Islands

Islands is the fourth studio album by King Crimson. The album was released in 1971. The last King Crimson studio album before the group's trilogy of Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Starless and Bible Black and Red, it is also the last to feature the lyrics of Peter Sinfield and the last to feature the band's 'traditional' progressive and symphonic sound. The album received mixed reviews. There are four tracks with lyrics on this album, and three of them concern women. One of them, "Ladies of the Road", has been criticised for perceived misogyny. The original United Kingdom and European cover depicts the Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius and displays neither the name of the band nor the title. The original United States and Canadian album cover (as released by Atlantic Records) was a Peter Sinfield painting of off-white with coloured "islands". This was used as an internal gatefold sleeve in the UK. When the King Crimson catalogue was re-issued by EG, they standardised on the "Trifid Nebula" cover world-wide. The fifth release in King Crimson's 40th Anniversary series featuring new stereo and 5.1 surround mixes (by Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp), Sid Smith sleeve notes and copious extra trac…