IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING

For me, this is the only really good album King Crimson have ever done. Unlike much of their subsequent output, most of the music here is pure prog rock. "Epitaph" is the best of the bunch, with Greg Lake in excellent form vocally, backed by swirling mellotron. The track is preceded by "I talk to the wind", a beautiful soft ballad with lilting flute. This provides the perfect lead in to "Epitaph" which crashes in majestically as "I talk to the wind" fades.

The title track is a lengthy, but essentially simple song, with various instrumental breaks interrupting what would otherwise be a pretty commercial piece.

In total there are five tracks on the album, the other two being the heavy rock of "21st Century schizoid man", and the fragile but all too dull "Moonchild".

The band started to disintegrate as soon as this album was put together, and they never regained the form which led to the creation of this classic. For this who appreciate the vast output which has come from the band since, this album may seem somewhat out of place, for those looking for prog rock (as opposed to jazz rock) this is the only King Crimson album you need.

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