IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING

This is really an outstanding record, even 40 years after the release. For me, it was one of those rare changes in the life that occurs after the discovery of some really great, earlier unknown kind of music. Sure, you can hear influences from the Moody Blues and probebly some jazz-records when listening to this, but I am sure there are nothing similar that really exceeds this one.

-21st century Schizoid Man- A really great opener. It starts with a a silence, and some strange, mecanic sounds, and then explodes into the chaotic riff that defines the song. A lot of guitar, sax, complex drums with constant changing rythms and the rough, angry and frightening mood of the song. This song really is what king crimson is all about. The only thing that keeps me from giving the song a higher rating is that the middle section, the instrumental mirrors is a little bit too long. 8/10

-I Talk to the Wind-

Right after the first song, the band surprises you, again. The contrast after Schizoid Man couldn't be larger than this, after the schrieky guitars and saxophones, we are now calmed by the harmony of a very mellow track. Flutes, reeds and soft, surrealistic vocals brings us another fantastic song. After a long, chaotic, tireing day, nothing offer better recovery than this song. 9/10

-Epitaph-

The previous song is slowly fading out, and the best song of the whole great album explodes right from the start in a wall of melancholy. Then it fades, with only the bass, drums and vocals left in the speakers, and the song gradually builds-up. A song couldn't possibly be more sad and epic at the same time than this one. No moment is vasted, the mellotron and accoustic guitar are fantastic, some short noodling at the electric guitar adds much to the song, a reed is also featured, and the pessimistic lyrics are above it all. So many instruments, and the song wouldn't be the same without just one of them! The climax of the album reaches when Greg lake repeat: But I fear tomorrow I will be crying again and again with the haunted, melancholic mellotron in the background, while the drum from the intro appear once again. 10/10

-Moonchild-

The intro of this song is a romantic, strange, mellow and fantastic love song. The song sounds, more than the rest of the album, influenced by the moody blues. Then, after 2 minutes, the song changes into some instrumental noodling, very improvised. In the beginning it's OK, but after 6 minutes of the song the instruments and tunes seems randomized and doesn't seem to go anywhere, all the moods are quickly swept away. Such a disapontment, when the beginning was so good! Luckily, the song gets somewhat back on the track after 10 minutes, with only two minutes remaining. But it's hard to not press skip during that frustrating middle section... 7/10

-The Court of the Crimson King-

After the slow moonchild, this song really brings some life into the record again. It's sort of a medieval ballad. You can find the structure (main mellotron riff followed by verse, followed with main mellotron....) quite boring and repetative for a prog album, but those parts are so good composed, epic and memorable so it doesn't matter very much. And there are still two solo sections whitch gives some variation. Excelent song, but it wouldn't have lost anything if it was 2 minutes shorter. 8/10

I have to say this one really is balancing at the 5-star rating, because of the dull part of Moonchild. You don't want music like this at a five-star album. But all the other tracks are fantastic, and the record itself is such a great step in history for the progressive rock in general, so I can't let Moonchild let it down. The really dull part just include 4 minutes, the rest of the album is extraordinary. Five stars!