IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING

I would have to say that "In the Court of the Crimson King" is one of the best debut albums since Pink Floyd's "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn". This is one of the starting points of progressive rock and "art rock". In the Court of the Crimson King delivered a more obvious and exciting approach to the genre with its epic scale that ranges between grungy guitar based "21st Century Schizoid Man" to the heartfilled "Epitaph". The opening track is very explosive and shows off some of the bands best guitar work from robert fripp and the distorted vocals add the dark edge to the album. The rest of the songs are more mellow and can be moving and emotional, but may seem a bit more difficult to get into as they totally contradict the opening track.

Throughout the album the musicianship is perfect, with Greg Lake's dreamlike vocals often serving as the centrepiece of the album. The lyrics can be dark at times but exceed throughout the record. The guitar and percussion work show similarities to a sound that Yes would also develop. The wind instuments on this album are exquisite and one of the most original ideas that allows the band to compete easily with bands like Yes, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull and Genesis. The wind instruments fit in so well with songs like "I Talk to the Wind" and "Epitaph". Every track on this album shows off the glory and skill of king crimson. "Epitaph" and "I Talk to the Wind" are beautiful yet sad pieces and balance out the album well from the opening track. These three songs are masterpieces in their own right. "Moonchild" is perhaps too long and winding. This song contains lots of experimental guitar effects and although it plays well it can end up getting drowned out on the album. Perhaps too long even though it can be heaven to listen to at times. This technique of using stretchy effects of percussion and guitar was later reused in Pink Floyd's "More" and "Ummagumma" albums, as well as The Mars Volta's works. This is daring yet inspirational, just it can be very awkward to listen to at times. The title track is a brilliant send of and gives the album a concept feel to it. King Crimson may not have been able to better this but they certainly evolved from it in a great way. This is a masterpiece and really is one of the best examples of progressive rock you may ever find.