Larks' Tongues In Aspic

Super strange, like an experimental jam band recording. Progressive Rock is a unique genre for sure, and I think I’d offer this album as an example of it. Brilliantly musical moments punctuated by absolute chaos.

Meh

A little too weird

Ok. I hear how they have influenced other bands in their sound. But their noodling on and on and on quickly looses its appeal to me. I’m also not impressed with continuous sixteenth notes. even if every percussive beat is a different note on a scale. They could be a cool band if they pulled their head out of their asses and wrote awesome, approachable songs. Instead they go for this noise is art nonsense instead.

If someone told me this was the soundtrack to some obscure C grade movie that was played once at a random film festival somewhere, I wouldn't be surprised.

Definitely “out there”. Psychedelic stuff. Flat out weird in places

Favorite Track: Easy Money

Generally a big fan of prog rock but this one is pretty inaccessible. An hour of noodling guitars and wandering themes that never quite land.

This felt like rock jazz, it was cool but also intolerable.

Probably cool if you're into it

It was creative but not my favorite.

I couldn't make it through this whole album, maybe I just wasn't in the mood? Glad I stuck it out to the middle of the album, there was something decent in there. But the start and end were pretty unpleasant. Easy 2 stars, didn't make my ears bleed but I hope I don't hear this again - This is gonna be some interesting prog rock... - Weird indeed. Don't think I'll be making it to the end of this one - I mean experimental is fine. But this is just banging on things and hoping it counts as music?? - Haven't made it through a song yet. Last try on song 3 (of 6)... Strong start for Exiles! Optimistic this album *might* manage 2 stars - Exiles was okay. No longer want to rip my earbuds out. - Strong redemption, but the first song ruined the whole experience. Didn't bother to finish, last 2 songs were whack too

not my type of music

Yaaaaaaaaaawn

The production is great and you can tell they are talented, but some of these songs are too long for me. There is never any kind of hook to be found either.

GETTING CAUGHT UP! just a bunch of noises for most of it but there are good moments. it's King Crimson, so of course! but still, what was this?

Apart from maybe fantasy metal, prog-rock is the most hilarious of genres. The delivery of “As you twinkle by in moccasin sneeeeeeeakers” is comic gold.

Oof.

Not much to like here, unless you’re stoned. I’m currently sober, so yawns.

electr., perc., rock, 1973 -> 2

This is ok. The violin parts and the "drum" song stand out from the rest.

Not really my jam, but interesting. Generally good vibes, but a little too avant garde for me

If tinnitus was an album.

not that bad

not for me

To me, this sounds like aural conceit and self indulgence. I don't know if I dislike prog-rock as a genre but I know I didn't like this.

Too psychedelic for me.

Odd but cool, jazzy, reminds me of The Comet Is Coming. fav = The Talking Drum

Prog Rock :-(

Nein, nicht meine Musik.

Interesting music but way too arty for me. 2 stars or D+.

Not a great listen for an anxious person.

A good half of this is just noises.

Meh, given these guys plenty of shots

People that say jazz is just “playing wrong notes but it sounds good” obviously don’t understand jazz but they also obviously haven’t listened to this album. THIS album is just a bunch of wrong notes that bills itself as “art rock” and I’m not sure where I stand on that principally, but I do know that it’s not for me

Crazy good guitar riffs all over the place, but this as a whole didn’t hold my attention. Too many sprawling songs and no direction, I need something a little more direct.

I’m clearly not intelligent enough for this one. Give me the Court though, that one is dumb enough for me.

That's not my taste in music

Nooooooooooooooo not again Oh cool eight songs in an hour im gonna love this. Maybe its bc im not listening as actively or because theres less vocal but im preferring this to the other album immensely. Still annoying but less interminable on the individual tracks. Actually the strings or whatever else is screeching on the last track is doing me head in what are you galatasaray fans. Shut up.

come on seriously

Not enjoyable listen, some hype moments that I enjoyed but a bit painful overall.

Too much off key sounding horns!

I can hear the influence this album had on other musicians I like but I did not enjoy this as a listening experience. Easy Money and to a lesser extent The Talking Drum are what saved this from getting one star.

Way more abstract than I'd like

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should

I think I liked their first album better than this one.

I normally really love king crimson, but this album was too inaccessible and hostile for my tastes to properly enjoy.

Leukani loksahti auki. Hyvin vaihtelevaa ja ajoittain hyvää. Liikaa psykedeelisyyttä makuuni, mutta melodisista osioista tykkäsin.

Thought this was a bunch of meandering nonsense for the most part. Didn’t hate it, but still…two stars.

Interesting prog rock. I've only listened to the first record before. It's ok. Feels very ummagumma-y for 1973. I liked Easy Money but everything is over 7 minutes long.

Boring noise for the most part

Similar to their other music on this list, it wasn't bad, but it feels much longer than it actually is, especially the instrumental tracks.

No standouts

I’m completely illiterate when it comes to prog and/or art rock. Is this just experimental music? I’m not sure what to make of this album altogether. I feel like it might be better understood or at least experienced under the influence of something psychedelic, but that’s not my vibe so it feels a bit lost on me. I find myself wondering who this album appeals to and who are King Crimson’s biggest fans. I’m thoroughly intrigued at the intended and chosen audience.

