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IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KINGKing CrimsonEclectic Prog |
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2- I Talked to the wind is a GREAT follow-up to the shizoid man, completley different, more acoustic, the keyboard is great as well as the flute and the voice. It's really soothing to hear it. My favorite one.
3- Epitaph (Including March For No Reason And Tomorrow And Tomorrow) is also a great song (note that i'm getting bored of writing (n_n) ).
4- Moonchild (Including The Dream And The Illusion) has a vey powerfull start, many may think that it's like a movie that has nothing much to say but still lasts 4 hours, but every note is vital for the illusion created by this song. Really great.
5-The Court Of The Crimson King (The Return Of The Fire Witch And The Dance) turn the mood very medieval, great lyrics and music; it's my second favorite one.
In conclusion this album is must to all prog lovers. GET IT. /) /) (^:^) (")(")
P.D: Don't mind the bunny... ""(·o·)""

Also, Bad Religion (skilled pop-punk band) inspired themselves from this album. In fact, their guitarist Brett Gurewitz (owner and founder of Epitaph record!) wrote a song called ' 21st Century Digital Boy' (from the Stranger than Fiction album). It's actually a very good song.
Also, try the Moonchild reprise by The Doves on 'The Last Broadcast'. It's neat. If you have some more time, check out the cover done by Steve Hackett on the Tokyo Tapes DVD. Wetton on bass/vocals, McDonald on flute and keys, Hackett on guitar and Thompson on drums. A real moment.


Greg Lake (from Emerson Lake & Palmer) is the lead singer: his voice is absolutely legendary! There are some mellow & delicate tracks like "I talk to the wind": it has relaxing flutes, placid vocals and gentle drums.
"21st century schizoid man" has jazzy sax parts, OUTSTANDING fast and complex drums, and a very melodic, present and complex bass. Fripp's electric guitar is mind troubling, already being bizarre and experimental. The unbelievably fast and loaded end of the track sounds a bit like the fast and free jazz album "Song X" by Pat Metheny.
"Epitaph" has very poignant floating mellotron streams a la Genesis (Nursery cryme). Greg's lead vocals are emotional and passionate. Fripp uses peaceful guitars, mostly acoustic.
"Moonchild" is catchy and addictive, particularly Greg's voice. Fripp's guitar follows more the rhythm and the melody of this track, despite his electric guitar solos in the background are a bit irritating.
One of the best tracks is definitely the last one, "The court of the crimson king", which has full of intensely floating mellotron, heroic backing vocals, soothing flutes, accessible guitar sounds and varied drums. Near the end, there is an excellent childish part of woodwind instruments: very charming!
Rating: 4.5 stars



"In The Court of the Crimson King" remains the cornerstone of the temple, and thus a cornerstone of any progressive rock collection.


For me, this is the only really good album King Crimson have ever done. Unlike much of their subsequent output, most of the music here is pure prog rock. "Epitaph" is the best of the bunch, with Greg Lake in excellent form vocally, backed by swirling mellotron. The track is preceded by "I talk to the wind", a beautiful soft ballad with lilting flute. This provides the perfect lead in to "Epitaph" which crashes in majestically as "I talk to the wind" fades.
The title track is a lengthy, but essentially simple song, with various instrumental breaks interrupting what would otherwise be a pretty commercial piece.
In total there are five tracks on the album, the other two being the heavy rock of "21st Century schizoid man", and the fragile but all too dull "Moonchild".
The band started to disintegrate as soon as this album was put together, and they never regained the form which led to the creation of this classic. For this who appreciate the vast output which has come from the band since, this album may seem somewhat out of place, for those looking for prog rock (as opposed to jazz rock) this is the only King Crimson album you need.

I can't find other words to describe the first 100% progressive Rock album and the one that defined the genre, perfect album from start to end, goes from frenetic to symphonic in a matter of seconds, sadly King Crimson (In my humble opinion of course) never released any album that could even be near in quality or imagination to "In The Court of the Crimson King", but in their defense it was not an easy task.
"21st Century Schizoid Man (Including Mirrors)" is an absolutely frantic song, seems chaotic but it's perfect, the band expresses a sensation of frustration and anger that is transmitted to the listener, has abrupt changes, complex instrumentation and innovative sound, just what Progressive Rock means, brilliant.
"Talk to the Wind" is precisely the other side of the coin, starts with a soft flute by Ian Mc Donald and soon melts with Greg Lake's beautiful voice, seems simple, only a soft ballad, but it's more than that, mostly because of the way they combine the instruments, in a way that only some jazz virtuoso musicians did before.
"Epitaph" is a darker song with very obscure pessimistic lyrics, Lake's voice adapts perfectly to Fripp's guitar and the melancholic mellotron, a very atmospheric style that would be developed later by Gabriel's Genesis. Some people believe it's a sad ballad, but really is a very complex track that combines different rhythms and timing, also must say percussion is brilliant.
"Moonchild" is the more jazz oriented track despite it keeps the Symphonic structure, starts calm and mellow with a very defined rhythm and an a unique guitar work, in the first listen you can get the impression that we are before another tune in the vein of "I Talk to the Wind", but around the 3 minutes the fusion begins, nothing so complex and lack of logical structure had been done before, almost as if the band was in a jam session McDonald and Fripp are outstanding in this song.
"In the Court of the Crimson King, including The Return of the Fire Witch and the Dance of the Puppets" is an absolute masterpiece, lyrics are incredibly descriptive and combine perfectly with the music creating the medieval atmosphere, this song has everything, beauty, rhythm, complexity and lots of imagination, words are not capable of describing it, the perfect closer for a perfect album.
The great achievement of KING CRIMSON is that in their debut release they managed to create an album that has 5 absolutely different songs that show 5 different aspects of prog rock: aggression, calm, darkness, fusion and the closer that blends all this aspects and more in an 9:22 minutes track.
Many bands released progressive or semi-progressive albums before, some of them are outstanding, but no other work can define the genre and set the status so high as" In the Court of the Crimson King", the path is ready for other bands to follow, but what a job to reach the level of this masterpiece.
5 Stars seem poor for such an album, if you don't own it, your prog' collection is not complete.


Throughout the album the musicianship is perfect, with Greg Lake's dreamlike vocals often serving as the centrepiece of the album. The lyrics can be dark at times but exceed throughout the record. The guitar and percussion work show similarities to a sound that Yes would also develop. The wind instuments on this album are exquisite and one of the most original ideas that allows the band to compete easily with bands like Yes, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull and Genesis. The wind instruments fit in so well with songs like "I Talk to the Wind" and "Epitaph". Every track on this album shows off the glory and skill of king crimson. "Epitaph" and "I Talk to the Wind" are beautiful yet sad pieces and balance out the album well from the opening track. These three songs are masterpieces in their own right. "Moonchild" is perhaps too long and winding. This song contains lots of experimental guitar effects and although it plays well it can end up getting drowned out on the album. Perhaps too long even though it can be heaven to listen to at times. This technique of using stretchy effects of percussion and guitar was later reused in Pink Floyd's "More" and "Ummagumma" albums, as well as The Mars Volta's works. This is daring yet inspirational, just it can be very awkward to listen to at times. The title track is a brilliant send of and gives the album a concept feel to it. King Crimson may not have been able to better this but they certainly evolved from it in a great way. This is a masterpiece and really is one of the best examples of progressive rock you may ever find.


Each song on this album has impressive strengths but also some regrettable low points. "21st Century Schizoid Man" is a great way to start the album, and their career, with huge distorted riffs and caustic vocals. When the song speeds up, the musicianship becomes more apparent, even if the latter half of the song ("Mirrors"?) seems a bit unfocused and even unnecessary. "I Talk to the Wind" shows that the band has no fear of mellow sounds, and Giles' drums are quietly excellent. While the flute is nice, the extended improvisation over the same repeated chord structure seems a just a little too much, adding nothing important to the song's simple beauty. "Epitaph" demonstrates Lake's emotive power, with a moody backdrop saturated by dramatic washes of sound (including the relatively rare Fripp acoustic). McDonald isn't as creative a manipulator of the mellotron as some (Mike Pinder, for instance), and its slightly harsh presence can get a bit overbearing on this song, and the album as a whole. "Moonchild" is a different kind of drama, a dark pastoral mystery of a song that suffers from some strange instrumental decisions- why that banal cymbal rhythm is repeated, and so high in the mix during the verses, for instance. I won't criticize the extended, amorphous second part, as the band members have openly admitted that the album was too short and they had to fill space. Finally, the grand and immediately recognizable title track is a progger's dream; archaic flavors and instrumental exploration in balance, and truly evocative of the Frederick II (et cetera) courtly mood.
As my relationship with this album (and the band) matures, I have to come to the sad conclusion that Peter Sinfield and Ian McDonald are two of my least favorite major players; Sinfield has a pretentious, academic writing style that emphasizes Lake's latent pomposity instead of his singular pathos, and McDonald adds plenty of texture but little character- his parts are suitable, at best, but more often overbearing. My impression of KING CRIMSON is that of a band that combines raw, hard-hitting sonics with unconventional beauty via evocative, virtuoso musical exploration, and there isn't enough of any of those elements on this album. I think the main problem is that there's just not enough Fripp in the equation; sometimes the band of "In the Court of the Crimson King" sounds like one he was in before he found his musical calling, rather than the first chapter of a magnificent legacy. Don't get me wrong- it's a classic and you really should have it. Parts of it are magnificent and timeless...it's just not the flawless masterpiece some would have you believe.





I even have the 45 of "The Court of the Crimson King". I remember buying that with my allowance. That poor little record was played so often, I'm surprised its still in such great shape. When I finally bought the album some time later, it was gladly regulated to plastic.. where its still at to this day.
Even though "Epitaph" is probably my favorite track on this mentally, I've always been particularly fond of "Moonchild", even with Mike Giles' intermittent use of percussion sounds. It's a perfect vehicle for Greg's romantic voice and it congers up a wonderful imagery for a young mind. Which is also the case with "I Talk to the Wind". Epitaph on the other hand, is musically perfect, a beautiful eerie piece with a deep and emotional meaning, but a little on the depressing side. It however, is another perfect vocal interpretation from Greg.
The most complicated and the proof that this band was extremely talented musicians, was "21st Century Schizoid Man". The playing on this track by all members of the band is absolutely inspiring. Bob Fripp, Greg Lake, Michael Giles and Ian McDonald show what it means to be a tight, together "band". team mentality was created on the making of this record! A definition of what "timing" is all about. Its too bad they couldn't keep that team together a little longer.However, its amazing to think that Greg Lake had only been playing bass a few months when they recorded this. Its incredible.
Its also not surprising that this album has survived the years so successfully. There's a reason why this album is generally always at the top of the best prog album lists. It's a testament to all the best prog that came afterwards. And I agree with all those who said this was King Crimson's best lineup and best record they ever did.

This is not so much of a review as it is a love letter to this album, where everything, every last note, tone, word, beat changed me. If it would be possible, from a totally subjective point of view, I would give this album 6 star, 7, as many as possible. I make this explanation because I don't think albums should be reviewed purely from a subjective point of view; objectivity (no matter how hard and even down right impossible) must be kept as a rule in a review. Having said that, this album deserves nothing less than 5 star.
I won't talk about the music itself, it has been done too many times and we all know this album by heart, or at least we all should, but I will say this: This album changed popular music like few did, and rarely does it get the credit it deserves. Only in sites like this it does, and it's a shame, just ask Pete Townsend or Jimi Hendrix (good look with that) or any Genesis, Yes, ELP, Renaissance, Anglagard, The Mars Volta. member, I doubt they will tell you any different.


What can be said of this seminal album that hasn't been said 1000 times before and maybe 10 000 better than I ever could? A classic on which a genre was built, even if this is subject to discussion, very few others could really pretend to it. This unusual quintet, including a separate lyricist/light & sounds man in the person of Sinfield and the extraordinary Schizoid artwork to go with the album, all of this made for an outstanding and spectacular album that could only strike the public strongly enough for it to epitomize the "prog" genre.
Outside the soft-improvisation part (not nearly as much a turn-off as most would have you believe) of Moonchild, every track has been played hundreds if not thousands of times to these ears in every conceivable possibility or situation in my life, including mating. But for that particular occasion I made a Cd-r version that skips the opening Schizoid Man (really not suited for that use) and the long improvised section of Moonchild, meaning I'm left with a fairly romantic album that most women should appreciate enough to let themselves go.
Now in recent times, a 5.1 reissue has been released (as with all KC albums), but it's also a tad more than a remaster, but a remix as well. So the new "thing" is now a two-disc affair that includes the 2003 remaster plus a few bonus alternate tracks, and a DVD that contains two different configurations to listen to the new version as well as a five minutes poor-quality film footage of their legendary Hyde Park concert. If in other albums (LTIA and Red), the video material is absolutely essential, in this case, you won't watch it much and therefore is nothing worth acquiring the 5.1 reissue. As for the bonus tracks, the full version of Moonchild is included, but it doesn't change much the overall feel of the album if it had been included, instead of the abridged (of roughly 4-mins) version. As for the two Wind alternate takes, their rather interesting (especially the acoustic version) but not worth the price of admission (listen to GG&F's Brondesbury Tapes release instead), and to be honest, neither is the Epitaph backing track? as for the last "wind noise" bonus, it's a complete scam, IMHO. So overall, the bonus tracks are interesting for the major KC fan, but not really for the casual fan.
As for the 5.1 versions, I can't tell you much about it, since I don't have the proper equipment to test it. Nuff'said, I think!! Should you really want to know or read more, there are plenty of excellent reviews above and below mine.


PS - The reason I ever got this album was because of the hilarious cover art. Best choice I ever did!



If you like prog you must have this album...You will travel if hear Moonchild, Greg Lake sings like no one in this music,the flute and the oboe(i don`t know what it is) in I Talk To The Wind is so beautiful, the first flute solo ends with the beggining of a Fripp Guitar...WONDERFUL!!!
I really have to go... I have to hurry!
Well...THIS ALBUM IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ALBUNS IN THE WORLD!!!!

So, why should I give the 76th entry then? As a matter of statistical vote to prove that this is a masterpiece? Or, to counter review for those reviewers who have given less than 4 stars? (Ahem . I always view that people have different views based on taste and background. So I have no problem with it at all). No no no no ..Not all of that things, my friends ..My reason is simple. I've just read a great story about the band from its inception (embryo stage) until "The Construction of Light" album through a well- researched book by Sid Smith (got nothing to do with Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd) titled In The Court of King Crimson (Helter Skelter Publishing, 2001 - reprinted 2003). It's a great book as it was written by a die-hard fan of the band. As Mr. Fripp put at book cover: "Sid Smith's opinion is worthy of respect".
Of course I won't tell you about the book in detail because it's 346 pages and also what would be "my view" if I take everything from the book? I don't want to be in the circle of plagiarism. But, the book has given me a powerful nuance and reference to review any album of King Crimson. (If you notice, this is my first review about the band and I want to do it right, with the best available references).
It's gonna be boring if I review track by track as I used to do it with other prog albums. This time I would do it at album level because you know it well track by track. Let's do it this way .
The result of a struggling band. This album was a culmination of concerted effort by the band members from the embryonic Giles, Giles & Fripp until it was formalized under the name of KC. It's important to notice how the band members were not aware at all that they did a great job. In the a.m. book it was mentioned that the making of "21st Century Schizoid Man" albeit it's the first track but was recorded the last. The song was made through collective efforts by its members and they did not feel that they accomplished something great that rocked the music industry later on. Each member did not pat others for example "Hey great, we did it one". No, not at all. They just said "OK, that's it". (page 59).
The Change master that inpires ... Yeah .. We know it that this album had created major change in music industry. At that time people never thought a music with powerful riffs and "very" distorted vocal as in the opening track "21st Century .". Even the first time I listened to this song (sometime in 1976) I thought that my cassette was in trouble. Couple months ago, our local newspaper in my country featured this album in a great details (reviewed by my colleague Tom Malik). What interesting was the prog discussion that followed after the article. It was discussed that the riffs have inspired many heavy metal bands. You may or may not agree with it.
The Music. Now, let's talk about the music. The overall album has a strong structure offering a variety of styles: progressive rock, ballad with classical touch and avant garde- and overall album offers dark nuance. The music demonstrates catchy and memorable melodies that still valid thru the passage of time. Having listened to "Epitaph" or "I Talk To The Wind" in decades I'm still touched by their melodies. Wonderfully crafted!
If I may advise, it's not a matter of recommendation. But, if you want to explore prog music, this album is must in your prog collection. Don't step into prog wagon if you do not own this album yet. Keep on progging! GW, Indonesia.
Note: With an earthquake disaster happening in my country and neighborhood, "Epitaph" might be best to play as condolences for twenty three thousand brothers and sisters who have lost their lives tragically ."Confusion will be my epitaph ." ..South East Asian countries are crying now .(Jakarta, 28 Dec 04)

The instrumental architecture is defined by the symphonic mellotron, the jazz of the saxophone and the rock of the guitars and drums. Overall, dark suites full of nostalgia. The first track is a fine introduction, with some good saxo and mellotron arrangements, nice transition parts and a middle psychedelic guitar solo part. I Talk to The Wind cuts the strength of the first track with a very nice flute and mellow song, with dual vocals quite usual at that time. Epitah is another very sad song, full of nostalgia, one by one all instruments (acoustic guitars, mellotron, bass) show deep emotion! Moonchild is in the same line with the two predecessors, but with a quite long obscuring, imaginative, calm psychedelic mellotron solo. The last track is also sad but with the energy of the first track added by emotional chorus at refrains followed by a memorable classical mellotron.
This is an EXCELLENT album, not only for its history but for the music itself. Songs like Epitah or The Court of Crimson King are very deep, can make the most emotional of you cry. Surely one of the best progressive albums of ever, a MUST to every prog collector!
My rate: 9/10


In many aspects, not only musical, King Crimson were a band ahead of their time and so is this record. A breathtaking cover of "Schizoid Man" (I recommend 30th Anniversary Edition as it is designed as vinyl replica and has a better view of this great artwork on it). I must add that this was the one that brought my atention to the long forgotten masterpiece, after I heard some albums from their later periods. I still think that they are all great in their own aspects but this debut just conquers them all. As I said at the beginning of my review, not only a cornerstone of progressive rock but also one of the best records ever!




'21st Century Schizoid Man', 'Epitaph' and 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' must be the most covered Progressive Rock tracks of all time, I would think. The music on the album is excellent, with only the extended noodling on 'Moonchild' being open to criticism. The first fifth of the track is a pleasant, laid-back song but the rest of the track is very subdued noodling. The latter does not bother me and could be claimed to be mood music, evocative of a moonlit garden or landscape. or, alternatively, it could just be noodling! I don't know whether the band was really trying to convey a mood (moonbeams flitting through the trees, that kind of thing), or were just at a loss for something better to do.
I had not thought of this until recently, but this album might have directly influenced some of PFM's early music.
Apart from the first track, which, as the name suggests, is hard-hitting, the music is symphonic and often subdued. So, if you've never heard the album before, don't expect very bombastic Progressive Rock (although 'Epitaph' and 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' are pompous, I suppose). The use of sax and vibes give the music a jazzy feel in places. Lake's voice is crystal clear and his singing is really on top form, as are Sinfield's poetic lyrics.
Just a note about the CD release I have: it's the Japanese company Universal Records' album UICE-9051 using the Microsoft HDCD (High Definition CD) system so, if your HI-FI supports HDCD, you will hear 20-bit digitised sound instead of the usual 16-bit Audio CD sound. However you don't need a HDCD-compatible HI-FI to play this CD - it will work on any CD player, although the HDCD Web site says that HDCD CDs sound better than normal Audio CDs on conventional CD players. I have to say that this CD does indeed sound very warm and less tinny than a conventional 16-bit Audio CD on my conventional HI-FI. The CD sleeve is of the mini-LP format and comes with a booklet with cuttings from Melody Maker, Rolling Stone etc. which is a nice touch.
As to the rating, such an important work could only merit 5 stars, and it should be in every Prog fan's collection.





The opening track, 21st Century schizoid man is a heavy start to the album and the only such track. Its bass heavy sound and use of distortion are employed to great effect and sit in stark contrast to the gentle wind instruments used in I talk to the wind, a beautiful dreamy piece. Epitaph is the standout track on the album; both powerful and poetic, it never fails to impress. Moonchild is perhaps more traditional, and the weaker track of the five, but up until the improv it still sits nicely before the full synthesized might of In the court kicks in. While criticized by some for being overly repetitive, I think that this is unlikely to become an issue unless the album is overplayed. There is also a much busier sound to the last repetition, with many instruments sounding slightly off key but somehow complimenting it beautifully.
Overall, I can only recommend this album. For anyone who is a fan of KC it is a must-have, while it is also a good place to start for beginners. While I would hesitate to rate it as KC's best album, it is certainly up there with Red, Lizard, and Larks' Tongues in Aspic. If you're looking for a more modern sound, then Power to Believe is a remarkable return to form for the band and rated almost as highly as those previously mentioned.

All by all I think this is a progressive masterpiece. My favourites are 21th Century Schizoid Man and In the Court of the Crimson King, but the 3 other tracks are great to. In my opinion there's no doubt that this is worth 5 stars out of 5, maybe even more.

21th centurie schizoid man, is a frantic weird song with great structures and a driving force behind it, the vocals are more restrained screaming than being sung, absolutely great. I talk to the wind, is a soft ballad, with a soothing flow, and some great singing by Greg. Epitaph, is a very melodic atmospheric track, with dark, sad lyrics and symphonised mellow passages. Again beautifull sung. a great song for a dark winter's day.
Moonchild, I could have done without it. you really must be in the mood for this. Again a ballad. the beginning of the song is good, a very sad slow piece, with an improvised end section. This end section makes it a dull, boring uninteresting song. In the court of the crimson king. The albums closes as it began, with a more heavy song. Again with a dark symphonised sound, great drums, great vocals, great mellotron. Absolutely the best track on this album.
Overall this album has a consistent sound. Dramatic, with a strong fluid flow all through it. Greg Lake's vocals are very good, so are the instrumentalist, especially those mellotrons. With the exception of Moonchild this is an absolute masterpiece, worthy of six stars, but I may only give 5. RECOMMENDED. an absolute must for all prog lovers!

You wont be dissapointed.



It's incredible! We can't be bore of the melody of this cd. Each time I put it on my cd player, I rediscovered it and say, wow, these guys wrote it in 1969...crazy!
But for its impact to the world of music, and the great melody, I recommended this cd for every open-minded listener who loves good music, especially prog music.



I am not suprised one reviewer above is influenced to write about disaster in his location. Epitath certainly is an epic in the tradition of Gustav Mahler's second 'Resurrection' symphony. That the song evokes the same passionate questioning of the end time and it's turmoil as a symphony well over thirty minutes long in only a few minutes is an incredible acheivement. The cry of "but I fear we'll all be crying", along with a crescendo of sound and ending in a long emotional fade out is one of the first epics rock had to offer. I first hear it around the time it came out in the sixties, in my grade school years. It was the first time I noticed something that different and powerful in rock. Something that gives us pause. To reflect on the end of life, complete with a funeral dirge in the middle, starting with a massive explosion in the beginning is certainly something that disturbs. We need more music like this rather than the multitude of pop songs that convey no meaning whatsoever.


21st Century Schizoid Man is an extremely famous progressive track, and for good reason. The blasting riff in this song is probably the greatest I have ever heard. As for the middle section, I have never heard a better fusion of jazz and rock, if you can even call it jazz. It really has to be heard to be believed.
I Talk to the Wind: The first time I heard this song, my attention drifted away. After that blasting opener, this quiet little song made me lose interest in a way. HOWEVER, this song is one of the most beautiful songs of all time. Listen to the song 4 times, and you will have a slight inkling as to what this song accomplishes. It takes the album down from the insane intro, and keeps the album on that level.
Epitaph: There is no conceivable way to convey to anyone the power of this song. It could very well be the greatest song of all time. It is so emotional, so incredible, that it is impossible to explain it.
Moonchild is the one song that is picked on in this album. Everyone (including me) agrees that the first 2 and a half minutes are incredible. Such a beautiful melody. Then, the song enters 10 minutes of improvisation. This is where fans separate themselves. Most people believe that this 10 minutes is garbage, pure nothingness. This is what I thought for a little while. However, sit down, close your eyes, open your mind, put this song on, and listen. You will find that it is very, very good. One review I read once described it as a bunch of little kids going into the studio and playing with the instruments. But I disagree. Listen, and form your own opinion.
The Court of the Crimson King: Could easily be the most moving, haunting piece of music ever made. The opening mellotron riff could be the most memorable riff ever. Then, when you think it's over, it goes into a small little flute section, then blasts back into the mellotron section. It makes one of the all-time greatest album closers ever.
Robert Fripp is, in every way, a genius. I have always loved Greg Lake as a vocalist, and on this album, he does an amazing job. Also, who knew Lake could play bass like this? Listen to the bass in the middle section of Schizoid Man. It will blow your mind. Also, Michael Giles has always been a favorite drummer of mine. His style is very memorable, and it fits King Crimson perfectly.
This album surpasses 5 stars. It is an experience unlike any other. 5/5 stars.

The highlights of this album to meare 21st Century Schizoid Man, In the Court of the Crimson King, and Epitaph. I truly enjoy the agressive guitar work on 21st Century Schizoid Man, and Ian McDonald adds many textures with his woodwinds throughout the album, and Mike Giles drum work is one of the finest performances I've ever heard, and a good performance by Greg Lake as well throughout. The title track is a mellotron led tune with a more laid back sound. I really find the way Lake says, "The cracked brass bells will ring", it gets me every time. Epitaph is a really melancolic tune with some very beautiful guitar on Robert Fripp's part, and some very emotional vocals from Greg Lake.
In between those 2 gems are what I call filler. They are good tracks, but they aren't as complete as the 2 mentioned above. I Talk to the Wind has very beautiful flute work. And Moonchild to me is completely worthless, just a lot of quietness that leads into the madness of In the Court of the Crimson King.
Overall, I give this album a 3 out of 5 for those stellar tracks in the beginning, middle, and end. I recommend it to any fan of King Crimson, and to any fan of Progressive Rock, but it just doesn't satisfy me.



- The LP sleeve design impressed me a lot when i was a teenager, it was so different, so amazing. In the early 70's that was truly a great experience, a kind of mystic one.
- I was used to watch the music while listening at it : I wired the left & right speakers to the x-y input of an oscilloscope to draw Lissajous figures on the screen. I must say that "In the Court of the Crimson King" record was one of those which makes the best ones, especially at the end (with the organ playing). This is mainly because this LP was very well recorded, with a large stereo field depth and incredible sound recording quality - one of the first recording to use sound limiters. This way to listen & watch music at the same time is really mind-blowing. The only weakness in this record is the poor noise gate used, mainly in "21'st..." : too much noise when silence should be heard.






But honestly, while I can give it credit for being the original, the creator of it all (although that too can be contested), is it honestly the pinnacle? The best? Well, not everyone says that. But many do, and to those of you who do, I say no. People seem to prop this album just because it is the original. It's certainly not the best, though. Krimson themselves have done about four better albums, honestly, and don't even let me go into other bands. On a list of favorite albums, this might barely make the top 15. Don't get me wrong; it's an excellent album. There's just better out there.
21st Century Schizoid Man: Well, I do like this song a lot. It's heavy metal before heavy metal existed. Brutal, rough, great lyrics (even though they are against Vietnam, which I don't like, I still know they are good and creative), and a great...well, I'd call it a jam session halfway through where the whole band goes nuts. Besides Fripps' screeching guitar which is a bit painful on the ears, not because it's bad but because it honestly SCREECHES, this song is GREAT. 9.5/10
I Talk To The Wind: Good song, some beautiful memorable sections and great singing that adds to the gentle mood of the song. Onthe upside, it's very pretty, with great flute all around and memorable melodies. On the downside, it seems uninspired at points, kind of just noodling along with no real aim. Still, I like it. Tends to get stale after repeated listens. 8/10
Epitaph: An emotional song here. I'll be honest, people love this song but it just doesn't do it for me. Sure, it's got a good chorus section, but other than that, it's eight minutes of semi-powerful musicianship. It repeats itself a lot. Some sections are absolutely amazing, but most of it is just pretty good. 8/10
Moonchild: Blegh. First three minutes are actually really good, some of my favorite passages in the whole album. The first three minutes are better than I Talk To The Wind and just as good as the titletrackwhich is great. But...the last nine minutes...well, it's basically a jam session. But not a formulated jam session. This is honestly guys screwing around on their instruments for nine minutes, practicing whatever they want with no sense of structure or melody. It's...crap. For this song ,just because of the last nine minutes, 6/10
The Court of the Crimson King: Good song. Memorable opening mellotronbit in the beginning that kicks into the lyrical part. The lyrics are descriptive and colorful and work well. The flute is back and sounds great. It drags on a bit longer than it should, but most of the itme it's great music. 8.5/10 because I like it, but don't love it.
So yes, it created prog. But no, it's not the best of prog.






Final Verdict: A definite MUST in any music library.

Actually, all factors of the Prog Rock that we image are put in this work(rock'n'roll, country, folk, jazz, and classics). Stoic imagination that invents philosophical lyrics to which sense of beauty close for performance ability to control knowledge, complication that skillfully combines wide materials, and music made difficult perfectly and frenzy explodes and novel sound image. It is easy to imagine the impact that this work to which the balance that can be called these elements miraculous is kept brings to a music scene at that time. It must be a work that includes the impact of the cover jacket that remains on the lock history, listens to future generations, and is succeeded.

The next song, I Talk to the Wind, is nice and mellow and relxaing. Great lyrics and great vocals. I also think that Crimson were the first 'rock' band to include flutes in their music.
The next track, Epitaph, is tied for my favorite song on the album with the title track. The way it starts out with that great little lead-lick from Fripp, then it goes into the super quiet moving verse, then the powerfully emotional chorus. There are also a few interludes in this one too, like March for No Reason. This song features some great mellotron.
What I am about to say about the next track, Moonchild, has been said before. The first two and a half minutes are excellent, with great vocals and melody, and imaginative and colorful lyrics. But then it comes nine minutes of just messing around on their instruments for some truly boring stuff.
The title track is so unbelievably awesome, with its great classic mellotron riff, great guitar riffs from Fripp, great, medieval style lyrics, and then when you think its over, but the drums kick the mellotron riff back in and its just fantastic.
So this is a great album. Almost perfect. However, since the greatness of the other songs can make up for the junk on Moonchild,I'm giving it five.






