Larks' Tongues In Aspic

I really hate prog rock. I get the impression they think they're way more clever than they actually are. They're just farting about and making random noises. It's utterly tedious. There's a bit of nice violin in there which always gets my attention, and some nice piano and musical bits AT TIMES. That's where my 1 star is going. But it's like a feeble ray of light shining on a giant cloud of guff, which can't quite penetrate it and break free.

prog noodling outweighs good tunes

I’ve been pretty high, but never King Crimson high

Aspic Rodeo anyone? Headphones are the way to go with this one. First, the headphones are critical to avoid the verbal and visual insubordination of family members who are within earshot. On my first attempt to listen without headphones, before the first song was done my son came home and bribed me by saying he would cook us dinner as long as I turned the damn thing off.  I was kinda hungry so . . . . Also, I was not getting into it since it's terrible background music. With headphones though it's a completely different story. The drums / timbales and strings on The Talking Drum are excellent. It has a middle eastern feel to it - even though the album is apparently Eastern Europe influenced.  Fripp is a master at getting his guitar to make sounds that other guitar players only hear in their dreams. He is also very good at making his guitar make normal guitar sounds as he shows on Book of Saturday.   I invented a game called  Aspic Rodeo to play when company comes over. I'll play this album and whoever lasts the longest  before asking me to turn it off wins. 

Ohhh, finally! An album that I already listened complete before I started this challenge! Ok, so let's start by saying that King Crimson is my favourite band. Like, not just my favourite prog rock band, my favourite band of ALL times alongside The Beatles, Queen and Black Sabbath. Each of its albums, except for In The Wake of Poseidon, are extremely different from each other and almost feel like they were made by different bands, and they technically are, since the lineup of the project has changed thousands of times, the only constant member being Robert Fripp. And from all of their studio albums, LTIA is definitely one of the weirdest ones, but it has some of the most talented musicians working on it, namely Jamie Muir and Bill Bruford, and many others. Even though this is not my favourite album of King Crimson (I would put it in fifth or sixth place in a ranking) it is still a great and hugely influential album, mixing classic prog rock with world music, neo-classical sounds, heavy metal and possibly one of the earliest prog metal and avant-garde metal songs in history: the Larks' Tongues in Aspics suite, which has five parts, that span four albums and 30 years in the making. It is possible that bands like TOOL or Dream Theater would have never existed without this album so I guess that deserves at least four stars. Screw it, the album cover is my profile photo of Discord, I'll give it five stars

Not bad but just a bit too much progressive and not enough rock to keep me entertained and intrigued

Some cool moments, plus a bunch of proggy nonsense

A highly inaccessible King Crimson that grows with every listen. Employing a lot of space, these tracks take their time and involve a lot of carefully planned improvisation that's very entrancing to focus on. No bad tracks, every one stood out and felt necessary, which has a leg over In the Court which has "Moonchild." Overall though, it's not as powerful as In the Court's tracks, but about as memorable. "Larks Tongue Part I" is characterized by a juxtaposition between pleasant but sometimes concerning violin textures, and a high-tone metallic guitar that goes hard. It's simple but has so much to offer, taking so many turns along the way, changing the mood and vibe multiple times by the time it reaches the end. "Book of Saturday" is our short pop song, very pleasant, groovy, and folk-like, as if telling a medieval tale. Just three strings (the guitar, violin, and bass), and they're all unpredictable, going wherever they like, but also clear. "Exiles" has a calming cool jazz structure. Very smooth and colorful with a satisfying conclusion. The second side takes a turn as the mood tenses and starts to rock. "Easy Money" immediately gets into it, with a chilling introduction followed by a confusing complicated middle section that introduces all sorts of strange sounds and effects. Ironically enough, despite having the strangest sounds, it has the most consistent groove (between the beat and bassline) and is thus the most accessible track (after "Book of Saturday" of course), dominated by an easy-to-follow cool guitar. "The Talking Drum" is a personal favorite. It's a couple minutes of quiet sparse noise until instruments come in, forming some krautrock-like sound, gradually and gradually building up in anticipation until it explodes into greatness. It's the most frightening track, with the violin and guitar fighting as they get louder and more dissonant. This segues to our final track, the epic "Larks Tongue Part II." It's our hardest rock, very fast-paced and in-your-face but still has its quiet moments. It explodes one more time before ending the whole record.