Wanky dull music doing its best to sound "different" There's a few nice moments. The start of Book of Saturday Its like early genesis gone wrong. Ron's gone wrong

A smattering of good bits amongst a bunch of nonsense. Typical Prog rock. 2 stars.

Not my cup of tea but this wasn't too bad. Mid 2s.

King Crimson has much better albums than this, so not sure why this also needed to be included.

beedly-beedly, with some Steve Reich influences.

To me there is nothing redeeming here. Not worth the first listen let alone another.

You know sometimes I don't want to listen to jam

Forgettable prog rock - nothing of substance and just kinda noise throughout the album. Not bad but just bland

Not a fan of this album; it doesn't go anywhere, and the prog elements detract from the overall experience. Not entirely bad.

Not for me.. not near as cool as their last entry

2 Stars (5/15)

Totally new to me. Very out there get proto pros rock hints but fairly off kilter. Not sure I’d go back and listen again but the musicians have talent and seems like they were allowed to run wild with whatever instruments they could find. Could see a band like GYBE being influenced by this.

Feels like I'm infringing on their copyright by listening to this :/

This felt more like an experiment and an experience than an album, which was really neat, but didn't do much for me.

Too much navel gazing progressive noodling to make this album accessible enough to listen to.

2.5

King Crimson is just one of those classic critically acclaimed bands that I just do not get. Everyone seems to love them and their albums so much, calling them works of art and masterpieces, and perhaps Larks’ Tongues In Aspic is a little lower in many people’s rankings of their greatest work, but my point still stands that I just don’t quite understand it. It isn’t all that amazing to me. In fact, it was a mostly dry and boring listen. I will admit that some of those instrumental rock segments went hard, but a large portion I was sitting wanting it to be done already.

It is sonic, but not always music. I don't hate it, but I'm also not high enough to enjoy or appreciate it. This album makes me uncomfy. Maybe that's the objective, but I don't see why it should be.

Thoughts before listening: I have never done a King Crimson deep dive before. I listened to In the Court of the Crimson King as part of this project and was familiar with a handful of songs before that listen, but for the most part their catalog has seemed too dense for my interests. I feel that way about a lot of prog rock even though I do tend to enjoy the albums when I give them a chance. I hope I will feel the same about this one. Review: Yeah so this is the side of prog rock I can't connect with. Where as Court of the Crimson King had some sections that lost me, that album still has some great rocking songs. This one is a tougher listen although I do really like "Easy Money". 2-stars

This is weird and I feel like I should have known that but I didn’t. When I think of King Crimson I picture King Diamond and they are really far apart in musical style. This album had promise . If only they had let the guitars do their thing instead of mashing a bunch of instruments together to make a collective noise, I would have like this much better. I get that it’s artsy prog rock. Sort of operatic at times but so is Queen and they hash out hits in between sleepers. I’m not impressed and I’m hurt by that. I had very high hopes.

A few good moments but mostly wading through copious amounts of noise to get there

Didn't land with me

Not loving this. Too little lyrics and too much needless experimentation. They weren’t adding anything with this and on top of that none of these songs were fun. The tracks that came close were way too long. Just not happy at all about any of this or anything ever. Fuck me. 2/5

I bet it’s good if you listen to it more. But too experimental for casual listening imo

Gross another one of these. I really didn’t like in the Court. So fine. Let’s try again. You know you’re in for some prog bullshit when the first sound you hear on a rock album is a kalimba. Nothing fucking works on the first song. None of the sections flow into each other. It’s just a series of disconnected ideas. What if we hit a bunch of metal and shit. It just sounds like a bunch of dudes fucking around in their garage. Hell the TITLE doesn’t even make sense. If I can give it praise it’s chaotic and a little disconcerting all over, but what does that have to do with a tiny birds tongue in Jello???? I feel like my biggest issue with prog rock is it’s not nearly weird enough to be interesting, but also not catchy enough to be listenable. And then the very end of the song sounds so good god damn it. It’s loud and strange and sounds amazing. Then, a lot like in the Court, the rest of the songs are just…here’s some soft rock. Okay I actually really like Book of Saturday. Easy Money is a baffling decision. “Guys I just stepped in some mud outside how can we incorporate that sound?”

Jam band testing out their instruments......not sure what I was listening to.

sometimes maybe good sometimes maybe shit

Weird

Yeah, this really wasn't for me. A couple of the songs were fine, but I hated The Talking Drums and both the opening and closing songs. So when you hate 3 of the 5 songs on it, it's tough to rate it high. Only thing I'll give it, at least it wasn't boring.

I’m not a prog rock fan at all. This isn’t as annoying as some. The middle eastern vibe of “The Talking Drum” was cool. Goes in the two star category with most jazz: I know it takes talent but I don’t want to listen to it.

Sometimes I felt like thy were being experimental and artsy and other times it came across as a high school garage band that didn't know what they were doing. The first three minutes of Lark's Tongue was trying to be artsy but Part II was just a bunch of guys that thought they could play trying to jam out together. Its not awful, but I don't get this one being included, because its just random songs, with little emotion being created by them.

