'In The Court Of The Crimson King'
by King Crimson
(1969)
One of the earliest exponents of the genre - so much so that the term 'progressive rock' had yet to created at the time of this seminal album's 1969 release - King Crimson was the brainchild of guitarist Robert Fripp and lyricist-and-poet Pete Sinfield. Fripp, a seriously intelligent individual who fervently-believed one could only play the guitar properly when sitting down(!), had previously been with the avant-garde pop-psych trio 'Giles, Giles & Fripp', an outfit who had enjoyed little success during the mid-to-late-sixties. Sinfield, meanwhile, who was also an accomplished guitarist, was a friend of multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald, a player who was brought into the 'Giles, Giles & Fripp' fold to flesh out the trio's sound towards the end of their brief existence. Impressed by Sinfield's poetic aspirations Fripp decided, upon the demise of 'Giles, Giles & Fripp', to invite Sinfield into his new prospective new project, a project that would also feature McDonald and another of Fripp's former colleagues in the shape of drummer Michael Giles. Augmented by vocalist-and-guitarist Greg Lake(later of prog supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer) King Crimson, the first group of Progressive Rock, was born in 1969. 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' was released later that year and immediately was praised by both critics and fans for it's fresh, dynamic and highly-inventive sound which blended elements of the avant-garde, lush, classically-hued ethereal soundscapes, discordant heavy rock, post-psychedelic experimentation and artful instrumentation tinged with an aggressive edge that is best summed up on the stirring, jagged, proto-metal album-opener '21st Century Schizoid Man', a composition that has since become one of the genre's most exciting and best-known pieces. Other tracks, such as the coolly detached title-track, the heart-wrenchingly beautiful ballad 'I Talk To The Wind' and the ever-so-slightly overlong 'Moonchild' would showcase the group's gentler, less abrasive dimension, with multiple interlinking sections, dreamy mellotron washes, Lake's softly-sung vocals and Fripp's restrained guitar creating a unique album 'experience' that was as far removed from the 'pop' norm as anything yet heard by mainstream audiences. For King Crimson the single was very much a thing of the past.
'I Talk To The Wind' in particular is an album stand-out, with Ian McDonald's dreamy, and beautifully-wrought, flute flourishes surging peacefully under Lake's breathy vocal tones in a song that cleverly combines the raw effervescence of late-sixties psych-pop with the playful experimentation that lies at the hub of all good progressive music.
A powerful performance at the infamous free Hyde Park concert(where they upstaged The Rolling Stones with a blistering version of '21st Century Schizoid Man') coupled with considerable critical kudos placed King Crimson firmly at the front of the new wave of progressively-inclined rock bands and the album proved a surprise commercial success, marking the end of the short-lived psychedelic phase that had gripped the underground clubs of London, Europe and beyond, and thus opening up a new musical chapter that would see groups such as Yes, Genesis and Van Der Graaf Generator emerge as the new lights of British rock. King Crimson, all the while led by the self-styled 'democratic dictator' Fripp, would forge a unique musical vision that would direct the group into producing a series of follow-up albums of similar stylistic virtue that would cement the group as one of the key, if not the key, progressive rock outfits from the genre's exciting golden days.
Alongside the likes of 'Close To The Edge' by Yes, Genesis' 'Nursery Cryme' and Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side Of The Moon', this visionary release stands at the very peak of the progressive rock genre. Not bad for a debut album.
Key songs: 21st Century Schizoid Man, I Talk To The Wind
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