aika perkuleesti on juttua kuultu crimson pojasta..odotukset ylhäällä kuin hepokatti laitumella. ensimmäinen vartti instrumentalllia...sitten tulee roguh wadursmaista vokaalinlyräytystä... ei voi muuta kun antaa aplodit, koko albumi laatu kamaa... exiles

not shot these mf actually made this in 1973

Hadn't listened to the one at all, I only know the screaming man album. Really enjoyed it, it sounds like the birth of math rock!

I found myself constantly feeling like I was caught off-guard. This was despite going into this album with 0 expectations or knowledge of what it would be like. So much of it was unexpected. Take the first song Lark's Tongue in Aspic for example. It starts with a simple tune using what sounds like a glockenspiel or xylophone. Am I in kindergarten? What is this trash? Next thing I know I'm being blown away by a disgusting guitar solo. Then a cacophony of string and drum instruments. This is all just the first song. And I think oh so this is just a crazy experimental instrumental album or something? Next song, Book of Saturday, features mostly vocals and sounds a lot like Tool. There's animal sounds, the unmistakable sound of feet sloshing through the mud, and just a vast array of instruments you don't normally hear. You can feel a Pink Floyd influence reminiscent of Time. My first listen to this album was a trip to say the least.

I don't want to say that one shouldn't record jam sessions, but to me, most of this album sounded like unrefined or unapplied musical exploration – the kind of playing that might be helpful in creating songs or warming up for gigs. This overall impression was overcome neither by the one song I enjoyed in its entirety nor the poetic intro and outro ordering of Parts I and II.

Disturbing

The rate went down as the album went on, I mean, it’s a try hard effort. Has its (few) moments tho

I've been super disappointed in this album. I love the band and adore some of their other albums, but I find very little to get excited about with this.

Garbage! Why is this on the list?

Awful. King Crimson did great stuff. None of that is on this messy unlistenable album.

Tried two times to listen to it but it didn't hit the button for me, didn't finished 🥲

yuck sound

What an absolutely fascinating band. Ever-changing, ever-evolving, and always original and creative. Robert Fripp to this day seems to me to possess such an interesting and curious mind. And, of course, what a guitarist. I love the way he uses the instrument; very much on his own path. So refreshing. Great album art, too, by the way. I need to explore more of King Crimson's and Robert Fripp's work. I've listened to some of Robert Fripp's ambient music albums this year, and they are excellent. I know a few people who have seen King Crimson play live, even quite recently, and they raved about the experience. I hope to get out to see them one of these days -- would be such a treat!

For me this is one of the best progrock albums ever.

Un des meilleurs albummde prog dans ce genre. Mon prefere de king crimson. 5

this was definitely as good as a larks tongue in a spack.

It is a masterpiece of rock music - not just prog rock - and one of the best albums of this band. I could write endless paragraphs about it. The strongest suit might be the highly versatile jump between complex and challenging parts as well as the the melodies and atmosphere. 'Books of Exile' is reminiscent of the more 'romantic' KC while something like 'Easy Money' shows how banging and jamming goes. Absolutely gorgeous!

Thought it was absolutely brilliant.

King Crimson is one of my favorite bands. Top 3. Easy Money is one of my favorite songs. Bill Bruford is one of the most brilliant drummers ever, and Robert Fripp is a strange little genius. Lark's Tongue in Aspic Part II is insane live.

PROG FUCKING PROG!

What it sounds like inside my head

This is wonderfully 'nanas! 🍌 Don't think I've really checked this King Crimson album out before, so thanks 1001 project! Fave track - I love the contrast of 13 minutes of silliness in "Larks' Tongues In Aspic (part 1)" suddenly breaking out into beautiful conventional "Book of Saturday". It's like emerging from a tunnel, or the sun coming out from behind clouds - lovely feeling!

