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Summary: It's been along time
Comment: I hadn't heard it in a very long time. It's not played often on the air, but I caught a little bit of it watching "Children of Men". It's been put away in my collection and will be brought out occasionally. It brought some great memories flooding back how ever vague they may still be.
Customer Rating:
Summary: King Crimson
Comment: I love this CD. It takes me back to the days when I listened to it over and over when in college. The band was so unique in terms of the lyrics, harmonic progressions, instrumentation, and in the ways they used the instruments. The drummer was more of a percussionist. I love it!!!
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Summary: Swimming In An Ocean Of Music Art..
Comment: I am not going to preach to the choir. Actually I am going to take the choir to task for not praising this recording deeply enough, but I hope it is clear that my comments are honestly meant to be helpful. I would like to offer a slant on this fabulous recording - I believe it to be the most important rock album from the 60's - that I have not seen in any of the other reviews here. I am a musician (guitar and keyboard) and I have been familiar with this album since it was first released. Many years ago I learned through hard work and devotion to this music to play closely along with it and I can state as a fact that IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING is not a mere collection of songs nor even merely a collection of songs that are essentially related by the literary themes in the lyrics. This work is a single musical composition that is divided into progressively evolving parts that are essentially connected in musical structure as well as literary theme. There is not room here to explain this in terms of music theory and most readers wouldn't understand such an explanation anyway, but I still think it is important to go into it to some degree for the sake of possibly deepening even more the appreciation of the quality of this work that is in reality superior to much more popular works such as SGT. PEPPER'S.
There is a nearly unanimous consensus in the reviews here that the fourth track, MOONCHILD, is weak and even unnecessary. I completely disagree with this on a level that is deeper than just musical taste and preference. I feel quite certain that most, if not all, of the reviewers who dismiss MOONCHILD do not understand what an integral role this track plays in the entire composition both in terms of literary theme and, more importantly, musical theme and structure. I think it is dismissed because some listeners simply don't like it in itself, but that is a too shallow assessment and evidence that these listeners can't really hear its musical connection with the rest of the composition. This track plays a certain definite role in the unfolding of the entire composition and I see no evidence in the negative reviews that this role is understood. Most importantly, I think it is not understood that whether one realizes it or not, the power of 21st CENTURY SCHIZOID MAN, EPITAPH, and THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING is partially dependent on the musical structure connection those tracks have with both I TALK TO THE WIND and MOONCHILD. Music is a precisely detailed language that has its own power to express and communicate apart from any verbal-literary element that may be joined with it. The music of this album, from beginning to end, is one unfolding statement and if you cannot hear it as such then that diminishes your ability to hear any single part of it with its full force. I guarantee you that if you learn to hear how the delicate music of MOONCHILD is related to the music of the power portions of the composition then those power tracks will become even more powerful and you will no longer feel a need to turn off your attention when the fourth track comes. If you took the time to learn some music theory that would be wonderful, but you don't have to do that to experience what I am talking about. Instead of allowing yourself to turn away from the fourth track just because it has no immediate appeal to you as a single piece, force yourself to listen as carefully as you can to the music as well as the lyrics and explore the question of how exactly they relate to the rest of the composition. Give this some time and effort and I assure you it will change the way and depth with which you hear and enjoy this entire recording.
To show you that I am really not being merely pedantic here, let me briefly explore in technical terms why the chorus of the last track, the title track, is so well-known and loved. I am talking about the mellotron-heavy music that opens this track and that accompanies the extended singing of the word king: "In the court of the Crimson Kiiiiiiinngg, ahhahhahahhh..." The indisputable power of this music rests on the precise placement of a single note. The first chord played in this portion of the music is Dmaj. This chord is made of three notes: D, F#, A. The next chord is Cmaj which consists of the notes: C, E, G. It is a very simple chord change, but it is made magical by the creative placement of a single note. The note of F# that is part of the D chord is retained and not let go of when the chord changes to C. F# is not a part of the C chord but it is superimposed on the C chord here and creates the profound mood-feeling of this music. One of the most interesting things about this fact is that such an emphatic focus on this particular combination of notes, C, E, G, + F#, was virtually new to Rock music. It can be found in Zappa and Hendrix prior to King Crimson's use of it, but not with this kind of emphasis. It was a bold harmonic choice (it's called a tritone; it is the interval that Fripp's solo on SCHIZOID MAN turns around and it will return with ferocity on King Crimson's RED) that changed the face of Rock music. It was deeply felt by all sensitive listeners to Rock music whether they understood music theory or not. What my review is trying to say is that there are less obvious but equally important and powerful musical elements that connect MOONCHILD with the rest of this composition waiting to be discovered and enjoyed by those who are willing to find them. This album has more to offer than is realized even by many who already love it. Give it a try, you have everything to gain. Let me suggest a possible starting point you can use even if you don't have much music theory knowledge. Again I will use the title track: After the third verse (there are two verses then an instrumental verse then the third verse) we are taken suddenly but softly by the flute, bass, and cymbals into a pastoral instrumental passage that, by the time the guitar joins, is clearly reflective of one of the instrumental portions of MOONCHILD, but very quickly then the flute plays a sharper passage that leads directly into a dark, harsh keyboard chord and plunges us right back into the minor mode and the shadowy world of the Crimson King in the fourth verse. This is one of the most powerful passages in this entire track and its power rests on the fact that a reminder of MOONCHILD has suddenly been inserted into the schizoid world dominated by the archetype of the Crimson King. But this, again, only explores just past the surface of this great album. You may think that your feet have felt the bottom of this ocean of music art. Look again.
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Summary: Without any doubt......
Comment: ..... the most important progressive rock album ever recorded. Truly, an astonishing piece of music, that led the way for many others in the progressive genre.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Full of Mystery, just like whatever the F*** that cover is (ha)
Comment: Time for one of my confessions: The term Prog-rock has ALWAYS had a negative connotation for me. I don't listen to much, but it's for a respectable reason: Whenever I think of that term, I think of self-indulgent, horrible, solos, boring, "technical" drums, and worse of all, whiny, ear-shattering, awful vocals. Despite all these technical show offs, it always seems to have the effect that's it dull as dishwater. The other bad thing is, the only bands labeled prog-rock I have listened to are: King Crimson, Pink Floyd, and Rush. That is it. Yes, I sure have a long way to go on musical journey (my journey only started about two years ago, or something around High School time or some other _______).
This album? Oh yeah, it's got beauty in it. The track closest to hard rock, 21st Century Schizoid Man, really lit up with it's horns and everything else it has. It's got intelligent lyrics, it only seems to be creepily predictable. I love the way they seem to pair the lyrics and music together. Cool as cool can be, at least for music like this.
The rest of the album, it's breezy, airy, and beautiful. Moonchild let's you conjure up images of etheral spirits playing in nature (have a listen for yourself), while a improvisation let's your mind run wild. I talk To the Wind. Same deal? Only it doesn't really conjure up stunning imagery. Rather, you can see yourself talking to the wind in the night sky (or day), or, anything. You could represent the wind as a girl, or your boss, or the wind, or nature itself? Create your own world. I love the way music can do this, and it's way more expressive than a mere image. This is one of the things music is all about. How do a bunch of organized sounds do this stuff. Have a listen and find out. Really can't say much about the five songs, but all the songs on here have no pretension really. Of course, some people think that jams are pretentious, but I find them a way to create fun. And besides, it's got some beautiful moments, and for you abstract free thinkers, let it do just that.
Okay, I was not compelled to give it five stars, but that's not a bad thing. King Crimson, you have gave me a solid footing even more. Though my view on it is still shaky. Very shaky.
8.0/10
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