King Crimson – Lizard (Import CD + Blu-ray Audio) * * *

King Crimson’s 1970 Album Lizard on Import CD + Blu-ray Audio. Includes the Steven Wilson Mix, Elemental Mix and the Complete Recording Sessions.

When Steven Wilson first mixed Lizard in stereo and 5.1 with Robert Fripp in 2009, he commented: “For me 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.”

Now, in 2025, Steven has returned to that album and the new mixes merely serve to confirm that analysis.

The 2009 mixes — released at the same time as the much better known Red and In the Court of the Crimson King — did much to focus fan attention on an album which was sometimes overlooked in the Crimson catalogue; Red, Court, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Discipline — the various KC incarnations all seemed to have definitive albums which represented certain periods in the band’s ever-changing development but Lizard — a single album group with an expanded line-up which was never played live, a healthy infusion of jazz players and influences, a radical departure from the two previous Crimson album releases and more musical ambition than many band’s entire careers — seemed almost forgotten.

But if any album was going to benefit from the more detailed audio that Hi-Resolution and 5.1 Surround created, it was Lizard, and fans old and new eagerly embraced it. By 2016, the latest touring incarnation of the band began to play pieces from the music on stage for the first time with original members from the original recording — Robert Fripp and Mel Collins visibly enjoying playing “Cirkus” and parts of “Lizard.” By 2018 almost all of Lizard was being played as a complete suite, frequently to the sort of reception normally reserved for the likes of “Epitaph” or the best known of the Crimson songs.

Now, in 2025, Lizard appears in its most complete form yet. Steven Wilson’s new stereo and 5.1 mixes reveal fresh details in the original recordings, the Atmos mix is one of his most ambitious yet working with a recording that always has more to give to an expanded soundstage. If Steven’s mixes detail the best that can possibly be had from the album as presented, then David Singleton’s Elemental mixes probe the nuances of the original recordings and sessions, bringing (previously) background performances to the fore, adding alternate takes of individual performances and exploring different angles for mixing each piece. Working separately and with different remits, the producers bring fresh perspectives to this most intriguing of recordings.

Complementing all of this material, the Blu-ray disc also features Alex R. Mundy’s mixes of every single session from the original 1970 recording sessions along with the original 30th anniversary stereo master.

A CD is also included featuring Steven Wilson’s 2025 stereo mixes of the album and a selection of the Elemental mixes — including the title track.

Features:

• CD & Blu-Ray Audio
• CD: 2025 Album Mixes by Steven Wilson + a Selection of 2025 Elemental Mixes by David Singleton
• Blu-Ray Audio: Steven Wilson 2025 Mixes in Dolby Atmos, 5.1 DTS-HD MA 24/96 Surround & 24/69 Hi-Res Stereo; 2025 Elemental Mixes by David Singleton in 24/192 Hi-Res Stereo; 30th Anniversary Remaster in 24/96; The Complete Recording Sessions from September 1970 in 24/48
• Replica Mini-Vinyl Style Packaging
• Booklet with Photos & Sleeve Notes from King Crimson Biographer Sid Smith