Our Favorite EPIC Songs Volume 1: Fan Favorites, Episode 19
Added 2023-09-27 03:09:12 +0000 UTCHere it is, y'all! Our first Epic Songs FF countdown video!
After a record-breaking first round of submissions, 15 finalists made our Patreon Poll. In the end, three songs emerged as this community's preferred choices: The End (The Doors), Arriving Somewhere But Not Here (Porcupine Tree), and Lizard (King Crimson).
Thanks for your support and participation. I hope you enjoy the video!
Comments
From Wikipedia: Robin Miller – oboe, English horn; Mark Charig – cornet; Nick Evans – trombone Lizard is one of my favorite albums, especially the title track. Jon Anderson's voice is always a treat. Thanks for doing this one, Doug.
Steven Nemeth
2024-12-08 03:00:41 +0000 UTCI think it's hilarious that Doug lit up two seconds before Jon sings "burn a bowl"...
Jeff Norman
2024-11-10 05:19:15 +0000 UTCI agree about the last part of Lizard: without it the piece would have a complete different feel, but maybe that was considered to be too melancholic, too much emotion.
Frits van Voorst
2023-10-02 16:43:15 +0000 UTCLizard and Islands are two albums that were competely left field and that is a big part of the reason why I love both so much. I love pretty much all they've done, but these two are special to me.
Jean-Michel LaFontaine
2023-10-01 04:47:56 +0000 UTCStupid Dream, In Abstentia.
Fugazi
2023-09-29 22:11:45 +0000 UTCMaybe Side 1 of Lizard should be heard in the near future!!
Steve Hartke
2023-09-28 19:19:49 +0000 UTCHave my head in the sand on some of the newer Prog bands, and that Porcupine Tree song intrigued me… Enjoyed it, first time hearing any if their stiff, need to search The Daily Doug for more… Lean more towards the heavy, riffy end of the spectrum, rather than the million notes and time changes coming at me… Any Porcupine Tree suggestions?
Steve Hartke
2023-09-28 18:43:33 +0000 UTCRegarding Jon Anderson on Lizard, I'm recalling a section in the (very) exhaustive liner notes for 1975's "The Young Person's Guide To King Crimson" compilation album. It pointed out that as Yes had opened for KC a couple of times, Fripp then invited Jon to come do this song as a session musician, liking his voice for this part. The Yes Album hadn't hit yet (probably not even recorded yet), and Yes were just a decent club band with great harmonies who had literally just hired this semi-unknown lanky guy with big teeth named Steve Howe. In the same liner notes it was also mentioned that Yes had asked Fripp to replace Peter Banks, but he declined. And we're all the better for it.
Tom (the soggy one)
2023-09-28 02:24:04 +0000 UTCI checked my CD copy of Lizard and the additional musicians on that track were Robin Miller on Oboe & Cor Anglais, Mark Charig on Cornet, and Nick Evans on Trombone
Johnny Bell
2023-09-27 22:15:40 +0000 UTCMuch love Glen.
R. Douglas Helvering
2023-09-27 21:34:40 +0000 UTCAs a 65+ year old who lost his parents, wife of 30 years and just my older brother a few months ago ... I was secretly hoping that Porcupine Tree didn't hit so soon on the list. Thanks Doug, I needed a good cry! "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here" ...
Stop Propaganda
2023-09-27 15:54:09 +0000 UTCFunny you should say that about KC- and yes, absolutely everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Just ironic that there's others of us (me included) who find Lizard, Poseidon and Islands (especially Islands) their strongest work, with Crimson King a close follow-up. On the other hand, I've yet to find a single fan of KC, no matter which version, who doesn't love Red. Seems to be the one album we all agree on.
Tom (the soggy one)
2023-09-27 15:34:39 +0000 UTCAn enjoyable triple review but none of them would have been my picks from those three bands. Nice to have a reason to listen to them again though! ;-) Lizard in particularly was surprising to me that it had such a strong voting response as I feel the King Crimson albums In the Wake of Poseidon, Lizard, and Islands were their weakest period by far, with Lizard as the weakest. (please don't hate me because I'm opinionated ;-) There are definitely some very cool moments throughout but I think they generally pale in comparison to the first album In the Court of the Crimson King and the later period of Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Starless And Bible Black, Red, (which I feel is their greatest along with the first album) and even the period of Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair and the Thrak era. Yes, all in my very humble opinion!
