Search - King Crimson :: In the Court of the Crimson King

Comprehensive compilation of the forerunner to Prog Rock

P. Mc Hugh | New Jersey | 01/15/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With hundreds of reviews already published, it is hard to be distinctive. So, I thought some observations about what has been said here and elsewhere are in order.



It has always been known that progressive music demands your attention to truly be appreciated. This applies to all sub-genres, including New Age (a segment of progressive that has been unfairly blasted as being gentle, without form, without emotion, without substance, fluff or background music). As one reviewer stated, this album and progressive music in general requires "...concentration, focused 100% in listening [to] the whole album". The best prog hits on a cerebral and emotional level. You can't dance to it (normally due to the time signatures). Your energy is being focused on listening to the music, not just hearing it, even if you could dance to it (The League of Gentlemen and KC's Neurotica are examples.)



Criticism abounds that progressive rock is heartless and unemotional. That is certainly an overstatement, applicable to a minor amount of music. IN the case of any genre, the best music moves your soul. Prog also challenges your mind. I cannot imagine a better example of the emotional aspect of prog than Epitaph. The whole album conveys emotion but Epitaph is the standout. Greg Lake's singing is very good and the instrumental work is superb. The Mellotron crescendo follwed by the nimble acoustic guitar work is particularly astounding. (As a sidenote, Greg Lake's singing an excerpt of Epitaph on the live version of Tarkus sends chills down my spine.)



When I first listened to the LP in 1969, I remember turning my head to the speakers, finding a place to sit and was enraptured by the sounds that emanated out.



If you have heard Giles, Giles and Fripp, you would know what a quantum leap this album represents. Gone are the very English pop /psychedelia / humor for serious / end of the world / proto metal crunching (a hint of this on Erudite Eyes). With purported initial sales of only 400, it would stand to reason that something had to change. Rodney Toad is banished for the 21st Century Schizoid Man. What made these individuals go from being just a footnote in the annals of rock to being one of the forerunners of something new, something uncharted in the rock genre? What was the catalyst? Was it technology advancements? Was it confidence in their muse and each other?



As happens in many cases (and as it appears in the case with KC) those involved in the development are unaware of the importance of their work. Providing the milestone for others to follow has a distinct disadvantage of not having many, if any, references to guide the way. Now, the group has become the standard bearer and has shown the way for others (and there have been legions of others) to follow.



Being at the forefront is also fraught with pitfalls and this LP does have them. Many, many people have mentioned the tepidness of Moonchild - the wandering (meandering) of the band after the singing ends and the guitar sustain fades away. Maybe that is why Robert Fripp removed it from the track on the Frame by Frame box set.



Even though the reviews have been for In the Court of the Crimson King, there appears to be a discussion about which version of King Crimson was / is better. Of course this impacts on a person's view as to which KC album is considered the best. I think it may be the hardest to choose by those who started listening to the band from their onset. The choosing is so difficult because each KC period offered something completely different.



You have:



Giles, Giles and Fripp (The precursor)

King Crimson (From In the Court of the Crimson King to Islands)

King Crimson (From Lark's Tongue in Aspic to USA)

King Crimson (From Discipline to Three of a Perfect Pair)

King Crimson (Thrak)

The ProjeKCts (A bridge between Thrak and the next period)

King Crimson (From The Construction of Light to Level 5)



Each period of King Crimson has a masterpiece. It is like comparing apples and oranges as to which masterpiece is better. Why bother? In the Court of the Crimson King is the masterpiece for the first period. There are songs from other albums from that period that are as good as and maybe better than what is on this album. Fripp has stated that Bolero from the Lizard LP is his personal favorite from that period.



This album started the engines of Heavy Metal, Symphonic Rock, Progressive, Art Rock etc. It pointed the way for Italian Progressive Rock. All roads lead to the UK as Mecca for Progressive Music and King Crimson was pointing the way.



I have gotten the most recent incarnation of the album: the monstrous 5 CD + DVD-A set. There can be no complaint about the shear quantity and quality of the music provided, here. The Japanese version of the set comes with the mini-LP sleeves. The sleeves represent two UK pressings, a Canadian pressing, a pressing from Argentina, a US pressing that also contains three Promotional Copy stickers and the Japanese pressing with Obi strip.



The CD's are picture discs and if you align the discs, you get a partial picture of the face on the front of the sleeve. Very nice.



The sound is impeccable. Robert Fripp has always pursued the quality of the sound to be life like and to this end, he has succeeded wonderfully. Is there a different between this version (2009 and 2004) to the 30th Anniversary edition? Yes, indeed. Moonchild has been significantly remixed for the 2009 remastering and the overall sound on both the 2009 and 2004 versions is a markedly improved, but that does not mean the 30th anniversary version is terrible. On the contrary, if one did not have the updated versions, one may not notice any discernable degradation of sound. I have not heard the DVD-A version but from accounts of others, it is a wonder and that Steven Wilson has done a tremendous job.



Is it worth the money? That is a question that I cannot answer for anyone else but me. It is worth the cost for the sound, alone. The DVD-A is not region coded and can play in any region.

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