I totally dig prog rock and this is totally my jam. Larks' Tongue In Aspic (Parts 1 and 2) and Book Of Saturday are the standouts for me. Also love the bonus tracks.

Honestly, don’t know how I haven’t listened to this band before. Incredible. Can’t wait to explore more.

Not quite as iconic, but a bit more soundscapey than In the Court of the Crimson King. I still think it was at a solid 5.

Another obvious choice of a prog-rock album for the list. Beautiful.

It's bonkers. I think it's really good. Can certainly get easily lost on you, though. Favorite Tracks: 3 minutes into pt 1, The Talking Drum 4.5/5

It took me three listens, but I loved it. King Crimson walked so Radiohead could run

amazing!

gloriously weird. 5 stars.

wasn't sure I really got it, so listened twice then another time; kind of snuck up that I was super enjoying it. Strange but liked it, a genuinely different album that deserves on this list.

It doesn't keep a beat, you can't dance to it, it definitely doesn't gel together in any traditional sense. My ears love it though. Made in the 70s too? Feels like this was decades ahead. Some of these songs sound like they could be the first progenitors of entire genres like math rock. Easy 5.

This one was absolutely sick. I had only known King Crimson from their debut record, which is also great. They definitely switched up their sound on this one, as they basically had an entirely new lineup except Fripp. I think they leaned more heavily into the psych sound with this one. All the theatrical high points of their debut are now replaced with noisy psych freakouts. The musicianship is out of this world. No seriously, you'll be transported to another world while listening to this.

Excited to listen to this after the last King Crimson album. I had a long one typed out but it got deleted somehow ugh. Key points - love the weirdness of this album. At points reminds me of Floyd which makes sense with the progginess. The bass slaps. Violin was a great addition over some of this freeform stuff. Larks' Tongues pt. 1 was a serious rollercoaster. Rips, then is spooky, then is beautiful. Easy Money is also a solid number. I really really need to listen to more King Crimson.

Listened Before? Yes Album Art: 4 / 5 (love the simplicity and cleanliness) So I've definitely listened to this before, but don't remember anything in specific. As far as KC goes, Court and Red are the two that stand out from their expansive catalog. Decided to go headphones on after 2 solid minutes of triangle and plunky bell sounds. Wow this song is like super proggy post-rock -- in particular the last 2-3 minutes. Expansive song that has both atmospheric and more driven sections. Book of Saturday abandons the sprawling format for a 3 minute prog-rock song. Crisp production putting the guitar / bass front and center with reversing effects and string accompaniment. Easy Money has one of the coolest goddamned jams followed by one of the wildest lyrical re-entries I have heard in recent memory. Feels of a similar ilk to Animals by Pink Floyd and I love it. A direct line can easily be drawn between Larks pt II and some songs that UM have put on record. Deeply unsettling prog in the best possible way. I'm all about this; confused why I haven't given this album as much time of day as the rest of KC's catalog. While it is no In the Court or Red, this is still an amazing entry into the prog cannon. Love the fusion elements present in pt II of the title track that remind of Mahavisnu Orchestra (namely the inclusion of violin / viola). 5 / 5. Added to Library? Yes Songs Added to Playlists: - Book of Saturday (Rainy / Tired)

