IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING

Thank you to those who sent me messages about my recent King Crimson reviews. For some unknown reason, my new laptop isn't posting the correct star ratings; the ratings in the review texts are accurate. Thank you for taking the time.

In the Court of the Crimson King is widely considered to be the beginning of progressive rock. Does the fact that our favorite website includes Miles Davis, Meshuggah, and Tangerine Dream invalidate the claim that any one album could shoulder that claim? In the Court for short is, without a doubt, one of the most important records in the history of rock music. It's not my favorite album by King Crimson, my favorite band, but it gets 4 and 1/2 stars from me. I would be willing to round it up in deference to the opinions of others.

There are so many upsides here that I would use up a lot of ink trying to list them all. Therefore, I will just summarize. I really enjoy Ian MacDonald's contributions, and it's a shame that he didn't remain with the group for very long. Greg Lake is an excellent singer, more skilled than John Wetton. Am I in the majority here? Comparing King Crimson singers might make an interesting forum, now that I think about it. David Sinfield's lyrics, although they may be too English Lit for some tastes, do make sense. The same can't be said for a lot of King Crimson's later output.

I'll pick "21st Century Schizoid Man" as my favorite track for the present. I love the fact that even in the beginning, when KC were closest to symphonic prog, they could come up with something that's this metal. Genesis has never come close to rocking this hard. The only nit that I'm going to pick is that "Moonchild" is too meandering for my tastes. That's one minor complaint for In the Court of The Crimson King, a brilliant release.