Was Pete Sinfield essential for King Crimson?

I'm a believer in the "magic" that makes things work ... and Pete helped in many ways, that helped his name as a writer, and deservedly so.

Would it be different without him? Silly question, since it happened WITH him! We've got to give credit to the resulting response ... some of the albums ended up being very well liked and enjoyed. Time to concentrate on something else other than bizarre questions?

Hi,

I think, and RF states it, that the band was a total effort, not an individual thing, although he regrets having had issues with at least one member at the time. The thing about PS would be, more than likely, that he wasn't a musician, and why is he here? 

Again, I don't think the album would have been as good/great without all the folks that were in it ... you and I can see their abilities and work on various pieces of music, and how even the lyrics, "aerie-fairie" or "artsy" would not make the album look/appear any worse ... it made it better, despite folks that think that rock lyrics are better than poetry and that folks with poetic works don't belong in rock'n'roll, and should only put together Chuck Berry lyrics, or bubble gum crap lyrics that were so much a part of the radio in those days, BEFORE the American FM radio made that stuff obsolete!

The time for, and of, progressive music in the early days, had a lot of what we think is "aerie-fairie" or "artsy" and eventually lost its taste because those folks did not know how to maintain a true wordsmith alive ... and even folks like Bob Dylan, while a very good poet, is pretty much "anti-poetry" and "anti-art" in the sense that he won't follow any ideas ... it's all about his feel at the moment, nothing else.

Pete Sinfield, is NOT one of my "favorites" in terms of poetry, but he is a good one, and he deserves a lot more respect than the trash he is being subjected to ... even if we think it is not perfect ... it only tells you one thing ... many of those folks hate the arts, because rock music, in general is not really an art ... it's just another popular song ... and in the 21st Century ... the way the audience wants it ... regardless!

hardly essential...

he was an additional piece who contributed light shows and fantasy surreal lyrics from their foundation until 1971. 

the guy could not play anything ASAIC

Crimson was all about the music in the end so my answer is no, he was not essential 

Source: LyricFind

^ please don't make me write a 4 stanza poem

It's now November and I'm reviving this because I'm sure there will be a lot of discussion about Pete after the announcement of his passing. Just wanted to say that I agree with the above, and that my favorite of his KC lyrics is "Islands".