By the time this album came out in 1969, The Moody Blues had already been putting out several albums of creative, colorful, mellotron-based prog. music. Just listen to "Days of Future Passed" (1967) and "In Search of the Lost Chord" (1968) and you can find much of the early influences for "In the Court of the Crimson King". The title track "The Court of the Crimson King" especially is very heavy on the Moody Blues sound (lots of mellotron, reflective vocals, acoustic guitar, flute, early prog drums - sort of jazzy).
It's not surprising that ITCOTCK borrows a lot from the Moody Blues. Members of both bands were good friends and hung around each other. While King Crimson was just getting off the ground, the Moodies were already a well-established band, and were obviously very influencial. Surreal cover art was also already in full swing by the time ITCOTCK came out, although KC's certainly stood out with that twisted maniacal face.
Of course, the members of King Crimson put their own touch on the style of music. Fripp added harshness and dissonance, and lyricist Pete Sinfield added his own weird imagery.
This is still a classic though!

21st Century schizoid man Mirrors : the song open with a riff, and what a riff this is, the kind of riff with stange sound, the kind of riff very simple but truly amazing, after that a strange voice take the place and disturb a lot my mind and I just love it. after that the instrumentale part of the song and this is very to enjoy. do you know that robert fripp is a crazy player. so now you know.
all song in this album bring my mind in a perfect dream of progresive music do you like flute in prog music ,what a stupid question i ask, if you like prog music your also like flute. so you will really enjoy this album because king crimson use flute in the perfect mood like jethro tull, genesis and camel.
this is the kind of album that I will listen in ten years like the first listening. this album is a masterpiece because each melody are perfect and the songwriting is at is best quality. hardly recommended for those who like experimentale prog music or symphonique prog music.

1. 21st Century schizoid man Mirrors 10/10 : This track is a classic, the riffs are legendary, and everything you hear in this has influenced many future artists. A heavy Jazz-rock epic with plenty of memorable moments.
2. I talk to the wind 6/10 : This is a very pretty and melodic song with nice flute melodies. Nothing too extraordinary.
3. Epitaph 9/10 : One of the best Songs from the band. The mellotron usage is at its best here, and the vocals are some of the best you would ever hear from Greg Lake. It is a long ballad.
Moonchild Dream 8/10 : It starts promising and it is a gorgeous soft song. Moonchild Illusion 0/10 : 10 minutes of pointless music ... trust me, I know what I am talking about.
5. The court of the crimson king 6/10 : This is an ok track with good mellotron and a memorable chorus, yet ... it drags a lot!
I am not a big fan of King Crimson, so I probably should not have reviewed this album, but I believe they got better in 'Red'
My Grade : C



Sometimes you listen to an album and the top of you head floats away and everything changes. Forever.
I class 21st Centrury Schizoid Man as one of the finest tracks ever cut. This is what "far out" really meant.
Sorry, but I like Epitaph and Moonchild. I even sing them to myself sometimes. Those who comaplin about Moonchild forget that this is, after all, a progressive album. Mimicking the structure of a classical symphony, the quiet and reflective pieces are essential to achieving the maximum impact of the frenzy of 21st Century Schizoid Man and the huge grandeur of the title track.

'21st Century Schizoid Man' comes out very powerfully and continues it's power all the way to the end of the song. It's as if they combined the heaviest sounds from different periods. Distorted guitar and voice from the modern age, swing like raspy jazz from the early 20th century, and a snappy rhythm and disjointed syncopation that would have been used by composers of old to exemplify ire. The slow brooding guitar which clashes with the speedy jazz ensemble provide a genuine 'Schizoid' experience. This is a good strong opening for the album.
Next comes in 'I Talk to the Wind' which is a very, very mellow song and completely switches the mood in a shocking, but well executed fashion. The lyrics and the melody for the vocals are (if you are familiar with Emerson, Lake, and Palmer), very much dominated by Greg Lake's influence in retrospect. You can kind of see how his presence shapes the band in this song. Note the end of the song, there is some beautiful woodwind work here with the flute.
'Epitaph' is next and again, Lake's singing is excellent. His vocals rip though the music like a bullet directing the song in it's ebbs and flows. The string sounds from the mellotron make this song sound epic as they course though the music. The music brings you in and out of the throes of depression. You can imagine a man ripped apart by confusion and frustration. In fact, the song is so sad, if you get too much into it (which is easy to do) you'll go down with it. As a sidenote, after listening to 'Epitaph' and 'I Talk to the Wind', one wonders if Lake took a little bit of King Crimson with him when he began with ELP. 'Take a Pebble' which is from ELP's first album, is reminiscent of this sound.
'Moonchild' is a very dreamy song and is quite psychedelic in nature. Especially 'The Dream' which is a subpart of the song. When Radiohead names this band as an influence you can see it distinctly from this song here. This song is very spatial and trippy, Fripp's guitar work and McDonald's keyboard work are awesome in this song and you have to listen hard to tell that there are 2 different instruments being played for awhile. The two musicians are so together and so in sync that they make the experiments in this song sound as if they are being played by the same person. The drumming, which comes in later is very well done and never overpowering. This is an experimental song, which is not everyone's cup of tea. It's mine, however, so I pretty much would rave all day about this track if I don't cut it short here.
Then, immediately after all of the quietus of 'Moonchild' comes the very powerful and majestic 'In the Court of the Crimson King'. Like a king's army marching through your quiet village, unannounced, it makes it's appearance. The lyrics and music bring you into a fantasy world while the chorus of powerful singing and chords ring with the majesty and power you would expect from a king. There are no real intricate instrumentals or complicated guitar solos to speak of, which is good because it would actually pull away from the song too much if there were. There are a couple of good segues from the song though that, like the rest of this album, are masterfully constructed.
This whole album is an emotional roller coaster. It goes from frustrated, crazy, and angry to content and happy. From happy, to tormented and sad, and from that, to dreams and awe. This album has everything you need to make this a good album. You have all of the base human emotions, good music composition, talented musicians, and creative lyrics and structure. This is one of the best prog albums ever made and you most definately should have this album in your collection, no question. If you like prog, you'll love this album! I give it a well deserved 5 because there are only 5 stars to give.



I think it's the finest album ever made and it is a ''must'' for every collector.




Let's jump into 21st century schizoid man... Oh, man, 25 seconds and only train sounds? I don't hear anything, put it higher! And... KABOUM! Amazing guitar sound, and Lake's vocals (from far into him...), are very hard and strict... Good song with jazz inspirations and for the sixties, a new type of guitar solo... The prog one...
I talk to the wind isa the less strong song on this album, personaly... (I precise personaly, because when I read a reiew saying that Shine On you crazy Diamond is the less good piece on the album, it gets me on my but). Very low ballad, contrary to Schizoid, helping us to jump in the contracts of the album...
Epitaph is a very good piece of music. Greg' the one that impresses me the most, there. Excellent vocals and lyrics of graveyard... Amazing, considering the keyboard stuff there was in the sixties...
Moonchild is great, very low, too. Nice ambiance there and combiantions of Fripp and McDonald.
Then, the title track,a s big as the nose of the pink man n the cover. When the chorus goes on, it almost flies into the sky, it's so high! I personaly love when the guy says the words of the title before to jump and touch the stars with his head... Nice intensity just there...
I don't think that anyone could say that this album is overrated... Maybe it ain't Crimson's best one, but no one was as much innovative... Thank you, Fripp.

KING CRIMSON is one of those rare bands that have made a debut album which deserves a lot of praising by people, but i think that all the praising go a bit too far sometimes. Of course, it is a very good work, but come on, there's albums of better quality like Lizard and Lark's Tongues in Aspic that don't receive the same attention as this one. I love Court, but i think that it is slightly overrated. Of course, it has masterpieces like "I Talk to the Wind" and "Epitaph", but it also has weaker parts like the unnecessary 10-minute non-sense on "Moonchild" and a very repetitive sounding title track, as well as an out-of-place, but not bad, opening song - "21st Century Schizoid Man", that shows some of the best jamming by the FRIPP boys. I can't give this five stars due to the reasons i mentioned above, so this gets a proper "excellent, but not a masterpiece" rating.
Their next album is the one of those rare occasions KC maintained the formula, and it is a bit inferior than this one, but still good.
4 stars - beautiful but a bit inconsistent album.

About the album as a whole, I wont and couldn´t say it´s a 5 star album. I´ve read some comments in this site and most people seem to feel uncomfortable about the evident inconsistency of this album. Yet, most of them seem to disregard "moonchild" and the excesive minutes on "Epitaph", "In the court" and "I talk to the wind" in order to be able to rate this album with 5 stars. This may be or may be not be the start of progressive rock. It is very exciting to create idols, wonders and dogmas. Calling "In the court" the first, essential, masterpiece of progressive music and most quintessential prog-rock album ever may be a statement a little bit too extreme. After 35 years of repeated opinions like that, any album may get to be all that, and more ¡¡.
This album is 16:40 minutes of prog rock ("21st" and "In the court"), 6:00 minutes of Pop ballad with "I talk to the wind", "Epitaph" could be called .what?, power ballad? And is a 8:47 minutes song. And the remaining 12:11 minutes is crap. It is¡. 3 decent minutes, out of a total of 12:11 don´t make this song a good song. There really is not much prog in this album. And that fact alone doesn´t make it any less worse. But wouldn´t that jeopardise this album´s status?.
"I talk to the wind" and "Epitaph" are very enjoyable to listen too. Whatsmore, they may be heard with more enthusiasm after the 30th time than "21st". Because of the large amount of "feeling" within their lines and textures. But that same thing could happen with any song, prog or not. These ones are not prog. And I insist, that doesn´t make them any less enjoyable, but the fact that they are so highly regarded may be an indication of people overrating them. It seems like the amount of real artistic ideas in this album was so little, and the ghost of that crappy "Moonchild" so overwhelming, that King Crimson´s fans felt the need of creating a dogma around this album, so big that no one ever questioned the real quality within.
Now, "In the court of the crimson king" (The song) is an interesting song, with catchy moods all around. The sounds are definitely something that catches your senses and attention. But in my opinion, the song lacks of diversity, mainly due to the poor songwriting abilities King Crimson had at the time and kept showing onwards. ..This may look like a very absurd thing to say, but it was true. This song was made out of no more than 3 musical ideas (chorus, tones, sounds). It´s way too long for the amount of diferent passages and atomospheres shown here. I do like like it and can listen to it from the very beginning till the very last second with no harm. But in the end, it´s not a song that would make any difference in a better album. It would even be a low point.
Making a critic on this album as a fan, I adore it, I may even find the funny side in "moonchild". As a serious (And maybe a fool one, why not?) listener, I can´t grant this album the provilege of receiving all the very best considerations when the only real great song here is "21st". And it´s wonderful and amazing but it cannot handle the weight of a whole album by itself alone. I would rate this albut with 3 stars. I´m giving it 4 only because of what the rating stands for: "Excellent addition to any ....". In my opinion, it is "good and essential", like a 3.5 rating. It could not be otherwise. But it definitely is not a masterpiece.






"In the Court of the Crimson King" is said by many to have been the first prog album. To me, however, it is just a practically perfect record which contains all the defining elements of progressive rock music: suitably esoteric, vaguely disturbing lyrics, a lead vocalist to die for, accomplished musicianship, and no fear at all of crossing any boundaries between musical genres. Though King Crimson's unique brand of prog may not be easy on the ear (far from that!), they've never sold out as others have done.
The album strikes the right balance between melody and aggression, from the initial wallop delivered by "21st Century Schizoid Man" to the idyllic, pastoral atmosphere of "I Talk to the Wind", reaching a climax in what is perhaps the ultimate prog track, the wonderful "Epitaph". "Moonchild" exemplifies the nature of the album itself, split as it is between the ethereal feel of the vocal parts and the jazzy improvisation of the instrumental section; then "The Court of the Crimson King" brings everything majestically to a close.
On this record Greg Lake proves himself to be THE voice of prog: his performance in "Epitaph" is absolutely stunning, especially when, at the end of the song, his vocals merge with the waves of sound produced by the Mellotron. Fripp is... well, Fripp: perhaps an acquired taste to some, but without any doubt an extremely innovative and daring musician. Michael Giles' drumming stands on a par with Bruford's, and Ian McDonald's performance on both keyboards and woodwind instrument is superlative. The chemistry between the four musicians is nothing short of incredible, and Sinfield's lyrics - even though not to everyone's taste - blend perfectly with the music created by the fantastic foursome.
"In the Court..." is 36 years old now, but it hasn't aged one day. Like all masterpieces, it has that timeless quality so many strive for without ever hoping to attain it. You can hate it (and some unfortunately do), but you will never be able to ignore it.


The first song, "21st century schitzoid man", was, I believe, the most popular song on this album. It doesn't have verry much singing and has alot of improvised (I think by the sound of them) instrumentals. It has a Jazz sound during the instrumental parts. It is probably the fastest tempo song on this CD.
"I talk to the wind" is a very beautifull song. My favorite parts of this song are the lyrics, vocals, and the guitar.
"Epitaph" is more bombastic, but still very beautifull. It has a darker sound.
"Moonchild" is another slower song. There is a long instrumental part for the last 10 or so minutes. I think that that part (The Dream and the Illusion) is the weakest part of the Album. It's all broken up and sounds whimsical and it's boring.
The Court of the Crimson King is, in my opinion, the best song on this album and also one of my favorite songs. The lyrics are great, and the vocals are also very good. I think that this song has the best drumming on the album. I also think that the mellotrons are the best on this song, and there is some really cool guitar.

The first track, 21st Century Schizoid Man, kicks a lot of ass. Decades after true metalheads will discover this masterpiece and play even faster and heavier. Without this track, no DEATH METAL would exist today, in the same shape we know it. Forget BLACK SABBATH and LED ZEPPELIN, now this is HEAVY! This song is really cool, it has some really funny jazzy moments, I always laugh at them wehn I am stowned or drunk(like right nwo!).
The second track shows what every METAL band should sound like: diverse and unpredictival. First they explode DEATH METAL bands, and then they play the FLUTE or maybe MELLOTRON(it's the same thing, right?). OPETH and FANTOMAS would later adapt this innovative iddea by fusing the brutal and the beautiful side of musi together. This isn'y rrally DEATH METAL, but without this song, the HEACY genre wuld be boring and every song wouls doiung the same.
The third song makes the listener fall asleep. I think it was FRUUP's intention to fall asleep the listeenr. If it is your bad time, then go to bad and turn it on, but if it isn't, skip the tracxk and listen to Epitaph.
Epitaph is very emotional and depressing. Without it, OPETH and AGALLOCH would never exist, if they did, it would be in some boring METAL shape, properly. I try not to listen to this song too much, it makes me cry, so I usually just skip ot track number 5 straight after I Talk To The Wung.
The last song is a masterfecei!!!!!! It combines ROCK and maybe METAL with SYMPHONIC elements(like BACH and STUFF). This is cool and innovative! While Beatles(tupid hippys)were wasting heir time doing dtugs and Yes were wanking their instruments, KING CRMSON and ROBERT FRUUP fused HEAVINESS and SUMPHONICNESS. EMPEROR, THERION and ETC. would later adapt this idea.
IN OTHER WORDS DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME IF YOU LIKE METAL YOU MUST BUY IT IT CREATED MUSIC GOOD MUSIC IM EAN


21st Century Schizoid Man is a fast and hard experimental song to get everybody excited. The solo's are, at first 'glance', just someone hitting a random note here and there, but when you listen to it well you soon will notice that it is quite the opposite. The riffs are excellent and used exactly in the right measure. The drums aren't always as audible, but right at the moments that they produce something that makes it all even better, it seems like they are put to the front. (5/5)
I Talk To The Wind immediately changes to pace from fast to a more mellow song. The flute solo is great, and even though I Talk To The Wind is more of a interlude between 21st and Epitaph, it definetly is not an album filler. (4/5)
Epitaph - the song that really got me excited about the whole genre. With a healthy over eight minutes, this song does not have any boring parts, and the climax at the end is sublime. It's easy to lure newcomes into prog, and a true gem. (5/5)
Moonchild, being the weakest song of the album, is a bit too far-fetched for King Crimson,but still I find it very enjoyable. It's a good song to listen to while you're busy with something else. (3.5/5)
The title track, In The Court Of The Crimson King, is a song that seems to repeat itself, but is full of interludes and variations of certain parts. However, it is quite similar to Epitaph, using the same technique to end it with a buildup, and I feel it has not completely been developed by King Crimson. (4.5/5)
Overall: 23/25
A must-have.





Epitaph takes the crown as the best on te album, with its thunderous entrance wonderful lyrics & gentle but very effective picked minor guitar chords.
21st century schizoid Man is a rocking start, with an awsome guitar riff and changes throughout the whole track. It has a very strange guitar solo in it given by Robert Fripp.
I Talk To The Wind is a beutiful track which carries some of Greg Lake's finest ever vocals and soothing Jazz flute playing from Ian McDonald.
The title track is very powerful which is an example of band members supporting each others parts on their instruments with another.
Moonchild however is the weakest of the lot. It starts off fine brilliant words sung by Lake but it all becomes very tedious & boring when the symbol plinking goes on for far too long. The rest of the album however makes up for it.
This is an album that I urge you to hear if you have not already done so. It is one of the best albums ever made. A MUST HEAR!!!!!!!!!!!

21st Century Schizoid Man: Is this what one could call Jazz Fusion? I've never heard any real Jazz Fusion before, not that I know of anyway, but I consider this particular song very 'jazzy' indeed- what with the saxophones and various brass instruments that feature on this track, not to mention the way in which they're backed up by Michael Giles drums. At first we hear a rather large audience in the distance- they're cheering or revelling, or so it sounds like anyway. On top of this, we hear the tuning of instruments (eg: a blatant electric-guitar pluck is heard) and then BANG! We're into the song which jumps out at us unexpected. The brass instruments play a very cool tune and the drum-work is doubly impressive. Then Lake comes in, singing into a microphone that distorts him voice. The lyrics consist of three separate verses, all with the same melody and all ending in "21st Century Schizoid Man!" For the record, someone who can be described as 'schizoid' has a long-term mental disorder in which they suffer fantasy mixing with reality and enjoy their solitude more than they should. There's your random fact for the day! To be honest, the melody and singing-style reminds me of old Rock 'n Roll. The Saxophones tend to take-over throughout the song. Two minutes into the song, we have a funky instrumental break in which the brass and bass dance around to ever- changing beats. Then Robert Fripp's electric guitar improvises for a while. This is also my first taste of Robert Fripp and I see why everyone says he's such a great guitarist- however he's not so much showing off his powers as a musician as much as he is just toodling around for this part of the song. Still sounds great though. After this, Ian McDonald's reed-instruments fool around. I have to say though, if it wasn't for Greg Lake's bass playing which holds everything together, then this bit would be crap. The saxophones *squeal* for goodness sake! Then the drums and brass work together, playing a little ditty- very funky. And now we're back to the riff he heard at the beginning and Greg Lake sings the last verse. The lyrics for this song are all depressing descriptions. Eg: "Death seed, blind man's greed! Poets' starving children bleed!" Bizarre but good for trying to jump into the mind of a very disturbed 'schizoid-man'. The end is nothing short of bizarre as well: after you think the song's already ended, the saxophones and guitar act like a bunch of frightened animals and squeal/scream/moan, all on different notes, once more.
I Talk to the Wind: And now for something completely different! This is a very sweet and gentle song. Ian McDonald and his two flutes play a pretty introduction. "Said the straight man, to the late man, 'where have you been?' " There is nothing more pretty than the way the snare-friendly drums work with the flutes in this piece, also with Greg Lake's choir-boy voice over the top of that. "I talk to the wind..the wind does not hear. The wind cannot hear." This melody is repetitive but the flute improvises on it all the way. Watch out for the very 60s 'cool-cat' flute solo with the sliding-up-and-down electric guitar. It may be short but what I like about it is the fact that it's basically another back-up for the main melody but this is hard to tell as it's so innovative and beautiful in itself. Then Greg Lake sings the first verse again: "I've been here and I've been there and.I've been inbetween." This is a song about a more optimistic view on solitude: how comforting it can be. However- that's only MY interpretation. The flutes play the introduction again, then one flute plays another improvisation- very gorgeous. Eventually an oboe joins it and it fades out. But not before the drum-roll comes in to lead us up to Epitaph.
Epitaph: The drum-rolling and crashing repeats a number of times at the start, backed up by the mellotron. The string-sounds and guitar stay together while Greg Lake sings at his most 'sultry' (if that's the word). When I think about it, this is a very dark song. "But I fear tomorrow I'll be crying." Here- the mellotron picks up. Part of me believes that King Crimson (all band members contributed to the lyrics for this song) knew how overly-romantic some of these lyrics are so the passionate music was a play of how cheesy they could be- making it sound somewhat melodramatic. On the other hand some of the lyrics seem to have a deep meaningful side: "Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules. The fate of all mankind I see is in the hands of fools." After this, there's a slow climax of the strings and a gentle guitar plays. Reed-instruments sound over the top of that. Then we're back to Greg Lake singing the chorus for the last time and that wonderful mellotron. "Confusion will be my Epitaph." He gets a lot more passionate for the last few "Cryyyyying!" s- it's great! The mellotron 'baps' towards the end and a piano is heard playing along in the distance as the track fades out.
Moonchild: The start of this is very 60s indeed. A whining electric guitar plays with an acoustic while the mellotron controls the background. Pulsing, echoing vibes are heard in the distance and they 'water-down' everything in contrast with the very vivid percussion. (The drum-set focuses on the hi-hat for this track) The lyrics are cute: "She's a moonchild, gathering the flowers in a garden. Lovely moonchild, drifting on the echoes of the hours." They remind me of my cat- Artemis- as she plays in my backyard. This is very much like a ballad. The lyrics are also slightly sad and melancholy: ".waiting for a smile from a sunchild." Dream: This is the transition to 'fooling around'. The gentle pulsing vibes in the background are brought to the front and the guitar starts a slow improvisation. Every now and then Giles decides to hit part of his drum-kit. This is beautiful at first but it soon becomes tedious. Then it becomes frustrating due to the constant feeling that it's actually leading up to something! After the distorted guitar and drums make a few clanking sounds, the vibes go crazy. We *know* they're just fooling around. Some riffs are pretty good: one example being when the snare picks up with the guitar. Finally, when the guitar resorts to a slow strumming- the piece ends on a major chord.
In the Court of the Crimson King: The best! This is also a personal favourite of one of my best mates who was brought-up listening to Prog as a result of having parents with a decent music-taste and a large selection of King Crimson records..the lucky girl. The drums are the first thing heard but the singing mellotron is the main fruit of this song. When you think about it- the lyrics of Uriah Heeps' 'Magician's Birthday' are like this song: descriptions of a fantasy land. However, while Uriah Heep is all happy-clappy, this song has a much darker tone. "The choir softly sings.three lullabies in an ancient tongue For the COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING..Aah!" (No,no- you *can't* deny the "Aah!"s.) Everyone sings at this point. For the verse, a sad guitar and drums accompany Lake but it's the title of the song/album that takes the full blast of the whole band. Later, Robert Fripp picks up on the guitar and the keyboard is tapped faster as the mellotron does its' own beautiful solo. Then, of course, back to those wonderful "Aah!"s. This may be a repeated melody but sometimes repeated is better- this is a good tune to get stuck in your head. A verse starts where the guitar is slightly more distorted and you can tell from Greg Lake's voice how much he's loving this. "The gardener plants an evergreen, whilst trampling on a flower." This is what I mean by the dark- undertone. This song is filled with conventionally cute but cruel fantasy-characters! After yet another "Aah!" we have a lovely flute. King Crimson love their flutes on this album. This flute starts off slow and improvising then gets frantic and trills into the last verse. "The yellow jester does not play but gently pulls the strings and smiles as the puppets dance in the COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING." By now we should be closing our eyes and lying back in bliss to the sound of this chorus. Just when we think it's ended, The Puppet's Dance begins! Ian McDonald plays clown-like flutes and recorders to find the right sound for this part. They do a duet version of the chorus' melody- Lets go to the Circus! Then the drums make a slow grand-entrance and we hear the *real* chorus music with the mellotron again. Except it's made somewhat amusing this time with the brass instruments in the background. The ending is crazy- it ends on one chord but it's not unlike that of the ending to 21st Century Schizoid man.
Overall- this is the King Crimson album to start with if you don't know where to begin. It's the very first one anyway, so why not? They're beautiful sounding- that's what they are. Beautiful but bizarre= two forces that should always be together when it comes to good music (in my opinion anyway). As for the lyrics of the album, they're indirectly dark- not depressing but melancholy. It's slightly sad poetry but not overly tragic (except maybe Epitaph). Personally, I don't think Greg Lake's vocal-techniques changed one bit between his King Crimson and ELP days. I would give this a 5-star rating but some of the songs can be quite repetitive (you know the ones I mean) and Moonchild just got silly in the end. But the truth is that this album IS fantastic. Listen to the last track and see what I mean.


The style of Robert Fripp was new at the time of this album being released, he created a new way of playing the guitar, the fast fingering on 21st Century Schizoid Man is an amazing acomplishment.
All in all, this is an amazing ablum, but is brought down by the dragged on Moonchild.

I love the fantastic cover that suggests despair, loneless and madness...
I Talk to the Wind is so delicate and bucolic that fits perfectly the listener´s imagination. With flutes and a jazzy feeling all around.
Moonchild never attracted me so much because the experimental and minimalist section is sometimes boring.
Epitaph and the title track are so beautifully symphonic that became a reference to other bands that came later with powerful Mellotron sound layers carring the songs with a wonderful presence.
Perfect!!

If Prog was a religion, effigies of this album would be burnt by non following extremists. You need not even consider what else was going on at the time in music, but only to listen to the album start to finish to realise how well every element slots together, and just how easily each song 'fits' in it's place on the album. I think enough has been written about the musicality of In The Court... in previous reviews so I will end by saying that if you haven't heard it yet... why ? And if you have, then you knew all this already didn't you...

21st century schizoid man- 10/10: This is easily one of my favorite crimson tracks from any lineup. It has such a hard sound but it still remains incredibly jazzy and progressive feeling. The highlights of this track are the distorted lake vocals and the massive unison soloing with fripp taking a beefy lead over all of it, such an awesome composition.
I Talk to the Wind- 10/10: What a shift from the first song, beautiful clean vocals, simple drum line, beautiful guitar tone, and the lovely flute by Macdonald. The flute is what makes this track great in my opinion, the solo in particular gives me chills every time i hear it.
Epitaph- 10/10: This is the fIrst song where the mellotron is really screaming away. The vocals and lyrics in this song are both superb. Fripps guitar work in this song is acoustic and it goes quite well with the feel of the song, I wish fripp would use acoustic more! I enjoy the basswork in this song as well especially when it takes the lead every now and then with the higher bassy notes. The woodwind solo in the middle of the song is also superb, this song is excellent.
Moonchild- intro 10/10, random improv 4/10: Ugh, the song that most proggers love to hate, the beginning of this song is beautiful, the tone of the guitar, the simple yet quite progressive sounding drumming, the very fantasy oriented lyrics. This song sounds like its going to be great then it becomes a choatic and random improv. Now don't get me wrong, I love improvs especially from crimsons 70s lineup but this improv goes nowhere. It sounds more like random noise, there isn't really a rhythm to the improv.
In the Court of the Crimson King-8/10: The other mellotron dominated track on the record. The section around 2:30- 2:50 is just pure prog in my opinion, awesome part of the song. The beginning of the song gets a bit repetitive but this broken by the superb macdonald solo right in the middle of the song. The second half begins much in the style of the first, mellotron, acoustic guitar etc. Then theres the odd organ solo at around 7:15, Ive never been a fan of this, I would have much rather seen the song end after the section past the flute solo. Good song but a bit repetitive and contains some pointless sections.

And what to say about the band and the album? The line-up, well, this is probably the best King Crimson have shown and some names are real legends in the contemporary music scene, beginning with leader Bob Fripp, a great guitar player and composer, continuing with Greg Lake, the bass player and vocalist, listed among the best for both acts and the underlooked ones: Ian McDonald, responsible for some memorable moments in this album and drummer Michael Giles with his outstanding performance in "21st century..." made my eldest son forget the drums and take the acoustic guitar. There's also poet Pete Sinfield and it was the first time I saw the lyricist and illuminator being lined-up - maybe it is the reason why they say that George Martin is the 5th Beatle; but Sinfield's lyrics are great indeed. The cover art is a kind of registered mark not only for the band but for the prog-rock as a whole. One friend used to frighten his little sister showing her that desperate face stamped in the front cover; when she was older and wise she decided to investigate the content and became a great KC fan - a rare deed for a woman.
The songs: '21st century schizoid man', still the most astonishing opening for a debut album ever, the first hearing is always nervous with those 28 seconds of strange sounds until the band really start and carry us to a distant and marvelous musical world, then appears the distorted Lake's voice shouting in angry, disturbing us, introducing the magnificent instrumental part: the several changes in times and tunes, the stops, the sax and guitar solos - the almost perfect song.
'I talk to the wind' is a beautiful song that refreshes us after the impact of opening track; now the vocal is soft, lazy, loose - another voyage, another dream; followed by 'Epitaph', a great song, an epic, another piece to be placed in the pantheon of the great modern works. The moment guitar enters being fingerstyled is one of the greatest in the history of prog-rock. Magnificent!
Then comes 'Moonchild', a real divisory song, some hate while some love and sides are always prepared to war. When I was a teenager I generally skipped that one, until the day I got courage and solved to go till the end - there are 2 songs (as observed in the track list), being the first one, a lovely ballad and the second, an experimental work, instigating once you bite the bait.
The ending, the title-song is another awesome epic, where mediaeval and future themes collide to shape an incredible piece; mellotron and flute sounds are unforgetable as well as the splendid vocal solo and supporting choir - a sensation of emptiness embraces us when it finishes; it's like to know that the world will never be the same.
When a single output is able to change completely your concepts about music, about art, about life we are truly facing a magnum opus, 'uma obra-prima', a MASTERPIECE. Total: 5 plus!

Enought said if you dont own this album buy it now...you dont know what you are missing!!!





Masterpiece!!



The album begins with thirty seconds of low noises (of which always reminds me of a washing machine) and without any warning, explodes! Ian Mcdonalds powerful saxophone doubling Fripp's heavily distorted guitar riff all backed by Michael Giles elaborate drumming, and lead by Greg Lakes distorted vocals. A full on collision of Jazz, Metal, and mayhem, '21st Century Schizoid Man', excellent opener to an album. Furiosly exciting and an instant classic. 'I Talk to the Wind' follows, and shows a much lighter, more melodic side to the band, featuring beautiful vocals and flute from Mcdonald. The song does last a little longer than it should but is still delightful, and something to calm you down after the tour de force of the first track. 'Epitaph' is another strong track, the Mellotron plays a key role in delivering the atmosphere and tension that makes it so enjoyable, a key performance from Greg Lake and excellent lyrics from Pete Sinfield, "The wall on which the prophets wrote, is cracking, at the seams". Wondeful textures and purely symphonic, it was the blue print of the sound that made King Crimson so stunning.
'Moonchild' is easily the weakest track on the album, after two minutes of delicate singing and beautiful melodies the song noodles silently for a full ten minutes before finishing, though the track picks up a slight bit towards the end it does not excuse the pointless 'jamming' that makes the bulk of the track, and was only included due to lack of original material. The title track closes the album and again features excellent Mellotron and nice acoustic guitar, the haunting vocals are also stunning. Though the song does drag a bit and may have been stretched to fill out the album, it is still a great track.
A great place to start your King Crimson collection, but don't be surprised if you find later albums far more enjoyable and worthwhile. Groundbreaking and innovative, just not perfect.

