IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING

Although it may be a significant part of prog history it's not a masterpiece. The songs are good but they feel very stretched and there are very little changes to keep them interesting. King Crimson were good at writing the music, but were unable to execute the songs wisely.

21st Century Schitzoid Man is the best track because it is the most interesting and doesn't feel as stretched as the rest. It's cool but I struggle to enjoy the jazzy instrumental sections the middle. I Talk To The Wind is a good example of the problem with this album. It's a good song, at least for the first few minutes. It doesn't change for whole six minutes, thus being dragged out and repetitive. I enjoy it at first and then end up feeling bored. Epitaph is not as bad but still too long. Moonchild is what makes me struggle to see how anyone gave this 5 stars. It starts very nicely but for a very long time afterwards it's just jazzy improvisation sounds - it's incredibly dull and makes it not worth finishing the song. In The Court of The Crimson King (song) is great and contains a great prog chorus and verse, but they are repeated so much and I become sick of them by the end.

So overall I can respect that this was one of the founding albums of the prog music we all love, but the song structures are the album's major flaws. However there is more good than bad here. 3.5 stars