This was kind of a snoozefest and a little hard to follow. It wasn't terrible, there was certainly some interesting instrumentation and it had a few pretty rockin' moments at different builds of the tracks. But overall, the songs were long and all over the place, and it just didn't move me or groove me.

Its weird, but I can't tell if its good weird or bad weird... middle weird?

Nothing here for me.

marty that was very interesting music

Can’t get into it, too prog for me.

This has it's moments, but this mostly felt directionless.

Instrumental noise, not a fan

Forgot my tophat ans monicle. Couldn't get into it then

Parts of it were cool. But parts of it were just... annoying

Het begin van dit album sluit perfect aan bij die Baaba Maal die ik net heb afgerond, dus dat is wel mooi. Helaas begint al gauw de relatief vergezochte progmeuk te stromen. Tuurlijk zijn er leuke momentjes en klinkt het af en toe ook wel eens mooi, maar tussendoor krijg je een hoop geneuzel om je doorheen te worstelen, gekloot met de opname, de drummer die op willekeurige voorwerpen begint te tikken. Doseren blijft een kunst. Ik kan gerust zeggen dat dit allemaal wat langdradig is. Ellenlang opbouwen naar feitelijk niks. De gemiddelde Russische filmklassieker is er niks bij. Fluitje, strijkertje, gitaartje, folky elementen: helemaal leuk. Het klinkt ook allemaal echt wel goed in de koptelefoon, maar in deze langgerekte vorm haak ik een klein beetje af. Ik krijg er een beetje de kriebels van. Dat gekloot met die manische lachjes ook altijd. Een misschien net iets te strenge 2 sterren dan. Met wat knip- en snijwerk kun je hier een 4 van maken. Het is zeker niet totaal kut, maar als ik hier een 3 voor geef heb ik het gevoel dat ik me slimmer voor doe dan ik eigenlijk ben.

Learned about them but not my thing

the highs were mid but the lows were so so low

Meh

I lived a full life listening to this long album and I don’t actually mind Fripps funky prog rock sound scapes yet for a second I thought it slipped and was listening to ye ole captain beefheart but I am ethically obliged to say it is refreshing 0 taste high maintenance music in symbiosis with pursuing lofty grad goals at stem school but winding up being a catatonic creative marketing consultant for marajuana dispensarys. Just play a synthesizer in your bathroom while setting up your dab rig and you’ll have the same energy. Neat strings and piano on some songs though. You won’t find any sound healing here. I will say gotta I like xylophone intros and smooth sailing sound effects. I think plants would like this album.

Prog rock...2.

I cannot get into Prog Rock. It just doesn't hold my attention. Personal enjoyment: 2/5 Relevance to this list: 3/5

Kind of a big profit mess. Really don’t know what to think. Imagine it would take a number of listens to really get this album. 2.5

There are moments where it’s quite interesting but it’s generally bloated and OTT. For some reason I quite liked the drumming

I’d really rather not listen to another King Crimson record, but I guess I’ll try to suffer through this… the first few minutes are not helping your case though. Get on with it! As far as prog rock from the 70s goes, it’s better to sound more like Sabbath than, idk, a synth orchestra, so some style points are in order, but otherwise, I’m exhausted by this.

There were a couple moments in the first song where I said here we go and they never did. Points for being musically proficient

It’s definitely an acquired taste. Despite the amazing musicianship on offer, it does not land with me but many aspects of it sounded like it landed with Queens of the Stone Age (and Josh Homme in particular).

Meandering, partly instrumental prog rock. I wasn't into it.

Opening track starts with an entirely superfluous three and a half minute intro before continuing on for another nine minutes of which only a few are interesting. Track three and we’re doing the long nothing intro again. Track four starts with nonsense words and then is interspersed with random cartoon sounds and voices. Track five—another long intro to a long song. Great, some trumpet that sounds like a sizable gnat flying past your ear and some violin that sounds like a mosquito. After four minutes, this turns into a decent, yet off kilter jam before the stupid trumpet comes back. Hey! We’re right into it on track six, but we’ve got another seven minutes to get through. Another song that isn’t interesting enough to justify its runtime. Albums like this make me wonder if I’m just not smart enough to get it, or if the album’s existence as a recording is miraculous because the band should’ve never made it back from how far they disappeared up their own asses during the writing process.

I don’t get it

There is good prog rock and bad prog rock. This is the latter.

The album was a mix. The instruments were great, the voice not so much.

tbh did not finish--it was fine; very experimental at times

This is a highly specific comment pertient to maybe 6 people, but this could have been the BFO. There are moments of greatness, and the rest is rambling greatness or future greatness but is mostly mathematical jam jazz rock the comes across pretentious and boring.

I didn’t like this one as much as the other King Crimson record I received, but there were still some cool moments scattered throughout. This type of music can just be a tough listen though.

Tough to get through. And then there’s extra tracks ?! No thx

This was frustrating, there were enough flashes of good stuff here that King Crimson could be Yes if they wanted to be. Instead they employed possibly the worst example of big quiet gaps/ambient nonsense on the list so far. Multiple times I thought the song had stopped, you cant mix it so quiet that I need to be in perfect silence to appreciate your whispery string sections. I think they were strings, couldn't hear em. Larks' tongues in aspic feels like a prog parody name, something from Spinal Tap. Part II was probably the best song and there were bits in the jam sessions at the end that were better than the actual songs. 1.5 for what could have been but a terrible album.