Next two tracks I enjoy alright. Neither are superb. You do start to get that proggy feel when you listen to those. The sound was later improved and perfected by other bands.
Moonchild begins well, but man the next nine minutes seems to be isochronal with all the other material. We finally get to a rocking finish with 'In the Court...'. I'll hand that song. Broken off into segments all prog-style. I dig that.

Epitaph comes in second and it is memorable for its emotional vocals sung by bassist Greg Lake. Moonchild drags the album down for some people but I like it the. Ending 9 minutes after the vocals is better than most think. It is similar to stuff they did later in Lark's Tongues in Aspic and Starless and Bible Black. I wonder what King Crimson would have been able to achieve if the band had decided to stay together. It would have been good but if the band had stayed together but on the down side there would have been no Emerson, Lake and Palmer.Whether you like it or not in the Court of the Crimson King is one of the key albums in the development of prog and metal and it is very good. Red, Larks Tounges in Aspic and Islands are on the same par as In the Court of the Crimson King so they are also worth having.


If you dont get any other albums by King Crimson, get this one. 9.75/10 This is as close to a perfect album as you can get.

Despiting this, it contains really great moments, like 'Schizoid man' solos and 'Moonchild' improvisation. This was my first KC album, and after the first listen, I didn't understand why did they put a 10-minute improv after 'Moonchild' beauty, but when I get used to KC, this became my favourite part. I hope they would have recorded 20 more improv minutes.
Unlike this, 'Epitaph' and 'In the court of the Crimson King' sound quite simple, based in only a few chords (E minor, D, A minor, B and C); for me, lyrics are a lot more interesting than music, which souds very repetitive (why did they add the last 2 minutes of 'In the court...'?).
To justify my 3-star rating (at the moment, only a 7% of reviewers have rated like me), I think Robert was in process of improoving his composer abilities through the years and the albums, and the result can be listened on every new album (compared to the previous one), and especially on the second KC "generation" ("Larks", "Starless" and "Red" albums). They reached a high level of abstraction, and for me this is their best quality, the one that has always made KC a respected band, unlike many other 70's ones. For all of this, lots of thanks Robert.

the genesis of the progressive rock is here..

There is something for any prog lover here: frenzy ("21st Century Schizoid Man"), beautiful ballads ("I Talk To The Wind", "Epitaph" and "Moonchild" part I), improv ("Moonchild" part II) and dark rock ("The Court Of The Crimson King"). A very enjoyable album that would have gotten 5 stars if there weren't those 9 minutes of boring improv after the beautiful "Moonchild".
Rating: 86/100

Usually I agree with most of the prog 'experts' here with the vast majority of the classics. This is not the case here. As much as I enjoy this album, I don't believe this is a masterpiece. I enjoy "21st Century Schizoid Man", "Epitaph" and "The Court of the Crimson King" very much. "I talk to the wind" is a great song too, even if not was good. However, I don't consider that an album overall rating should be based on the sum of its part, and the big problem on this album has a name: "Moonchild". I am deeply sorry, but Moonchild is actually boring me to death. I think I would prefer silence to the 9 minutes deeply boring improvisation.
This is not something 100% rational. I just don't like that song, so each time I listen to this album I have to jump over this song, and whatever the reason I never have to jump any song on albums to which I give 5 or even 4 stars. This is why I think 3.4/5.0 is the highest rating I can give.
This is still worth a listening if you like proto-prog or rock. This album is a milestone this is for sure. But I am not rating albums on their importance for future, but for their own merit. This is a good album, but if I was on a desert Island I would take with me at least 30-40 albums before this one.

The classic '21st Century Schizoid' is a heavy rock song, which starts with strange noises, that looks like you're in an elevator. After that, a powerful C-minor chord is crashing out of your speakers accompanied with a great guitar/saxophone riff. After two verses of distorted vocals by Greg Lake, we're in an instrumental jam. Then after another distorted verse, everything is going mad. And just when you're becoming a 21st Century Schizoid Man, everything stops and.
We're in the next song: 'I Talk To The Wind'. This is a totally different song. This is very relaxed and a good rest moment when you've finished the opening track. The song has nice flute work by Ian McDonald, joined by complex drum patterns by Michael Giles. At the end, a cross fade is taking place, a ruffle is heard.
And we're transported in a landscape of beautiful, floating mellotron, acoustic guitar, emotional bass play and cymbal crashing: 'Epitaph'. The lyrics are emotionally and beautifully song by Greg Lake. A very heavy complex, mellotron-driven symphony that, unfortunately, never returns in the musical timeline. Such a shame, for this is truly perfection. After this poignant ballad, we enter the next song.
'Moonchild', because of the title and the cover of the album, gives me the idea of being on a journey to other planets. This is a very quiet piece that's interesting for about 3 minutes. Then we're in an experimental piece, which is very long and can be bored after a few minutes. But it should be listened, because it punctuates the brilliance and beauty of the final track.
'The Court Of The Crimson King'. The best is saved for last. It has a beautiful melody with a marvellous chorus. Just as 'Epitaph', it is a mellotron-driven symphony and it has an extraordinary mellotron-solo after the second verse, later done again with a flute. When the final chord is played and everything is over, there are childish notes in the distance, which prepares you for an encore, which sounds heavier because of a distorted guitar. It seems to go on for hours and hours until a haunting crescendo comes up and everything's stopped.
When al is over you'll realise that you're back again in you're house, left with an extraordinary experience. Hope you'll like it. I know I have.
A fantastic album that everyone should have in his collection.

Although I find that the end of Moonchild drags, I still give this album a 5. Epitaph is one of the most emotional songs I know of and the use of the Mellotron is fantastic. Greg Lakes voice is perfectly suited to this style of music.
On a side note, Saxon have a great cover of the title song on their Killing Ground album, just going to show how timeless god music is.

1) The album opens with the demonic madness of 21st Century Schizoid man, which was without a dought the darkest and heaviest song of it's time. Exploding into a riff combining sax and distorted guitar, this certainly did scare The Moody Blues! The lyrics are just as dark, distorted into what sounds like a demented android on killing spree, lamenting the innocents raped by napalm fire and poets who starve as children bleed. It is little recognized as a protest song, but it certainly is. After the main riff it explodes into a jazz-fusion instrumental that could be compared to being mugged by brain surgeons. The guitar and sax interplay screams away while Giles pounds away at the drums and Lake provides an excellent jazzy bassline. Another great thing about this song is that it hasn't dated at all since it was released and sounds quite contemporary. This, my friend, is what apocalyptic madness sounds like.
2) The song I talk to the wind dosn't really work well after having your brains blown out by Schizoid man. The dreamy flutes and lyrics show the lighter side of symphonic prog. There is a wonderful flute solo and Giles proves no slouch on drums, but it's unlikey that the listener would be in the mood for such a song after the apocalytic madness of Shizoid man. Don't get me wrong; it's wonderful song, and while it hasn't dated as well as some other tracks (It is obvious it was made in the sixties), it still sounds good today.
3) Epitaph is a wonder song, drenched in mellotrons and jazzy drumming. Fripp provides some amazing acoustic guitar and Greg Lake soulfully sings the dark lyrics "Confusion; wil be my epitah!". The mellotron cresndos are very dark and suspenseful and are absolutely perfect for the song. There are also some wonderful woodwinds that and to the symphonic scope of the song. Sadly, this song hasn't dated as well becasue of the use of mellotrons and such, but that dosn't detract from it's quality.
4) Moonchild is wonderful at the start. The most psychedelic song on the album, with strange guitar effects and cosmic lyrics. This only goes on for two minutes, and the song is twleve minutes long. So instead of epic King Crimson rock, we get pointless and boring noodling. This isn't the good kind of noodling that you hear on Starless and Bible Black that evolves into song at the end. This noodling leads to nowhere but boredom. While it may serve as an effective lead in to the epic 'In the Court of the Crimson King', why make it 10 minutes long? It's just filler and is the achilles heel to this monolithic release.
5) Another mellotron drenched epic with effective acoustic guitar, this is what must have been what most symphonic prog referenced to. Sinfield's imagery lyrics are at there best and most effective here drawing an image of an Evil King in his court, with Fire witches and funeral marches. Intreseting sound effects are all about, and midway it breaks into a flute solo accompanied by cymbal drumming that speeds up, leading back to the song. Very Effective, as is Fripps lovely acoustic guitar. The mellotrons are also amazing, adding to the imagrey of the song. Wonderful woodwinds also are present at the end, with Fripp stacatto electric guitar. Some of the sound effects are somewhat annoying, and the use of mellotron hasn't dated well, but it's still an amazing an epic song to close (for the most) an amazing and epic album.
While the qaulity of Moonchild would normally hurt the rating, I make an exception here because of historical importance. This album established symphonic prog and should therefore be in every proggers collection. 5 stars and an essential part of any serious prog collection.


1-21st century schizoid man: One of my fauvorites. This song introduced me to this band, it's amazing. It's a hard, dark rocker with a very agressive distortioned voice by Greg Lake. It has a lot of tempo changes and complex rock sections. I especially like the way the overdriven guitar and the sax are combined. Probably, my fauvorite KC song (...for the moment, 'cos I'm not a really huge fan yet. I've got to get more of their records, I've only got USA, a part from this one).
2-I talk to the wind: The softer side of symphonic prog: A lot of woodwind instruments by Mr. McDonald, soft background guitar and nice vocals. The way they combine the instruments makes the song interesting. For some reason, it reminds me of Genesis' Tresspass.
3- Epitaph: An 8-minute+ epic with powerful acustic guitars, nice drum beat, amazing vocals, and the bass and mellotron making the sound of the piece richer. There are complex sections of chords and changes of mood. I like the part in which the mellotron goes in crescendo, till it reaches its peak and goes back to softness.
4-Moonchild: A song divided into two sections: a.The dream: a soft 2:30 minute (approx) song with soft mellotron, calm vocals, soft cymbal sounds and background guitar. b.The illusion: 10-minutes of quiet jam: featuring soft and weird guitar sounds, rare percussion and vibes, mostly. Some say this is pointless, but I think it's a way to leave the listener quiet and resting his/her ears, to get prepared for the " gran finale".
5-In the court of the Crimson King: The closing epic. Another mellotron-oriented track, with acustic and electric guitars, majestic drum-work, flutes and other woodwinds, and, of course, tremendous vocals and bass by Lake. There's also a sublime background chorus.
Not to be missed!!! If you're looking for an essential prog album, and you haven't got this one, don't think it twice, just get it! This is the start of Symphonic prog, so it's essential for everyone's prog collection. Tremendous!!


One big STAR for Track 1: 21st Century Schizoid Man
If I ever get my hands on a time machine (that works), I'm going back to 1969 to see the look on people's faces when they first put the needle to this vinyl. Growing up in the metal era has de-sensitized me, but for those folks who were accustomed to the music of the 60s, this had to be one of the most shocking beginnings of a record. Blaring guitars, distorted vocals/screams along with crushing drums and bass licks are how King Crimson introduced itself to the world and the world has never been the same. This song is a treat to listen to especially when you consider the historical context of this album's release. I might actually prefer this song without the distorted vocals, but I do acknowledge that the distortion does give this song more of an edge. Everything else about this frenetic piece of music is great, in my opinion. Interestingly enough, I did not care much for this song the first twenty times I listened to it. It took a while for me to digest it and really enjoy all that it has to offer.
One big STAR for Track 2: I Talk To The Wind
Unlike the first track, I had no trouble instantly liking this beautiful song. As edgy as "Schizoid Man" was, this song is soft and soothing and will instantly relax you as this song gently grabs you by the hand to draw you into the King's Court. The one- two punch that these first two songs provide is similar to the effect of Good Cop/Bad Cop. And now King Crimson has you right where they want you.
One big STAR for Track 3: Epitaph
This is my favorite song on the album. Whatever fears you may have had about the Red King are gone and you are overcome by a powerful force that is leading you deeper into the Court. "Epitaph" swirls and penetrates the mind with a wonderful combination of music led by Fripp, McDonald, Giles and Lake as Peter Sinfield's biting lyrics subtly probe your conscience. "Confusion...will be my epitaph!"
No stars for Track 4: Moonchild
Why ruin the magic? Why? Like so many others who have reviewed this album before me, I fall into the category of complete and utter bafflement at the direction that this song takes. I know many appreciate the extended jam that seems to go nowhere, but I'm not one of them. If this song would have been cut short, I would have enthusiastically given this album five stars. But as it is, I just don't care for this song and find it to be a significant blemish on an otherwise outstanding album. I guess there are some very weird things going on there in the Crimson King's Court.
One big STAR for Track 5: The Court of the Crimson King
As is fitting, the journey that this album takes you on ends up in the Court and this song is a great conclusion to the album. This track is buffeted by a great melody and haunting singing by Greg Lake.
For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure of giving this album a taste, I must caution you-there is a heavy dose of mellotron used throughout this album. If you don't care for the 'tron, you may have trouble liking this. On the other hand, if you find the mellotron pleasing, you will love this record!

None at all, evidently. 'In the Court of the Crimson King,' a surprising success, seems to have come out of nowhere. While the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper' is rightly acclaimed for its experimentation and the young Pink Floyd's albums were becoming increasingly complex, King Crimson were the first to produce, however unintentionally, the record that defined and kick-started the prog movement, with its textured atmospheres, crazy structures and darkly poetic lyrics from non-musician Peter Sinfield.
ITCOTCK, to use its even more confusing abbreviation, is lauded by many as one of the greatest and most important albums of all time, but it isn't without its weaknesses. Some of the experiments aren't entirely successful, and there's a tendency for songs to outstay their welcome, but on the whole this is an amazing independent work by some excellent musicians:
Robert Fripp, the band's founder, guitarist and a man who has repeatedly found himself the only remaining band member over King Crimson's long and turbulent existence, alternates between the loud and distorted heavy-metal-inspiring riffs that would dominate the band's seventies output, and calmer, subdued acoustics for the softer songs.
Greg Lake, departing after this album to form Emerson, Lake and Palmer, is responsible for the great melodic driving bass line that holds the insanity of the famous first track together, and handles vocal duties competently and clearly on all tracks, achieving his best performance on the haunting 'Epitaph.'
Drummer Michael Giles, like Fripp, adapts seamlessly between manic and peaceful songs, but his greatest feat here is the wild jazzy drumming of '21st Schizoid Man.' Ian McDonald handles all keyboard duties, including the roaring mellotron that dominates the title track. He also adds the exotic woodwind and flute sounds that enchance the album's distinctive and much-imitated atmosphere.
1. 21st Century Schizoid Man . (including Mirrors)
2. I Talk to the Wind
3. Epitaph . a) March for No Reason . b) Tomorrow and Tomorrow
4. Moonchild . a) The Dream . b) The Illusion
5. The Court of the Crimson King . a) The Return of the Fire Witch . b) The Dance of the Puppets
The five songs on this album have become legendary in prog rock, and are superbly varied in style. After thirty seconds of quiet, distant background noise, '21st Century Schizoid Man' explodes with its sax-and-guitar combo riff and leads into Lake's distorted, angry, staccato screams. The song speeds all over the place during its seven minutes, but stays coherent and impressive, building up anticipation for the final reprise. Surely the most covered prog rock song outside of Pink Floyd, I've even heard an Ozzy Osbourne cover that is predictably irritating and rubbish.
It would be hard to top the madness and volume of the first track, and the music becomes far more subdued for most of the album as a result. This may disappoint some listeners, but the songs work so well (on the whole) that the album remains consistent and impressive. 'I Talk to the Wind' is the yin to Schizoid Man's yang (or whichever one is the good, friendly half of the balance), dreamy and ethereal. McDonald's flutes combine perfectly with the other instruments, this focus on coherence marking the song out from most other ballads.
'Epitaph' is an incredible song, another led by acoustic guitar but enhanced with the ever-popular mellotron, making this disillusioned epitaph sound like a bleaker equivalent of something like 'Trespass' by Genesis (released the following year). As mentioned earlier, Lake's vocals are at their most powerful and effective here, especially in the chorus, blending perfectly against the backdrop, whether that's a mellotron overload or simply a muted drum beat.
'Moonchild' is undoubtedly the weak point of the album, an overlong and frankly boring song. It's pleasant enough for the first three minutes, if a little too quiet and similar to 'I Talk to the Wind,' but then tails off for ten minutes of more or less nothingness. Fans of soundscapes may find something to like in this sparse instrumental, but it's even been admitted since that this section was created (probably improvised) because the album was too short. Moonchild serves only to lead into the epic conclusion.
With 'The Court of the Crimson King,' the band arguably saved the best song till last. Not as immediately impressive as 'Schizoid Man,' and lacking the depth of 'Epitaph,' the simple melodies and exaggerated chorus point this song in a hit single direction, perhaps hindered by the changes in instruments and the breaks taken in-between sections. The dominating mellotron somehow bridges the gap between the classical past and (at the time) ultra-modern period in creating a real courtly mood, aided greatly by Sinfield's fantastical and memorable lyrics. The woodwind interlude and final reprise are a little unnecessary, but it's a brilliant conclusion to the album that combines most of the best elements from the earlier songs and creates one of the earliest prog classics.
ITCOTCK is a necessary album for all prog rock fans, and despite its reliance on some distinctly 1969 traits, its lack of clear influences and contemporaries means it will never really sound dated. The studio production is crystal clear, as are the vocals, and there's enough diversity in the song structures to keep fans listening to the album throughout their lives. It's debatable whether the band succeeded in their goal to Anglicise rock, especially considering the obvious jazz influence, but their efforts are far more exciting and commendable than the romanticised pastoral sound of their far more successful contemporaries like Genesis and Yes.
A sixth song would have benefited this album greatly, avoiding the waste of time that is 'Moonchild.' Other tracks can seem too drawn-out sometimes, depending on the listener's mood, especially 'Schizoid Man' and the final track, but based on the next album, the King Crimson of this era had used up their four brilliant song ideas already.
The song formula of aggression, calm, darkness, fusion and epic is completely successful. So successful, in fact, that King Crimson would accidentally repeat it entirely on 1970's 'In the Wake of Poseidon,' at the same time forgetting to come up with another amazing and iconic album cover.

The only problem for me though is when the sonic dabbling becomes excessive, as one point in the album proves. For the last 9 to 10 minutes of track #4 - Moonchild - the band engages in what I'd like to describe as "a weak and uninspired jam, which just happened to be recorded." It's a little bit of this and that, which really amounts to not much. What makes it stand out even, is that it's sandwiched between what are arguably the best moments on the album: The first 2 and a half minutes of that same song (a somberly beautiful piece of work), and the fifth and last song: The grand, majestic, eponymous finale.
However, with the exception of that questionable 9 minutes or so, the album is a five star album, which lives up to its reputation. ITCOTKC, as it is fondly abbreviated, is an essential album, which is able to condense a multitude of genres and styles: the intensity of heavy metal, the complexity of math rock, and the improvisational jazzy manner in which the music just grabs you and takes control. As the title tracks says "the yellow jester does not play, but gently pulls the strings" and I say we all become puppets once this record hits our ears.
The music never stops, never bores and will not let you go. It varies in emotion with confusion, sadness, fright and eventual majesty. You can bet that there is a surprise waiting at every corner In The Court of the Crimson King.


that's the way Peter Townsend described this album, and i cant argue much with him.
it was the year 68, and the progressive album that had been released until that date were Ars Longa... Days of future.... and White Album.... (only some of them! I knew there were plenty, but those ar the ones i know better-i'm just 17-). and then i heard this one, and iy is really groundbreaking! i think it brojke almost any scheme of what was meant to be rock music.
From the first seconds of "21st Century..." this is different from all these proto prog bands. jazzy-rocky-schizoid.... not easy to define.
In the court.... is arguably KC's finest song, dark, eerie, with beatufil Lyrics thanks to golden-penciled P. Seinfield.
the only flaw i feel in it is the long improvisation in Moonchild, that, tough beautiful, it is too long.
I think this album marks the end of proto prog and starts the golden-era!
*PD* Greg's Lake vocals fits so well with KC's music! He is the best vocalist this band has ever had.

Even though that's my major complain with this album (and it's a big one, enough for me to give this 4 stars instead of 5). I still enjoy it loads, it's very satisfying, and it definetely gets through to the listener that this isn't happy music, that this is intelligent, oblique sounding music. Fripp is incredible, I can't believe he started his carreer with KC with such an astounding album, must have taken a lot of guts...here we have a man that won't listen to record companies...not even on his debut!
My advice here is that you go out and buy this if you haven't already, this might be your introduction to your future favorite band, trust me, they're that good!

21st Century Schizoid Man opens the album with a fiery ferocity hitherto unknown in rock. The distorted vocals, and the blindingly fast horn and guitar lines in unison are light years ahead of their time. This is before Robert Fripp became overly self- indulgent in his playing and there is no fat on the track at all. I Talk To The Wind takes things down a notch and adds flute and classical influence. In fact, the overall Medieval feel of the album is one of the things that makes it endure as one of my favorites. I regret that Greg Lake didn't stay with the band longer, as his voice is perfect for it. What I regret even more is that Michael Giles left after this album. I'm no percussion expert, but his drumming sounds like nothing I've ever heard. He blows Bruford out of the park. Epitaph, although at first glance seems pretty straightforward, has become my favorite track on the album. It's incredibly dark and intense while holding up the pretense of being mellow.
And of course the infamous Moonchild, which so many people complain about. The beginning is gorgeous, and while it does go on a tad long, I feel that it lends the album some much needed breathing space, after the intensity of the preceding songs. Finally, In The Court of the Crimson King closes the record appropriately. It is an epic in the truest sense of the word, with sweeping guitars and keyboards and pounding drums. The sound of this piece is absolutely HUGE.
In short, this is an album that no Prog fan should be without. It paved the way for things to come and still holds up wonderfully after all these years. Buy it!

This first album by the almighty Crimson King reflects the expression of the character represented on the cover. The album is marvelous from the beginning to the end and was, and still is today for the new prog listener, a perfect introduction to the wonderful world of prog rock.
The album contains in my opinion two excellent and more ambient song filling in the spaces between three breathtaking song. This album format is perfect because it grants the listener a bone chilling experience every time one of the two middle tracks ends (I talk to the wind and Moonchild) and one of the epic songs begins. The three breathtaking songs I'm talking about here are : 21st Century Schizoid Man, Epitaph and In the Court of the Crimson King.
When you put on the album, from the first approximate thirty seconds, you hear nothing but little noises, fooling you into believing this is going to start slowly. Then, BANG! The main riff enters and you're amazed for the next seven minutes. The beautiful and really smooth I talk to the wind follows to let you breath a little bit. Those moments of pure musical delight fastly fade into the dramatic intoduction to Epitaph. Here, you have one of the most dramatically intense prog song ever made. By the end of the song, you have to wipe the tears from your eyes while enjoying the early moments of Moonchild. After the beautiful refrain, the whole band enter the most dreaded moment of the album, the last nine minutes of Moonchild. Those are made of mostly noises and little drum beats. It creates a wonderful atmosphere and has a great effect on your mind, slowly drawing your thoughts away from the music only to hear another BANG! The epic Mellotron melody that follows grabs you. You're in for another nine minutes of pure musical perfection along with the Crimson King and his friends.
This album played this really talented lineup of King Crimson and sung by the wonderful voice of Greg Lake, is a masterpiece. It's an important piece of any prog rock collection if only for his historical importance.
-Bern

One thing i was impressed of in this album, was the incredible writing by Peter Sinfield. What i loved most about his writing is his changes of feelings: from hard satire to sad & touching ballads, from love songs to hate & anger. that's a privelige of a writer to be so exact when he writes about different moods & feelings.
But the main part is of course, the music, and this King Crimson is proabably one of the best albums of the band, if not the best of them. It is a revolutionary and gives King Crimson's prophecy about the music, later.
It's hard to pick one (or few) favorite song(s) from "In The Court Of The Crimson King", but i do everytime, so i guess i have to do it now :) The first song i like to bring up is "Epitaph", because it's a sad song that really reminds me of winter days - a great winter song, by the way. The use of the melotron provides the perfect atmosphere to this song. The second one, is the final track & the title song - "The Court Of The Crimson King". A really fantastic piece of music, when the song itself characterized with a striking melody, great vocal harmony & the finale of this song, which is one of the greatest prog songs of all time.
To sum up, i must say that "In The Court Of The Crimson King" is truly a masterpiece of prog music. That's way there's no choice but to give no less than 5 stars.


What I am here to debate is the five star album given to this. Due to the fact that much of Moonchild is close to worthless and that 9 minute or so section takes up something like 20% of the album, I just can't give the masterpiece rating to this. However, by virtue of its innovation at the time (I'm not saying it's dated), it is essential in all collections.
Another of the reasons it's essential, aside from the innovation, is the fantastic use of the mellotron. While Genesis remains the ultimate in mellotron use, KC is right up there at second, with a good deal of that renown coming from this album.
Despite not being a five, it is still an easy four star rating in my view. Still, not having a copy of it pretty much invalidates you as a symphonic prog (possibly even prog in general!) fan.


21st Century Schizoid Man is a perfect example...Starting from the sound of train locomotive in the background where suddenly a BANG was PINNED to your senses in the early duration, thus forcing us to plunge and also dragging us to a scene of sheer Power and sound far ahead of its' time,a demonstration of extremity the musical instruments could bring...as if we're having sonicbooms delivered straight to our eyes,but leaves our ears addicted to it nevertheless.And Yes,none could forget Grandpa Fripp's screeching solo here... This adds to Layers of sounds that is hard to decipher,yet each layers played in every sectors inside our ear,Resonating and Dissonating at the same time,delivering subliminal and addictive pleasure that locks itself on your memory.A Highly Suggestive,powerful track that was like Big Bang,blasting mass of enormous energy that gave birth to our beloved genre Progressive Rock.
I Talk To The Wind is a very special track i'd consider.Among all the tracks,this delivers a charming set of combination,both the melody and the vocals were great,perfectly fusing into a soft song that would make your nerves relax.This is a brilliant song which i truly acknowledge as a work of geniuses.
Epitaph-Ah,the engine of sadness and emotional drowning.Sadness,Pain,even the drums here suggests ourselves a feeling of our ends.Mortality.This song brilliantly conveys that particular issue,making it a contemplation song that would carry our heart through an endless tunnel of thinking,where even the slightest concern of our ends could also appear there in this eternal journey that was compressed in only eight minutes...
Moonchild-Alas,readers.Forgive these lines below if you considered it an insult,but this song should be cut to only two minutes.Why don't they create two or three songs for the remaining ten minutes? A Subject beyond debate or whether this is due to the genius of Grandpa Fripp himself that probably could evoke a "vision" or something the older,pro reviewers here were talking about.The cause of the statement was the ten minutes of void,weird sounds without any hint or guide to comprehension... Well,it is very subjective for people to judge this part,and subjugations were everybody's right...
But Logically,i'd call it a waste of time.Creating two or three good songs for the ten minutes would make this album scratchless,and beyond any other comparison in progressive rock.And none would give this album a One Star...This was the song that i really loved in the first two minutes,and ironically the song that i deeply regretted to exist. This is a double edged sword for KC's first album.
In The Court-This song was strategically put in the end,to open all of the senses to the majestic display of skill and ambience crafting KC has. Being repetitive is a point,but being powerful answered your need for a quality track. ITC significantly builds the atmosphere over minutes,with the mellotron and the repetition being the key.
Overall,The First KC album could have done so much better without this flaw in the fourth track moonchild,but didn't my description described the creativity,power and influence it brought? And let the relativity of taste be justice in enjoying prog,fellow prog fans....

Thats enough with the song reviews. People before me know much better than I at song breakdowns on In the Court of the Crimson King. This was one of the first prog rock albums and is still largely unrivaled. This album was the one that hooked me onto this band and every time I listen to it I am reminded of why. The music is fast paced or slow and mellow. The album expresses emotion and you feel something when you listen to it. I know that sounds frighteningly fruity but its true. ITCOTCK = 5 stars.

The album starts off with a rocker, reminds me heavily of earlier heavy metal, with great vocals, a great start to the album, but not one of the better starts to an album. This track is probably the only track I listen on ITCHYCOCK as of recently, because of the "locomotive-like start" and the "intense vocals".
I talk to the Wind is a very interesting song I'd say, but that's all I'm going to say. Many people above me have called this a very beautiful music, but I can't really hear the passion or the beauty that these people say. This song is basically in my opinion a mediocre King Crimson song without much conviction, even though it is there. Definitely a downer after the very good album beginner.
Then the songs after that really go downhill, I talk to the Wind was the beginning of the end for me on this album. Epitaph is a great tune for showing off Prog vocals but nothing more, as it does nothing for me. Moonchild starts beautifully, but then I don't understand how it drags on and on and on and on and on, really not that great, a lot of it is filler IMO. And the last track... Well it makes a lot of ELP seem like it wasn't filler, as much as I enjoy Lake's voice and Fripp's sense of instrumentation, I just can't comprehend the filler and the waste of my time. I probably last listened to this track a full year ago.
Overall:
21st Century- 90% I Talk to the Wind- 80% Epitaph- 75% Moonchild- 70% ITCHYCOCK (Title track)- 65%
As you see, the tracks all go downhill for me, but overall I don't think of this album as that bad. Its a worth listen once in a while and is a pretty good debut album, much better than the Rush or Genesis albums respectively, but it is not the best first album I've heard.
Instead I'd recommend Red, Lizard, Discipline or Larks for the first time listener.
Overall I'd rank it about a
74%

1) 21st Century Schizoid Man including Mirrors: A work of art.The powerful guitar pulls you in. The distorted voice keeps you locked in, and the Mirrors section leaves you mesmerized. A true hard prog song. The opening is great, and if you get a friend to listen to the CD, I always tell them it's really quiet so they have to turn it way up, and they always fall for it. The simple guitar part is brilliant. One of those great pieces up there with Seven Nation army and Smoke On the Water. The mirrors solo is spectacular and a total gear shift from the main part. Love the transition back and forth.
2) I Talk To The Wind: A real relaxing piece. I don't know whether it's the flute part or the soothing vocals, but it's the kind of song you never get tired of. Simple, but strongl lyrics. Great integration of the flute into a prog song. It's soft, but powerful at the same time. The drums are spectacular in this song. Great job mixing it. This song could have been a disaster if done wrong. Great transition into Epitaph with the drumroll.
3) Epitaph including March For No Reason and Tomorrow Another softer song, with the best lyrics on the album. I love the quiet voice in the beginning that slowly gets louder. Great effect. One that makes you drowzy, but won't let you fall asleep.
4) Moonchild including The Dream and The Illusion Great first few minutes, which leave you very tired, but the problem is those last 5 or 6 minutes. I always fall asleep and miss the final song. The voice is angelic, and the percussion is spectacular.
5) The Court Of The Crimson King Including The Return Of The Fire Witch And The Dance Of The Puppets Good song, but the only one that doesn't have a part I absolutely love. I like how they go back to power at the end.
I like the CD format which they continued to use throughout their careers. They started hard, softened up in the middle then go back to the power vocals again at the end. Also, one of the greatest album covers of all time.
-K_Crimson

Greg Lake's bass part in the Mirrors section of Schizoid ranks right up there in the history of rock as one of the greatest contributions to the genre. Many people consider this a "jam," but it's my bet that Fripp had this section carefully thought out and executed. I've heard some of the more recently-released live material from this era, and it is a bit more jammy, but somewhat surprisingly, Lake does not do much at all of the crazy, nutty stuff he does on this. Methinks Fripp may have grabbed a bass in the studio???
Get this one, just keep a finger on the track forward button.

