In The Wake Of Poseidon

''In the Wake of Poseidon'' is the second studio album by English progressive rock group King Crimson, released in May 1970 by Island Records in Europe, Atlantic Records in the United States, Philips Records in Australia, and Vertigo Records in New Zealand. To date the album is their highest-charting in the UK, reaching number 4.

The album was recorded during a period of instability within the band owing a fluctuating lineup. It follows a very similar musical style and track sequence to their first album, ''In the Court of the Crimson King''. The album was well-received by contemporary critics, who commended the overall execution and production quality as an improvement over that of the band's debut. However, later assessments have faulted its heavy reliance on the template established by its predecessor, and generally deem the album inferior.

Background

Ian McDonald and Michael Giles left the band following their first American tour in 1969. Around the same time Greg Lake was approached by Keith Emerson to join what would become Emerson, Lake & Palmer. With the absence of McDonald, Robert Fripp took on part of the keyboard-playing role in addition to guitar. As Lake's position in the band was unclear, then-unknown Elton John was booked to sing on the recording sessions for ''In the Wake of Poseidon'', but Fripp had second thoughts and cancelled the booking. Lake ultimately decided to leave, but agreed to sing on the recordings, negotiating to receive King Crimson's PA equipment as payment. He ended up singing on all but one of the album's vocal tracks. The exception was "Cadence and Cascade", which featured a guest vocal by Fripp's old schoolfriend and teenage bandmate Gordon Haskell. An early mix of the song with Lake singing a guide vocal was later unearthed and featured on the DGM site as a download. Michael Giles agreed to play on the album after an initial attempt to find a new drummer to replace him proved unsuccessful, while his brother Peter played bass (the brothers and Fripp had all worked together in the pre-Crimson band Giles, Giles and Fripp). Another performer was Mel Collins (formerly of the band Circus) on saxophones and flute, while jazz pianist Keith Tippett made a guest appearance on three tracks.

Fripp, Lake, Tippett, and the Giles brothers appeared on ''Top of the Pops'' miming "Cat Food". This would be King Crimson's only appearance on the show.

With the album on sale, Fripp and Sinfield remained in the awkward position of having King Crimson material and releases available, but no band to play it. Fripp persuaded Mel Collins and Gordon Haskell to join permanently, with Haskell also handling bass as well as vocals. Drummer Andy McCulloch, another Dorset musician moving in the West London progressive rock circle, who had previously been a member of Shy Limbs (alongside Greg Lake, who recommended him to Fripp) and Manfred Mann's Earth Band, was also recruited.

Content

The album opens with an a cappella piece called "Peace – A Beginning". An extended version of this piece, "Peace – A Theme", adds a middle eight and is performed on an unaccompanied acoustic guitar. This track appears at the beginning of side two, perhaps conceived as the mid-point of the album, and a third version, "Peace – An End" appears at the conclusion of the album. "Peace – An End" is to some extent a combination of the other two versions, containing both vocals and acoustic guitar as well as the middle eight, but the lyrics are entirely different from those of "Peace – A Beginning".

The strongly jazz fusion-influenced "Pictures of a City" was originally performed live, often extended to over ten minutes and was called "A Man, a City". An example of such a performance appears on the live compilation album ''Epitaph''.

The ballad "Cadence and Cascade" is about two groupies.

The longest track on the album is a chaotic instrumental piece called "The Devil’s Triangle". This was adapted from the 1969 band's live arrangement of Gustav Holst's "Mars: Bringer of War" (from his ''The Planets'' suite), later released on ''Epitaph'' (where it is titled merely "Mars"). "The Devil's Triangle" employs a different staccato riff than the one from "Mars". In 1971, a brief excerpt from "The Devil’s Triangle" was featured in "The Mind of Evil", the second serial of the eighth season of the BBC
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