Really disappointed. I like 21st Century Schizoid Man, from In the Court of the Crimson King, and expected more of the same stuff. It is mostly half-hearted jams. I really liked Book of Saturday, had the most structure and sounded like a song. The rest were a bit weird, elements of "Larks' Tongues in Aspic I" were good, and "Larks' Tongues in Aspic II" was better, there was a cool mid-section, but the rest...

Mé

Some cool things. Violins were cool. Lot of dissonance. Felt like it didn't always work

Drug prog

Not really my cup of tea. Through this list I think I have concluded that I only really like a selected few pieces of progressive rock (Pink Floyd), otherwise it's not for me. Way too much aimless and long noodling, especially the first and last songs.

Always get a bit worried when progressive rock is on the menu but this was ok to me. I always like King Crimson more when there are vocals. Not at all as good as "Court of the Crimson King" but it was ok. "Easy Money" was by far my favourite while i found most of the other tracks meandering. More noodling that stand out songs on this one, it made it's 40 min runtime seem way too long.

I feel like they were trying to prank me or maybe blow out my eardrums with the volume changes

Kings big red bollox

There's no doubting the quality of the musicians but prog rock isn't my favourite genre, bits were ok but the whole thing less so

Now I like Prog, but I also like Rock. But which is better? There's only one way to find out, FIGHT!!!

kind of made my head hurt but the start was good

No es para mí. Peñazo desde el principio. Book of Saturday y 2 estrellas.

Not bad, employs a lot of empty moments, but ultimately a bit uninspired, maybe? It should've been something else. At this point, if I were to listen to it more, I'd be afraid I'm sinking more time to look for its genius, than actually enjoying the album

I mean, I know King Crimson are weird, but this just doesn't do it for me. Probably need to be on drugs? I dunno...

Fav: Exiles Least Fav: Larks’ Tongue In Aspic (Part I) Did they get paid extra for each second that they use percussion?

Didn't care for most of this.

This is why punk rock was created.

Not a bad album, but not my kind of music

I've been looking forward to reviewing this album ever since I reviewed In The Court of The Crimson King. I'd never listened to King Crimson before starting this list, and I was blown away by ITCOTCK, so I have really high hopes for this album. I've read that each King Crimson album is pretty different, but I won't let that deter my hype for this album! Well, unfortunately, I didn't care for this album too much. The first and last songs were the brightest spots to me, but everything in between those songs was pretty boring to me. I really had high hopes for this album since Bill Bruford drummed on it, but even his drumming couldn't pull me out of the dullness of this album. I don't really have anything against prog rock, but I've noticed that I tend to not enjoy prog rock that feels 'formless' to me. There weren't really any hooks or melodies that captured my attention, and the things that were the most interesting and unusual tended to be pretty jarring to listen to. I did like the hard rock influences on this album, and I think that's why I enjoyed the first and last songs the most. This album was definitely different and competently made, but it was pretty unremarkable to me, and it I think it represents the things that turn most people off from prog rock.

I like King Crimson. Usually. I don't get this album.

Pretty progressive

God two days in a row with prog rock. There is a reason why people made fun of this because we don't need 14 minute long songs that aren't interesting. This is just tiring.

I really liked In the Court of the Crimson King so I was excited to see King Crimson pop up again, but I didn't really enjoy this. It had some moments, but overall it didn't feel like it was really leading anywhere. The arrangement felt pretty sparse too which I didn't love. I tried it a couple times but probably won't revisit.

Not in the mood for self-indulgent noodley nonsense so this didn’t do very much for me, yeah?

I love the cover art. The music itself not so much. The volume levels alone are a pain, either barely audible or assault on the senses. I think I enjoyed the second bonus track the most, the rest is pretty lukewarm.

Appreciate what they were trying. But it’s a nah for me

could i write poetry to this? n

It had a handful of cool parts, but mostly this one was noisy and weird. Whenever they found something resembling a hook, they repeated it until it was beaten to death. Experiment on your own time, boys.

Not the greatest.

I may need another listen, but it didn't click with me. I enjoy TOOL and King Gizz, so I thought I was prepared for the prog. Apparently, I was not.

Flavorless and artificially held together. Sounds like a good title.

This just isn't my thing, I'm afraid. It's not bad, there's definitely some moments I think are cool, but the songs are so devoid of structure and hooks, I really have a hard time getting into it or wanting to go back to it at all. 2.5 stars.

Not for me.

Not for me.

2.5 not great. Way too much noodling. Not even close to 21st century schizoid man

Most prog rock is hit or miss with me these days - I can get into some of the jams on this album but a lot of it is pretty forgettable to me.

Day251 - 1973 was a heck of a year for music with so many great albums from different genres and i thought i liked prog rock but it turns out i only like it a little bit

Average

Had some interesting moments but too much random noise for my liking.

proprio no, mi dispiace

Why did I have to hear this. Pointless, aimless music It's not even well executed 3/10 Actually terrible

Weird as hell. Some awful moments but occasional glimpses of chilled out vibes.

