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King Crimson was conceived in November 1968 and born on January 13, 1969, in the Fulham Palace Cafe, London. The original lineup included Robert Fripp, Ian McDonald, Greg Lake, Michael Giles and Pete Sinfield. The group came to prominence after supporting The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park. Their 1969 groundbreaking debut In The Court Of The Crimson King, described by Pete Townshend as “an uncanny masterpiece, began a career that has spanned four decades and influenced many bands and individuals including Yes, Genesis, Tool and Porcupine Tree.

In The Wake of Poseidon, released in 1970, saw King Crimson scarcely in existence as a band, having lost two key members, McDonald and Giles, with a third — Lake — about to leave. Their second album, largely composed of Robert Fripp’s songwriting and material salvaged from their stage repertory (“Pictures of a City” and “The Devil’s Triangle”) — is actually better produced and better sounding than their first. Surprisingly, Fripp’s guitar is not the dominant instrument here: The Mellotron, taken over by Fripp after McDonald’s departure — and played even better than before — still remains the band’s signature. The record doesn’t tread enough new ground to precisely rival In the Court of the Crimson King. Fripp, however, has made an impressive show of transmuting material that worked on stage (“Mars” aka “The Devil’s Triangle”) into viable studio creations, and “Cadence and Cascade” may be the prettiest song the group ever cut. “The Devil’s Triangle,” which is essentially an unauthorized adaptation of “Mars, Bringer of War” from Gustav Holst’s The Planets, was later used in an eerie Bermuda Triangle documentary of the same name. — All Music Guide