April 14 - In The Court Of The Crimson King

When it comes to King Crimson, I have two album closers that really stand out. One I already have shared is Starless from the album Red. The other is the title track from their debut album, In The Court of the Crimson King. Their debut is a monster of an album. Opening with 21st Century Schizoid man, it is a tour-de-force all the way through the title track. The instrumentation is also intriguing - musically they were a four-piece let by master guitarist Robert Fripp (although King Crimson was a lot more democratic back then than they were in subsequent lineups). On bass and vocals they had Greg Lake, who went on to great fame with Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Michael Giles was their drummer, while Ian McDonald played woodwinds and keyboards. Their fifth member was Peter Sinfield, who wrote their lyrics and helped with production. While his role was nebulous, to say the least, Robert Fripp has stated that he was invaluable.

The album In the Court of the Crimson King sounds like it is recorded by an army of musicians, and not just four. The wall of sound on 21st Century Schizoid Man is filled with barbed wire and more brutal than just about anything else I have heard from 1969. While it is possible to assume that it is due to production techniques, live recordings from the time shows just how powerful they were as a four-piece. The rest of the album is softer - and when the title track closes the album, there is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the greatest debut albums in the history of rock music.

When King Crimson got together to get on the road last year, Robert Fripp had brought Ian McDonald back, along with three drummers with very distinct styles. And the second live document from the tour, Live in Toronto, features three tracks from In the Court of the Crimson King: Epitaph, In the Court of the Crimson King, and the show closer 21st Century Schizoid Man. It is an album well worth purchasing - it is adventurous and grand, and the three drummers keep every track very interesting. But for today, please enjoy In the Court of the Crimson King the way it originally was recorded!