What a load of pretentious nonsense. 4 of the 6 tracks were just experimental noisescapes. I'm all for experimentation, but you still gotta make something that sounds nice, or compelling, or interesting, or something. Fave Tracks: Easy Money, Larks Tongues in Aspic Pt 2 2.4/5

Pretty trippy, kinda heavy, not into it too much though

King Crimson was always the 70s prog group with their heads the furthest up their own ass. I considered leaving the review there. The big contrast between this CD and the first couple Yes albums or whatever is that this one is zero fun. It's really just an exercise. I'm pretty on-board with instrumentals, and this is almost entirely instrumental, but it's also very noise-based, fairly repetitive (at least within "passages") and has long, long stretches where absolutely nothing happens. When you roll the CD, for example, nothing happens for close to four minutes as Fripp's head ascends yet further and further into his rectum.

Prog rock noodling for the most part, I just find this genre of music hard to like. The production is crisp though, shame about the musical content. 2*

I would like to cite the ending of one of the most popular reviews on this website (a 5 star review of Lorde's Melodrama) that ended by saying "Sorry it's not King Crimson or whatever." And that feels fairly accurate. If I was born in 1954 and spent my 20's doing LSD, being sure that these guys + Pink Floyd had just figured out music, then I too would go bananas over this. So I respect it for how progressive it was for it's time. Additionally, there are passages in this album that are still placid and beautiful, like the ending of Exiles. But I don't see myself ever enjoying this an the every-day setting. Nor do I see myself remembering too much of it either

Eine Band die ich einfach nicht verstehe, sehr experimentell, wenig gute Ansätze **1/2

Well, the opening track certainly had instruments, and they were certainly making noises. It was a bit too discordant and all over the place for me. The rest of the album felt like fairly standard classic rock, of which I personally am not the biggest fan. Things I liked: - the excellent album cover - the violin parts throughout the album - the guitar noodling on "Easy Money" - "The Talking Drum" was okay for the most part until the end Things I disliked: - pretty much everything else - special shoutout to "Larks' Tongues in Aspic (Part I)" which was absolutely horrendous 2 (.5 for the album cover)

King Crimson is a band that I've heard about forever from lots of people whose musical taste I think is at least decent. I've never listened to them though, because the description of them always sounded like pure wankery. Unfortunately, on this record it is. Two stars because listening to it doesn't make me angry, but it does mostly suck with cool ideas mixed in once in a while.

Apparently I'm not very sophisticated.

Hmmmmm at first I thought this band sounded a little like Black Sabbath at but the more I listened the less true that became. A bit too out there for me I guess, but there were some parts of songs that I liked though they seemed to blend together at times.

Hay un prog-rock que me gusta y no es este.

Meh

I just can't get into these guys. I've tried. And I'm someone who enjoys avant garde music, but these dudes are operating in a language I can't grasp. I admire their spirit, but I just don't find their music compelling.

There are passages when things are not so glacial but overall it is a struggle to get into this, certainly without many plays. More often familiarity brings out the nuances and it become acceptable. The question being does one want to go on that journey. There is plenty in there whether it is that innovative, not sure.

So many insects. 2.5/5

Too much prog, not enough rock

Some beautifully crafted songs, but too 70s overall

I really wanted to like it - clearly quite musical, but it's too "hard" for me. I much rather prefer softer things like Focus.

This is one of those reviews where I can't let my personal ttastes override any sense of historic value. I am aware that KC was an innovative and early pioneer of PROG rock, one of my favorite genres, and that they are musically solid. But I can't, and never really could, get "into" KC. Just not my thing. If I gave them a three star "decent/ good" rating it would have to only rely on what I feel history would overall demand, not really what I feel myself, and honestly, I think that those who have not heard them before or for those who don't remember their sound, MEH. I could have skipped it.

I'm too much of a pop girlie to get into prog. ABABCB me and I'm more than happy. This just sounds like they recorded a band jam session and some noodling. Another one I'd need drugs to appreciate. Awesome album artwork though.

If my own mother told me she liked this album, I would call her a liar straight to her face.

While I probably won't listen to anything here again, it was pretty interesting hearing essentially classic rock with influences of other genres you wouldn't expect. For instance, some tracks felt like a crossover between classic rock and ambient. Pretty interesting

I swear the track listing said there were 6 songs here but I only counted one.

Experimental rock. Weird, potential, and insisting. An interesting experimental rock album from the 70s. No song was like an actual song, music would come and go with weird noises in between. Liked: some songs had potential. Interesting listen Disliked: it was insisting upon itself. Too crazy. Maybe I’m afraid. Production quality: Very high Listen again: yeah maybe. Will definitely listen to more of the band. Interesting for sure.

As stated before by another member: " Too much Prog, not enough Rock. I'm more of an Adrian Belew Crimson fan than this stuff.

first listen. i like instrumental music and King Crimson music as long as there are some lyrics. But I hate king crimson's instrumentals. Theyre so boring (going on annoying).

Weird but definately not wonderful. Mostly irritating, only 1 halfway decent song (Exiles) which is not enough.

