IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING

In the Court of the Crimson King is without a doubt one of the great prog rock classics. When you listen to this album you will understand why. Great epic tracks, lots of mellotron, and exciting arrangements. Some of the things we identify with prog rock. Those characteristics weren´t very normal in 1969 and therefore King Crimson should be considered as one of the inventors of prog rock.

Even though this is a prog rock classic, I don´t find it to be a masterpiece, there are flaws on this classic album that cannot be ignored. The biggest being the experimental piece in Moonchild which is really pointless noise to my ears and enough for this album to go from 5 to 4 stars in my book. Unfortunately the noisy experiments would continue on later King Crimson albums but on In the Court of the Crimson King this is fortunately the only place.

The songs are very mellow and majestic with the exception of 21st Century Schizoid Man which is the most experimental and innovative song on the album. It´s actually pretty heavy and Greg Lake´s vocals are distorted. The middle section with the horns, which I think is really cool always remind me of the band in the bar in the first Star Wars movie.

I Talk to the Wind is a mellow song with some great flute playing.

Epitaph is a very majestic song. The vocal melody is really beautiful.

Well you already know what my feelings are for the most of Moonchild. The section with vocals is really great though and it really doesn´t deserve to be ruined by the pointless noise that occur later.

The Court of the Crimson King is the ending epic of the album, and the most majestic song on the album. Lots of mellotron is used on this song.

All in all In the Court of the Crimson King is not a full masterpiece IMO, but it is a really fine and excellent addition to your prog collection ( Well everybody probably got it already, but to those of you who have lived under a rock, go buy it).