After a year’s break between studio releases and many personell changes, King Crimson re-emerged in 1973 with wholly new members and a wholly new sound (a common theme in most of the band’s history). Alongside guitarist, mellotronist and only constant member Robert Fripp are precussionist and drummer Bill Bruford, fresh out of Yes, bassist and vocalist John Wetton, violinist and keyboardist David Cross and Jamie Muir, credited as playing percussion and “allsorts”. Jamie Muir is perhaps the most important in defining the character of this specific iteration of the band: Alongside supremely disciplined and serious technical musicians is a fur-coated madman slamming sheets of metal, blowing a whistle in his mouth, rattling chains, then sitting behind a drum-kit to play along with the song, then getting up to continue plunking bottles and other assorted instruments and non-instruments. In The Court Of The Crimson King this is not, or any sound previously explored by the band. In place of dramatic epics and woodwinds are noise, screeching violins and pummeling heaviness. These two sides of the band’s sound are neither totally abandoned or new, of course, but in style and atmosphere the band is nearly unrecognisable. Worth mentioning also is the change from previous lyricist Peter Sinfield to Richard Palmer-James, replacing flowery, fantasy inspired texts with more contemporary topics, such as criminals and displeased lovers. Pertaining to this however is also the fact that over half of the album is instrumental. One such instrumental is “Lark’s Tongues In Aspic (Part 1)”, opening the album starkly with what sounds like a kalimba, playing a playful melody. Various sounds eventually drown out the melody, segueing into a tense continuous violin. The violin ascends, an evil guitar playing over it, drums build, and a considerably heavy full band section takes stage; overdriven guitars, overdriven bass, and indistinct feedback for good measure. This dynamic repeats and then leads into another stark moment: A rapid, sharply angular guitar figure, as meticulous as it seems spontaneous. Following this atonal precision is a funky jam, over which Fripp’s guitar figure is played over in clever contrast. A faster jam section is next, then leading into an extended section centering on solo violin. Previously I’d estimated this section taking up most of the second half of the piece, but timing it now it’s only around 3 minutes! Clever pacing or a meandering sidetrack? Your mileage may vary. After this section rounds out, we are reintroduced to the violin line from the beginning, only with guitars and violin trading roles. This builds up to the mysterious climax of the song, led by bass guitar, and capped of with the playing of a xylophone. Displaying their wide range, King Crimson follow up the longest, most difficult to grasp piece on the album with the shortest, most straightforward one: “Book Of Saturdays”. This album is not just irreverent chaos, with moments of simple beauty on this song and the final one of side A, the sunny “Exiles”. Singing violin, longing vocals and a wonderful guitar solo featuring Fripp’s inimitable suistanes tone closes of the first half of the album. Starting off side B is the bossy “Easy Money”. This is one of the songs where Jamie Muir is most present, among the discernable percussive sounds being the ripping of tape and what sounds like stomping in a pile of mud. The penultimate track, “The Talking Drum”, is essentially a 7 and a half minute build-up. Simple, yet effective. This build-up climaxes in some, quite honestly, painful screeching, which then satisfyingly leads into the closer, “Larks Tongues In Aspic (Part 2)”. An excellent, rocking instrumental, ending the album in a cathartic explosion of loud sound. Following the album, King Crimson continued following the pattern found in all of it’s history: Members left, their music shifted accordingly and the band moved on to make more fantastic music. Jamie Muir ended up being the first to leave, seemingly because he didn’t care for the hassle, leaving this incarnation of the band one-off and this album remaining the most progressive prog album for 30 years.

Incredible Musicianship.

An epic art and prog rock opus. Peak kc.

That was a good Progressive Rock album that is timeless.

This album isn’t accessible, I get it. But, I love weird shit like this, so this was right up my alley. Listening to this with headphones was a great call. This album has amazing production, and had so many highlights and standout moments for me. The two-part title track was one I loved. It was noodling, but I thought it was fun. Loved this one a lot! Will see myself coming back to this.

I expected this to be unusual and it certainly was. Progressive rock for sure. The journey was fascinating and I was delighted, entranced and excited at where we might be taken next on this epic musical journey. To my surprise when the bonus tracks started I let them play and they were a worthy addition to the listen. Really terrific album that I am very glad to have encountered. I had no idea that I was a progressive rock guy, but I’m starting to come to terms with it. I love the grandiosity and bombast of this album!