King Crimson was good

Yay, more fucking prog. Larks' Tongues In Aspic ain't for me, there are fleeting moments of interest but otherwise it indulges the worst aspects of prog too often, there's basically not enough rock in there to call it progressive rock, it's overblown, it tries to do too much, and it doesn't even tell a cohesive story (like I'm not a big Pink Floyd fan as I've said but I can at least get the story from their albums). Just a 2 again.

Eurgh. Indulges the worst of prog, long instrumentals that don't really go anywhere, lack of structure, and an INCREDIBLY PRETENTIOUS album title. Might benefit from being listened to a few times, but this doesn't do enough for me to give it that chance really, there's so much better out there to listen to. 2/5, it's not unlistenable but just doesn't offer much.

Bastante rollazo.

Just feels really self indulgent for the most part, especially removed from its original context.

I mean...it's fine. Really just a lot of noises though for the sake of making noise. I don't need all the screeching and sirens and extended guitar riffs. Sounds like the music your kid's band makes in your garage. 4/10 (2/5)

I'm not sure that I understand the album. I listened to the Book of Saturday on a Saturday and still didn't get it. I'll try harder next time.

There were some cool, intense spots, but they never lasted long enough.

A couple of good songs on this album

Progressive rock. Very experimental.

13 and a half minute opening song?? Coming in after 3 and a half minutes with some heavy guitar. And now it sounds like Primus?? Now it sounds kind of Pink Floyd-y. Now bellydance music? Weird overall.

Christ it goes on. It's got moments, with a guitarist like that how could it not, but this feels like 10 minutes of good ideas stretched out over an hour. Yeesh.

The normal prog rock nonsense

ist ein bisschen etwas für Alt-Hippies...

Virtuosismo exagerado. Cuando más es menos. Suena bien y tiene pasajes muy buenos.

I liked portions of this, but the wind chimes, fly buzzing, and paper tearing was a bit much. 2 stars.

Not really my style

Too much of everything for me

Some interesting bits, but mostly noodly experimental non-songs.

This album was tough to get through. A few parts were pretty good, including Book of Saturday and parts of Larks. But there were other tracks that were very terious, like The Talking Drum.

The bookending title tracks are just self-indulgent feeling. But, the middle tracks let me imagine a version of the band I almost might like.

There aren't enough drugs in the world to make me appreciate this.

I’ve seen a lot of people call any prog rock album “pretentious” and I always thought it was a bit dismissive. We don’t know the artists’ intentions when making these records so how can we really call it pretentious? Most of the time, the albums are pretty accessible or have a clear purpose, so I wouldn’t deem them pretentious at all. That being said, this was pretentious as hell. Stop making long songs with no interesting ideas.

A few interesting moment but overall not a fan.

Profondément déçu

Making sounds with instruments a bit much

Ég skil stemmninguna og að þetta hafi verið eitthvað voða funky framúrstefnulegt listaspírurokk í gamla daga en mér finnst bara svona progrokk oftast missa marks og verða bara leiðinlegt sem þetta varð. Ég var svo feginn þegar platan kláraðist og ég mun líklegast aldrei hlusta á hana aftur þótt hún hafi ekki endilega verið slæm tónlist.

Not for me.

Weird but had some good moments

This was less divisive for me than the last king crimson album in that the best bits were worse but the worst bits were better. However I'm just not a fan of this style of music idk I like my music to be noisier and have more words. I didn't listen to the two bonus tracks because I didn't really want to keep listening.

This album was released 22 days after Dark Side of the Moon. It even has a moon on its cover too. It is not Dark Side of the Moon.

"Guys I have a great idea of how to open our album. A 14-minute song that starts with a glockenspiel and then cuts to a nothing but a continuously running power saw. What do you think??!?" "Sure, as long as we then cut directly into some face melting rock." "Brilliant. But when do I get my violin solo?"

"It really is a fine line between stupid....and clever." -David St Hubbins

I'm not pretentious enough to fight this enjoyable, but the parts that tried to be music were good.

There’s a few segments of really, really good stuff, but those are few and far between. Most of this album is just musicians fooling around - it’s just random flotsam and jetsam. Not sure how high I’d need to be to see this as some sort of progressive rock magnum opus.

It was a little tiring to listen to

kinda boring

Very interesting, was a bit of a mess though in my opinion, I little bit to much going on

This meant very little to me. Did not get it at all. So much so I felt frustrated

I guess it had interesting bits but it's not fun to listen to.

Echt wel even te koortsig

Nope

I wanted more from this. The vocals are either almost non-existent, distant and/or hard to follow on, and they don’t often complement the music, or vice versa. Felt like I spent most of every song waiting for them to crank up and they just never did turn over.

No thank you. Prog rock that doesn’t do hee haw for me. Twiddles away inoffensively enough but just doesn’t drag me into it.

Meh, I’d prefer Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, or Rush for this style of music

Not for me. Too noodly and weird. Perhaps I don't have the patience today. Only a few moments of heavy guitar rock. I did hear virtuosity from all main instruments (flute, violin, drums, bass and guitar), but as a whole I didn't like it.

I don't have much to say about this. Long periods of not much happening, I don't remember anything about the album because it was kind of bland. Not bad music, but I won't listen to it again most likely

It’s sounds like you went to a musical instrument sales convention, grabbed the guys demoing guitars, bass, keyboard, violin and drums and forced them to write an album together. Spoiler alert - it’s not good. Most of the album just sounds like everyone is trying to show off their instrumental skills on top of each other. One extra star for the occasional moments they decide to listen to each other and play something cohesive.

