In the Wake of Poseidon
| In the Wake of Poseidon | ||||
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| Studio album by King Crimson | ||||
| Released | 15 May 1970 | |||
| Recorded | January–April 1970 | |||
| Studio | Wessex Sound Studios, London, England | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 41:02 | |||
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| Singles from In the Wake of Poseidon | ||||
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Robert Christgau | C+ |
| Sputnikmusic |  |
In the Wake of Poseidon is the second studio album by English progressive rock group King Crimson, released in May 1970. The album was recorded during instability in the band, with several personnel changes, but repeats the style of their first album, In the Court of the Crimson King. Similarly to their first album, the mood of this album often changes from serene to chaotic.
The album was their highest-charting in the UK, reaching number 4. It has been well received by critics.
Ian McDonald and Michael Giles left the band following their first American tour in 1969. Greg Lake was the next member to leave, after being approached by Keith Emerson to join what would become Emerson, Lake & Palmer in early 1970. This left Robert Fripp as the only remaining musician in the band, taking on part of the keyboard-playing role in addition to guitar. To compensate, Peter Sinfield increased his own creative role and began developing his interest in synthesizers for use on subsequent records.
Lake agreed to sing on the recordings for In the Wake of Poseidon (negotiating to receive King Crimson's PA equipment as payment). Eventually, he ended up singing on the band's early 1970 single "Cat Food" (the flip side was "Groon") and on all but one of the album’s vocal tracks. The exception was "Cadence and Cascade", which was sung by Fripp's old schoolfriend and teenage bandmate Gordon Haskell. There does exist however, an early mix of the song with Lake singing a guide vocal which was unearthed and featured on the DGM site as a download. At one point, the band considered hiring the then-unknown Elton John to be the album's singer, but decided against it. Other former members and associates returned – as session players only – for the Poseidon recordings, with all bass parts being handled by Peter Giles and Michael Giles drumming. Mel Collins (formerly of the band Circus) contributed saxophones and flute. Another key performer was jazz pianist Keith Tippett, who became an integral part of King Crimson's sound for the next few records (although Fripp offered him full band membership, Tippett preferred to remain as a studio collaborator and only performed live with the band once).
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