King Crimson - Lizard

For me, King Crimson’s Lizard has always been an album that was too big for stereo to contain. I’ve always felt that if presented in the right way, I could make a case for this being the most experimental rock record ever made. It’s extraordinary what they’re doing on this album. In terms of fusing free-jazz with progressive rock for me there’s almost no parallel.

The original mix, done at Wessex Studios, was heavily EQ’d due to issues with the mixing board, but these new mixes stay closer to the raw tones as they were recorded, revealing high frequencies (12kHz and up) that analogue tape and vinyl dulled in the past. I didn’t apply any overall compression or EQ to the stereo output, though Simon Heyworth may have added subtle touches during mastering. Some might notice the quieter sections are a bit louder to balance the dynamics without taming the louder parts, or that the minimal EQ shifts the sound from what they’re used to. The high-end clarity might feel less “warm” to some, but those frequencies were always there, just masked by the limitations of the original format.

Collaborating with Robert Fripp, I aimed to stay faithful to the original mixes, only making changes we both felt served the music. As a lifelong fan, I was firm about preserving what made Lizard special, and Robert deferred to me when I felt strongly about keeping things as they were. This remix is part of a larger project to rework King Crimson’s first 10 studio albums, up to Three of a Perfect Pair. I chose Lizard early because it’s a personal favourite, though the release order also depends on finding extra content like film footage and spacing out bigger albums like Discipline and Red.