In The Court Of The Crimson King lays down everything progressive rock is throughout the album. Quirky, inventive, a myriad of styles, the album introduces the jazz/rock combination, the symphonic atmospheres, and the free-form jamming that would all become staples of the genre which this album created. Epic is the best word to describe this album. It seems to contain a quality that transcends music itself.
I believe this album contains the most beautiful display of the mellotron in history of progressive rock. It can push you to the verge of tears. It combines beautifully with Lake's vocals throughout the album to form a welling symphonic sound. All songs are symphonic masterpieces except "21st Century Schizoid Man" which is a frantic cacophony of guitar, sax, and distorted vocals. Drastically different from the rest of the album, yet every bit as good.
I always find it unfortunate when a band starts their career with their best album. However, in this case I don't think it could be any other way. I'm not sure King Crimson could top this, or any band for that matter.

21st Century Schizoid Man is a great song. It's so musically unique and it has great lyrics as well. The drumming by Michael Giles is excellent, and the saxophone by Ian McDonald adds a lot. I Talk to the Wind is a beautiful song, and Greg Lake has an amazing voice. The lyrics are among the best Peter Sinfeld ever wrote for King Crimson. In fact, two of my friends did an English project junior year in high school relating the lyrics to the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. I think I was the only person in the class who appreciated it, though. Epitaph is a wonderful song; it's very dark and brooding. Once again, Peter Sinfeld demonstrates his talent as a lyricist. The mellotron is used very effectively toward the end of the song, and it adds to the dark and heavy atmosphere. Moonchild takes a lot of abuse for being overlong and pointless, but I do not believe that is the case. The melody at the beginning of the song is beautiful and haunting, but the extended improvisational section is very good as well and I think it demonstrates the collective creativity of the group. Of course, the best song on the album and my favorite King Crimson song of all time is In the Court of the Crimson King. Flute is used to great effect at the beginning and during an instrumental section in the middle of the song. The chorus is simply mind-blowing; it's so dark and beautiful at the same time.
In the Court of the Crimson King is undeniably a prog masterpiece. It is my personal favorite from King Crimson's discography, and I recommend it highly to any prog fan. If you don't already own this, run immediately to your nearest CD store!

THIS IS TRULY THE QUINTESSENTIAL MASTERPIECE OF PROGRESSIVE ROCK ! No true prog fan could pass this one up !
Robert Fripp plays like some one who has arrived on earth from some other planet a one of a kind player who plays with such precision and power ! Fripps' unbelieve control and individualistic sound and ingenious creative ability are unequaled ! each musician plays extremely well what can i say from the vocal perfection of
Greg Lake who sings like an angel from heaven
Ian Mcdonalds unbelievable on sax and woodwinds mellotron keyboards
Greg lakes amazing riffage on bass especially on schitzoid man no wonder this had an impact on black sabbath ,
Michael Giles a great under rated genious on the skins ! influencing Niel pert, Carl Palmer Bill Bruford and many others
Peter Sinfield that genious poet and artist i can't say enough good things about him
From the explosive schitzoid man to the epic in the court of the crimson king to the abrupt ending as a truly great finish ! its the one album i could listen to and still find something new and fresh about it lots of intriquite details a trademark of robert fripp 1 Schitzoid man a model for hard rock prog rock and heavy metal for years to come with explosive playing ,complex passages, stops, starts, and an ending complete with avante garde mayhem I talk to the wind a very baroque folk march hybrid work with 60's sensibility
Epitaph a very dramatic artistic masterpiece topped off by mcdonald and lake vocal hybriding an ingenious production move
Moon child very pre ambient , artsy, dreamy , avant garde, jazzy leading into a classic drum fill intro to
In the court of the Crimson King a epic/mini symphony of strung together movements worthy of the classic masters !
No one should be without a copy of this album Orginal vinyl mixes do exist This album truly changed my life ! amazing artwork by Barry Godber, the original painting i understand was water color and is owned by robert fripp. This was the only album cover Barry ever painted. Barry died in February 1970 at the age of 24!
i never get tired of listening to this masterful work i trust you wont either
yours truly A Pleasant Symmetry

The songs have a timeless quality to them and they still hold up to this day. That doesn't mean it is always an easy album to listen to. Moonchild feels too drawn out and except for the rocking 21st Century Schizoid Man, the tone is often deeply somber with very little relief.
In spite of those minor flaws, it still stands as a masterpiece of progressive music and is an essential addition to any progressive rock collection.

The songs, with great musical variations - from heavy & complicated "21st Cenutry Schizoid man" to the more mainstream, easy listened title song "In the court of the crimson king", still bind together pefectly into a masterpiece. And if you imagine this album as a piece of a lovely cake, the lyrics are just that puts much more colour to everything - in fact, the lyrics are really good! King Crimson had, just like Procol Harum, a band member who wrote the lyrics - Peter Sinfield. Sinfields lyrics are sometimes about absolutly nothing (still great though), or if they're about something it's often difficult to figure out what. And sometimes, the lyrics turn out to be simple beautiful poems like "Moonchild". The two, still unmentioned songs "I talk to the wind" and the emotional "Epitaph", both of them with rather metaphoric lyrics, give Greg Lake a chance to show what a great vocalist he really is.
The reason why King Crimson never succeded as well as with "In the court of the crimson king" is a question that is hard to answer. But I believe that since King Crimson changed band members all the time (often from one album to another) there was never really a structur. Keyboardist Ian McDonald departed from the band already after this album and bassist and lead vocalist Greg Lake departured after their second album. Drummer Michael Giles was also replaced after a few years by Bill Bruford form Yes (excellent drummer indeed!!!). The only remaining original band member is guitarist Robert Fripp, who also could be considered as the band leader. Even though he orginized new band members, the first line up from 1969 could never be replaced.
Anyhow, I really recomend this album to all who like progressive rock - and even those who would like to discover something new! Enjoy!


First does not equal best. We learn from our mistakes and build upon our successes, and the same can be said here. An outstanding debut into a genre that did not exist yet, King Crimson laid the groundwork for others to follow. Although arguably there was bound to be a breakthrough, with many other bands following similar trends at the time.
The album starts with one of my favorites and a KC classic, 21st Century Schizoid Man, with one of the most powerful choruses of any genre. Unfortunately, the following several tracks really have little to them, with some nice creative ideas that really need to be expounded upon, yet perhaps the songwriting is a bit lacking at this point. Moonchild especially can become a bit boresome. The closer however recovers the album, a nice, almost ambient finish that really polishes the record off.
If you really want to get into Crimson aside from this almost necessary part of a prog collection, I would pick up Red, which is the most accessible point. This is a wonderful foray into the world of progressive music, and a must have for your collection if you call yourself a lover of all things prog, but it's not the best, and not even KC's best!

Something about this album is wholly balanced. It is truly among the very few albums to be, in a very literal and profound sense, perfect, but in another way, very flawed. I often skip Moonchild, but regardless, that imperfection makes up the overall perfection of the finished project. Moonchild is present to show that King Crimson is not afraid to experiment. It's sort of a theoretical song. In theory, it should be fantastic, the idea is genius to disregard the rules of music, and experiment, and that's great. The song isn't practically; it isn't overly enjoyable. The writing of the rest of the album is magnificently inspired. Most collections can't truly be dubbed a 'prog' collection until this album is in it. I only wish it were a longer album, and Moonchild was much shorter.



That's probably the reaction of so many rock bands in that time.
I don't care if this record give the name of prog music!
I care about all the power of this FABULOUS and IMAGINATIVE MUSIC. I remember my reaction in my first listening: WOW! It opened my mind.
Thanks to Fripp and his friends to make it possible & to invent this brained and hearted music!

21st Century Schizoid Man is the only really energetic track on here; the others are mellow. Flute is scattered throughtout and is used brilliantly, particularly on the beautiful I Talk To The Wind. Eptiaph is deep and moving with light guitar, mellotron and rolling drums. The universal complaint for this album seems to be Moonchild. The first two and half minutes are dreamy and mezmirizing; after that is goes into an extremely quiet section with bass and, toward the end, light drums. It is reminiscent of the guitar part from Take A Pebble by ELP in its pace and its near randomness. It is rather slow, but I have grown to enjoy it. In The Court Of The Crimson King closes it out very well, with a sound to match its eerie lyrics: "[I]The black queen chants the funeral march, The cracked brass bells will ring; To summon back the fire witch To the court of the crimson king.[/I]" All of the lyrics, by the way, are spectacular; easily some of the best I've ever heard and as consistently brilliant as the music itself throughout the album. This is prog rock at its beginning and its best.

The first time I heard "21st Century Schizoid Man" was a cover by the Canadian band APRIL WINE. I like when it picks up 2 minutes in with some nice bass by Lake and Fripp's angular guitar (not worthy !). Check out Giles before 5 1/2 minutes. "I Talk To The Wind" is a pastoral song, laden with flute that sounds like a hippy, sixties song. Fragile vocals from Lake. Flute and a brighter sound before 5 minutes. Great tune. "Epitaph" and the next two tracks are truly a mellotron lovers delight. "Epitaph" is so utterly majestic. Gulp. A mellotron storm after 2 minutes. A calm with acoustic guitar after 4 minutes. Vocals and mellotron return before 5 1/2 minutes. A classic !
"Moonchild" is very special to me, and i'm not sure why, I just get pulled into this song and go for a dreamy ride, one of my favourites, although I could get along without the 10 minute improv to end it. "In The Court Of The Crimson King" is all about the mellotron, and again there is something otherworldly about this song that transports me in my mind, it's incredibly uplifting ! Nice contrasts too. And the vocal harmonies are a nice touch.
Five awesome songs ! One majestic and influential album ! 5 stars!



That said, this remains an essential progressive rock release, for 3 main reasons: 1) King Crimson were one of the all-time greats of the genre, 2) This includes 21st Century Schizoid Man, for chrissake, 3) This truly is, inarguably, a landmark recording as one of the first all-out prog albums without all of the psychedelic trappings common among most proto- prog releases.


To sum up the rest of the album, you have Epitaph and The Court of the Crimson King, which are both great songs but both sound very similar in style. Both have lots of melletron, and are slower paced with a sort of regal feeling. In my opinion, The Court of the Crimson King is the better of the two songs. Epitaph is good, but it sort of plods along, never really changing. I find my mind wanders easily during this song, but it is a good song. The other song Moonchild is good for about 2 minutes, and then it turns into a strange improvosational exercise with no real structure of any kind. This part is very quiet and goes on for about 9 minutes. That's probably the biggest downfall of the album.
In closing, this is a great album, probably not the best and definitely not my favorite. The album is worth the price of admission for the first two tracks and the last. If you enjoy progressive rock, then you should probably invest in this album.


Schizoid Man is, like almost everyone one had already point out, one of the best opener ever. Ever. No way. It will blow your mind away. Powerful, epic, aggressive, almost a proto-prog metal example, and a quite outstanding preview of what progressive will become when mixed with more aggressive atmospheres. It makes you wanna scream "Robert Fripp is a genius!" everytime you listen to it.
After the initial maelstrom we continue with the other side, emotionally speaking, of this record. I Talk To The Wind is a mellow, soft, kind of folk-ish jewel that stands out as one of the finest ballad Fripp has ever composed. Simple and beautiful, the essence of the soft and dreamy side of progressive, together with the next marvellous song in the record.
Epitaph is another outstanding ballad, with a touching performance from Greg Lake and a beautiful chord progression that will stuck in your head forever. Outstanding, and you've already started asking yourself how can this album get any better.
But after the interlocutory Moonchild, which is a tough to digest but extremely important example of how noisy improvisation and experimental approaches will have an important part in the progressive evolution, let's welcome In The Court Of The Crimson King, and let's face the fact that this one is probably the best song in the history of King Crimson together with Starless and an outrageously important step in contemporary music. No other words to describe it.
As you can see, "In The Court Of The Crimson King" is there in the olympus where all THE most important progressive albums stay, historically and musically. More than essential!

Before, others had dabbled with it, but nobody had come to this stage of purity and full blown progressive music.
The maniac Fripp had gathered a band, Greg Lake (later of ELP) on vocals, Ian MacDonald on the atmospheric wind instruments, Mike Giles on tight drums, and Peter Sinfield helped with the lyrics.
The first three tracks are essential peices, Schizoid man, the relentless rocker, I Talk to the Wind, the soft and deep vocal peice, Epitaph, in all its depressing glory.
Moonchild, 9 minutes longer than it should be, sets back the album from being a five star. The title track is a mystical epic, well worth the listen.
This is one of the albums you should grab if you're just starting out.


Robert Fripp had been playing along with friends Pete and Mike Giles for a while in the band called Giles, Giles & Fripp. Without Pete Giles on this new collaboration Robert Fripp took control with Pete Sinfield (song writer/lyracist) and created this album "In the Court of the Crimson King". With new guy Greg Lake at vocals and bass, Ian McDonald on woodwind mainly, but also keyboards, mellotrons, etc. who had previously played along with GG&F, and we got Michael Giles on drums. The band chemistry seemed to work flawlessly and it's sad that this would be the only album they all released together.
They start of the album with a strong hard jazz fusion track labeled "21st Century Schizoid Man" perhaps the biggest buidling block song on what prog would become eventually over the years. This was there most popular song of the album and it no doubt deserved it the musician ship on this song is excellent and the vocals flowed well along with Sinfield's lyrics.
Next we have "I Talk to the Wind" a song which had been previously recorded with GG&F, but was abit more poppy and was acoustic guitar oriented and focused less on McDonalds flute. This version was much better and alot prettier sounding too, Lake did an excellent job not over-taking the soft sound yet not sounding to soft himself, very large change from Schizoid Man, but it still works well here.
Sinfield's masterpiece comes next with "Epitaph" this is my personal favorite lyrical work that he has ever written. So strong and emotional the words and Greg Lake couldn't have done much better, the song is directed as well, but the instrumentation isn't exactly there best, but the dark tone that is set fits well with the lyrics which are the main focus on this song in my opinion at least.
The next song "Moonchild" starts off with beautiful harmonics covered over by Greg Lake I believe singing in his falsetto, and turns into after the last words sung turns into an improv which at first listen sounds completely random, but what people don't know is that Sinfield would shine a light representing an emotion on each member of the band and the member would try to reflect that emotion with there instrument, quite an interesting concept, but isn't the greatest sound to the ears, but still a fun piece.
Last they finish with the title track "In the Court of the Crimson King" which has Fripp's classical guitar sound flowing throughout and a choir-esque chorus full of aw's. It's matched into pieces like every grand prog epic should and sets the bar for what they could be. Overall one of the most balanced songs on the album full of good lyrics, singing, and instrumentation and gets a little bit louder then the previous three songs, but no where near as hard as the first.
I'm not sure what would have happened if this album never existed, but I am sure they would be different. Prog was still have came to be, but this is what coined turn and has earned every part of the way to become what we claim the greatest prog album of all time. Whether you love or not there is no denying it's greatness. I'm fairly sure everyone can find something they like in this due to it's variety and depth. Happy progging!

A&R reps at Atlantic were salivating over the potential this band had and were waiting to milk the band for all it was worth. When this album finally hit stores, it climbed to the upper crust of Europe's album charts. Never before had an album had so much experimentation.
The albums opens with near silence, as a faint noise is heard in the background. Suddenly, about thirty seconds in, the band crashes in with KC's most recognizable song, 21st Century Schizoid Man. This song manages to highlight each member's instrumental prowess. Fripp's solo is one of, if not, his best, solos ever. Giles' drumming is one of the finest drum performance by any person. Lake's bass hints at his future triumphs with ELP, and Ian's mellotron has much of the spotlight. This song launched a movement that had been slowly forming since the advent of psychedelia.
I Talk to the Wind reworks a GGF tune with Ian's flute in the forefront. His playing is simply beautiful. It's a soft song and a good contrast to the hard edge of the opener.
Epitaph show Sinfield stepping up his game for some of his finest lyrics. It's dark tone hints at later heaviness on albums like Red, and Lake's vox are fantastic.
Moonchild starts with harmony before entering King Crimson's first proper improv in the studio number. It sounds out of place on the first few listens, but the more you listen to KC, the more you "get it." This track is the only one on the album I did not immediately enjoy, but now I revere it as essential Crimson.
The grandiose title track closes the album with classical guitar and Lake's grewat vocals, especially on the chorus. It doesn't match the bleakness of Epitaph, but it's probably the second darkest and heaviest song on the album.
This album kickstarted symphonic prg, considered to be the first true progressive sub- genre. People argue over which album is the greatest, but ITOTCK is really without a doubt the most important album in prog. If this hadn't come along, Zappa might not have broken through to his progressive masterpieces when he did. Like Eric Larson said, prog would have started, just not when it did. This is my favorite progressive album of all time and it stands the test of time as an absolute masterpiece. Long live the King.



21st Century Schizoid Man - ***** It's an awesome song, especially the instrumentall passage and the ending where it all builds up.
I Talk to the Wind - ***** After a really excellent and loud song, this pacifying music with flute comes.
Epitaph - ***** It's definitely a neat song. It's similar to I Talk to the Wind, but it's a little bit heavier.
Moonchild - **** It's the longest song on the album, and I love the song. The last 10 minutes could be louder, though.
The Court of the Crimson King - ***** This is the first song I heard that was off this album. This song has more great flute playing.
If I had to choose my favorite songs, I'd choose 21st Century Schizoid Man and THe Court of the Crimson King.
Eveeeryone needs this album!!!!!!!!!


I must note though that a lot of people to dislike the song "moonchild", and I must say I don't like it that much either. It's very experimental, but mostly boring with a very minimalistic sound.
Still, even considering moonchild this album is worth those 5 stars without any doubt.

As I really like "newer" progressive rock bands like ARENA, BLACKFIELD, IQ, MARILLION, PENDRAGON, PORCUPINE TREE, RADIOHEAD, RIVERSIDE and SYLVAN, I decided to go all the way back to their "progressive roots" to find out what KING CRIMSON was all about. I started with their supposedly best album: In The Court.
I did not dare burning my hands on this one for a long time, because it is supposed to be so good! I had the same problem submitting a review on ELP's Brain Salad Surgery. Another highly praised album, that I particular don't really like. Sorry guys!
Well, about the album, what can I really add? I must say the first two tracks start quite promising and track three "EPITAPH" sung by Greg Lake is simply beautiful! This track is definitely the highlight of this album! But right after this comes the big problem of this album called MOONCHILD. The first two minutes start quite promising again, but after that. Boy oh boy, some experimental jamming session that lasts over 10 minutes! Why did those guys deteriorate this album like this? Maybe because 33 minutes is a bit short for a progressive rock album? So at least now the album lasts almost 45 minutes which was considered to be "standard" for an LP? I would have liked the album a lot more if this track simply would have been deleted! I would not give one single star for this track: 0 stars for MOONCHILD!For this track alone I would never consider this album a masterpiece. IMHO each track from a 5 track album should be a highlight in that case!
The last track "The Court Of The Crimson King" is actually the 2nd best track on this album, just after EPITAPH. Nice one, but unfortunately most of the time I have already fallen asleep during MOONCHILD.
All and all 1 firm star for each track, except for MOONCHILD. As a matter of fact; for MOONCHILD I subtract half a star. 3.5 stars total: good, but non-essential.

Now, enough about me and my stupid nonsensical talk. Lets get on with the music, shall we?
'21st Century Schizoid Man' was the first progressive rock song ever to grace my ears. But... What's this!?!? It opens up with AMBIENT NOISE. A 'rock' song had never been mixed with that before, blending musique concréte with powerchords was just... Out of the line. But these guys dared. Anyway, it sounds like the recording of a truck stopping, and a man walks by. At 00:28, the furious guitar chords blending with the psychedelic saxophones jumps into gear, with Michael Giles' incredible drumming immediately setting us into action. The madman riff repeats not once, not twice, but thrice, before leading into the awesome verse with Fripp's usual disillusioned chords and Greg Lake screaming out the paranoid lyrics, through a distorted amplifier which celebrates the songs purpose incredibly! This goes on into the second verse, as powerful as the first ever was, and of course, here comes the middle part... Mirrors.
'Mirrors' is the midle part of 21st Century Schizoid Man, starting out with a spiraling riff from nowhere, with Michaels stressed drumming ringing out of the speakers. An LSD-influenced guitar solo comes out of Robert Fripp's masterful hands, with bends, vibratos, feedback and of course, the usual cutting of notes which Fripp is known for. Michaels powerful tom fills in the background helps us no less to get absolutely obsessed with this part, and now...
The extremely avant garde saxophone solo comes in. Incredibly loud, two tracks of noodling nonsense blasts out, it literally sounds like a tank grinding on train tracks! It's truly crazy, and after it, the last furious notes ring out before the section that led us into Mirrors reappears in front of is, and now...
The arpeggios from hell. This section is amongst the fastest you'll ever hear in prog. How one can play the guitar so fast is beyond me, and the saxophone helps it out as well. A softer intersection leads us with the intro of the Arpeggios from Hell, with an amazing drum fill leading us out again...
The songs introduction is reminiscent again, with Fripp leading us into the riff with a notorious slide from the twelth fret, dwelling into Lake's paranoia-soaked lyrics. Of course, the song has to end remarkably? In a strange way, yes. Intense, loud, freefrom distorted jazz noodling grasps us by the throat, chokes us, and lets us go just before we give up!
'I Talk To The Wind' is a whole nother deal. Opening up with soothing horn instruments, Lake's tired voice comes at us with great lyrics. The chorus comes up after a short while, and I have to say that Lake's voice is very beautiful. The drumming again is extraordinary, I myself say that Michael Giles may be the best drummer of all time. The second verse has very powerful lyrics by Peter Sinfield of course, the masterful poet. Another chorus briefly plays, with the exhausted vocals really setting the mood, yet keeps our attention throughout. A third verse opens up, with a little more sting in the vocals, but it's barely noticable. Of course, the chorus is as soothing as it ever will be, and at almost 3 minutes into the song, it's almost ever. A beautiful flute solo comes into by play by Ian McDonald, my favourite out of King Crimson's various horn sectino performers. The guy is amazing! Fripp's beautiful guitar solo takes off where McDonald left.
The chorus reappears again, and the first verse follows shortly afterwards. The intro notes of the song are heard again, and when you think it ends, the last 1 and a half minute of the song is a wonderful flute solo by Ian, but we can only wait for the next song. This flute solo topples the first in the song by a miles range, and is really catchy. Again, Giles' drumming is uncompared. The ending leads into...
'Epitaph'. This song grasps me by the heart. It's so sad, yet so mysterious. It opens up with majestic percussion, the medeival guitar lines and an overwhelming guitar arpeggio section. Greg Lake's vocals are his best here, so powerful even though they are ever so quiet. Michael's drumming is rather upbeat, but somehow it works so greatly. The mellotron makes it's brilliant introdution here, Fripp himself playing it. The mellotron mimics a string section, adding to the beauty that is this song.
The chorus is is a jazzy, emotional macabre of a section, and when Lake sings 'And I fear tomorrow I'll be crying' the mellotron is louder than before, which adds so much to it that it's unbelivable. A short instrumental section (the intro appearing again) it leads into the second verse, where Lake sings much louder, and Giles masterfully works the ride cymbal. After the second verse, we are led into a mysterious section where the mellotron dazzles, increibly loud. It leads out into the medeival guitar lines again, and here comes the best section of this song...
The stom chord section. The horns play very low notes, and after a while, Giles bangs the percussion as hard as possible, when Fripp plays the chords out of nowhere! It carries on for a while, and while it may not sound as brilliant as it ultimately is, this is incredibly powerful. A slow drum fill gives us the chorus again, which repeats a very long time, with the mellotron taking it's time to become louder and louder, and percussion added on top. It's intense, and beautiful. It slowly fades out.
'Moonchild' is to many the downside of the album, since the latter seven minutes of it is freeform jamming. Growing up with several free jazz album (My dad's an enthusiast) I can only love this section even more than the introduction, however it will certainly vary.
It opens up with the most beautiful riff I've ever heard. A loud guitar note which slides back and forth takes us by the heart. Eventually Lake's soothing vocals (In a very bright tone) sings the optimistical lyrics. The mellotron is added in the second verse, adding more to the atmosphere than Epitaph's ever did. Michael plays around on the cymbals and the toms, and at 02.14 the last words are heard, before seguing into a heavy mellotron intersection. A wall of sound surrounds us, and playful percussion is played. Jazzy guitar textures fade in soon, and adds up to the atmosphere. After a while, the mellotron fades out.
Here begins, at ca. 03:30 the free jazz jamming comes in. At the beginning is has a certain structure, following the A minor chord of the song. At 04.30 is sort of loses it, which I love myself. An atonal horn chord pops in, and Fripp noodles around on the guitar. The same goes for Michael, bashing on the toms for his life. This is certainly avant garde, and I love the abrupt drumming of Michael. It's so random, which leaves me suprised everytime. The treble turns up on the guitar, which strange chords never heard before dazzles our ears. Fripp plays around with a little arpeggio notes, and lets the other play whatever they feel like. This goes on until 09:00 where the song takes the A minor theme again, and Fripp improvises around it. But there is still atonality inbetween, but Michael's marchy drumming helps it keep a beat. Soon it goes back to the free form jamming again.
At 11:00 a beautiful heart grasping theme comes into play, with the stunning percussion leaving me to love it. Fripp's playing soothes me as always during this particular section. It soon ends this long song.
'The Court Of The Crimson King' rips up with a loud drum fill, and the incredible, incredible... INCREDIBLE mellotron notes blend with the guitar. Medeival guitar lines leaves us with the best lyrics ever written in the history of music, with mad flute notes coming all over the place. The choir-esqué loud chorus dazzles my mind like few songs have ever done and is incredibly fitting for the songs mood. A second verse interplays, but not without Michael's standard drumming. Leaving us with one more incredible chorus! This segues into the third verse which is as masterful as all the others, this time with a different guitar pattern which is stunning. Of course no need to talk about the chorus, you all know it, and love it. Then comes...
'The Return of The Firewitch' which is a cover name for the beautiful, amazing flute solo that Ian delivers to us, with Michael playing away on the ride cymbal. It's very good. Quite long in length, afterwards we segue into...
The fourth, and last verse of this 9 minute progfest that closes of this magnificent album! With new guitar patterns, there is no repetitiveness at all. 2 choruses in a row close of the album. Or do they? On the loudest mellotron note you'll ever hear the song ''ends''. But what's this?...
'The Dance of The Puppets' is a funny little horn section of the song which is unaccompanied. Opening up with optimistical flute notes, lower key instruments soon join of course, and after a while, all goes quiet...
...until Michael's loudest drum fill ever blasts out through the speakers, Fripp's guitar has been changed for an electric one (distorted as well) while everybody replays the chorus main theme. Intense and heavy, this powerful section delivers us the most well known riff in prog. At 09 minutes in, one of the fastest drum fills by Michael segues into the ending, which sounds an awful lot like the intense ending of 21st Century Schizoid Man. It fades out very abruptly, whithin a second or two it all goes *POOF* and we have just been through one of the best, if not the best, albums of all time.
Of course, King Crimson would soon leave most of the ballads we've seen on here, for the very dark melodies and overall, dark atmospheres of later albums such as Larks' Tongues In Aspic and Red, something they shared in common with Van der Graaf Generator at the time. These later albums made the metal bands of the time sound like bubble-gum pop, and thus this first album is a bit of an odd one when compared to them. King Crimson were, like Yes, a more optimistic symphonic band at first, however if you dare to buy In The Wake of Poseidon after this amazing album, one can only dare to wonder how dark they will become in sound and atmosphere later on...
Thank you very much for reading this long review! //Axel Dyberg

First of all i have to say that for me , king crimson is the best progressive band ever walked the face of the earth!!!. there ...i said it. i can explain too. getting started like this is phenomenal, there are a lot of great debuts but this one is ground breaking , revolutionary and the most influential of them all. the fact that this band never managed to get a proper consistant band playing for more than 2 or 3 years but did manage to record an album every year , never having a real crapy album , like a lot of giant prog bands did shows that this is a force!
Is it the first prog album or not?? a question that the leaders of the world couldn't answer! , well i'll tell you what i think... i heard some albums that started fusing rock with jazz or classical or whatever prior to 1969 for ex. the moody blues , touch and more , BUT this one is the most complete and to the point , never trying to be nice , just a 100% progressive rock album , leaving anything you knew behind and presenting you with something completely new, every second is essential you can not change anything it is complete!! it's the MATERPIECE!! the sound is also never heard before and deserves 5 stars too - 1969 REALLY?? , it doesn't have that clear sound where everything shines , it has it's own sound , drums are from another planet - giles is not just backing the band , he is as vital as everybody creating this magnificent sound. he's drum sentences are masterful! another thing that i like about KC and this album is that they can really kick your ass but the next they are as gentle as a baby ( you can play it to a baby trying to get him to sleep , i'm not kidding ).
No need to get through the songs but i will comment on one song the one that everybody seems to be so partial about - "moonchild" everybody likes the first part , but i definitely like the rest too, it calmes me down and doesn't feel like noodling to me, it goes from one idea to the next quickly but still sounds constructed to me, it is just beautiful simple as that.
Making it short i'll say this one is a one of a kind , i heard a lot of 5 stars albums or masterpieces but the height of this album had been reached not by many ( KC did it again with "RED" ). there should be a 5+ rating that belongs to masterpieces. this one is one of them!!