John L Rice
2023-09-27 14:46:20 +0000 UTC...I know, oboe is not brass.
rogerb
2023-09-27 11:51:57 +0000 UTCThe other brass player was Robin Miller on Oboe and Cor Anglais - "at the time he was co-principal oboeist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Boulez" ( sleeve notes from Steve Wilson's remix )
rogerb
2023-09-27 11:21:30 +0000 UTCTo my mind, "Lizard" is about religion. It's best exemplified in the lines "Courtship solely of his word / With Eden guaranteed." Specifically, "lizards" are the monks, priests, bishops, etc. whose job it is to further the aims of the faith, and it's they who must be "stake[d]...by the throat." I have to say that I was a little disappointed that you didn't pay more attention to "Prince Rupert's Lament", which I think of as one of the most searing pieces of guitar work that Mr. Fripp has ever recorded. Also, I believe that the "Big Top" section is necessary as a post script to the piece. It demonstrates that all the battles, the suffering, and the blood and death are entertainment for the "lizards" who are running the show, as well as the "circus" that accompanies the "bread" to keep the faithful distracted from the fact that they are being deceived. It's fascinating that all three of these songs are concerned with death. "The End" and "Arriving Somewhere..." overtly so, and "Lizard" in a more implied way. Does this mean that progressive music, and the people who love it, are obsessed with death and dying? (If so, then maybe you should do Porky Tree's "The Incident" sometime as an EPL. It's about a guy's last thoughts as he's dying after a car wreck.)
Bill Brinkmoeller
2023-09-27 08:03:19 +0000 UTCI’m curious about The End: Amy (Virgin Rock) reacted to it a few days ago and it will be fun to compare two classical trained musicians giving their opinion on the piece.
Frits van Voorst
2023-09-27 07:26:14 +0000 UTCThe song "Happy Family" on Side 1 is about The Beatles. Rufus is Ringo,Silas is George, Jonah ("so caustic") is John, and Jude is Paul.
Bill Brinkmoeller
2023-09-27 06:21:26 +0000 UTCLizard is marvelous and a long overlooked classic. It, along with Cirkus, were absolutely stunning live.
Randy Hammill
2023-09-27 05:38:31 +0000 UTCI'm very happy about Lizard , I'm the one who suggested it (and yeah , I'm a boy , aka John Harlequin sorry for the confusion ^ ^). The brass players are Mark Charig and Nick Evans who (alongside mr. Tippett) are members of "Centipede" , a great jazz-rock band who played for this album and "Islands". The coda "Big Top" makes sense in the contest because as you said yourself it sounds like a circus (the first track is called "Cirkus") , I always thought of it as the "ramshackle circus of life" which just goes on no matter what (kinda like a lizard losing its tail isn't it? Eheh). It's a great album Doug you should check it out , it's also pretty ironic and quirky in a Beatle-esque fashion (they are also represented in the album cover if you look closely). One of the greatest examples of "genre-bending"music. Again , thanks for the great video as usual Doug and for the people who voted ;) .
Hetfield Ninno Davide
2023-09-27 04:53:20 +0000 UTCI absolutely adore Lizard. It almost doesn't even fit under the umbrella of "prog rock" in my mind, but if not that, I'm not sure where it lands. It defies categorization. Jon Anderson's vocals to the gorgeous oboe solo in Bolero, to Haskell's last night of calm before the epic battle, to a last realization of the desolation they've wrought. I completely agree with your assessment that the Big Top section at the end is unnecessary and almost even ruins the flow of the song, a la Mike Oldfield with Tubular Bells pt. II. However, I'll give Fripp the benefit of the doubt and say it's a callback to the first track (titled "Cirkus") and main "theme" of Lizard, a sort of medieval carnival. Easily a top 5 Crimson song for me, but not one I can show many people because of both the length and complexity. Not many people are up for it, hence why this album kinda flies under the radar, even for a lot of Crimson fans. Thanks for finally taking a listen! I thoroughly enjoyed your reaction and analysis.
A Teapot
2023-09-27 04:34:30 +0000 UTC