The first half was very reminiscent of the more experimental end of Pink Floyd. Struggled to maintain interest in the second half.

Borderline torture

Oook, such weird

Having listened to this, Epitaph is still the only King Crimson album that I dig. Larks' Tongues in Aspic has too many irritating elements that are so typical of prog rock for me to enjoy it. Book of Saturday and Easy Money are decent songs, though.

Not easily digestible, may need more time than available.

Was alright, a bit experimental in parts but not resoundingly entertaining. 2*

It was Ok but a bit all of the place.

Prog rock really isn't for me. Each song sounds like 10 minutes worth of random bits that they just knitted together and don't really go anywhere

I could'nt even finish it. I found it atrocious, not so much because it was bad in itself, probably just because it is not my style.

Whereas KC’s debut album was surprisingly hook-laden, this is next-level proggy. And the problem with next-level proggy albums is that, while there might be cool and interesting bits on every track, you have to sit through a lot of silliness to get to them. 2.5

I struggled with it,bitvwanky at times

Well, this project has led me to yet another artist I've always heard about but never listened to. The first song on this album made me cringe and fear for the worst, but the music improved as I listened on. I can't say I loved it--too many screechy guitars and violins--but I'll check a few other Crimson albums to see if something more ear-friendly comes along.

A lame pretentious work of art that gave me zero feelings. But i'm sure someone might appreciate it more 2

I've tried time and time again to approach this band and meet them on their level, and I think I just have to accept that they're not going to be one to fully click for me. Impressive and fluid playing, and I liked some of Wetton's vocals, but not a style I can fully sink into as much as I'd like to. Two and a half. Fave track: Easy Money

Not as good as In The Court Of The Crimson King.

Best song - Book of Saturday

self indulgent wank rock

Not listened to King Crimson before but this doesn't really do anything for me at all, which is surprising because going in I was quite excited to try them.

What did I just listen to.

Could here alot of bands got inspiration of this but not really my kinda music

This is a slightly different sound than what I was expecting from the second king crimson album on this list. The first song was by far the worst one and would’ve preferred it not being on there. The rest of the album gets into the prog rock style but it misses some of the key elements that made their first album so good. Maybe it’s different band members, maybe it’s they used all their talent on that first one. Overall it’s not too bad especially for this list but I wouldn’t revisit it. Their first album is the one you want to hear. 5.7/10

DNF The first track was basically unlistenable and the rest that I heard just made me wish I were listening to a different band? Could be worse.

I liked parts of most of the songs (except that first one). But they were interspersed with random noise or aimless noodling. Kind of a frustrating experience.

The problem with prog rock is that I sometimes like a three minute long cohesive clip of sound that would, in other circumstances, be a song, but in prog rock circumstances is actually a small portion of a twelve-minute morass that seems to be trying to depict an entire hero's journey. Then I am left, like someone playing cassette tapes, skimming through a bunch of squibbles to play the part I liked.

Prog rock, men måske lidt for progressivt

Each song is so different and long. Many themes in just one song, interesting to listen too once for sure. Don't think I could listen to it full time.

meh, a bit too all over for me

I am too sober and impatient for meandering prog.

Larks' Tongues in Aspic is the fifth album by the English progressive rock group King Crimson. This interesting piece of music contains improvised melodies and is influenced mostly by jazz and Eastern European classical music, but also has parts that are as hard-hitting as heavy metal. It was critically acclaimed at release and charted well in the US, UK, Finland, Japan and Italy. Although primarily a progressive rock album, you can't rock out to this album or even dance to it because the beat keeps evolving throughout. There's so much happening in the tracks as well that you don't necessarily want to listen to this album in the background. You must go in to this album with open ears and be prepared to be taken on a sonic ride.

Perhaps this kind of album requires multiple listens before one can properly rate it. As it is, it's a bit too challenging to enjoy, and I probably won't come back to it. But I assume that other, more popular KC album will come up eventually, so I'll give the band another chance then.

More annoying psych/prog bullshit that ain't nobody got any time for today.

a bit experimental, nice bass, nice rhythms, but too twisted

Bit meh

A slog

uggh.. Prog Rock. There are some bits and pieces throughout here (especially in the bonus tracks) that rock hard and I could get into. Most of it was just a bore.

Not for me. Songs too long and too sparse of lyrics.

I'm going up and down in rating this throughout the album. All in all it's to messy.

Too unfocused for my taste.

Not really my thing

It has it's moments but it's just too much noodling

For hopefully the last time, I want to like progressive rock. It has a lot of potential. Sometimes it really works. But the 1001 has taught me that most of the time, it doesn’t work for me. "In the Court of the Crimson King" mostly worked. “Larks’ Tongue in Aspic” did not. All the worst impulses of the genre.

To artsy and esoteric for me.

Yep this is prog rock.

Oh dear, another inscrutable prog rock album. A few rock-y moments but mostly interminable noodling.

