In The Court Of The Crimson King without question. No comparison really. While elements of Prog were being kicked around by others for a few years prior, this is where it all came together and actually became Prog.

ITCOTCK is of course a classic but I'll be going for one of the Floyd options (a Nice Pair they are too).  The live disc of Ummagumma is by some way the best disc amongst these, it is totally outstanding with each track miles better than the studio versions - a sure fire sign of a great live album.  However the studio album, whist fabulous in parts really is all over the place.  That leaves More, a wonderfully atmospheric and spacey masterpiece.  I know it's not popular but it's always been a big favourite of mine, one of those albums that you love whilst nobody else seems to rate it.  More gets the vote (it needs it!!)

Saperlipopette! wrote: ole-the-first wrote: richardh wrote: ole-the-first wrote: King Crimson by a mile. People who believe it's underrated just dont get that it was the shape-former of the whole prog genre. There would be literally no progressive rock without this album, despite of all the proto-prog records from 1967–69 actually you are mistaken as someone would have done an album like this eventually. Music was going this way. Fripp is not a some musical prophet but rather he was just able to process what was happening and decipher it in a coherent way. It was certainly a big bold statement that made a massive impact and helped other bands to establish themselves. Was it the most important album of that time? Yes certainly but it didn't create new music. IMO   Not necessarily. I believe there could've been something different without Crimso's debut LP, but one has to have real talent and some special feeling of music for picking up the ingredients to create a finished genre, not just another tendency. I think of it like this: Remove In the Court... from modern music history and progressive rock would have ended up as something else than what we consider it to be. Remove any, or all of the other titles in the poll and it wouldn't really have made much of a difference at all.

ole-the-first wrote: richardh wrote: ole-the-first wrote: King Crimson by a mile. People who believe it's underrated just dont get that it was the shape-former of the whole prog genre. There would be literally no progressive rock without this album, despite of all the proto-prog records from 1967–69 actually you are mistaken as someone would have done an album like this eventually. Music was going this way. Fripp is not a some musical prophet but rather he was just able to process what was happening and decipher it in a coherent way. It was certainly a big bold statement that made a massive impact and helped other bands to establish themselves. Was it the most important album of that time? Yes certainly but it didn't create new music. IMO   Not necessarily. I believe there could've been something different without Crimso's debut LP, but one has to have real talent and some special feeling of music for picking up the ingredients to create a finished genre, not just another tendency.

Yet another one for In the Court...

richardh wrote: ole-the-first wrote: King Crimson by a mile. People who believe it's underrated just dont get that it was the shape-former of the whole prog genre. There would be literally no progressive rock without this album, despite of all the proto-prog records from 1967–69 actually you are mistaken as someone would have done an album like this eventually. Music was going this way. Fripp is not a some musical prophet but rather he was just able to process what was happening and decipher it in a coherent way. It was certainly a big bold statement that made a massive impact and helped other bands to establish themselves. Was it the most important album of that time? Yes certainly but it didn't create new music. IMO

Not necessarily. I believe there could've been something different without Crimso's debut LP, but one has to have real talent and some special feeling of music for picking up the ingredients to create a finished genre, not just another tendency.


Edited by ole-the-first - August 12 2014 at 10:43

ole-the-first wrote: King Crimson by a mile. People who believe it's underrated just dont get that it was the shape-former of the whole prog genre. There would be literally no progressive rock without this album, despite of all the proto-prog records from 1967–69

Ummagummagumma first, then Stand Up.

^^^ I disagree and it's most definitely not underrated

ProgMetaller2112 wrote: Mirror Image wrote: Hnrz wrote: ITCOTCK is overrated, Stand Up for me! Overrated? How? I don't really see how any prog album could be overrated? I mean the genre is already on the fringes of popular music. Mirror, he means overrated within the Prog genre and I happen to agree with him

I can't stop thiking how much I dislike the use of the word overrated. I guess most people who use it just mean they don't really like an album that is generally accepted as great... but in the end it sounds (at least to me) as if you were saying that you are right and everybody else who likes said album are wrong. Just as a poll I read a while ago about "The Yes Album", which most people love and I just don't get it, but that's just about as much as I would say, that I don't like it, or it hasn't clicked with me... or perhaps I could say that I don't understand why people like it so much. But call it overrated would be disrespectful for the people who like it.