[golgi]

I've been buying various music based on recommendations on this site and another site. Almost all of them have been great recommendations. One recent one that I got was King Crimson: In the Court of the Crimson King. I had only heard this band once before when they opened for Tool. At that performance they were terrible. But based on recommendations I was willing to accept that maybe their earlier stuff is better. So I bought In the Court of the Crimson King on vinyl and have been listening to it. While it's not bad, it's just not that impressive to me. Maybe I haven't listened to it enough yet. Or maybe this was not the best King Crimson to start out with. Which would you recommend as their best effort?

 

[Sean.Perrin]

www.allmusic.com

 

[Aman]

ITCOTCK is a classic prog rock album. I've always heard great things about their live performances. They were truly one of the best bands of their time! Honestly, this album is epic if there was ever an album to be described by this term. Give it a chance, it's a masterpiece! And so ahead of its time, too, for only 1969.

Then again, King Crimson is a significantly more sophisticated band than Tool. Their innovative production techniques, melding of jazz, funk, and rock, and very complex structures and time signatures, far outweigh the merit of bands like that... *hides*.

 

[stewgriff]

Yeah, it was huge in solidifying progressive rock. Too bad the band broke up after making it...King Crimson would reunite and break, again and again, never achieving the same sound as they did before. If they cut out the noodling in Moonchild it would be consistently great; as it is, I like the opener and closer the most.

Two other classics by King Crimson are Red and Discipline (the first is almost hard rock, the other w/ elements of New Age). You can get to see how much the band changed over the years.

 

[TheGhostBelow]

I really enjoy that album and besides for me at least the album art is worth the price for the album.

 

[asmox]

When did King Crimson open for Tool?

 

[golgi]

Here is when they opened for Tool- http://www.livedaily.com/news/Tool_K...tour-3279.html

 

[golgi]

Okay, I've got two ooops's to account for. One is that I looked through my old ticket stubs and both times I saw Tool were with other opening acts. I believe I was under the impression that I saw them with King Crimson becuase one of the times was supposed to be with them but another band opened instead. Also it's been several years ago and memory fades.

Second is that I've listened to the record a couple more times now and it is growing on me.

 

[compuryan]

I love this album too. "Court of the Crimson King" and "Moonchild" are the highlights for me. I have it on record (from loonnng ago) and cd.

 

[GlendaleViper]

If you do end up liking KC more, I would suggest going through their studio library in order. You can probably skip over "In the Wake of Poseidon" - good album, but a bit of a rehash of ITKOTCK - but I find they are easier to understand if you get into them as they had progressed.

King Crimson was the first true prog band I got into and believe me, jumping into Starless and Bible Black right after In the Court was a shocker. I didn't start to "get" S&BB until Lizard and beyond.

 

[Aman]

I put on my vinyl copy a minute ago. "21st Cenutry Schizoid Man" is an absolute masterpiece of a song.... wow.

 

[kwitel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman /img/forum/go_quote.gif I put on my vinyl copy a minute ago. "21st Cenutry Schizoid Man" is an absolute masterpiece of a song.... wow.

What is a masterpiece to you may not be a masterpiece to others.
I know it well, and can appreciate how grounbreaking it was-but it was extremely difficult for me to get into being that its 40 yrs. old (regardless of how progressive it was).

 

[GlendaleViper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwitel /img/forum/go_quote.gif What is a masterpiece to you may not be a masterpiece to others. I know it well, and can appreciate how grounbreaking it was-but it was extremely difficult for me to get into being that its 40 yrs. old (regardless of how progressive it was).

Oh come on - you can't tell me the sax/guitar/drum solo doesn't make you go nuts... can you?

 

[Absorbine_Sr]

In the Court is probably my all time favorite album. Prog began there, and bands like Yes and Genesis used it as the target to shoot for in their formative years. And amazingly, people who saw that original incarnation of Crimson live said the album was but a speck on their live performances. Some of those can be heard on KC Collectors Club releases available from their web site.

On the topic of KC opening for Tool, Trey Gunn told a great story on his blog. A lot of the time he and Pat Mastelotto would go out into the audience and listen to Tool's set after Crimson had finished. One particular show was close to the hotel they were staying in, so after the show they walked back to the hotel along with a bunch of the Tool fans. Trey overheard a couple of fans talking about how great Tool was, and then one of them says "Hey, how about that opening band? They played some pretty tricky crap, didn't they?" Gunn said it was one of the coolest compliments he ever got.

 

[Yikes]

King Crimson is my favorite band of all time. It doesn’t “break up” like most other bands, it disbands or perhaps takes a break. The band re-forms when Fripp feels like it, and any number of the many members rejoin based upon whether their other projects allow. As far as outright musicianship goes King Crimson is at the top of all rock bands.

My Favorite Album of all time: Larks Tongue in Aspic

My only caveat is that I’m not a fan of Adrian Belew’s vocal style.