Gulls" (Fripp) – 4:14
3. "Islands" (Fripp, Sinfield) – 11:51

Personnel

King Crimson

• Robert Fripp – guitar, mellotron, Peter's pedal harmonium, sundry implements
• Peter Sinfield - words, sounds and visions
• Boz Burrell – bass, lead vocals, choreography
• Mel Collins – saxophones, flutes, mellotron
• Ian Wallace – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Paulina Lucas – soprano (vocals)
• Keith Tippett – piano
• Robin Miller – oboe
• Mark Charig – cornet
• Harry Miller – double bass

External links

• Lyrics