Larks' Tongues In Aspic (Expanded Edition)

I saw this tour. It was without Jamie Muir who'd already headed to the ashram or wherever, but it's one of my most memorable shows. It featured this music which was the direction Fripp would be going until the bands with Belew and Levin. Bassist John Wetton was the man who made fans begin to forget the one who got away, Greg Lake. Very strong live, also. For me though, this album is about Fripp and Bruford. Ah, the magical dynamics. I can still remember early listens of this album and marveling at the guts it took to do this music with a rock audience. The audacity of Fripp! To this day--

Into the early 70s, a period of squishy so-called soft rock and prematurely geezerish arena rock and lots of treacly pop rock, Crimson launched 3 astonishing albums -- this, Starless, and Red -- that redrew the leading edge of everything rockfish. The blistering instrumental tracks like Lark's Tongue Part 2 were light-years ahead. Not so into the songs with vocals -- they harked back to the band's prog-rock 60s, and they'd soared far beyond prog by this point. But never mind. This is the first of 3 great, great LPs.

One of the most challenging and unusual records in the Crimson catalog, and ultimately one of the most rewarding. I did not understand "Larks Tongues in Aspic" when I first heard it, but even so I could not help but feel as if the deficiency was on my part. This was King Crimson, after all! But soon it all made sense. Initially I was infuriated by the first three minutes of the record, which consist of repetitive but quiet percussive sounds that don't seem to be going anywhere. But then BANG! It explodes into pure chaos, and lets the listener know that the mad scientists are at work. There is such dynamic contrast here that is carried not only within individual tracks, but over the course of the entire record. There is a logical flow here, and the whole record feels like a big crescendo, culminating in one of Crimson's most well-loved tracks "Larks Tongues in Aspic Part Two." There is beauty here too. "Book of Saturday" and "Exiles" are played with such incredible subtlety, you forget that they are a rock band at all. Given the high degree of creativity that was occurring in 1973, it is really an impressive feat that "Larks Tongues in Aspic" stands out as particularly imaginative. While, it was hinted at in Crimson's first four records, this was the first time that Fripp fully incorporated atonality into a rock framework. This alone is worthy of a great deal of attention. "Part Two" sounds like it is a direct homage to Bartok's String Quartet No. 4 (fifth movement). The use of post-tonal harmony within the texture of rock allows Crimson to achieve a musical affect that others have not. Now it's the twenty-first century, but we have still yet to come up with a good answer to this curious disc.

This is the best line for King Crimson. It starts out with the crazy instrumental "Larks' Tongues in Aspic Pt. I" which is a great album opener. "Exiles" is the most mellow song from the heavy album. The whole album deserves a 10/10 rating.

I love this album and the new expanded editions sounds so clear. Everything about this album is great: "Larks’ Tongues in Aspic" Parts 1 and 2 are harrowing and "Book of Saturday" and "Exiles" are beautiful. "The Talking Drum" is haunting and "Easy Money", my favorite off the album, is spectacular. Definitely recommended for any aspiring prog fan.

THey totally freaked me out11 Oh my God I loved it!!!!!! I was 20 in college....Like seeing The echoing amd light show!!! Too bad nothen like that in 2016

life changing album.. that's all that needs to be said.

This is the one I would take into exile. For guitar players, the opening solo Is the most difficult to play of the era. Well worth the effort. This is a recording that gets better as it goes along. Close your eyes and listen to it. You will learn a lot more than anything I could impart here. Michael Davis

Let's email Rock and roll hall of fame for Both!

It's amazing from beginning to end