Is "In the court of the crimson king" over-rated?

I don't get it how so many people call this the best album of all time.  3 out of the 5 songs are'nt even really prog IMO unless you count anything with synths/mellotrone as prog.
Songs like In the court, Epitaph, Talk to the wind are really simple and stretched... the Chorus of "in the court" is repeated like 30 times, the verses sound all the same, epitaph is also just your usual Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus order with little variation in the song.
I know that it was innovative at it's time , but i think that it now hasn't enough to offer for a prog album. The only really good song that doesn't feel stretched here is IMO "schizoid man"

Yes, it's overrated, but just a little bit. Well, many people will agree that this is the first "real" progressive record (let us not start that debate again please), and the album is meriting a lot from that fact. Apart from that, it's an excellent record. I wouldn't go to such extreme saying it's the best album of all times but it's an excellent record nonetheless.

By the way, I Talk To The Wind is not so simple...apart from the ballad part, there's really nicely developed jazzy drum section layered with some nice flute...and I could stand in defense of other songs too, but it's a matter of personal taste.


Just my two eurocents.

No No No!

If I look at its importance ITCOTCK is one of the most pivotal progrock albums, for example the tension between the female side (acoustic guitars, Mellotron, flute) and male side (fiery guitar and saxophone) as Edward Macan pointed at in his amazing book Rocking The Classics. But personally I prefer other adventurous and creative progrock albums like Foxtrot by Genesis, ELP their debut album, CTTE by Yes and The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn by Syd Barrett Pink Floyd

Not really, it's a very impressive album IMO. Especially considering it's their debut! 

Wuschel wrote: I don't get it how so many people call this the best album of all time.  3 out of the 5 songs are'nt even really prog IMO unless you count anything with synths/mellotrone as prog. Songs like In the court, Epitaph, Talk to the wind are really simple and stretched... the Chorus of "in the court" is repeated like 30 times, the verses sound all the same, epitaph is also just your usual Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus order with little variation in the song. I know that it was innovative at it's time , but i think that it now hasn't enough to offer for a prog album. The only really good song that doesn't feel stretched here is IMO "schizoid man"

I don't get all the Moonchild hating going on here. I love that track and can listen to the noodling all the time. Its one of the reasonsI like the King Crimson albums I have (Red, Larks' Tongues In Aspic, ITCOTCK). I love the noodling!

In my estimation it would be a five star album even if after 21st Century Schizoid Man the rest of the vinyl was just cut with a blank, silent groove. 

I think it's not quite as good as many people say, but still a five star album. So not really.

An album containing song like Epitaph couldn't be overrated