No, I really don't see what is good about this album LOL

Well... this is... something. Kicking off with a 13-minute instrumental is a choice. The Crimson King is the bad guy in my favorite book series, Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It's also really long. Whew. Glad that's over. Book of Saturday - Sounds like a synth guitar? That's really the focus of the song and the vocals are so far below it that they're kinda unintelligible. That's not fun for me. Exiles - Okay, why is this on the 1001 albums I "must listen to"? If this song were better, it'd be okay. Easy Money - GET TO THE POINT! Erica and I went to an open mic night once in Bournemouth, UK. These two guys got up there with these keyboards and just played noises for like 10 min straight. Like, dogs barking, glass breaking, squeaks, hums. This is reminiscent of that. The Talking Drum - 3 minutes of barely audible drumming. Outstanding. And here are the sad strings. Good Lort. I'll never get that 8 minutes back. Part II - I dunno.. better than part 1 I guess. This was #20 on the Rolling Stone's best prog-rock albums of all time. This does not make me want to take that list seriously.

Every-time this gets going, it gets awful again.

Album title is 100x better than the music

1/6, 17%

Bastante rollazo.

The very proggiest of proggy prog. Not something you can tap along to, but somehow relatively accessible for the genre. Maybe fewer random incongruous segues than other prog albums. Rating: 2.5/5 Playlist track: Larks' Tongues In Aspic (Part II) Date listened: 30/05/23

Probably groundbreaking at the time, but not for me, although I quite liked "Easy Money".

This album is really not good. I tolerated it and didn't skipped any songs; however, nothing was noteworthy about it. At times it is just random noise. It is better than a one, not really a two. I will round up.

Zitten best lekkere basloopjes in hier en daar.

There's no songs here, there's lots of ideas, a couple of cool riffs which could have been turned into actual proper decent songs, but as it is nah. Noodling at best, but turns into pretentious nonsense rather a lot. 2

Prog wankery

Too much chaos

Never heard of this group before, but overall I was disappointed with the music that I listened to. It sounded like a rough jam session that had no direction. The last few seconds of "The Talking Drum" was jarring to my ear drums and annoying. I may give their other stuff a listen, but so far I am unimpressed.

After the high of ‘Crimson King,’ this one comes off as more of a slightly-polished studio jam sesh than tight prog epic. I think some more vocals or string melodic themes would’ve helped this album feel more cohesive rather than a scattershot of collection of tracks (and at times, individual phrases or even sounds).

I always thought I liked some forms of prog-rock. Based on listening to this album, perhaps I do not. This is music for people who make music so they can tell others how good this music is.

Highlights: "Lark Tongues in Aspic Part 2," "The Talking Drum," the Fripping at the end of "Exiles" This album is in an annoying space where it's trying to bridge high-minded stuff like Reich, Bartok, and Derek Bailey, but even though it's technically much better performed than CotCK, the band is never on the level of most of their "high" influences while also sacrificing memorable melody and riffs that are assumed for pop and rock. The pop influences are also right on the sleeve all the time. It's truly baffling if/how they copied Pink Floyd a mere three weeks after Dark Side of the Moon was released, and the most obvious influence of all is Yes. Even if I think Crimson's harmony is more interesting, they're leaning so much here on the ideas of Close to the Edge (1972). We do hear the emergence of Fripp's signature superprocessed guitar sound, which he would continue to develop with Brian Eno, and Jamie Muir's found object percussion is still fresh, surprising, or sometimes just charming.

Some prog seems too much like they just got a bunch of very talented musicians in a studio and recorded them trying stuff out. They are talented, no doubt, but this either needs more polishing to be prog I can enjoy, or more of a plan to be jazz I can enjoy.

Scott's going to Belizian jail.

some of this album was startlingly beautiful. the drums in "exiles", or the violin in "larks' tongue in aspic (part i)"--they could make such beautiful music! but then a lot of it was weird. i'm not sure what the purpose was to make the violin sound abysmally terrible. and some of it was just average: it didn't stand out too much but most wasn't awful to my ears. i guess i just have some questions to ask of king crimson. a polite 2.5.

I have heard a lot about King Crimson over the years, but have never taken much of a dive into their music, so this was a good opportunity. The opening track moving slowly from a new age crystal meditation piece of sorts to an all-out guitar jam to a funky progressive "freestyling" on the guitar was absolutely a fun build and journey. That first track did become a bit of a slog, though; there were multiple times where I was thinking (and hoping that we had moved on to a new track). The problem with this "brand" of prog rock is that a lot of this never seems to go anywhere. It seems mostly freestyling in nature and lacks a lot of the cohesion and theme seen in other prog rockers' work...say, Pink Floyd or Rush, for instance. Both bands could jam and explore but it didn't typically feel aimless. This not only felt aimless at times, but also tedious and rather long-winded -- both on individual tracks and as an entire album. That said, this album has moments of instrumental intrigue that capture my attention. I can hear the interplay between typical rock instruments and other string or percussion type instruments, and find it fascinating!

Weird psych rock, lots of quiet parts

look, I called myself a "nerd" growing up, and I have since learned to let people enjoy what they're gonna enjoy, so, enjoy, nerds! but lord, this album irritated the shit out of me. like Rush but with worse singing and annoying show-offy musicianship (at least Rush rocks).