One of King Crimson’s most maligned albums getting the dubious “elemental mix” treatment? Sign me up!
Thing is, Islands is underrated in most Crimson rankings, being seen as the last dying gasp of the original band and having almost nothing in common with In the Court of the Crimson King released only two years prior. The album is fairly short and has two songs that are a bit padded in length, two instrumentals and then two questionable “normal” tracks in the middle of the album. It tends to follow the sort of free jazz stylings of “Lizard” from the previous album but, some would argue, in an aimless way due to the band falling apart and no real sense of direction. Indeed, several of the passages reach back to the Giles, Giles & Fripp days for inspiration, because they needed to record something.
As my archive review back in 2005 states, the album is better than it’s given credit for, certainly better than most of Lizard, and when the band reformed in 2014 as a seven-piece they added half the album to the setlist. “Islands” remains sublimely gorgeous, setting a true mood and slowly building in intensity until the last Mellotron fadeout held note, a true highwater mark of the band’s early days. The pastoral, oboe/string-laden lead-in “Prelude: Song of the Gulls” is also beautiful; together, they show a softer side of Crimson that sometimes get overlooked due to the noise, and that would occasionally rear its head later in songs like “Starless,” “One Time” and “Matte Kudasai.”
“The Letters” is an abomination, culled from an early GGF track but with no real direction or melody; even the 21st century band couldn’t make it better, just louder. “Ladies of the Road” is the band’s singular concession to rock stardom, a sleazy, clanky ode to groupies that is not only out of character but also quite embarrassing. “Sailor’s Tale” is another highwater mark, a rollicking instrumental with a killer bassline, kept only from classic status by the clanking guitar solo section in the middle. Finally, opener “Formentera Lady” goes for a chill vibe, but it’s more of a pothead kind of chill, aimless and with weird noises that take up far too much time. If most people stopped listening after that song, it’s no wonder they didn’t recognize the better half of the album.
So, in comes producer David Singleton to breathe new life into Islands by adding it to the Elemental Mix series, and as usual, the new mixes don’t add anything, likely because the original album was already pretty straightforward by Crimson standards. So to compensate, Singleton makes random decisions such as removing the vocals from “The Letter,” stripping the beginning of “Formentera Lady” down to just piano and vocals, and then swapping the title track and “Prelude” in the run order. To be fair, the ending snippet of tuning up and chatter from “Islands” appears to have been the studio lead-in to “Prelude,” so at least this one makes some sense.
Singleton doesn’t ruin any of the songs; he pretty much leaves “Islands” alone other than changing the mix on some of the instruments in the quieter sections, and then turning down the guitar clank on “Sailor’s Tale. Unfortunately, he also turns down the bassline that drives the song, rendering it impact somewhat moot. “Ladies of the Road” also gets a remix that makes everything the same volume (finally), although that just makes Boz Burrell’s unfortunate vocals even more clear.
The elemental mixes on Red were interesting in that they offered an alternative way to hear songs that were dense and chaotic. Islands follows the template of the misguided Lizard mix by making random decisions where nothing was really needed, though at least the source album is better this time. You’re better off listening to the Steven Wilson remix of the original album or some of the 2014-2021 live versions of these songs, as there is little to recommend on this version of Islands.