Very experimental record, although that is what you sign up for when putting on a King Crimson album! The first one to feature world class drummer Bill Bruford on record, and what a great addition he is! The middle eastern, oriental influence is a welcome one too. And Robert Fripp is musicianship is just phenomenal! Standouts: Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Pt. 1, Book Of Saturday, Exiles, Easy Money, Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Pt. 2 9 out of 10

I would have personally gone for "Red" instead, but it's fine - both albums are a 5/5. This is very much music that would make a Victorian child explode into red mist on the spot. A very challenging album. It took me 3 whole listens to hear anything in this other than noise, but once it clicked, it clicked hard. Yaddy yadda, insert a paragraph of nerd shit about time signatures or something. Nobody cares, here's a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lij_Uu1ucAk

There are more insane musical ideas in this album than you will find in the entire career of most progressive rock bands. Larks' Tongues is unique, creative and abrasive. Only King Crimson can manipulate and control the chaos like that!

Very wah wah

I am a huge Crim-head and this is a great record. I will admit that some of these tunes become truly special when played live. The studio environment results in some odd non-musicality probably just because it's more possible to have that result in studio than it is to have playing live.

Majestic af

Fantastic! Creative blend of Rock Jazz and new Age.

One of my favourites of all time. I bought this on the back of 'In the Court of the Crimson King' and was horrified. It's dark experimental mash of styles and sound. Over time I relistened and now love it dearly. This takes time and patience.

Part I of Larks' Tongues In Aspic is an epic album opener, and part II is an epic closer. I really dug the thick instrumentation of this album, and the violin lines are a unique touch that I felt added a lot. The only part of this that I didn't really enjoy was the vocal performance on Exiles - regardless, I could see this being my favorite King Crimson album once I've given the others their due, and I'll definitely be coming back to it. 9/10. Favorite Songs: Larks' Tongues In Aspic Part I, Easy Money, The Talking Drum, Larks' Tongues In Aspic Part II Least Favorite Song: Exiles

It was way better than I thought it was at the start just stick with it

Impressionante a capacidade criativa para elevar o progressivo ao um estado de envolvimento completo no ambiente da audição.

perfection, like the sound of drums, violin (violin?), guitars, bass, and the overall feel. this seems almost timeless, apart from a a few parts that betray that it's the seventies

King Crimson is one of my favorite bands of all time and in my opinion the best prog rock band ever. This album, like almost all of theirs, is simply incredible. A textbook example of what prog should be.

Probably my favorite King Crimson album so far

Part 1 - So Original, so provocative, so progressive 😎👍 Book of Saturday - So so 😐 Exiles - Pure Brilliance. Loved it ⭐ Easy Money - Unreal. Brilliant musicianship. Love the beat ⭐ The Talking Drum - A bit too experimental, but nice touches Part II - Fantastic ⭐ This is definitely a 5 star album ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

beautiful musical experience, альбом слушается как цельное произведение, запись очень чистая - "хрусталик"

C'est sûr qu'à la base j'aime beaucoup King Crimson, donc j'ai un préjugé favorable envers le groupe. J'aime beaucoup cette série de 3 albums (les 2 autres étant Red et Starless and Bible Black). Red reste mon préféré de cette série, mais Larks' Tongues est très près. J'aime les dissonances dans les pièces et ses côtés très rock par moment. Les percussions aussi sont intéressantes. Le côté deux drums sur Larks' Tongues part 2 donne un aperçu de ce que le groupe fera plus tard avec sa formation en double trio. La pochette est superbe.

Un album simpatico. Bello il sound degli anni '70. Interessante la combinazione degli strumenti.

Belle découverte, je trouve ça vraiment intéressant, même si je ne l’écouterais pas tous les jours

Samo se nadam da je dobar kao što je album cover. 8:21. // 9:07 - ovaj album mi je bolji od In the Court of Crimson King, don't @ me.

Normally this progressive songwriting and instrumentals would frustrate me, but I was intrigued from beginning to end! Cool adventure of sounds.

ok

Sko, þetta er alltaf áhugavert, oft skemmtilegt, og ég mun alltaf vera þakklátur fyrir Robert Fripp. Ég ætla samt ekki endilega að hlusta á hverjum degi.

Ein gutes Album, das ich ausnahmsweise schon kannte. Ist nicht zu lang, hat aber ein paar Längen.