"21st Century Schizoid Man" is not only a prog cornerstone, but a very well-known and beloved rock song in general. It has impressive guitar, but the first thing you will notice when you turn this song on is the stunning and heavy saxophone, fusing jazz with rock flawlessly.
After the heavy start to the album, King Crimson surprises the listener with the mellow, calm "I Talk To The Wind". The heavy sax is replaced by sweet, light flute work, and lyrics simply sung as beautifully as possible.
The next song, "Epitaph" trades the wind emphasis in favor of more percussion, mellotron, and guitar. The well-done emotional vocals round it off, adding another song of legend to the already growing list of amazing music on the album.
"Moonchild" is even more passionately sung, and the mysterious lyrics and the way they are sung give an impression of relaxation with apprehension lurking around every corner, the mood is perfectly set, with bells and percussion marking points of interest.
The last song on the album is also the title track, and one of the best epics in progressive rock. The mellotron shines in this one, and the whole song fits so perfectly together that there has been an orchestral version arranged from it. It has epic vocals, going from calm to awestruck all the time, one of the best masterpieces ever produced!
I can't emphasize enough-this album is an essential masterpiece. It set the stage for everything to come after it, and the music world rejoiceth.

"21st Century Schizoid Man including Mirrors" (no one, absolutely no one had song titles like these guys!) hit the still free and unsanitized FM airwaves like an aural sledgehammer with its stunning combination of saxophone and distorted guitar blasting through the speakers. Greg Lake's electronically altered vocal was additionally effective in creating what could only be considered "new music." As the song progressed into passages featuring Michael Giles' maniacal drum patterns and Robert Fripp's bizarre guitar riffs we knew that this band was unlike any other on the face of the planet and it was exciting beyond description. The stark contrast they presented with the next cut was definitely straight out of left field. "I Talk to the Wind" is a quiet, peaceful tune that features a gorgeous flute solo from Ian McDonald and a subtle guitar lead. Giles, instead of laying down a normal beat for a ballad, doesn't stay still and plays deftly all around the song but never interferes with the cool ambiance. Huge Mellotron chords draw us into "Epitaph including March for No Reason & Tomorrow and Tomorrow." This is Lake's finest vocal on the album and the lyrics supplied by Pete Sinfield on this tune were the easiest to relate to. It was a turbulent year for the planet and words like "The fate of all mankind, I fear, is in the hands of fools" rang disturbingly true for most of us. After a brooding dirge from the woodwinds we hear Lake's mournful "I feel tomorrow I'll be crying" repeated over and over. Giles' drum work is extraordinarily unconventional throughout the record but especially toward the end of this song. By now we thought we had a bead on this group but not so. "Moonchild including The Dream and The Illusion" is yet another sharp curve in the road. Starting out as another peaceful ballad, Fripp then surprises us all with a delicate jazz guitar passage, then a long give-and-take sequence with the drums and vibes. It's totally unexpected and brilliantly performed. "The Court of the Crimson King including The Return of the Fire Witch and The Dance of the Puppets" is the fifth and final tune and what a monster it is! McDonald's massive Mellotron sound creates a cavernous atmosphere, Giles continues to fly all over the skins, and Lake provides an ominous vocal as this signature song moves in like a swirling, hot sand storm. It has everything that makes this album unique yet accessible. A Mellotron lead, another fantastic flute performance, a false ending and a calliope precedes the return to the memorable chorus melody featuring Giles' most energetic moments on the drums. Spectacular.
To call this a landmark album is an enormous understatement. It influenced countless musicians and opened up minds to a myriad of possibilities. Unfortunately, this particular lineup would not survive their tour of the USA and one can only wonder what they might have created beyond this. As we now know, King Crimson was to become a temporary harbor for many talented musicians in the years to come and we learned to always anticipate the unexpected from Mr. Fripp & company for better and for worse. However, only a handful of albums can claim to have shocked the music world as much as this one did.

The only weakness in this album is the 4th song: Moonchild. It's starts quite good. But the middle section is just boring. Serveral minutes of a useless jam session. That's really the only bad thing I can tell about this album. The first and the last song on this album are absolutely wonderfull. The 2 remaining songs aren't masterpieces, but still very enjoyable.
So, this makes me decide to give Crimson King's first album 4 stars. When you really want to get to know this band (for the few people on this sites that doesn't know them yet), start with the albums: Red and Larks' tongues in aspic, less historical significance but better music.

Musically there are even greater innovations. In 21st Century Schizoid Man the band creates the paranoia 25th century men would fear. But other ones are ballads, one might say. Alright, then compare them to Nights In White Satin or to the Whiter Shade Of Pale or even with the most "depressive" song of that time. You'll feel like listening to ABBA When you listen The End after In The Court Of The Crimson King.
I must not forget also the remaining two tracks, I Talk To The Wind and Moonchild. These songs contain harmonies that many bands (before and after KC) where unsuccessfully trying to achieve.
I think this album is a must for not only progheads but for all who want to understand why rock music has claimed such heights.
An absolute masterpiece - a quintessence of modern music.

When I told the guy who runs the only used records shop in my town I did not know King Crimson, he urged me toward this album and I can thank God he did.
To me, this album should be the first one to be listened by someone who wants to go further Floyd's mainstream album. It should be the gates leading to the realm of prog music. For me, In The Court of the King Crimson is a concept album going through five different moods. You must listen from the first to the last one without skipping any of them.
First, you get the incredibly super-fast with a kind of grunge and trash feeling, yet so well executed, 21st Century Schizoid Man. Really, I wonder how the band manage to play so well on this one. It looks like they took a normal song and played it a hundred times faster than it should, but it sounds really well. I shall call it the «Amphetamine Song».
Then, you get the surreal I Talk to the Wind. This is the kind of song you can't help but listen to the lyrics, whatever you are doing. Everything in this song is incredibly clear, polished. Each instrument can be easily heard form the others and each instrument and they form something incredible when they are placed altogether. I shall call this one the «Crystal-Clear Song».
Third one, and certainly the darkest one, is, of course (!), Epitath. When the singer (I dont know who sings on this one, shame on me!) sings "The Wall on which the prophet wrote...", it's got a kind of very deep and dark feeling. The electronic instrument, which I guess is a mellotron, plays a superb part here giving all the song. And the song ends on a big crescendo with the unknown singer saying "And I fear tomorrow I'll be crying". This is the «Depressive Song». Almost reminds me f#a# infinity.
Ok flip your record, you're good for 2nd side.
Moonchild is already much more light. You could almost associate it with I Talk to the Wind. But after a few minutes, the song gets almost perfectly quiet for some time, with some noises disturbing the silence. You could compare it to someone having a big accident; he was well alive until a certain point and then he hits something. For some time, he struggles to live. He does not want to die yet. But he will come back much more stronger (weird analogy isnt it?). Sure, it seems very boring, but I think it is essential for the album. Without this almost silent part, this album really would not have been the same. This one is the «Accident Song».
I was told the end is always the most important. King Crimson respects this guideline. After a silent part, The Court of the King Crimson resurrects and is very powerful. This song manages to incorporate almost every mood seen so far. Energic, druggy, ethereal and dark might be good adjectives for this one. And I really like the way it really ends. Just when everybody thought it was over, it goes on one last time, before finally fading. And you stare at your turntable with trembling hands. «The Ultimate Song» (Cheesy nickname, but it's representative)
Really I cannot really see bad points with this record; I picked an easy choice since it's my first review ever. 5 stars!

Now that I have kind of put it in a bad light, I do really like the instrumental "hard jazz" of "Schizoid man" and the Beatles influence on "I talk to the wind" is very beautiful. "Epitaph" is very reminiscent of "Knights in White Satin" and is pretty good but the vocals are mixed too low and the snare sounds terrible at the start. "Moonchild" doesnt really do it for me, lyrics that sound pretty worthless. The ambience...well is a bit of filler. "Court of The Crimson King" is a nice majestic song with great choir and mellotron. The lyrics aren't the greatest but it has a good tune.
Greg Lake and Pete Sinfield do not appear to have as good of lyric and vocal work as they would later do with ELP, however, as far as early style lyrics that would inspire prog artists, they did well.
Good album but I cannot see what inspires people to lable it a masterpiece. Get it, for progs sake. It is one of the cornerstones.

Is this the first prog album ? I do not know. What I know, is that it is my preferred KC one (by far as you will read in further reviews).
In The Court was my entry album to KC (in 1974). At first sight, I really loved three songs, and half appreciated one. KC has never been a favorite of mine, but I have to humbly admit that this album set the pace for a whole lot of things to come in our beloved progressive music history.
"21st Century Schizoid Man" is a typical Crimson song but I never liked the vocal part of it. The instrumental portion will definitely inspire bands like VDGG. This frenetic jazz improv features a wild bass playing by Gregg (this guy is really incredible, but we all know this, right) ? It's quite a difficult song to approach. I do not listen to it frequently, but I reckon that it is an influent track. The end sounds completely disjointed.
When you listen to "I Talk to the Wind", it is rather difficult to imagine that it is the same band that is playing this wonderful, subtle, melodious, marvelous track. It features beautiful and deeply inspired vocals from Greg and superb flute. My first KC love. It's obvious to me, that "Trespass" will be very much inspired by the mood of this track. Some might find it mellowish and naive, but this is KC as like. But such effort won't be repeated too much in their repertoire, alas. It is the most emotional KC song to my ears. A great, great moment.
"Epitaph". Almost nine minutes of pure glory. A mellotron orgy combined to a fantastic melodic tune. Again, IMO, some early Genesis inspiration came from here (Salmacis, here am I). Confusion, will be my epitaph (maybe, I will like to have this written on mine...). It is a fantastic number and probably one of my KC all time fave. The grandeur of the intro makes this song one of the best symphonic I know. Gregg is again very convincing in his lead vocal role.
Next comes the lenghty "Moonchild". Twelve minutes thirteen seconds that should have been reduced to three minutes to make it a good track. Instead, we get a good and veeeeeery quiet intro and then a loooooong and boooooooooring improv which is really a P.I.T.A. It lasts unfortunately for about nine minutes. Pure "avant-garde" and experimental "music".
The title track closes the album in a brilliant manner : Greg at his best, great melody again, fantastic mellotron, some flute work of the best vein. This is a marvelous voyage to the court of KC or CK. Once one believes the tracks ends, we get an incredible good news : another two minutes of the best KC music. This is the third masterpiece of this great album.
It is remarkable to know that two of the best songs of this album "I Talk To The Wind" and "The Court ..." are co-written by Mc Donald and Sinfield (who will be credited on the liner notes for "words and illuminatons"). I bet you ! He was damned well illuminated !
I will rate this one four stars (only). This is due of course to the rather poor "Moonchild".

Ah the disputed first progressive rock album. Even though Robert Fripp dislikes the term progressive rock he is it, on this album, in every sense. Taking rock to new heights and expanding the horizons of artists to come.
The first track (21st Century Schizoid Man including Mirrors) shocked and surprised me. It is quiet for the first 30 seconds. I wondered at this and subsequently tuned it up really loud. Then the music hit me like a brick wall. I screamed in terror and turned it off, for good or so I thought. I came back to it a few months later. But not forgetting the previous experience, I made sure I kept it at the same volume no matter how quiet it got. I listened intently and heard something amazing, brilliance in its purest form. Jazzy influences can be heard everywhere. I love the wind instruments. Pure bliss. The bass playing struck me as odd. I wondered how such a fine instrument (I play bass so it is a fine instrument) could be so groovy and yet keep such a tight rhythm. I eventually roped this together with Greg Lake's bass playing.
Next is "I Talk To The Wind". It is very different to 21st Century Schizoid Man. A softer mood. Delightful woodwind instruments. A brilliant contrast to the previous song. Greg Lake's singing fits the mood perfectly. "Epitaph including March For No Reason and Tomorrow & Tomorrow" comes on next. The mellotron is beautiful. One of the best keyboard instruments I have ever heard. Thanks to Erik Neuteboom for bringing this instrument to my attention. This song has a different mood to the previous ones. It is dark and moody. Also the musicianship on this song is brilliant. I already mentioned the mellotron, but I will mention it again! It is just simply amazing. Robert Fripp's acoustic work here is brilliant. It adds to the atmosphere the album creates. Michael Giles drumming is brilliant, jazzy and creates a wonderful groove.
The fourth song is the much despised "Moonchild". I do not get people's approach on this song. They feel it is unnecessary improvisations that only detract from the brilliance of the album. They cannot see how important this is! Bands are known to jam in a studio and come out with a song written then and there, after a few takes. But this is it in its rawest form! They bring the improvisations to the listeners. It shows the ability of these musicians, able to keep create some majestical music. It is my favourite track on this album because of the noodling. The song portion of it is also good but nothing compared to the improvisations that adds to my love of King Crimson.
The title track "In The Court Of The Crimson King including The Return Of The Fire Witch and The Dance of The Puppets" (such cool song titles by the way) sums up all the atmospheres of the first four songs into one great one. The power this song conveys is amazing! Such brilliance!
This is one of the best albums to come out of the 60's. The brilliance and pure bliss I get out of listening to this ensures that it will get a 5/5 star for me. One final statement: mellotrons are the best!


1. 21st Century Schizoid Man: For me this is probably the most definitive prog song ever. The frantic brass and guitar pair with Lake's distorted vocals for an absolutely fightening effect. (10/10)
2. I Talk to the Wind: This is my least favorite song on the album. The beginning reminds me of cheap lounge jazz, and I can somehow never get past that. (5/10)
3. Epitaph: An extremely emotional song with excellent use of woodwinds. Possibly my favorite KC song ever. (10/10)
4. Moonchild: This is an oft criticized song that is actually pretty good. The noodling at the end doesn't bother me one bit and the melody is nice. (7/10)
5. The Court of the Crimson King: There's some great lyrical imagery in this song pair with pretty big sound. Maybe a little repetitive, but it's the good kind of repitition. (8/10)

5 stars.

This is very arguably KC's most accessible release, most of the album is both an easy and a very unique and progressive listen. To combine these facets so well is a great feat, and makes this album a very significant and special one. Lizard and Larks' Tounges in Aspic represent some of the more challenging (but still very good) albums in KC's catalog.
However my favorite facet of this album is its ability to create a dark yet beautiful atmosphere within each of its 5 tracks. The unique atmosphere that this album creates for me has yet to be recreated by any other album I can currently think of.
21st Century Schizoid Man is a fast, manic, and very aggressive opener. It starts off mellow, then suddenly turns into a heavy fusion of guitar and saxophone. These instruments alternate between riffs and excellent solos, creating a very intoxicating listen.
I Talk to the Wind has a great flute melody throughout the song, over equally great keys. I often call it one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. This tune creates the more laid back atmosphere that the rest of the album carries out.
Epitaph is when the album shifts to a darker mood. The mellotron really stands out in this track, and the haunting lyrics are conveyed very well by Lake's passionate singing. As I've heard many people say, I always find this song chilling every time I listen to it.
Moonchild starts out very well, a great transition from the previous track. The first few minutes of the longest song of the album are a beautiful ballad. However this ends quickly, and the rest of the song I feel is the weakest point of the album. It seems to me just like pointless noodling that really doesn't lead anywhere musically. However generally when I listen to this album from start to finish, I'm so far into the unique atmosphere of it that I can listen to all 12 minutes of the song with unabridged interest.
In the Court of the Crimson King combines some of the great aspects of the other songs into one epic song. Again the mellotron and flute are both great. Giles' drumming, while very different, suits the music here exceptionally well just as it does with all of the other tracks on the album. All in all, just as great a closer as 21st Century Schizoid man is an opener.
This is one of my favorite albums of all time, even outside the scope of prog. In my opinion it is simply a timeless release. A historically important and cutting-edge masterpiece with clever tunes that never get boring or old.


21st century... is a fantastic rocking prog anthem that is incredible from from Greg Lake's distorted vocals strait to the end. The middle segemnt with the duet of guitar and sax is really great and acts as a creacendo up where the vocals scream back in
I Talk to the Wind is still the most beautiful prog song that i have ever heard. the delicate flute work is simply astounding in this song, and the not so special vocals of Greg Lake some how seem very beautiful in this song
Epitaph has magnificent use of the mellotron on this song make it great. Lake's vocals come in quiet in the beginning but the y get louder over the course of the song.
Moonchild starts off as another great song with Fripp's fantastic guitar tone, but why did they need to add the stupid period of random noises. This song is the only problem with the whole album.
In the court closes things off with a bang. this song is so amazing. whenever the chorus breaks in its like getting smacked in the face, in a good way. every one who likes prog should buy this album.




What is there to add a comment on this awesome album! There have been over 460 reviews already written about this album. So i am not going to descibe the album, which song comes after this one, etc... You are on PA, i would assume that everyone of you has the album or CD at home.
This album is considered the first prog album, the one that started it all! We are in 1969, but at this time the MOODY BLUES have already 2 or 3 albums under the belt and ''Days Of Future Passed'' has a shot at being viewed as the first ''prog'' album. The same goes for PINK FLOYD with ''A Saucerful Of Secrets'' or SOFT MACHINE first album that came out in 1968. If those 2 albums are not prog, what is it then?
But what is certain about ITCOTKC, it is the album that opened the door for hundreds of bands, the album that put prog on the map, a musical movement which will rule until 1977. King crimson came with a new sound, beautiful symphonies as in the title track or ''Epitath'' noisy and disjointed as in ''Schizoid Man'' A mixture of beauty and raw energy. This album can be seen like the bible of prog music where all other prog bands got their inspiration and found the strength to go further and break (musical) boundaries.
A big thank to all those superstars playing on this album, the biggest one to IAN MCDONALD as he was then the main songwriter, being part of the 5 tunes of the album.And he is responsible for the incredible sound too using the mellotron and wood winds.(R.Fripp only 3). Too bad I, MC DONALD left just after the release of this album.
Now should we give 4 or 5 stars to this album? (you know , the ''Moonchild'' part 2!) Because of its importance and the beauty of all the tracks ( yes, Moonchild part 1 is magnificent) i will give the total of 5 stars as, anyway, experimentation is a trademark of prog.

I wonder what would these musicians were thinking while doing this piece that finally gave light to our beloved genre, which has seen rise and grow so many great bands such as this one. The only answer that comes to my mind is the picture of Robert Fripp holding his guitar and saying: "Let's kick some asses today" (I know he won't express it that way, but anyway). This is one of my favorite albums ever; this one also urged me to listen more and more to this kind of music. From its beginning to its end, this is one of the most complete albums; which cover so many moods and feelings such as the madness, peace, stillness, depression until the tragic but inevitable ending arrives.
21st Century Schizoid Man" is definitely a whole avalanche of musical power headed by Mr. Fripp; who leads the war melody with his thundering electric guitar to start with this masterpiece. The song grows little by little as a distorted voice by Greg Lake unchains the frenzy that guides us to the next rest step located on the next track.
"I Talk to the Wind" was the very first song I've heard from King Crimson in my whole life. I remember myself listening to an internet radio station trying to find some Pink Floyd stuff, but the only thing I found was the sweet flute melody that drew the delicate figure of the wind as its sound escaped from the speakers to my ears, I instantly loved it and I quickly got the rest of the record.
"Epitaph" is my favorite track of the album, from the arpeggio that opens this marvelous theme passing through one of the most intelligent and deep lyrics ever written by Peter Sinfield, the feeling in the voice of Greg Lake to the symphonic passages, everything makes of this song simply hypnotic.
"Moonchild" has this awesome start with the guitar emulating the melodic line of the main verse and in some moment it looks like its going to be a bang, but those sound experiments in some point it turns into senseless noise and declines a little bit this effort. Even though, the album marches on and takes us to its own closing scene.
"The Court of The Crimson King" warns the ending practically since it starts, for its own glory, this album concludes with the track that established the bases for the development of Symphonic Prog. The melodies are very clear, the arrangements are perfect, the drums add power to every single bar and the wind instruments that have the main role are just a few typical elements of this song
This was one of the most important moments in contemporary music was recorded in this album. It's almost 40 years and the influence in progressive rock is still fresh. A must have on any kind of collection.

This is one of those classics that I put in the "tad overrated" category (although the way some people throw 5 star ratings around lately, sadly, I'm not sure why I worry about it.)
In my view we have three outstanding tracks here, one that is OK and one clunker. The clunker would be Moonchild with its unforgivably long section where they apparently gave their instruments to local school children and went outside for a joint.
The OK track would be 21st Century Schizoid Man. The other three songs are all elegant early progressive gems with the strangest mood to them. I've never been able to put my finger on exactly what this feeling is, sometimes like dread, sometimes longing. The playfulness and mix of fantasy/reality themes provide quite a strange trip which although it hasn't aged particularly well, is still very pleasant to take on occasion.
It goes without saying that the playing would be outstanding given the individuals involved here and the sound on the 30th anniversary CD that I have is superb. The gatefold artwork is also classic.
I don't mean to take anything away from an album so many consider a masterpiece, but I honestly can't go that far myself. 4 stars.

"Progressive. Yes, that's it. Progressive."
And thus was born the genre we all love as we know it now. The mastermind behind King Crimson, Robert Fripp, introduced the world to a strange new sound with the band's 1969 debut, IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING. The album is completely flawless. It does more invention and reinvention for the genre of prog rock than any album before or since, with the erratic time signatures and distorted vocals of "21st Century Schizoid Man", the free jazz diversions of "Moonchild", and the epic poetry of "The Court of the Crimson King".
Everything about COURT is brilliant, and it remains so nearly forty years after its release. It also happens to have the greatest cover and concept art of any album of all time. That classic schizoid man on the cover and crimson king in the layout (incidentally the artist's only works) leave an eerie afterimage in the viewer's mind every time they are seen.
However, this review is about the music, and it couldn't be more perfect. Fripp's guitar arrangements are unique and potent, showing the farthest reaches of what a guitar can do. Vocalist Greg Lake (later of ELP) does a brilliant job, and the rest of the band show an implacable virtuosity.
Best song? All of 'em. Buy it now.

As a fan of the mellower side, I nonetheless find the opener to be very appealing thanks to the monster riff, imaginative vocal parts, well developed and structured middle section, and use of brass. As in the other tracks, Michael Giles trebly sounding drums are peerless, and his combination with Greg Lake's bass shows this is no simple improve. Giles' agility and drum kit are so rarely imitated. A few parts in the middle get to be a bit much, but I can still appreciate it.
When Schizoid ends, we see the true dichotomy in prog, and one which is a source of much debate. I happen to think there was no other song to follow Schizoid than "I Talk to the Wind", a lovely ballad as gentle as the previous track is vicious, and yet every bit as potent. The resigned vocals and lyrics, the bass, the ethereal flute, even the melodious lead guitar all work synergistically.
The segue into the drum roll of "Epitaph" is almost imperceptible at first and in seconds becomes deafening. This is yet another flawless piece of work and probably one of the most mellotron drenched songs ever. The lyrics are actually quite understandable and aching with regret and sadness. Yet the music is uplifting too, partly because it's Greg Lake's most heartfelt vocal performance ever.
Moonchild starts as a gentle ballad a la "I Talk to the Wind" but a bit spacier. Then it becomes a quiet improv with a variety of plucked noises, good to meditate to. This is a drop off in quality but not enough to deduct even a half star, as it seems to be filling the need for greater artistic expression than the more structure pieces could achieve. It's almost like the band knew how seminal the album would be, and planned it accordingly, by plying as many sub genres as possible from the as yet unnamed style.
The title track shocks us back into the here and now, or is it the 13th century? Perhaps the dark plague, where no good can befall us. A truly beautiful, lengthy yet structured piece with no waste. More hard hitting vocals and chorus line, flutes, mellotrons, and a mind blowing close. This is transformative music, and a perfect close to one of the most groundbreaking albums ever, in any genre.

'21st Century Schizoid Man' is the best song, and also the heaviest, which is what I prefer. The rest of the songs are much softer, particularly 'I Talk To The Wind', with it's mellow flute and nice singing. 'Moonchild' is an overrated song that I don't really like at all. The dumb noises make absolutely no sense, but the rest of the song is also boring. 'Epitaph' is a bit better, but too soft for me. The title track is half decent.
Overall this album just did not do it for me. Therefore, I award it 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

This album was the beginning of a complete musical style, and the beginning of a musical change for me. A Masterpiece!

Standout songs: "21st Century Schizoid Man," "Epitaph," "The Court Of The Crimson K


I Talk to the Wind is a very quiet song with a beautiful melody supplied by McDonald's flute, and poetic lyrics from Sinfeld. It is an amazing song.
Epitaph is a very epic song, and i was never too sure about what the line Confusion will be my Epitaph, but Lake makes it work with a strong vocal performance. McDonald's mellotron in this song is very majestic and also sets a very dark atmosphere.
Moonchild is a tricky song to rate. Before you ever review this song, you must need to hear the remastered version, or else there is nine minutes of silence. The beginning is another lovely piece with some more poetry from Sinfeld, but after the beginning, the band goes into improv. This improvisation is the weak point on the album, but it is not that bad. But usually, after the first part ends, I skip to the title track.
In The Court of the Crimson King. Yes I am. This song is amazing. The mellotron, and the choral section of the chorus is just amazing and purely regal. The rhythm of the chorus on the drums is very complicated to me, and is a high point on this album, out of many. With Sinfeld's poetry, I can actually see myself in this far away place, and I wish I hada painting of it. I also want to know more about this Crimson King, which is very weird, because it is a song and not a story.
This album gets only four stars because the periods of silence, or what is close to it, just get a little tedious.

21'st century schizoid man- This song is on my top five favirote aggressive prog songs! It's just full of energy and constant controlled chaos. Between Mike Giles furious drumming, Friips incredible solo, and the horns that pack the mai riff, it's a flawless song in every way. My favirote part is the distorted vocals that go perfectly with Sinfield creepy lyrics. This song also happens to be my screen name if you didnt notice.5/5
I talk to the wind- An excellent slow song to relieve yourself from the opening track. Gregs voice is beautiful as ever and Ian Mcdonalds Flute solo is worthy of Ian Andersons standards! Another flawless sond. 5/5
Epitaph- This song just might be the most apacalyptic song Sinfield has ever written, (and he has made a couple of those) with lyrics that that speak of hope, but then bash them down as if there is no such thing. Also a great part to this song is the mellotron played by the very versitile McDonnald, and of course the bluesy dark solo by Fripp. This song I think is a little "out there" for Crimson at the time. 4/5
Moon child- This song is what I believe, is the first attempt at a prog rock epic. The first part of the song is very pretty with Gregs soothing and trippy vocals flowing through the song for the first three minuetes, then improv jamming... for nine minuetes! I will admit after the firs two it does get a little boring. 3.5/5
In the court of the crimson king- THE first prog epic! barely under ten minuetes, a masterpiece with every element needed to close the album. How can you listen to the opening riff with the acoustic guitar and mellotron and not be completely blown away. Just to soup that riff up, after the versus, everybody (except Fripp) sings with the Riff to completely give it the whole kick-in-the-face feeling! And Just when you think the song is over They start a whole other jam session with that same riff but with a very heavy and brutal distorted guitar! The best way to complete an album!
4 stars


This album opens King Crimson's career with audacity and power. You see the aggressive highs of 21st Century Schizoid Man and the flowing lows of I Talk to the Wind. You see the amazing complexity of their music in Court and their powerful lyrics in Epitaph. You also see the wankiness characteristic of later acts in Moonchild. My complaint is the same as everyone else's; Moonchild could have stopped at 2 minutes. Other than that, the album is flawless.

you bet! The only think that came to mind after hearing this album for the first time was : How would a parent from any normal family react if they heard this new LP their kid bought? The overall craziness and heaviness behind "21st century..." is a lot crazier and heavier than stuff you hear today. This stuff was soooo heavy back then I am positively sure it was enough to get thrown out of the family house. And that's just the first track! I talk to the wind is a very soothing track...excellent stuff. Epitaph is an extremely relevant song even today. I get shivers everytime I hear it....stuff of legend! Moonchild is a bit on the...long side I could say. The worst track on the album but still...way better than a LOT of stuff we hear today.
In my opinion, the last track is probably the best one....it's extremely melancholic, over the top and baroque. It really sends you in another world with all its amazing soundscapes. This song is a journey more than anything else.
This is probably the best outing by KC ever...it also happens to be one of the best outings in prog music. Not to be underestimated.
Sum up in three words : relevant, intense, beautiful


Defining prog-rock is a pretty hard task, and saying which album was the first to contain all of its elements will depend on your point of view and your taste. But to me this album, besides being a beautiful masterpiece, is the first album that can be called completely progressive. I'll explain it here.
By 1969, various experimentations with rock music had been made. The Beatles had recorded with orchestras and string ensembles, Moody Blues had recorded a conceptual album with an orchestra (that would be the first, I suppose, with the singer/flutist role, so common in prog), Jimmy Hendrix had recorded insane albums, Procol Harum and then The Nice had mixed classical and rock in a clever way, etc. All these influences were important to progressive rock, but they are not, to me, completely progressive. Now, let's go to Crimson King... 21st Century Schizoid Man opens the album violently, with saxophone being used in a completely original way, dialoguing with the guitar. Bass is behind, but very cleverly constructed, always changing, playing a melody, instead of just accompanying. What's the name of that? Progressive rock. The long instrumental section is amazing, ending with more vocals from Lake. Greg Lake is my favourite singer in all times, so I am really pleased with his voice all through the album.
I Talk to the Wind follows, showing that the album's style is regular in the world of ideas, rather than in musical ideas. This is the basis of prog-rock for me, let me explain it. While heavy metal is easily discernible by its sound, with heavy guitar, shouted vocals, etc, prog-rock is not constant in this way. It changes from calm to violent, from simple to complex, and what defines it is actually a group of ideas that are common to these different-sounding songs. In this song we hear Ian MacDonald's beautiful flute work, in a pastoral style, far from what someone would expect from a rock band. Ian MacDonald says: "The idea was to be expansive, more inclusive of other styles of music than just the old "two guitars, bass and drums" format, so we included classical and jazz elements." Greg Lake agrees: "My roots are very much European music rather than the blues, which is the basis of most rock'n'roll. I was always into classical and folk music, and that's where I look for my inspiration"* Pete's lyrics are slightly nonsense but still gorgeous and well written.
Epitaph has even better lyrics, dreamy but very direct. MacDonald says about it: "On Court Of The Crimson King, Peter deliberately wrote in this stylised, colourful language but the lyrics were actually sharp commentaries on the states of things at the time. It was just phrased in that way, but most prog writers then tried to emulate that style"* Here we have many highlights: Greg Lake's most expressive voice, going from extremely calm to extremely melancholic /sad, the gorgeous work on the Mellotron, being this one of the first songs to have it on such a crucial role, influentiating many bands. The way the melodies from voice and mellotron dialogue is fantastic.I must notice that this song manages to be completely effective and wonderful with a very simple (but good) harmony. At this time, prog wasn't a competition of who can make the most complex song...
Moonchild starts as a calm song, similar to I Talk to the Wind, and stays like that for 2 minutes. These two minutes are great, with good singing, discrete mellotron and dreamy lyrics perfectly constructed. Then, the song ends, and starts a long improvisation of guitar, vibes and, later, drums. This is very different from anything you'll expect: atonality is constantly present. This would mark the progressive tendency for experimentation. It is not for anytime, but with headphones, at night, it's a really interesting experience.
The album ends perfectly with its title song. Again we have perfect lyrics, evoking a medieval atmosphere in well-structured verses. After each sung part, there's an instrumental section, always great, with a hell of a work by Ian MacDonald (his personality was very important here, and his departure will deeply affect the band's sound). A friend of mine has defined well the mellotron/voices gorgeous harmony (aaah) repeated all-through the song as a perfect soundtrack for the gates of heaven (if there was one...) When you think the song has finished, enters a woodwind section that I love, reworking the theme with harmonies between flutes and clarinets. All in all, this album bring with it a whole new style of music, that would reach its peak commercially and arguably artistically in the 70s, but would keep alive until today. Says Ian: "The opportunity was there, groups were given more freedom in the studio, we were able to produce our own album. The Beatles had a lot to do with what was going on, this idea of using the studio as an instrument and being free to make the music that they wanted. That impacted on the rest of the business for a while. After a few years record companies started demanding more control over producers and budgets again, but there was a time there when bands had a lot more freedom to express themselves in the studio. We were never given a lot of time though, the first album was done very, very quickly-eight days from beginning to end I believe, including the mixing." Ok, Ian. And you expressed yourselves very, very well. Thank you for that eternal masterpiece.
*Interviews quoted from Record Collector magazine from December 2005


The artwork fits the tone of the first track, 21st Century Schizoid Man. This song will first surprise you, then rock you with its straightforward yet chilling ascending riff, led by a howling saxophone. Enter the distorted loudspeaker vocals (an effect which greatly helps to gruff up Lake's otherwise smooth voice), and dark lyrics of a vaguely Orwellian future, and you've got a frighteningly good intro track. Alongside frenzied lead guitar and sax solos and fast and catchy riffs, lengthy solo sections also showcase Giles' agile drumming, which is at once technically impressive and melodic, a rare feat among drummers. This fast, tightly played section overheats until it crash lands back on that unstoppable introductory riff. This is the apex of the song. After a final vocal section, the track comes to a chaotic conclusion, which is perhaps a little anticlimactic, but since this is the intro track, that's not a bad thing.
I Talk to the Wind provides a calm and flowing counterpoint to the first track. The unusual chord progression of this song sounded completely new to me when I first heard it, but it had a natural beauty to it as well, and the woodwinds work perfectly for this (especially given the song's title). The highlight here is the clarinets' harmony behind the vocals and soloists. Again, Giles' drumming is excellent, remaining engaging while not at all overpowering the song. Another top-notch track.
Epitaph, the third track, retains the slower pace of the last track, but brings back the dark tone of the first. The mellotron used here sounds a little dated with its strings setting in full force. Much like track two, the best part of this song is its use of woodwinds in the bridge, particularly the deep, dark bass clarinet passage, which is a magnificent mix of classical and rock. However, this song has not aged as well as the rest of the album, and the overused mellotron strings and Lake's vocals both make Epitaph sound out of date.
Moonchild is a solid track for about two minutes, but the remainder of this 12-minute track consists of some pointless noodling on individual instruments. It is too experimental and just doesn't work with the album as a whole. This abstract experimentation was a gamble that didn't really pay off. I would have liked to see where they could have gone with this song, but instead it goes nowhere.
Sitting through the final ten minutes of Moonchild does make the title track's symphonic refrain ring out all the more gloriously. This is the mellotron at its best, perfectly accompanied by unforgettable vocal harmonies. This melody evokes a sense of awe quite appropriate for the song's subject matter. This track also contains the finest of the flute solos on the album. After the song and the album have apparently ended in a thundering climax, The Dance of the Puppets commences. The organ lightly goes through the motions of the chord progression with a restrained flute setting. Then the refrain blasts through a final time, building to a noisy and abrupt end. This song, a masterpiece in itself, is a perfect ending to the album.
In the Court of the Crimson King is a masterpiece of its time, but not a timeless masterpiece. I consider this mandatory listening for any prog rock aficionado, but mostly because of its originality and its place in prog rock history. Musically it is not without its flaws (listening all the way through does bore me at points), and there are better King Crimson albums to come. Still it is undeniably superb progressive rock, and essential for prog fans. If you haven't heard it, go find this album and listen to it.

