Court Of The Crimson King - Your First Listening

It was one among the first wave of albums I listened to from my older brothers and cousins, maybe around 1972 when I was 6 or so. So I have it pretty hardwired in my brain. They used to skip Moonchild and start playing side 2 directly from the title song, so I only got to know and like Moonchild quite later on when I myself started to get stoned for listening to music, Moonchild was great when stoned.

I first heard "I Talked To The Wind" before I even really knew what progressive rock was.  In those days I was just mainly into the psychedelic rock of the time.  I absolutely loved the song and looked up the band at a record store and the guy let me play the album.  All I heard was the explosive beginning with "Cat's Food! Iron Claw!  Neurosurgeons Scream For More!" and I was hooked.  Though admittedly I wasn't as blown back by Epitaph and Moonchild at first and often skipped to the last nine-and-a-half minute epic, since it reminded me of a dark Moody Blues sound.  It wasn't until Yes that I really got into progressive rock (I found them through the song Astral Traveller, a rockin' psychedelic proto-prog number.)

Back then, rock music didn't have as many labels as it does today. It was pretty much all lumped under Rock and Roll. So much innovation was going on that you couldn't sort the debris because the dust hadn't settled. But the King Crimson debut album was something we all knew was special. That shocking cover (at the time it was anyway), those haunting lyrics, the crystal clear vocals,  the force of those Mellotrons front and center; gave us all pause as The Beatles fell apart to wonder if this would be the new direction of music. They really tested the waters for bands like Genesis and Yes; Tull did an about-face, and Emerson Lake and Palmer was born. The water was fine and soon the pool was crowded. Eventually, someone took a wiz and everyone bailed. 

Edited by Ronnie Pilgrim - September 04 2011 at 12:22

I bought and first heard this album a few years ago; by then I already knew prog was my favourite genre. I think I can still remember what I thought about it at first.
- 21st Century Schizoid Man. I really rather disliked this song, it seemed rather dissonant and the sax was really annoying.
- I talk to the Wind. I found this song really boring, nothing particularly interesting.
- Epitaph. Wow, a really beautiful song, very impressive singing and very emotional all along. An instant winner.
- Moonchild. I don't remember about the initial part, I gues I found it somewhat boring (but not as much as I talk to the Wind), however, the long instrumental part was too much. Too long and too boring.
- The Court of the Crimson King. I had already heard this one from the Asia live album "Fantasia". I did like this song (and of course, this version was easily better than the Asia version). Similar to Epitaph, but I still liked Epitaph more.

Now, it is common knowledge that prog often needs several listens to grasp all the music, and I always need to hear an album many many times. So, now what I think of this album:

- 21st Century Schizoid Man. Well, as a matter of fact my favourite version of this song is a live version from the Wetton-Cross line-up, and I really love it; because of that version I have come to apreciate the original one very much too, though I don't like it as much as the live one.
- I talk to the wind. It's still not my favourite from the album, but it's very nice and I don't have the urge to skip it when I hear it.
- Epitaph. Still my favourite song from the album, and one of my favourite prog songs. And it still has one of my favourite vocal performances in prog too.
- Moonchild. I like the initial vocal part very much, but the loooong isntrumental section is still too much for me, and I don't think that will change with time.
- The court of the Crimson King. Still a very beautiful song, still a bit behind Epitaph for me.

And in the end, considering that the sum of the parts is better than any individual song, I would say that this is a 5 star album. The only 5 star album King Crimson released as far as my taste is concerned.