Of all the prog rock albums I’ve gotten, this is definitely high on the list. It was much cooler than 2112 and the larks tongues in aspic parts 1 and 2 were the standouts.

excellent hidden gem. I liked it a lot and would like more listens. probably a 4.5.

I was skeptical going in but this was very interesting and enjoyable

After a few days of stuff that isn’t Really For Me At All, I was glad to get an album that I know I love. Not one of KC’s top tier releases, but it’s bookended by some of their most lovely compositions. B+

Not sure I've ever sat down and listened to a King Crimson album before. There was a lot to like here, but it was pretty spaced-out. 3.5/5

I've been taking a deep dive into Prog thanks to a question posited in a Facebook group, "How Prog was Bowie?" The answer: The Man Who Sold the World. Thanks to this discussion, my curiosity, and the movie Mandy, I've been actively listening to King Crimson, early Peter Gabriel Genesis, Can & more of Pink Floyd. To be fair, I had already been lightly dipping my toes into Prog & Krautrock for the last few years. Back to the album - I enjoyed it. It was atmospheric, calming, unnerving, alien, ethereal, and beautiful. You bet I'll be listening to this again. Probably cued up after Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. 4 out of 5 but will likely turn into a 5 pretty soon.

Jag räknade på det och det är exakt 79 gånger bättre än Yes och ELP.

I liked this. I liked the mish-mash and the quick switch into early metal. I liked it.

Real good. Will be adding to my King Crimson rotation along with Crimson King and Red, the latter of which I was compelled to stick on after I listened to this.

Lick me bum bum. It's a freakin' masterpiece. A scrunched up sock full of dog shit thrown at your headmaster. A baby in a manger smoking a rolled up cigarette and shouting cruel observations as passers-by. A proud Norwegian woman slipping over in a dance hall. A couple of Nazi barmen pouring a round of orange juice for a group of yoga mums. The ending of Titanic performed by school children for an unimpressed bank manager.

Creative, exciting, nerdy. I like it!

Speciaal. Maar de willekeur vind ik wel tof

I liked their other album better. Ut I have always been a fan of prog rock

7/10. Mr. Crimson, were those wet sounds at the start of easy money really needed? A couple pretty cool bits, but some sleepier parts too.

8/10 some of the weird animal sounds were grating but overall really cool prog rock, as expected

I'm still not sure I "get" King Crimson, but it went really well with the epic thunderstorms sweeping through the area.

A typically complexing, rewarding listen. Signs of the direction that King Crimson would take on subsequent albums is evident in the title track, but there still remain traces of the old Crimson in the more contemplative numbers Book of Saturday and Exiles. Easy Money is fine musically but the lyrics haven't stood the test of time But overall a really good album

I've never listened to King Crimson aside from the legendary In The Court of The Crimson King but perhaps I should've. This is really good. It does suffer a tad from the pitfalls of prog but it wasn't all that noticeable to me. I could see it being a 5, those title track songs are great. I just can't see it as 5 yet. Maybe after more listens. For now it's a Iron clad 4.

A-spictacular album

listened to again a trippy prog masterpiece

This was probably one of the most interesting albums I’ve listened to in a while. It found a way to he heavy and rocky at points and then suddenly switch to these pretty ambient sounds and vice versa. It was very dense and atmospheric with so many different sounds going on. I will say that there’s not a lot of stand out tracks individually but as an album it’s so tight and cohesive that I can’t help but really like it.

I love In The Court but haven't ever really listened to King Crimson outside of that record, and reading that this album featured a mostly new line-up (including a new lyricist/vocalist) I didn't know what to expect. But I did end up enjoying most of this! The violin added a new element to some of the slower passages, though it was mixed a little too quiet in some instances. I loved the noodly guitar parts and the drums were amazing when they were allowed to be fully present. Very good record, if you're into some self-indulgent prog wanking.

Smash

Been a fan of King Crimson for decades. Really like the noise aspect of this album.

Great prog rock album with some really unique tunes. I'd love to have more structure in it, though.

Great

Unique blend of psychedelic folk and rock.