What is interesting is that there are a lot of different moods in this album. I think the band was more experimental at that time. The agressive "21st century schizoid man" became one of the classics in the history of music. "I talk to the wind" has some relaxing flute. "Epitaph" and fan-favorite "The court of the Crimson king" have some powerful mellotrons. The only weak point of this album is "Moonchild" which has (album filler) written all over it.
For any prog rock fan, whether you are familiar with King Crimson or not.

However, if you consider this album (and especially its original A-side) from a purely sonic point of view, its importance cannot be overestimated. Fripp's blistering lead guitar and the entire band's "Rite of Spring"-type riffing on "Schizoid man"; the delicate interplay between flute, keyboard and guitar on "I Talk to the Wind" (superbly accompanied on drums); and the grand, mellotron- drenched crescendos of "Epitaph": all these have been imitated by so many other bands (starting with classics like Yes, Genesis and PFM) that 'Crimso' must be said to have spawned the very genre of progressive rock - or at least a great deal of it.

Writing about music is like dancing about architecture. This phrase - with no clear origin, but often attributed to the likes of Zappa, Eno, Elvis Costello and Laurie Anderson - sounds awfully goofy. Yet there might be some truth in it. At least, on what it intends to state: that music is to be listened, not dissected in writing. I can relate to that - I don't generally like to write about music - or read about it, for that matter - when I can instead listen to it or make it myself.
However, the question should be posed: who has ever tried dancing about architecture? Have you ever tried? Have you ever been compelled to move those feet to the white silence of a minimalist building? If you have, Kraftwerk would probably be the soundtrack while you slide your feet and dance like a robot. Walking through the streets of Vienna, don't you just feel like waltzing? Don't you feel like swinging on the floor of the American lunchwagon lighted by the luminous jukebox? And don't tell me you don't hear Soft Machine and Caravan in the old walls of Canterbury.
Culture is all around us, and all intertwined, just like the human senses - sight and surround can evoke sound, and sound and rhythm will have physical effect on our bodies. So it possible, in a sense, to dance about architecture. And so, the same might be said regarding writing about music.
Writing about music can, however, be a pain in the but, especially if your knowledge of music theory is close to zero. How to describe the feelings produced by a certain listen? How do speak and write about the notes on a song, the tone and pitch of the singer, the use of instruentation - what are the proper adjectives to use? How do you write an album review? The only answer I can think of is "with honesty, and as best as you can".
As a musically unaware toddler, I had the good fortune and good guidance of a father who, not being entirely a prog-head, had an hear for fine music. At an age when pop and three minute radio singles should be making my day, he made me sat in the living room listening to Ravel's Bolero and Vivaldi's Four Seasons. My mother balanced things a bit by providing me with Queen and Spandau Ballet. Rock music was progressively growing on me, and it was only natural that my father presented me to a few other gems in his small music collection - Led Zeppelin II, This is the Moody Blues, CSN&Y's Dejà Vú. Seeing that I was very much into that music, my father had the brilliant idea of showing me something "a little different". Enter the Crimson King.
How impressed I was, aged 8 or so, at the sight of the grotesque face in the enormous gatefold, telling me instantly that what I was about to hear was. not normal. As the needle touched the vinyl surface, I couldn't hear a thing. My father told to get near the speaker, and listen carefully, and so I did. I began hearing strange, electro-metalic sounds, but very faint. Then, out of nowhere - BAAM BAM BARAM BAM BAAM (I swear to you, my right ear never recovered. Thanks, Dad.)
Greg Lake's distorted vocals, Frippy's guitar, Ian's sax - all love at first listen in 2st Century Schizoid Man, the most
delightfully wicked cacophony ever made. This track, with it's heavy sound and swift changes quickly became an all-time favorite.
After such a sonic orgy, it is followed by the gentle I Talk To The Wind, one of the most beautiful songs ever with that
exquisite flute playing. The mellotron-drenched, apocalyptic Epitaph (my fathers favourite) also became one of my
favourites, although not as much as the first track. Still, what an ending to the first side! I remember the speakers trembling
during the ending, what a rush!
The beginning of side two. It starts wonderfully, with my favourite guitar work by Fripp ever in Moonchild - this song
could have been great. It was, in fact, great, for 3 and half minutes or so. After that, it was just a nice improvisational piece,
with a few curious moments. Not a bad piece per si, but sub-par when compared with the rest of the album. However,
even if long, it was still a good prelude to The Court of The Crimson King. The delicate instrumentation with slight nods to
medieval music, the emphatic vocal chorus, the general sense of drama in the song - what is there not to like? An almost perfect
closer. It ends the album on the same note as the beginning - delicate electronic sounds fading away before the main structure
of the song is repeated, with that mellotron bringing the whole show to an end in a juicier, more bombastic ending. By now, I
forget the initial surprise. My ears are thankful for this experience. Both to the band and to my father, and their demented sense
of humour.

Our album starts off with the hard hitting, attention grabbing 21st Century Schizoid Man. This is probably one of my favorite songs of all time. From the distorted vocals to the stop/start section about 2/3 of the way in, it is sublime. This song cuts off abruptly into I Talk to the Wind, a nice breath of fresh air after the Schizoid Man does his work. This is followed by Epitaph, another amazing song. Sounds very Medieval, in fact.
The B side's first song of two is Moonchild. This is the weakest song on the album, which really doesn't say much. The improvised 10 minutes are an interesting exercise, but really could have been shaved off at the song's 8 minute mark or so. The album calls it a wrap with the melletron heavy The Court of The Crimson King. It and Epitaph are probably the most similar songs on the album, though I don't really care. Its mood really finishes the album well.
The Moonchild issue made me question whether this was a 4 or 5. Then, I factored in the infulence and albsolutely stellar cover art, and the 5 it was.


21st century schizoid man 5 A marvelous rocker with a great guitar riff, distorded blurbing vocals from Greg Lake, astonishing mad jazzy paets with fine guitarplaying from Robert Fripp. I talk to the wind 3 Much less adventurous, a conventional ballad with soft, dreamy vocals from Lake, subdued and traditional guitarplaying (not very common with Frip as he usually broke bounadries in approach to guitar), and some fine flute playing. However, the melody is arguably not that inspired, and the song could be a minute or two shorter. Epitaph 5 A majestic, atmospheric ballad with marvelous hooks.Great work on the mellotron, powerful rhytm section (especially drumming) and as usually fine vocal performance by Greg Lake. The moonchild 5 Another ballad (the third!) on this album. The melody is quite interesting and the repetitve, sparse guitar work is hypnotizing. However, the song soon transforms into an instrumental, full of disjointed, (seemingly) chaotic and unmelodic sounds. I like it, it has certain charm and atmosphere to it, especially Fripp´s guitar bits. In court of the crimson king 5 The majestic melotron driven opening was later partly copied by Uriah Heep for their intro to Circle of hands. No wonder, it is very emotional, and grandious when coupled with the powerful drumwork. I love Giles´s drumming on this one. In the faster passage, Greg Lake plays some nice bassguitar lines together with his singing which is great as well.
Points together: 5+3+5+5+5:5=23:5=4.6 stars=5 STARS
A MASTERPIECE

1. It's dated, really dated. If i was reviewing this album almost 30 years ago i would probably give the album a 5 star rating. Unfortunately its not three decades ago, so i must review it by putting it up to everything until NOW.
2. It starts off great, but somewhere in the middle i lose all interest. It gets really boring, and anytime i lose interest i must drop AT LEAST a star off my review. Your not supposed to lose interest in your music, and if you do, you know somethings wrong.
3. The sound is terrible. Not the bands fault at all i know, but like i said i have to rate it up against every band up until now. I just heard the sound and im like, "Eww...gross."
Now, this is why im still giving it 3 stars
1. The musicians are really good, and throw that fact right at your face.
2. The first song is fantastic, and pretty much saves the album from a 2 star rating.
So its probably essential, at least as a crash course in the history of prog, but its just not essential to me. Someone whos never heard should definitely give a full spin, and decide for themselves. It just didn't work for me, but other people seem to think differently. I might have missed something...unless it was never there.


Well, don't be fooled so easily: there were too much progressive music before this (Moody Blues, Procol Harum, The Nice.... even The Beatles), since this album is acclaimed as the first real prog one. Ok it's true: it's the prog pioneer release, the first of the firsts, although the process of progressive music to become a separate genre of rock, was logically way longer than the days before and later the release of this five tracks.
You know what else? ITCOTCK is the PUREST prog album ever made. Probably any album from a prog band "progs" more than this: rocker, symphonic, complex, and including a 8-minutes soft jamming part (Moonchild from the fourth minute aprox.).
All the good things of this album are already said - this is a full-rating one, no doubt about it. And you know the rule: the first is the best, doesn't it? ;)
Another masterpiece to add to your prog catalog. Five solid stars.

The true birth of progressive rock. All that amazement that I felt when I first heard the otherworldly "In The Court Of The Crimson King" still echoes around my mind. This is such a great album that my mind was completely blown away for eternity when its magical sounds and melodies first met my hears. How come such an incredible piece of music be practically unknown to everyone that's my age? A mystery. The album opener (my personal favourite) is the blueprint to almost every great crazy-ass prog song with rocking guitar and band jamming in the middle ever! The suspense with the train sounds and all that, the absolutely marvellous riff, the jam! God, the jam! Unbeatable. Then follows the two ballads, with beautiful vocal work by prog's greatest singer, Mister Greg Lake (great bass player too!). Moonchild will always be the weak point to me because it seems to be a little derivative and I was never able to cope with all that dissonance and stuff. Still, it's a brave effort, because no-one was doing things like that in such a "strange" or "weird" way (the common man calls prog strange and I love it). The closer is such a great piece of music that i always lack the words to properly describe it, though I can say that the intro just blows my mind every single time I hear it. All in all, it's a really necessary album for every fan of prog and art rock. Moonchild was going to make me rate it four stars, but due to the album's importance and the fact that all the other songs are so absolutely fabulous, there goes another star.


Of course 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' is essential: by the criteria listed in Progarchives, this must rate five stars. Everyone interested in Progressive Rock must own it. Yet I must confess I don't much like it. I didn't like it when I first heard it thirty-five years ago, and I don't like it now. I can't stand Greg LAKE'S voice, which makes the album unlistenable. He reminds me of poor ROD EVANS and so many other late sixties vocalists, all GERRY MARSDEN knockoffs, refugees from the British Invasion. Have a listen to LAKE singing on 'Epitaph' and think 'Ferry Across The Mersey.' Well don't, actually, it'll ruin the album for you. LAKE'S voice is far too proper and polite for such a record as this, which is why, I presume, Fripp distorted it in '21st Century Schizoid Man'. 'I Talk To The Wind' is fluff. 'Epitaph' has more substance, 'Moonchild' is fun after LAKE stops singing, and the title track closes the album as powerfully as 'Schizoid Man' opened it.
I've bagged LAKE, so to be fair I must praise MCDONALD, SINFIELD, GILES and of course FRIPP. They are superb musicians (as is LAKE when he's not singing), and thanks to their virtuosity and FRIPP'S vision this record covers the gamut of progressive sensibilities. Symphonic, jazz-rock fusion, space rock, experimental, progressive metal and psychedelic rock are all here. FRIPP went on to influence virtually everyone in the progressive movement and many beyond it, and even people beyond music (Stephen King, for example).
So, the opening roar of progressive rock wasn't entirely convincing, but at least it got everyone's attention. As did the cover! See KING CRIMSON roar!

It begins with 21st Century schizoid Man, a driving powerhouse of a song, it begins with reeds, and then a power guitar opening from Robert Fripp leads us into Greg Lakes opeing lines "Cats Foot Iron Claw" etc.
From then it gets stranger and stranger, the huge instrumental passage midway through may seem pointless but it is brilliantly concieved.
The veres about "Innocents bleached with Naplam fire "could be a reference to Vietnam and americsa bombing of villages with Naplam bombs. A brillianrtopeing to the album.
Then comes I talk to the Wind- a gentle almost folky track wonderfully played and sung, if not typical Crimson it certainly lightnes the mood.
Next comes Epitaph- a dark, gloomy song sung by Greg Lake and co-written bby Peter Sinfield, tihs siong is as dark as any on the album and begins with Ian Macdonalds Mellotron and this instrument is prominent throghout the song.
The lyyrics are very dark and even scary, though what Lake means when he sings Confusion will be my epitaph is a mystery to me.
Lakes vocal performance on this song is oputstanding, and the playing by Macdonald is a brilliant counterpoint to the darkness of the piece.
Next comes Moonchild, all ill say about this is that it is a brilliantly earthereal song, 12 minutes long but never dragged out or dull, the playing is tight and the words are semi-spiritual.
So onto the fianl track-Court of Te Crimson King, what an epic, almost 9minutes long, mellotron,organ, bass and guitars all combine to produce a brillaint background to Greg Lakes well sung lyrics, as usual the lyrics were written by Peter Sinfield and on this song they conjure up medieval castles, torture and masques. The song ahs often been called the first true Prog Rock song and i believe it is.
all in all the album is 43 minutes of brilliance, epic iin its scope but also eartereal, spooky and on Schizoid an just plain weird.
Listen to this album and marvel at this criminally overlooked bands majestic writing and playing.

Fittingly, this album is my first review. It represents my "gateway drug" for prog, which means that when you buy this album, you have made the crossover from mainstream rock to full-on prog. It is then only a matter of time (and patience!) before you "get it". I also have a few friends to back this theory. When I first bought the album and saw that frightened cartoon face on the cover, I knew I was in for something different, and I didn't know if I was ready for it. Here's a song-by-song breakdown microcosm of my prog evolution:
21st Century Schizoid Man. This song defined the term "freak out" for me. I now have prog rock freak-outs regularly with friends, all based on this. This song breaks musical barriers, from Lake's distorted vocals to the tasty original instrumental to the chaotic ending.
I Talk to the Wind. I certainly did not see this coming. Absolutely brilliant transition, and a great song to boot. Nice vocals, flute, and laid back jam at the end.
Epitaph. AWESOME SONG. Highlights are the mellotron crescendo and the fade-out ending--one of the rare songs that I wouldn't change a single thing about.
Moonchild. I'll admit it: I don't "get" the instrumental part. The ONLY thing that makes sense to me is that when you sit through the entirety of Moonchild, the introduction to the final song is MINDBLOWING! Thus, I view most of Moonchild as an extended transition to set up the finale...
The Court of the Crimson King. More than enough has already been written about this gem. Great melodies, imagery, and of course the ending is perfectly fitting for a freak-out album.
All in all, nothing less than five stars will suffice (of course!). Diverse, creative, inspiring, attention to detail (especially transitions) and (mostly) great melodies make for a classic, must-own album--a one-of-a-kind experience. This is naturally the opinion of most viewers of this site, and I am thrilled that I honestly share it with them!



With the obvious exception of "21st Century Schizoid Man" (which will positively destroy the listener with delight), these songs are exceptionally slow and generally boring. Fripp's guitar sounds like little more than airy noddling throughout, and displays none of his famed prowess, nor do the other players demonstrate anything especially memorable. This may sound like a pretty huge complaint against "In the Court", but there are still plenty of merits to attract the burgeoning progressive rock fan. The vibe of "In the Court" will appeal to anyone feeling moody, the instrumental work offers some hidden gems for the ambitious (and patient) listener. Greg Lake's vocals remain a highpoint for me as well. Fans discovering this highly praised relic of the genre for the first time should be prepared for one slow-paced chord after the other, and shouldn't hold their breath waiting for a second guitar solo. Still, mandatory listening for fans of classic prog.
Songwriting 4 Instrumental Performances 3 Lyrics/Vocals 4 Style/Emotion/Replay 3

And when reviewing the album, you cant not talk about the cover. The haunting image of the man screaming makes you just think.

21st Century Schizoid Man is not only the first song on the first prog album but it is also quite possibly the first ever prog metal song. Greg Lake sings/screams the chorus in a dutiful metal fashion.
I Talk to the Wind is a beautiful, mellow song that features Greg Lake's trademark vocals and Ian McDonald playing some of the most fascinating flute to be heard on a progressive rock album. Possibly this is the first ever prog folk song.
Epitaph is another excellent mellow song featuring Greg Lake's trademark vocals and some beautiful mellotron.
Moonmadness starts out as a beautiful mellow song that turns into a very quiet instrumental in which you really need to turn up the volume to hear what is happening. Really nothing to exciting in the instrumental portion of the song. Some nice drums and guitar work, but really quite quiet. To me this an indication as of to what is to become of King Crimson in the 90's and 00's as they become more of an improvisational instrumental band.
In the Court of the Crimson King is another amazing rocker and quite possibly the quintessential prog rock song. Excellent lead and backing vocals, excellent music and time signature changes, and of course Mr. Fripp on guitar.
I know that I really haven't anything additional to the other 550+ reviews that were done for this album, but I believe that it is an album that all archive members should definitely give a listen, and also it is an essential album that requires a review.



The album starts off with the proto-heavy metal song, '20th Century Schizoid Man'. This reminds me a lot of the kind of music Black Sabbath created a year later. It has some kind of vocal effect on the verses, before going into an amazing, jazz/hard rock instrumental section, which feels a lot like a jam, but manages to stay structured, before heading unexpectedly back to the verse, and then into the brilliantly cacophonous climax.
Next up is the beautiful 'I Talk to the Wind'. I find very few ballads as truly moving as this one, and the flute solo just adds so much to it. This song was rather surprising to me, because before I got the album I had only heard 'Schizoid Man' and the title track, and did not expect anything so heartfelt.
Then we have 'Epitaph'. Most people seem to think this is the strongest track on the album but I think it is the weakest. It is still an absolutely excellent song, which just shows how high the standards for this album are. It has a very nice melody, but my complaint is that the songs feels the same throughout, apart from a short instrumental bit. The marching drum beat is extremely effective though, and really goes with the politically fuelled lyrics of this song.
Then there's 'Moonchild'. Here's a song which splits fans of this album like no other. Most people agree it starts off well, a very touching ballad. Then comes the experimental, unstructured jam, which many people seem to hate, but I find to be rather amazing. When one is by themselves in a dark room this song can create a very strange, relaxed mood, almost like a musical drug.
Now cue... the greatest rock song ever. Forget Stairway to Heaven, this is the stuff of dreams; This is 'The Court of the Crimson King'. The vocal melody is so beautiful that i find it must have existed before time itself began. The haunting lyrics are fantastical, yet manage to whisk you away into that world of witches and jester's and the like. The mellotron builds up a tension which is too amazing for words to describe. The guitar strikes notes which fall ever so gently, the bass for once is noticeable. Then when you think it's all over, here comes that flute again, and palys almost like a nursery rhyme, before building to a magnificent climax where everything comes in.
And there it is. The perfect ending to a perfect album. I couldn't imagine giving this a lower rating as that would be insulting. Perfection in music is rare... but it exists.

The guitarist was obviously accomplished, but didn't quite have the requisite facility of the standard Clapton/Page/Beck blues licks. No, he was going off on another tangent altogether. The use of mellotron was interesting, even radical. The singer -- who's this Greg Lake? -- was decent enough, but there was perhaps too much post-processing of the voice on that opening track. Good rhythm section though.
Well, those may have been my first thoughts, but about twenty listens later it all sank in and I became a KC fan for life. This album is almost perfect. What's amazing is the range of music presented here. Any regular to this site is familiar with the shock and awe of 21st Century Schizoid Man, but what's rare is for a such a song to be followed up with a song a gentle as I Talk To the Wind, which in turn is followed by the other-worldliness of Epitaph. Moonchild presents minor problems for some listeners, but in the context of this album and of music in general at the time, it's another great song. And of course the title cut eventually gathers all of these elements into an organic whole.
The musicianship is first-rate throughout. I won't get into the argument of whether or not this was the first prog album, but Fripp and company certainly took us on an exploratory trip into previously uncharted musical waters here. Worth every star of the five I give it; in fact I would call this mandatory listening for anyone with more than a passing interest in prog, or any music for that matter.

This was one of the first prog recordings I ever heard and it still stands as one of my favourites (and many other's too obviously), it ventured into uncharted territories with it's dark and at the time very experimental sounds. The album is heavily influenced by jazz, Particularly evident in Michael Giles groovy drumming most notably during 21st century schizoid man which ranks up there with the best progressive rocks songs of it's time although it lends itself more to fusion than to prog. I talk to the wind is another fantastic song, very sombre with some great flute and our first ever taste of Robert Fripp's signature 'Frippertronics', there are some great sound textures and nuances here. Epitaph is a very sombre song with some great mellotron sounds probably one of the weaker songs on the album but still fantastic.
My main problem with this album is Moonchild, I'm into avant-garde/experimental/noise/you-name-it music and I just see no merit in the song, it's a waste of 12 minutes on such an otherwise fantastic album, it's very quiet and not a lot happens in it at all and this is one of the things that I really dislike about KING CRIMSON. The triumphant eponymous track is well worth sitting through Moonchild though with it's fantastic mellotron washed choral harmonies, it's an exceptional song.
Overall this is a great album essential to any serious fan of progressive rock and although I really dislike Moonchild the other 4 songs make up for it and the sheer influence and the innovativeness of this album merits the 5 star rating.

In the Court of the Crimson King helped to define what progressive rock would become. The album itself was still to rooted in psychedelia to be considered, in my opinion, a true split from its psychedelic rock roots. The album has what most consider 3 progressive anthems: 21st Century Schizoid Man, Epitaph and the title track. The songs are co-mingled withthe ever allusory to Haight headshops "I Talk to the Wind" and, the flitty "Moonchild".
21st Century Schizoid Man is the most important song on the album. Hard, psychotic and rooted in blues, it takes a simple theme to extreme. Solid song structure with contrasting bridge give a true sense of journey to the song. Its frantic pace true to the schizoid theme.
I talk to the Wind could have very well been cut into ten 30 second clips and used to sell househould products in TV ads.
Epitaph is a good song, the only problem is it sounds a little to much like it came straight off of Moody Blues Days of the Future Passed. I can smell the sandlewood as Moonchild opens, then comes the birth of what I find the least enjoyable aspect of King Crimson, the "where did the song go" improv.
ITCOTCK is *the* KC song to many. It is a very touching song, despite the lyrics. Solid verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, bridge, chorus structure.
ITCOTCK is a good start. It is a sign of great things to come for KC, and some not so great. 3 .3 stars.


Look, I'm not trying to say that Mr Chamberlain is God or anything, but hey - as far as Prog Rock is concerned, well, bone up on your history if you don't know who he is.
Because when God created Prog Rock, on the first day of Prog, he surely told Harry that his invention was of great importance - and, Lo! The Bradley brothers did put his idea into manufacturing, with proper backing and everything, and behold - the Mellotron was born, and without it was not a Prog Rock record of any substance made.
And Ian MacDonald heard what the Moody Blues did with the Mellotron, and it was good. So he, together with Mike Giles and Robert Fripp, unable to withstand the cheerful insanity any longer, teamed up with Gods' bass player, got a gig supporting the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park, and life was good - even though, by many accounts, the Stones were not.
Much has been written about this album, including academic theses exploring the deep significance of the key associations, relationships and modal tonalities, the subject matter of the lyrics, the use of technical devices such as ritornello, ground bass, obbligatos - and of course, the huge Tierce de Picardie at the end.
One particular musing mentioned the magical - and allegedly, mystical number 5: 5 band members. 5 Songs. Songs that, somehow, to a twisted mind, display workings of the number 5 in their forms and structures. 5 - in numerology variously, the number of Dischord, Motion, Erratic, Adventure, Passion, Expansion, Travel, Unpredictability, Information, the planet Mercury, communication, networking, translation, communities of information.
The 5th verse of the Bible runs thus; And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day.
You may well ask WTF?
As did I.
The Meanings...
See, people really do hunt for meanings in the early works of Prog Rock in a way that makes you think; "Hang on - these guys are missing the whole point!", but also in ways that appear to have some kind of hidden code - first day of Prog Rock?.
It's rock music, albeit a "higher" expression of that format. It's the next generation of Progressive music on from the "movement" that started approximately at the point Bob Dylan shocked the world by "going electric" at the Newport Folk Festival 4 years previously. The sound of his guitar being plugged in, even to that dodgy sound system, was by far the quieter of the big bangs caused by that single event.
But, the thing that really stood out to me from one particular essay was this simple phrase; "'Moonchild' is perhaps one of the more remarkable pieces ever conceived in the history of rock music.". The writer goes on to link the Moon and number 4 and all kinds of stuff to do with modes, counterpoint, pedals, magical light and flashes of timbral light...
"Moonchild" really is both the best track on the album, and one of the most remarkable pieces in rock - a fact that most people overlook, painfully missing the point by describing it as "boring", "noodle" and using other similar terms that would indicate a lack of patience, narrow tastes in music and, well, simply not liking it, so writing it off as therefore a bad thing.
Not so.
And so it is that I'm going to take this track offline and work on an analysis to help you understand just why it is so spectacular.
Moon Child - one of the most remarkable pieces in rock music
Cue up the start of the piece. Ready?
Here we have drifts of mellotron, and a repeating picked guitar figure, which is soon joined by a short, repeating guitar figure that is important. Listen carefully to it's soaring tones - those opening notes are remarkably similar to "Au Clair de Lune" by Claude Debussy.
Greg picks up on this quickly with the vocal line - a two-part affair that picks up on this figure, appending an answering phrase, and acquiring a light accompaniment comprising bell-like cymbals, and a regular falling soft tom-tom pattern. This is repeated, then the second part of the verse picks for an additional answer. The solo guitar takes the 1st "theme" and plays with it, before the second verse is presented with the ongoing light percussion.
Little tension is built - but the song does not demand it. This is not a dramatic song, and that is part of its progressive nature - it is painting, with striking lights and shades, a kind of watercolour-hued portrait of the Moon Child that is non-linear, which kind of pushes against the intrinsically linear nature of music, yet covers many angles;
"Dancing in the shallows of a river", "Dreaming in the shadow of the willow", "Talking to the trees of the cobweb strange". None of this necessarily describes a person, real or ficticious - to me, it describes the effects of moonlight on earth - the reflection in the river or fountain, the moonbeams "dancing" and "Waving silver wands", and the interplay of the moon's light on flowers, cobwebs and the sun dial. "Sailing on the wind in a milk white gown" and "Waiting for a smile from a sun child" are self- explanatory, and "Playing hide and seek with the ghosts of dawn" clearly refers to clouds.
So the music expresses the soul of these ideas - the subtle keyboard changes highlight this best.
You'll note that this is not standard song structure - there is a 3-part idea that is repeated 3 times for this first section, which could be seen as verse/chorus/instrumental x3, except that the "chorus" is in no way a chorus, but an extension of the verse.
Then we have the instrumental section, which continues this expression - it seems a bit pointless to map it all out, but the first section appears to represent the rippling waters of the river - the willow, of course, will be on the river bank, and the slightly sinister edge that the music acquires could be expressing this.
We continue in the branches of the trees, "talking of the cobweb strange" - 5:28 might be expressing this, with tiny strands of melodic runs that pick up from each other. Just re-read the lyrics as this section plays out - it's not too hard to make your own mind up about what's being expressed.
The music of this section has an atonal feel to it - and some of the stylisations are strikingly similar to music in "Pierrot Lunaire", by Arnold Schoenberg. Listen to "Der Kranken Mond" - particularly the flute backing. An online recording of the entire work may be found online - note also that there are 4 sections of Pierrot directly concerned with the moon.
The interplay between the instrumentalists here is remarkable - all aiming for an overall series of pictures, or, rather continual moving image, with none taking centre stage, going into personal space every now and again, then rejoining the conversation, using a predefined set of ideas. This is not aimless noodle - this is carefully constructed. The point at which it all comes back together (around 10:45) is masterly - all parts drifting slowly towards each other, and the little major chord on the guitar clearly showing the "smile from the sun child" - all music from this point has this upbeat feel of morning approaching and the darkness lifting.
All of which serves to underline "Moon Child"'s position in the album - as the penultimate piece, it provides the necessary contrast from which to kick into the grand splendour of "The Court of the Crimson King". Indeed, if you have your stereo at the necessary volume to catch each and every tiny detail in "Moon Child", the title track is like a mighty rush of wind, and somewhat overwhelming. It's in this dynamic perspective that the true power of this album may be experienced - and you probably won't get it listening to compressed mp3s on your computer speakers or headphones. On a half-decent stereo, this contrast will blow your socks off. On a decent system, it's like hearing it properly for the first time - every time.
Everything Else
Let's have a quick blast in real time around the other 4 tracks, in what seems to be a concept album on an artistic level; Each song painting a portrait that is strikingly impersonal, yet full of unique and colourful character. Each nostalgic, and infused with the individual sounds of the musicians, whilst coming together as a unified whole - a 5-part symphony structure after a fashion.
"21st Century Schizoid Man": Here's where we set the volume level to maximise our listening experience. If you can't hear every little detail in the first 30 seconds or so, then you've set it too quiet. Do try not to listen to mp3 or other form of over-compressed media - and make sure the neighbours are out, if you're not listening on headphones. When the riff kicks in, that sucker should nail you to the back of the sofa with its intended hugeness, ferocity and awesome power. There are plenty of descriptions of Greg's distorted voices, the huge and unique sound of the riff topped with sax, so let's have a look at the song construction;
The first thing that jumps out is the identical nature it shares with "Moon Child" - although pared down to 2 iterations, we have essentially 2 sections to the verses, with an instrumental section linking them. The big difference is in the construction of the verses, which comprise 3 declamatory statements rounded off with a single statement of the title. This really gives punch and drive to the song - and, of course, obliterates standard song structure.
After a mere 2 minutes, the instrumental bridge kicks in, developing the introduction riff - I always think that the underlying riff sounds like the Mission Impossible theme. Anyway, this continues into part-improv, part composed mayhem, Fripp producing guitar work that's both modal and atonal - and this whole section is polyrhythmic and more jazz than rock-inspired, yet maintains a solid rock feel. At 4:40, this is all brought together in a tight composition based on the rhythm and melodic fragments of the "improvisation".
Then, to round off the nod and wink to "First Movement" form, the verse idea is recapitulated (albeit still in the tonic), followed by the build-up that initially led to the "Development", which descends into screaming noise.
Continuing in the Symphonic vein, the next "movement" is a slow one. This time we have a balladic song that is in a more traditional verse/chorus format. The drumming, however, is notably not that of a standard ballad - and the woodwind backing seems to infer orchestral music more than it infers jazz. The prominence of the wind instruments is clearly intentional - and the short instrumental bridge is a thing of beauty. The coda, led by the flute, is a bit of a surprise when it kicks in around 4:50. This is tightly reined in, and simply plays, wind-like, with the melodies presented in the verses and choruses.
"Epitaph" would be an odd choice for a final movement - so it's a good job that this is, in fact, central and pivotal. It begins with material from "I Talk To The Wind", and feels more like an extension of the former than a new piece per se. This song appears to be based on the symphonic sound style of the Moody Blues - although that modulation around 3:45 is something else - a bit reminiscent of the orchestral build-up in "A Day In The Life". This moves on to "March For No Reason", via an instrumental passage strongly based on the earlier material. Oddly, the strong beat is on the second beat of the bar! The original verse/chorus is reprised, then there's a magnificent burn-out with some amazing percussion.
"In The Court..." follows on from "Moon Child" utterly naturally, the contemplative mood inspired by the previous 3 pieces suddenly roused - we know this is the finale. Here we see the quiet/loud structure emerging - something Nirvana were to use as their single most important song element more than 20 years later. Structurally, this song is not very interesting until we reach the instrumental section (Return of the Fire Witch) at 4:15 or so, when the flute melody and bass takes us into a new dimension - the bass reminding me more than a bit of Pete Trawavas. Sadly, this only lasts a minute and a bit, then we're back to the song already.
Moving swiftly on, there is another instrumental section (Dance of the Puppets) at 7:00, just after it feels that the piece might have ended. A jaunty, almost comical pipe organ plays with the thematic material for just under a minute, before returning once again to the majestic chorus material, broken up rhythmically, and with all kinds of little experimental details in the instrumental parts - none taking center stage, all playing their little parts in the crowd and creating a sbutly shifting texture that suddenly comes together in noise to finish the album in a blaze of atonality.
In case you were in any doubt, this is an essential masterpiece of Progressive Rock, arguably the very first Prog Rock album in the sense of the Classic idea of Prog Rock - if you don't like this, you don't like Prog.

The album was overally very complex. The structure of this album was bizarre. The first track, titled "21st Century Schizoid Man" was very powerful. The theme and the structure of this song was absolutely brilliant. Check out the middle section of this song! Then, "I Talk to the Wind" is slower track, which also the shortest track is this album. Track 3, "Epitaph" was argueably the best of this album, yet the most popular song of King Crimson. The song 's atmosphere is very heavy and dominated by the sound of mellotrons. Flip to side 2 and starts with "Moonchild", the longest track of this album. This song was purely psychedelic experimental. And the last song was the title track, there'sn't much differents to side 1's "Epitaph", this song was dominated by mellotrons.
5 stars is fit to the album that changes the world's music.

Looking back, however, it is only natural to see that they could not stay together too long. There were simply too many talented people in a small room. But what a hell of an album they produced! Since the first chords of 21st Century Schzoid Man (one of the heaviest and novel songs for the sixties) to the very last notes of the title track this a major work. Not that I like every minute of it: I can´t stand to hear the complete Moonchild with all that music concreté second part. Still I also can´t deny that even that is bold and inovative for 1969.
The music is so interesting and rich, it stood well the test of time. Almost 40 years after its release it still relevant and captivating. Epitaph and the title track are among my favorite prog songs, with lots of the best mellotron I have ever heard and Lake´s most passionate vocals. The band soars through the whole album.
It is simply a masterpiece of music, a must have for any prog lover. And for anyone who wants to know one of prog´s landmarks. Classic!

King Crimson is a difficult band. It normally takes a few attempts to understand / enjoy / love their music. But ITCOTCK is straight forward: from the naked rawness of 21st Century Schizoid Man to the sublime and melancholic Epitaph to one of the best endings in album history, this is an easier attempt to get into the Crims. It is the best starting point to get into their varied catalogue. I have the 30th Anniversary Edition and the sound is crisp while warm, clear while respecting its age. Like a good wine, this is a record that grows with time, don't get dissapointed if you don't get it the first time, specially that "overlong" improv in Moonchild. Listen to it in a rainy afternoon and you'll experience the magic.
Five stars. Number 1 in the Harkonnen list.


And yet, after all that bashing, I can still say that this is a very good album. "21st Century Schizoid Man" could possibly be the anthem of progressive rock. It is gritty, it rocks hard, and has an awesome jazzy mid-section. "I Talk to Wind" is nice and the music, especially the flute work, is beautiful. "Epitaph" is possibly Greg Lake's most passionate vocal performance of his career (which is sad because it's just starting here, but you don't have to view it that way if you don't want to) and its a great song in general, "Moonchild" is another nice tune before the band invented the concept of filler, and "In the Court of the Crimson King" is a great closer.
It goes without saying that this album holds probably the most importance of all prog rock albums, but unlike a lot of the band's other innovative albums, this one still manages to be quite captivating and enjoyable, at least most of the time. The dissonant side doesn't show a lot, but oh man will it soon. There are few King Crimson albums I could recommened to somebody in this day and age, and their debut manages to be one of them.

21st Century Schizoid Man is an extremely good jazz piece, not necessarily prog, but it is an awesome piece and deserves merit. The middle jamming section is very influential and needs to be recognised more. I Talk to the Wind is a memorable ballad with one of the best flute solos I've ever heard at the end, and some lovely jazz-esque guitar work from Fripp. Epitaph is a very dark, depressing song, but nonetheless genius and musically enjoyable: it probably was and still is the main building block of gothic chord progressions in modern music. Moonchild brings the album down one notch. They should have left the song alone imho, and i think this song is the foundation of Fripp's insanity used for the wrong reasons. 10 solid minutes of directionless improvisation is too much for me. In the Court... is the highlight of the album. Truely a great song, and a masterpiece in the way that it kicked of the whole prog legacy. Without its world class musicianship, dark lyrics and inventiveness, would prog still be the same today? I doubt it somehow, so all progheads have a lot to owe this song i think.
21st Century Schizoid Man - (10/10) I Talk to the Wind - (8/10) Epitaph - (8/10) Moonchild - (5/10) In the Court of the Crimson King - (10/10)



Overall, a beautiful album, creating such a gorgeous, fertile sound as would never be matched again on a Crimson album. An amazing debut, maybe not the beginning of prog, but certainly one of the first albums of it.

Because they just don't make music this good anymore. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, simple early rock and Beatles clones plagued the radio airwaves. I can't say I remember that time (considering my existence had yet to even be conceived), but I can only imagine the patience it took to endure acts such as The Dave Clark Five and Gary Lewis & the Playboys. By the late 60's it seemed music was beginning to evolve, however. Artists such as The Moody Blues and Procol Harum were just making their debut on the rock scene, and their response was well received. By the time 1969 came around, In the Court of the Crimson King must have felt like a rejuvenating breath of fresh air among a polluted atmosphere.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is it - the one historical recording that renders all those preceding it obsolete. The instant "21st Century Schizoid Man's" thunderous chords strike down upon the listener's ears, he can tell this will be a storm unlike any the 60's had ever seen. Never before had classical structures been interwoven with rock and roll aesthetics before, nor with such energy. Actually, "21st Century Schizoid Man" may in fact be the first metal song ever recorded. Honestly, can one listen to the history of rock and roll chronologically and say that anything pre-1969 sounded like this? Coming to this realization triggered a heightened appreciation for the album that I did not initially hold.
Don't be fooled though, this album may be one of the most important landmarks in history, but that does not overshadow the overall musical quality. Each musician performs at the top of his game, and is never bombastic or ridiculous as later King Crimson would show. The completely unexpected (and in my opinion unnecessary) noodling in "Moonchild" may be the only sign of pretentiousness on the entire album. Honestly, this section tests my patience to the point where instead I almost wish I was listening to my mom babble on about soap operas. Sadly, it's the one part I skip over nearly every listen. Can someone please explain why they included this on the album? In addition to the random tuning "Moonchild", In the Court of the Crimson King has its faults - one of these being the overall length of the album, which in my opinion falls way too short. I have to admit though; this is a problem I find with many "old" albums. I guess one could only fit so much time on a single LP!
Even though the album has its flaws, the high points are so pronounced that I cannot give this album anything less than a full five stars. "Epitaph" and the title track have rightfully earned their places amongst the most profound pieces of music to ever enter my life. The walls are down and the emotions flood loose, submerging the listener in a wave of minor key despair. "Epitaph's" opening washes of mellotron never fail to send a chill spiraling down my spine, offering me a sense of euphoria that just cannot be found elsewhere. I am carried off into an mystical land, and it is times like this that I think "this must be what heaven is like." Other points as well, such as the mellotron interlude in the title track, cause me to wonder how mere humans are capable of producing such extraordinary power. It is almost as if ancient, earthly spirit is channeling its will into these musicians, in an attempt to convey a long lost message. Honestly, I feel like this music is supernatural at times!
Anyway, I think those familiar to prog have already arrived at a consensus that this is one of the great art works of our time. As for anyone making an attempt at their first progressive recipe, In the Court of the Crimson King is one of its absolute essential ingredients.

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).

This album is one of the few you must take with you on your personal desert island.

If you aren't interested in history, but rather quality, then this album does not dissapoint. The members are what make this album so great. Robert fripp wasn't the king he is today, and this can be observed by looking at the next three albums, which while being very good, lack what this album has. Ian McDonald is quite the musician, and his influence is what I believe pushed this album over the edge. This album is a concept album of sorts, which runs backwards throught time, starting with the 21st century (the future) and moving to the past (the court of the crimson king). The centerpiece of this is the song Epitaph. This song is the present, in 1969, that was the vietnam war. The lyrics reflect this to a degree, with Will no one lay the laurel wreath/ As silence drowns the screams. being one of my favorite lines ever written in a song. Puzzling over the lyrics to this album as a great time waster, as they are very cryptic, but beautiful and full of meaning, all sorts of allusions and references. The music itself is brilliant. There ar plenty of other reviews that talk about it. Before you listen to the music, to get a context, play some beatles, beach boys, jimi hendrix, early the who. With context in mind, this album should absolutly blow you away. The first song is like heavy metal several years before it was this heavy, with a bunch of free jazz, standard jazz, and schizophrenia thrown in. The second song is a pretty ballad, which isn't revolutionary but is beautiful. The third song is absolutly epic, with etensive mellotron to mimic a string section, and this crescendo in the middle which gives me goosebumps to this day. The fourth song is a ballad with an extended improvisation in the middle. It is a lovely song, but it is a bit hard to appreciate for some people. This improv was initially done with Peter Sinfield (the lyricist) shining different colored lights and the musicians pllaying off of them. This is a point in the album where one can relax ones ears a bit and enjoy the ambience. It is a good song really, and it doesn't deserve the derision it gets. Fans of free jazz should appreciate this song. The final song is even more epic then epitaph. The lyrics are the most cryptic here, but the melody, the instrumentation, and everything is flawless. It is a fitting end to a perfect album.

Well, most of us know this is one of the most important recordings of the progressive rock genre. It was my first 'classic period' prog record and it still is one of my favorite progressive albums ever made. It's majestic appeal, atmosphere and cover are legendary and it's innovative and professional approach on symphonic music can been seen as a foundation for the genre. Furthermore it was the first great achievement for Robert Fripp, Greg Lake (later to join ELP) and lyricist Peter Sinfield (KC, ELP, PFM).
21th Century Schizoid Man is an up-tempo jazz-rock track with an interesting wind-section, heavy guitars and THE perfect bass-lines. The couplet theme with it's distinct distorted guitar and vocals is strange and very very catchy. The instrumental parts of the song are legendary with as a highlight the parts with the short silences between the melodies played by the band.
I talk to the Wind is one of my favorite ballads of all time. It's atmosphere and devotion is so good that it remains a one-of-a-kind song today. The wind-section is particularly good with amazing flutes played by McDonald. The guitar plays a gentle role and the vocals are intimate. The lyrics are the lyrics ever written by Sinfield in my opinion. This songs has nothing to do with the rock genre, but no-one I know off has yet disliked it. It's magic on a record.
Epitaph is one of the first epics of KC. With an impressive and bombastic main theme with mellotrons (yeeeeh!) and a intimate couplet theme with lyrics about the inglorious side of war, fear and the philosophical approach on how mankind's ethics are not ready for it's technology yet. Another magical songs with an impressive and incredible influential sound.
Moonchild on side two has two parts. The first two and a halve minutes are filled with an amazing magical song, perhaps a bit like I talk to the Wind. The other ten minutes of the recording are filled with the band improvising in a seemingly meaningless fashion. A lot of random sounds, no repetition, no logic. This long sit can be seen as an atmospheric interpretation. A lot of people have found themselves having trouble with strange part of the album. It's quality isn't as high as all the other material and the term 'failed experiment' comes to mind. Still this part can grow on you as it did on me and it does make the next some much better somehow...
In the Court of the Crimson King. An indescribable song of in-human genius. One of a kind, one of the best. It's main-theme is hypnotically attractive and it's lyrics are very inspired. The many instrumental parts are innovative and the comeback at the end with it's almost metal guitar shrieks are amazing. One of the best epics of the progressive genre.
Conclusion. BUY.

I would have to say that it is a good job that prog progressed greatly from this experimental and ground breaking release, otherwise I would never have become a fan. I guess King Crimson just isn't my cup of tea.

I can't but agree that IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING is one of THE seminal albums in progressive rock. It's very debatable whether or not this is the first ever progressive rock album, but I do feel that the ''classic'' progressive rock sound was first achieved here, and this served as a blueprint for future prog rock bands.
The main weapon here is the mellotron. Tracks 2-5 feature the instrument quite heavily in spots, notably the title track. I think the reason why so many people melt over the mellotron passages on this album is because they act as a surrogate orchestra, therefore giving the pieces an overt classical type feel without overdoing it with an actual orchestra. Plus, the sound is very majestic and grandiose which fit prog rock well.
The trump card here is ''21st Century Schizoid Man'', a dark, loud, urgent piece of music that just begs for you to pay attention. This was the very first Crimson piece I ever heard, and as a consequence of the heavy guitars, amazing sax figures, offbeat unison sections and most notably, that recognisable riff, I quickly became latched onto the song and the band itself. It's only after a few listens that I've discovered how manic the bass and drums are, particularly in the middle instrumental section.
The only song that might give you a headache would be ''Moonchild''. I tend to think the ballad at the beginning is quite boring, but after two minutes the song goes into some weird improvisational stuff that can be best described as goofing around in the studio. Otherwise, I'd say that this might be a key album in understanding how progressive rock works. Although several other albums might do this as well, IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING is one of the bigger ones that can serve as a gateway into progressive rock.

Hence, this is The Thing. And a great one at that. It's not perfect, or 100% suitable for my taste, but it's a masterpiece - in a real meaning of that word.
Does it sound dated a little bit nowadays? It's up to you. However, try to imagine how it was back in the 1969 when the album hit the market. Way ahead its time! Production, the sound, approach...Mellotrons, processed vocals, futuristic/fantasy themes...a stellar album compared to your average muddy blues record of the era.
Here's why is this album important: it represents The Very Answer what The Progressive Rock is. You may dislike it, but if you think that at least some aspect of it is progressive, take it and apply it in any way you like: that's it.
If you absolutely dislike it, that's fine. But if you think this record does not contain a single element of progressiveness in music, I really doubt you know what the progressive music is.

To start off, 21st Century Schizoid Man is a great prog rocker that pretty much started the grunge era. Its solo is still widely regarded as one of the best solos ever. I Talk to the Wind is a very nice and delicate piece, with a lot of flute playing by Ian McDonald. Epitaph is a very melancholy ballad with death- describing lyrics. Moonchild is a nice ballad, but I feel the solo goes on too long. Then, finally, the tile track! This is a very bombast song! This song is almost perfect.
Overall, this is a great album, but I still think that Moonchild could have been better.
By the way, I would really rate this 4.5.

After this record stopped, I sat there, heart pounding, ready to flip the record and start it over again. This album is a pure essential to not only prog fans, but any listener(whether they be familiar with many forms of music or complete neophytes).

This album contains one of the most unique and powerful songs to grace the prog rock world in "21st century schizoid man" - vocals angrily shouted in a distorted manner, and the most disturbing sounds you are ever likely to hear from a saxophone - but it all works brilliantly to convey its message.
The album features notable musicians, but all are eclipsed by the eccentric, wildly imaginative and totally unique Robert Fripp. Yet for all this, the truth is that apart from the title track and "21st Century." this is a lightweight album of little substance.
"In the court of the Crimson King", the title track displays a symphonic majesty rarely heard of at the time. This sound was however to be heard more commonly when other groups such as genesis started to be influenced by this style.
The piece that does the most damage to this album is "Moonchild". The opening two minutes or so of this piece starts out as a beautifully crafted dream like ballad - but then it transcends into 10 minutes or so of barely audible chimes and taps on the drum. No doubt in its day it was though of as a cool track to meditate to, but in reality it is an abysmal, empty track filler.
The other tracks in the album fare better, but compared against the later works of King Crimson are fairly forgettable.
Nevertheless, because of the significance on the influencing of many other bands, and the quality of the two above mentioned tracks, this album deserves 3 (and a half) stars.

In the Court is not the greatest progressive rock album ever created, however it is one of the most important ones. The almost legendary status this album has attained makes it hard for it to live up to the hype. I personally adore this album, but I understand why some don't. Also, it is not the easiest work to get into as there are many subtleties in every song (excluding perhaps 21st Century Schizoid Man). A rewarding listen for anyone who wants to witness prog at its early stages.
21st Century Schizoid Man is probably King Crimson's most famous song, and for good reason. Right from the first riff you can already hear the creative drumming and powerful guitar. Greg Lake's voice is masked by a distortion effect, it sounds good though. The best part of the song is the middle section (subtitled Mirrors) because of great improvisation by the bass, and the guitar and trumpet solos. In live versions the middle section is extended in a more free form improv. Hear what I think is the definitive version from the Earthbound release. The song goes into a stop and go section where all instruments play the same thing in staccato fashion, then replays the beginning section all without missing a beat. Fun Fact: This song was recorded in one take.
I Talk to the Wind is a commonly overlooked song (largely overshadowed by Epitaph and the title track) which is a shame as its still a good laidback song. Lake gets some vocal time, which is a plus for those who love the man's voice. The minimal guitar is perfectly played and the drums are very jazzy. Taking the lead in this song is the flute, which provides a beautifully played solo as well. Potentially could drag on for some people who were expecting another rocker like Schizoid Man, however still a great song to relax to.
Epitaph is next. Right from the first drum roll the song sounds epic. The mellotron is played magnificently and the guitar again has a minimal but pivotal role. Lake's singing is beautiful here. At around four minutes the song is doused in mellotron and begins to sound even more epic. For the next minute, the bass drum echoes and Fripp's guitar strikes the same chord repeatedly before Lake resumes singing. Everything comes to a close as Lake's voice fades away and the mellotron sings sorrowfully before fading away. There is no point where the song sounds boring or overdrawn.
Moonchild has often been derided for having an overly long improved section. The first part of the song is a beautiful lullaby with great drum work and (again) minimal but pivotal guitar. Definitely an overlooked gem. The next nine minutes are subtitled The Illusion, but really its just an extended improvisation. Mildly interesting for the first three minutes but way too long for comfort. It really is nothing other than filler. In the words of Ian MacDonald in an interview with Classic Rock Magazine, 'We'd run out of material. And we didn't want to put a cover tune on our first album. So we were left with a gap; we needed another seven to nine minutes...Mike, Robert, and I went back into the studio, set the tape rolling, and just improvised for about ten minutes.'
In the Court of the Crimson King is the second majestic track on this album (first being Epitaph). The mellotron and drums set the stage for the first thirty seconds. Then comes the most powerful six note melody ever to come out of a guitar. Enter Lake's voice. A high point of the song is definitely the 'aaahhhh' chorus, which admittedly repeats a few too many times. Each instrument adds something without taking control. Lake's voice however, holds no prisoners. The song fades out. There is silence, and then flutes and reeds interact in a magical way. Unfortunately, drums come in and ruin the moment as the song must regretfully come to an end.
I've done a lot of praising of each song, but I believe it is deserved. This album is very simple and minimalistic and its better for it. It has a certain aura attached to it, whether its a result of the album's status or a product of the music itself is besides the point as either way it is a great listen. Whatever you may think of it, the musicians are all talented and this album deserves praise.
NOTE ON THE RATING: When I rate, I rate based on the website's words next to the stars. While In the Court has some flaws, that does not mitigate its impact on the music world. Had it come out now, it would not be deserving of a five star rating, but as it stands, this album is Essential.

StarStarStarStarStarStar
An old crush, that I can never, no matter how hard I try, get rid of. I have managed to persuade myself at different times that it's not that groundbreaking, decide that Court itself is way too bombastic, and that the mellotron is too thick for me, that the improvisation on The Illusion is utterly pointless, that this album doesn't deserve even five stars. However, every time I hear the first throb of 21st Century Schizoid Man, all these delusions disappear. An absolutely stunning album from start to finish. Much like ELP's debut, this is only made more amazing by the variety of material on the album: jazz rock, softer songs, an extended improvised section, grandiose emotional pieces with a very epic feel. Artistic and emotive, very musically tight and diverse, and with Sinfield's amazing lyrics fitting each song perfectly. Just perfect. An almost unique six star rating (the other being Larks' Tongues In Aspic).
21st Century Schizoid Man is, in my opinion, the greatest opener ever, perhaps even the greatest song ever. Two subdued throbs on a mellotron give way to a driving, powerful sax riff, Fripp's guitar with fuzz box hammering through behind it, stunning drumming from Mike Giles and Lake's almost-spat out, distorted vocals. After the second verse, it moves into a stunning jazzy 'jam' (I don't know quite how to describe it: too organised and tight to be a 'jam') with bass, sax, drums and jazz guitar emerging from the mix at different moments, and then a forceful, brilliant return to the main riff. The last verse takes the song to another peak, and it ends with an insane, chaotic splintering combination of the instruments. Sinfield provides brilliant, gripping, evocative lyrics, perfectly fitting the music. Designed to be played in a dark room at an obscene volume. This song alone has more merit than most complete albums.
I Talk To The Wind is a very sharp contrast to the opener, but it works superbly in the context. A very soft song, particularly showcasing Greg Lake's voice, a beautiful flute part from Ian McDonald and Mike Giles' enchanting percussion. The vocal and instrumental sections both stand out. Truly magical. Sinfield's lyrics again fit in very neatly, and can really transport the listener to another state of mind. Very simple in format, but nonetheless perfect. Not your average ballad.
Epitaph can only be described by itself. Pure emotion trapped inside 8 minutes and 47 seconds of music. Again, a completely outstanding song, with more of Sinfield's superb lyrical contributions. Greg Lake's vocals, Fripp's acoustic guitar, McDonald's mellotron and piano and Mike Giles' drumming especially stand out. In fact, everything stands out. Another dose of musical perfection, and another dose of imagery.
Moonchild is the strangest of the expressions in the album, but no less effective. It begins with the haunting Dream, with the sublime guitar part from Fripp, a bit of subtly used Mellotron and Greg Lake's beautiful vocals introducing the idea: moonlight. Mike Giles provides more of his unusual percussion. After a few minutes, the largely improvised (according to most things I've heard about it) 'The Illusion' section begins. It echoes and brings up the lyrics and the imagery, cycling through the actions of the moonlight described by Sinfield's lyrics. The improvisation leads fluently to another arranged section, suggesting a slow dawn, and the shadows of the night gradually vanishing. A musical painting, and a greatly under-rated one.
In The Court Of The Crimson King crashes into existence with a thu-thu-thu-thub from Mike Giles and the suffocating, thick mellotron riff that is the core of the song. The verses are composed mainly of pretty acoustic guitar, vocals and a careful, directing drum part, and have a very medieval feel. As it moves onto the repeated 'chorus' line, perhaps the most impressive use of block vocals in rock history, the choking mellotron returns. Sinfield again provides superb lyrics with a very bitter, dark edge. Of especial note are the instrumental Return Of The Fire Witch, highlighting Ian McDonald's skill on the flute, with a sort of weird borderline improvisation around it from Lake, Fripp and Giles, and the double-conclusion. The first conclusion is a relatively simple vocal or mellotron (can't really tell which) fade out, probably responsible for the end of Genesis' Visions Of Angels. Giles provides a couple of taps on the percussion, and a mocking reed organ begins playing. We are treated to a brief solo from Mike Giles, and then McDonald and the band return to provide a full overblown repeat of the main riff, driving slowly towards a superb and hectic conclusion, echoing the end of Schizoid Man.
One of my introductions to prog rock, and yet still improving with every listen. Mike Giles' drumming here is perhaps my joint favourite for any album overall (together with ELP's Tarkus), and demonstrates how you can escape the mould for a musician even as a drummer. If not for Robert Fripp's ability to go on and keep making superb material with several completely different line-ups of King Crimson, the departure of Lake, Giles and McDonald after this album would be an utter tragedy. This album is genuine art as music. Peter Sinfield's lyrics, as I have pointed out earlier, are absolutely the best throughout this album, on a par with Roger Waters' Echoes. A stunning series of images, and a true observation. Art at its finest.
Rating: Six Stars. It's the other Larks' Tongues In Aspic.
Favourite Track: 21st Century Schizoid Man

Now before jumping into the deep end, let's take a trip back in time to the second half and the close of the 60s. This was a fairly experimental period on many fronts... the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's and Abbey Road. John Coltrane was experimenting with free jazz and Sun Ra had been there even longer. Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, the Velvet Underground and Captain Beefheart were experimental forces of the era too. Psychedelic rock was simply everywhere. With the long jams, hippie themes and higher degree of virtuosity required, the musicians of the era experimented with a hard rock type of sound and broke through barriers. Most of these psychedelic bands would go on to be forgotten in the sands of time, but there were some more popular ones who stuck around (the Doors, the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd etc.).
As psychedelic musicians experimented more and more, they ushered in a new type of music, progressive rock, and the border between the genres can be rather blurred at times. Some of the bigger pioneering bands of progressive rock were the Doors with their darker lyrical themes, the Who with their rock operas, Deep Purple with their organ fitted heavy prog sound, and Can, Pink Floyd and the Beatles with their pure experimentation. The German psychedelia scene would later give rise to krautrock (a subgenre of prog rock), but before that came King Crimson. Now while it is arguable as to whether King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King was the first pure progressive rock album ever, it is certainly the most important album in the creation of the genre, and is the earliest progressive rock album I have ever heard. King Crimson created progressive rock and propelled themselves forward as a major direct influence on the other big early prog bands like Yes, ELP and Genesis. In fact, they went on to influence those who influenced them.
TRACK-BY-TRACK
01 - 21st Century Schizoid Man: 21st Century Schizoid Man isn't exactly jam packed with lyrics, but the ones that are there are very poignant. In my mind, it attempts to paint a portrait of a man from the future. With lines like Cat's foot, iron claw, Poets starving, children bleed and Innocents raped with napalm fire, the lyrics give the impression that our schizoid man harks from a time where technology is absolute, art has been forgotten and war and conflict are rife.
The song starts out with ambience pockmarked with 'industrial' noises, and at about the 30 second mark, the song kicks in with what I call 'the monster riff', and upon hearing it, my reasoning will be obvious. And after this grandiose and heavy opening, Greg Lake starts chanting the first verse in a distorted caustic voice. After dipping back into the monster riff which signifies that the first section isn't yet over, Lake comes in with the second verse which is more bellicose in nature and is followed by one more rendition of the monster riff. A three note buildup which breaks into a circus-like saxophone riff marks the beginning of the energetic jam section. Robert Fripp's guitarwork is abrasive, and his 'anti-guitar solo' adds to the chaos, and though he is soloing, it's worth pointing out that Greg Lake on bass is practically soloing at the same time too, without overcrowding the song. Lake might not be Tony Levin, but at this point and throughout the song, his basswork is actually stunning. While the saxophone gives the song a jazzy feel at certain times, it is nothing short of demonic at other times - most notably around the halfway mark of the song where Ian McDonald comes in with a beautifully dissonant and distorted sounding saxophone solo, which is followed by a 'normal' jazzy sax solo (if I can call it normal). The monster riff concludes the jam as Lake shouts the third verse. And to finish off the song we have an incredibly frenetic burst of instrumental 'contributions' as every musician speaks his part at once.
02 - I Talk to the Wind: Instantly following the frenetic ending of the last song, in an arrant contrast, we are met by the calm dulcet tones of McDonald's flute playing which is the lead instrument throughout this song. With the enchanting beauty of the flute-playing, the addition of woodwind instruments, Fripp's occasional harmonics and the amazingly precise and delicate drumming of Giles which doesn't deviate from the song at all, Lake delivers all four of the song's verses in a flowing and dreamy fashion. The opening lines Said the straight man to the late man. Where have you been? eloquently suggest a conversation between a straight man (a conventional everyday working man) and a late man (an unconventional and peaceful man of his own ways, a hippie). The rest of the lyrics, in essence, are the late man's reply to the straight man's question which occupy three and a half verses. From his reply, my impression is that the late man is at peace with nature but largely disillusioned with and disconnected from society. Following that, McDonald plays a lush flute solo which is followed by a very gentle Fripp solo. Lake rejoins in the vocal deparment as he repeats the chorus and the first verse. And just as the flutework sounds like it's adding the finishing touches to a sculpture and you think the song is about to end, McDonald's flute soloing comes back into the fray, if possible, even better than before. The song finishes as McDonald's flute fades away.
03 - Epitaph: With a drum-roll, Epitaph commences and Fripp provides some extremely sorrowful sounding guitar wails backed by arpeggiated acoustic notes and drenched in mellotron. Then all goes silent and Greg Lake comes in, soulfully singing over his 3 note bass arpeggios, and this is really where the song starts to scream epic. Lake truly sounds like a prophetic doomsayer in this song, as if he's warning of imminent disaster looming over the world. And the vocals/lyrics are the major focus of this song. In the credits, Epitaph is divided into two halves, March for No Reason and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. In the first verse, the protagonist puts forward the idea that the world is troubled, the end is near, and everyone is deeply unhappy but no-one will step up and do anything about it. This verse is followed by the mellotron punctuated chorus which shows that the protagonist understands exactly what is happening, but he is possibly confused as to why no-one else understands. He professes the idea that he will be unhappy forever. Fripp's wailing guitar separates this from the second verse, in which the protagonist goes back a bit in history and talks of the seeds of time being sown at the start of the world. He mentions that the world has been shaped by those who are well known (possibly referring to people who aren't fit to rule but pick up the baton and hold tenure by birthright). This interpretation is reinforced by the last lines of the verse as Lake laments that The fate of mankind I see, is in the hands of fools. Now, I am not exactly sure where the song is divided but I'm guessing that Tomorrow and Tomorrow starts after a one note mellotron crescendo which grows in volume and bursts into some acoustic arpeggios. What follows is some long acoustic chords strummed in a medieval manner and a flute/woodwind section. Lake comes back in with the first verse and the chorus, and the song finishes with Lake wailing the last line over and over and the last word even more so, accompanied of course, by strong mellotron notes.
04 - Moonchild: Now Moonchild is quite an interesting song. Like Epitaph it is divided into 2 parts: The Dream, which has a duration of approximately two and half minutes, and the Illusion, which spans the rest of the song (almost ten minutes). The Dream is as pretty and delicate as I Talk to the Wind, but rather different in mood - it's much more eerie and spacey and is perfected down to the drumbeat. I don't really know what to make of the lyrics - my interpretation is that they simply describe a lady called Moonchild in all her elegance, but it's quite possible that there's a reference I don't understand here. Regardless, Sinfield's poetic eloquence shines through here as he pairs up Dancing in the shallows of a river with Dreaming in the shadow of the willow.
Around the 2:30 mark, The Dream transforms into the Illusion which is a freeform improvisation. Most reviewers would agree that The Dream is a pleasant section, but many of those reviewers would consider Moonchild a weak song because of presence of the Illusion, the ten minute improvisation. Personally, I don't think the Moonchild is a bad song at all, but I do think it's the weakest on the album and that the Illusion could be shortened in length. I'm not going to pretend that the Illusion doesn't contain any musical noodling, but it's noodling of the free jazz type rather than the musician shredding type. And if anything, that makes it more inaccessible to the contemporary listener, but better in my opinion. I find it rather relaxing and I enjoy listening to the instruments 'talking to each other' in short bursts. It is most cohesive in the last two minutes or so, but it doesn't really climax in any way. It's not bad, but it certainly pales in comparison to the improvisational brilliance of Providence from their later album, Red.
05 - The Court of the Crimson King: This song opens with mellotron and both the music and lyrics conjure medieval imagery. The Crimson King supposedly refers to the 13th century Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II. Each verse is concluded by a choral 'Kiiiinnnnggg. Aaaaaaah' sound which really adds to the dramatic/epic elements of the song. After the second and third verses, we have instrumental sections full of acoustic guitar, flutes, mellotron and woodwinds. A few drumstrokes signal what seems to be the end of the song, but after that there is a flute buildup and the true ending of the album unfolds in all its beauty. This song in particular, laid the foundations for symphonic prog, where bands like Yes and Genesis would start from.
EPILOGUE
With virtuosity of the highest degree, brilliant songwriting, eclectic influences, brutal originality, ambition, use of textures, amazing ability to convey imagery and Sinfield as his lyrical peak, it is easy to see why this album was so influential in the creation of progressive rock. King Crimson provides quite a range of music here... we see heavy metal, jazz, folk, rock and avant-garde. Fripp certainly nods to classical and medieval music too. Little has a mellotron seen such great use before this.
While this may not be considered King Crimson's classic lineup, I do wish they wrote more albums with this lineup. Before their next album, they would lose Ian McDonald who played a huge part in this album. While this is a stellar debut, King Crimson would go on to change their sound over time and progress, as is the nature of progressive rock bands.

All in good vibration, and this not inessential, because this is essential!
If The Court Of The Crimson King not essential, then what is essential?

But I did. I really did, and it's been a real pleasure listening to ITCOTCK next to Lizard for a while now. A diverse and rewarding album which has a unique characteristic in that it is so utterly fresh (for its time) and still feels very rooted in an older tradition of music, whatever that one might be. Stunning from beginning to end, its freshness hasn't faded, even though I'm listening to it almost forty years after its release. It's quite a warm album, mixed with enchanting melancholia and fantastic surrealistic musical landscapes, painted both by the instrumental and vocal performances and the madness of Peter Sinfield's vision. The album is so strong in imagery. Few other efforts match it, especially with the highly expressive and omnipresent Mellotron, enriching the album with an atmosphere only that instrument can create. There isn't a single weak spot to be found. I've tried to find them, for a while I even wanted to find them, just so I could say that ITCOTCK is flawed. It's not. There are dips in the quality though, I admit that. But as with any other masterpiece album, they are never below 'really good'.
21st Century Schizoid Man is a musical slap in the face, from start to finish, and just as its title suggest it's an exposé of a twisted mind. Distorted, disturbing vocals from Greg Lake and powerful drumming together with a crushingly loud riff before everything falls apart in a wild, frantic jazzy section with saxophone all over the place. Raging along together in a paranoid fashion with Fripp's evil guitar soloing on top of everything, it eventually returns to the main theme of the song, only to fall into chaos again by the finishing cacophony.
Quite a jump then to the beauty of I Talk To The Wind. Nice ballad with a soothing performance from both Lake and Fripp, hovering on delicate flute. Weakest song on the album according to me, as it isn't as instantly commanding as the others. Strangely accessible for Crimson as well. Still has its function here though, and wonderfully relaxing. Epitaph on the other hand, is just stunning. One of those songs that really can't be described by words alone. Trapped emotion, perhaps? And the soaring Mellotron together with all of that makes it one of the best tracks here.
It's perfectly reasonable that Moonchild is loathed by many, with a drawn-out improvised section. Uncertain, meandering and yet very delicate and beautiful, I just like it. Some music has the power to take you to unexpected places and Moonchild is made of such material.
What finally concludes the album, is also the best of the best. The title track, a powerful, abstract story riddled with mystery and imagination unleashes the mellotron in all its glory and has one of the best refrains I've heard so far in rock music. A choir effect, be it from the assembled vocals of the band or from the mellotron, always makes me smile. Perfection. Enter the flute for a great interlude with careful percussion until Lake returns for the main theme once again. And just as you think the song is over, you're served another interlude with a delicately careful organ until a spiced-up, last reprisal of the main riff is played once again and then.just a touch of the initial madness found on 21st Century Schizoid Man. And there it is: a full circle!
Essential.
//LinusW

Rellay, this is one of the masterpieces of all prog music

Time for a little revisionism here methinks...
Reviewers of this album are often at a loss to reconcile the disparity between its indisputable influence and its musical merit. In the case of the former, it made Prog mainstream and served to convince the money men that this type of artistic expression could shift shed loads of units. In the case of the latter, we are left with an endearing work that left its indelible mark on all those who fell within its magical slipstream. Yes, this is one of the most important prog records EVER No, this is NOT the flawless masterpiece touted as a 5 star effort by most of the genre's myopic curators.
Therefore, at the risk of appearing bludgeoning, there are only three tracks on this record that you really couldn't live without: 21st Century Schizoid Man - Epitaph - In the Court of the Crimson King
The remainder are pleasant enough but do inevitably betray the origins of the band in its gestation period of hippy 60's pop through free-form freakout wankery. e.g. Giles + Giles + Fripp = Flanders + Swann + flares + chemicals
What is also interesting about this record is that it subsequently shaped everyone's perceptions of what King Crimson were about, irrespective of how much they grew and developed over time. To wit, mention the name to anyone over 40 and you will get that that tiresome lazy association of ideas - Groovy baby, peace man, far out, let's all make love etc Anyone who has heard the band live circa 69-70 will testify that In the Court only hints at the sort of ferocity and confrontational power integral to an audience with the reigning 'King Progress'. The irony of their 'hippy drippy' label is one that probably hindered Crimson's material success in later incarnations. If you seek further evidence, check out the numerous Collectors Club releases lovingly remastered by Robert Fripp himself to see the sort of feral jazz intensity they exuded live.
So for me at any rate, this album is not even representative of our fave red critter at the time of its release and it could be argued that Court was culpable in creating a level of expectation amongst it's subjects that the Crimson King was never really in a position to satisfy. Much of this music has aged far less gracefully that that of it's contemporaries (the Nice, Procul Harum, Arthur Brown etc) and notwithstanding the three indispensable tracks, those earnest apologists for Moonchild must be guilty of intuiting the 'Music of the Spheres' from the sound of their engines idling at a red light.

...and also Sinfield memorable verses into a giant & magnificent piece o artistic network.
Schizoid Man, Epitaph & In the Court... are among the best songs ever recorded by a british rock band, and it´s maybe a general opinion amon pro-rock & art-rock fans & lovers.
Nothing more to say.
obligatory.


I do believe this is truly the first prog-rock album. In the late 60's, progressive ideas were in the air, In The Court Of The Crimson King made them evolve in a new music movement. Even though this is a debut album, the musicians showed amazing ability and the tunes are very mellow. Robert Fripp's magnificent guitar, Greg Lake sang like he rarely did again later, Pete Sinfield lyrics gave big contribution to make this record a wonderful one. Ian McDonald's super-symphonic keyboards, how can I forget to mention? ...and also the jazzy drumming by Michael Giles... Let me tell you one thing; This is truly a masterpiece!!! How can you say it isn't? However it's a matter of taste...

Well, we all do when it comes to this album. Often proclaimed the first progressive album (or at least the most influential), this is certainly a debut release that had magnitude to it. This album is very far ahead of its time (as Crimson often was), it's Jazz-rock fusion sounding almost (almost) like an early form of metal. It's heavy, that for sure, especially at a time when most prog albums were playing it more psychedelic.
There isn't much to say about this album that hasn't been said before, so I'll be brief to avoid being too redundant. This is an album that sounds like it could eat you. You don't listen to this album - It makes you hear it. Blasting guitars shift to calm and chilling segments fueled by a multitude of instruments ranging from guitar to sax and the emotional voice of Greg Lake. 21st Century Schizoid Man is a prog classic, it's frantic pace and solos demand any listener to revisit it over and over again. I Talk To The Wind is best described as sounding like an evil version of Pink Floyd as the boys in the band decide to slow things down for a minute. Epitaph is a terrifying thrill-ride that's propelled further by Greg Lake's excellent delivery of the sad lyrics, ''confusion will be my epitaph''.
Often complained about, Moonchild remains an essential song in the Crimson catalog. It starts with those soft and soothing vocals and then moves into a long and reflective quiet section in which simplicity becomes a thing of majestic beauty. It all closes with that ever classic In The Court Of The Crimson King, another almost scary song which sees the band going back into the Epitaph and 21st Century mood.
Like I said before, it's really hard to add anything to this album that hasn't already been said. This one is definitely essential to every prog rock collection. If you don't already have it, I recommend you try it out to see what all the fuss is about. You won't be disappointed.
PS - this is the 666th review of the album... sweet


Musically this album has 2 great jewels: 21st Century schizoid man and The Court of the Crimson King. The rest in good rock, but nothing extraordinary.
21st Century schizoid man: Excelent and powerful rock song. Lake sings with a really distorsioned voice and plays great bass lines. The drums here are amazing, a lot of breaks and tempo changes.
I Talk to the Wind: Nice ballad, very distintive of Lake's compositions in later ELP. Again the drums play an important role, giving
Epitaph: Is very ambicious, Nice atmosferic keyboards, Lake gives a very emotive interpretation, with his angelical voice.
Moonchild: Another slow song, atmosferic and emotive. A Little boring at times.
The Court of the Crimson King: A real Classic, Everything about this amazing song is already said.
5 Stars, cause this is a key album in prog history

... and also my entry in the world of Progressive Rock.
This is again an album you will know. So I have a lot of problems what I should write. The musicians are just brilliant, the music either and the cover is one of the great classics. What Robert Fripp in 1969 did is simply amazing. The great opener, 21st Century schizoid man, is a great heavy track. The vocals are distorted and the whole song has a nice wierd feeling. So heavy the first track was, so nice and warm is the secound one. Talk to the Wind. There you can listen to nice flute playing and nice singing. The next song Epitath is another classic. The singing by Greg Lake was nowhere better than on this song. Moonchild is wierd. I like it sometimes but I can't stand this long free jazz part everytime. The last track is pure epic. When you want to listen to some goundbreaking and essential material you should buy this album.

It has been nearly 10 years since I've heard In The Court Of The Crimson King for the first time but listening to it today it feels almost as fresh and new as the first time, something I consider to be quite extraordinary! If I remember correctly this was not my introduction album to progressive rock, I owe the to either Thick As A Brick or maybe some Pink Floyd-album that my parents had exposed me to as a child. Non-the-less it was this King Crimson debut that made me re-evaluate my musical tastes and values! After listening to it I realized that there was no way I could ever go back to listening to punk and hardcore ever again and up to this day I actually honestly say that I never have!
There is no reason to do a track-by-track walk-through, or even segment-by-segment one for that matter, because after 800+ rating/reviews here on Prog Archives I'm certain that many have managed to do a quite excellent job at that. Instead I shall tell you why I personally consider it to be my favorite album. It's just a beautiful, melodic, instrumental, technical masterpiece in all possible categories. The only tiny flaw I can think of is the prolonged Moonchild instrumental section that drags on for too long but it by no way makes me think less of this fantastic progressive rock debut album.
Masterpiece that everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime!
***** star songs: 21st Century Schizoid Man (7:21) I Talk To The Wind (6:05) Epitaph (8:47) The Court Of The Crimson King (9:25)
**** star song: Moonchild (12:13)
Total Rating: 4,72

Why is this not a masterpiece of progressive music then? Well, in terms of being a groundbreaking album with a huge influence on others it is. However, the tedious experimental part of Moonchild stops me from giving this five stars. I simply cannot believe that they chose to include this boring improvisation on this album. This shows very bad judgement. But what a relief it is when the title track kicks in.
I should add that this album is the best album by King Crimson by an extremely wide margin. They never again made anything even close to the standards set by this one.
In The Court Of The Crimson King is a classic but not quite a masterpiece.

The influences of Jazz are prominent throughout and the band are so tight the music tends to punch holes within the fabric of the musicscapes. An example of this is in the awesome '21st Century Schizoid Man'. This song introduced me to the band and I have never looked back, getting hold of any King Crimson I can, I am proud to say I have been Krimsonized. You have to love a band that uses music to express themselves the way King Crimson does. Greg Lake's vocals in '21stCSM' are processed through a vocal transposer that make him sound like some terrible alien machine that is telling mankind where he is going wrong: "Politician's funeral pyre, Innocents raped with Napalm Fire."The lyrics are as potent as the Crim's can be. The feeling of alienation and a barren soundscape are exemplified in the way the song is structured. During the lyrics, a sense of minimalism is produced, then the wall of sound kicks in. The incredible sax and Robert Fripp's screaming guitar complement each other brilliantly throughout the opening half, and then it slows down for a moment before the time signature changes completely and there is an erratic saxophone that locks in and continues while a strange lead guitar howls and reverberates. One of the best things about this section is the way the music seems slightly off kilter, almost out of tune but not quite. There are moments where all instruments cease at once, pause and then begin on cue only to stop again in various rhythm patterns. It is quintessential listening for anyone interested in progressive rock.
Following this maelstrom of sound, the album settles down surprisingly, for where else could it go, into a very melancholy type of song, 'I Talk to the Wind'. This features Ian McDonald's woodwind and the soft vocals of Greg Lake. To be honest, it's not one of my favourite pieces, it all seems so safe and tranquil in comparison to the rest of the album, but I guess as a contrast it works well enough. 'Epitath' is a great track that has been partly resurrected by Greg Lake on ELP's excellent live epic 'Welcome Back My Friends to the Show That Never Ends' (the last few seconds on CD 1). It has a symphonic component that is created with a heavy blend of mellotron, keyboards and vibes. The lyrics are thought provoking "the wall on which the prophets write is cracking at the seams, upon the instruments of death the sunlight brightly gleams, when every man is torn apart with nightmares and with dreams..." this is where prog rock got its reputation for thought provoking lyrics. The stanzas are confusing, though enlightening and the lyrics revitalise the music, rather than detract. The two cannot exist without the other and are of equal importance. Peter Sinfield was responsible for some of the most provocative lyrics of the prog movement and he is credited on this album for 'words and illumination' interestingly enough.
'Moonchild' is the longest track and annoyingly tends to just go on and on, almost as a complete improvisation in the studio recorded without forethought at times. I know this is one of the most annoying things about this band that I love, but it is also the reason that they are outstanding; they do improvise in concert substantially, and it has garnered their reputation for jazz fusion. So it's a catch 22 - if you are into a band as experimental as King Crimson there are going to be moments in their repertoire that will infuriate you. Michael Giles drum patterns are interesting enough but unfortunately, as far as I am concerned, 'Moonchild' is just about the worst they have recorded. It should have been cut by about 6 minutes and there is too little going on for my tastes to even make this memorable. It is more or less a jazz improvisation and doesn't really go anywhere. Maybe this is why some fans adore it.
'The Court of The Crimson King' ends the album on a positive high note, although the album cover looks like the Crimson King is slowly being tortured to death. I absolutely cherish this song and it is one of the best prog tracks I have heard. Lake's vocals have never been better, and there are amazing flourishes of sweeping keyboards that send a chill down your spine. The sound goes from intense to very soft in waves and all is complimented by a stirring lyrical content: "The black queen chants the funeral march, the cracked brass bells will ring, to summon back the fire witch in the court of the crimson king."
On that note, in conclusion I will end this by stating the facts: if you care about the birth of progressive rock, if you like your prog jazzed up with a fusion of heavy mellotron, if you love saxophone interlaced with jagged guitar rhythms, if you have heard of this album but were worried to purchase it because it's so old, if you are into Emerson Lake & Palmer: look no further! This album encompasses all that makes prog rock so enticing, and in a sense it captures all that made King Crimson one of the leading progressive masters, brilliant but flawed geniuses. The Court of The Crimson King is, hands down, an essential purchase.

One of my wishes is to be able to forget all of the music I have heard until now and travel back to 1969. I would love to know what it was like to hear 21st Century Schizoid Man for the first time; it must have been a shock! Granted, there was some heavy stuff back in those days like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, but I do not think anything those two bands have written is comparable to the in- your-face-ness of Schizoid Man. And with a saxophone!
Another stark contrast this album has with my general feeling of the 1960s culture is the utter hopelessness and despair of Epitaph. When most songs were quite poppy and hunky dory, Greg Lake was singing, Confusion will be my epitaph as I crawl a cracked and broken path. Hell, the despair of this song beats any of the relationship problems modern music focuses so much on since this song deals with the despair of life, not some petty and uninteresting break up.
Epitaph also showed us (and the bands King Crimson would come to influence like Genesis) how emotional a Mellotron could be. In just a couple chords the entire mood of a song can change and give you an overwhelming feeling of sadness. It's incredible.
I wonder if there is a song more debated on the Archives than Moonchild. I don't even know which side to take. Sometimes I really enjoy the instrumental bit, and sometimes I can't help but skip to the title track. I think it just depends on what mood you're in. If you are just in for a casual listening, skip it. If you're giving the album a serious listen, then it is unskippable. As I'm becoming a bit more interested in ambient music, my appreciation for this song isn't as harsh as it used to be now that I can listen to all of the interplay between the instruments. I particularly like the ideas from certif1ed's review of this album so be sure to check that review out as well. While I'm still trying to understand it through the lens he gives, the last two minutes or so are definitely the sound of the sunrise, and is done quite beautifully.
I have some fond memories of this album even though I've only been listening to it for a few years. It's strange how one of the albums that allegedly kicked off the genre is still held in high regard. Even though bands took what King Crimson started and tried to perfect it, very few were able to actually succeed. From the album cover (one of the best) to the music (some of the best) and the lyrics (some of the best), this album is about as perfect as anyone can get.
Highlights: 21st Century Schizoid Man, I Talk to the Wind, Epitaph, Moonchild, The Court of the Crimson King

The opener blew my brain apart immediately, but the rest of the album left me confused for the better part of a day. But after the second listen, it struck me: this was a special recording, a crystalline marker of the trajectory rock music would take for the next half decade or so into the 70s.
The "21st-Century Schizoid Man" intro ("wind session") breathes eerie science fiction before exploding with unprecedented ferocity. What follows is one of the most influential and ahead-of-its time tracks ever written.
The segue between the first two tracks always entertains, gets a chortled grunt from new listeners. "I Talk to the Wind" is charming, a leftover from Giles, Giles & Fripp.
The proto-doom "Epitaph" is the album's literal center piece, and is as beautiful as it is gut-wrenching: cathartic, indulgent, and heavy in it's own right. Pete Sinfield's lyrics carry an antiwar message, a poignant impressionist word painting delivered in an appropriately observational tone.
"Moonchild" is a brilliant tasty little folktune, contrasted by its long coda. This post-song noodling garners the most negative criticism. While I understand why, its ambience and sparsity is compelling if you have the patience.
The epic title track is an aural city of marble inundated by piss-warm oceans, now resurfaced. A false ending followed by a humorous guignol-esque interpolation precedes one final jam on the main theme.
The song and album ends with a cacophonous swell, halted abruptly, as if the band were squashed by Monty Python's giant foot; however the effect is badass and memorable rather than slapstick
The result is an arcanely English, neatly bundled postmodern masterpiece, compressed to high heaven, and surrounded by mellotrons. This mature, gutsy and convincing slice of art rock is impressively performed by very young musicians whom had very little experience playing together, yet were able to tap into a creative wellspring that would make most veteran groups green with envy.
Like it or not, this is the quintessential English progressive rock album, and a milestone for the genre.
One of the greatest debut albums of all time.
5 songs, 5 stars.




Despite the fact that it is one of the most original album ever to be writen (totally ignoring any references to current LSD-powered pshycedelia whatsoever),the genious of guitarrist Robert Fripp and Ian Mcdonald also concern the light and shade contrast of the album,with delicate moments as the dream-like ballad Moonchild(and the intriguing subsequent gap between the latter and the closing epic).
One of the most insteresting qualities of this album is the fact that,although it's weirdness and at times enigmatic structures and arrangements can't really be completely understood,theres the present feel that everything,every note and compass,has been thought out for long time and exists for a greater purpose(for instance,it's worth checking out some very interesting theories behind an existing concept in the album).
The lyrics wrote by Peter Sinfield are already at their best here,leaving gaps for one's imagination to flourish.The artwork,both the front and the inner sleeve,are amazing.The disturbing schizoid man in the cover is expressive and scarry,as for the crimson king in the inner sleeve,'it is smiling,however if you hide it's mouth and look straight into the eyes,they reveal an incredible sadness.It reflects the music.'.Those are the words of Fripp himself,and he coudln't be more accurate.The sum-up of the music,with all it's dramatic climaxes,subtle sounding sadness and infernal spotlights,point out to one of the best albums ever made.

What we have here is the very first release from Robert Fripp, a man of few words (if I remember right, he's written one line of lyrics ever in his forty years of producing important music) but of much ambition. While he will eventually come to be known as a guitar great, this album features very little in the way of Fripp showcasing his fretting talents. Instead, we have spacey and melancholic music punctuated by superb drumming from Giles. Do not get the impression that this album is boring, though. Vast oceans of mellotron and such like it, while they have become more or less a prog cliche by this day, give this release a wonderfully dark vibe. Greg Lake's voice, one I've always felt was underused in ELP (and, for the most part, in King Crimson, too) shines above much of the music with a fervor that is downright inspiring. His bass work also foreshadows the efforts he would put into ELP, except in the context of King Crimson, I find his playing both more exciting and more tasteful. In the Court of the Crimson King is a perfect debut for King Crimson, displaying their range of styles from highly aggressive to softly melancholic to experimental.
The album opens with a vicious kick, 21st Century Schizoid Man. This song became an anthem of sorts to King Crimson, inspiring a lot of bad puns over the next number of decades. Here we have distorted vocals from Lake (and terrifying bass playing), wild drumming from Giles, some unique guitar work from Fripp, and so forth. Oh, and we have lots of brass that pumps this song into full gear. Dark and menacing vibes just pour out of this track, while the energy levels and the tempo hit peaks that the band won't really touch again till Larks' Tongues or Red. This song perfectly showcases the aggressive, nearly heavy metal side of the band. On my first listen, I was blown away by this song but then uninspired by the rest. Be forewarned: this is not a song representative of the rest of the album. So when you first put this record in, do not expect an album full of upbeat and aggressive tunes.
In direct support of that last statement comes the album's gentle ballad of sorts, I Talk to the Wind. The music is lovely, and some gorgeous flute tinkles over the pastoral setting evoked by the music. Greg's quiet vocals on here are not terribly impressive compared to the rest of the tracks, but the harmonies they hit work quite, quite well. Probably the least unique and inspiring song on the album, but it nevertheless fails to be worthless.
The last song on side one then opens, the spacious Epitaph. Here is where Greg's vocals truly shine. Veritable choirs of mellotron back an anguished and impassioned vocal line. Here is the band's foray into space rock and psychedelia. Overall a very neat song, and a solid way to end that side of the album.
The next half kicks off with the album's longest song, Moonchild. If you are unfamiliar with King Crimson, I can imagine this song being a surprise after the carefully constructed first three songs. Psychedelic strains of this and that populate most of the song, creating an ambiance, an atmosphere, of sad and old music. Not that it's anything rehashed or uninspired. But trust me, chances are this will be every new listener's least favorite track off the bat; however, this one does grow on you. It fits the mood of the album perfectly, and it provides absolutely haunting sounds to bring the album to its conclusion, the title track.
The aforementioned title track kicks the album into the highest gear it's seen since 21st Century Schizoid Man, but don't mistake that sentence to mean that this is remotely similar to that song. Rather, we have a verse from Greg Lake that sounds almost minstrelsy. Each verse culminates in a haunting (that word again) harmony among several voices set to sound like a choir, all riding on top of a wave of thick keyboard sounds. The drums get a serious workout in this track. This tune is, despite its odd chorus of sorts and for the most part lack of words, strangely catchy. It wraps up the album with a gentle punch to the nose.
In the end, this is probably one of the most important prog albums ever written. It was instrumental in the wave of 70s progression, and still stands today as an interesting and unique experience. I don't see how any fan of any sort of classic prog could get by without owning some King Crimson, and I don't see how any fan of King Crimson can get by without owning this album. This is almost a necessary addition to any prog music collection, in my opinion. It's not perfect, but it is about as close as they come.

Can be the birth of a genre or at least a a new way of making music be one his own best works ? Often the genre comes to maturity after a certain time and evolution of it in some steps and years... That's not happening often but ITCOTCK is the proove of this.
A rather jazzy begin with 21st schizoid man, who contains already instrumentals parts who puts you in the mood they want, they will appear in every song, this is followed by the magnificient and smooth I talk to the wind who calms you down before the intense Epitath, the best written text in prog history for me... I was thinking if an album could have my 10/10... I will not give it but the next track Moonchild puts me in doubt again... I can't think of how this could be better ? But my philosophy is that there still is. Many people have tried to comment the clossing track but there's nothing to say about this nine-minutes-long track if it isn't genius...
However this is the album that every progheads should have in common, Chamber rock or prog folker, neo prog addicted or Opeth-freak because it's there that everything begun even if Krautrock has some records before the release of ITCOTCK...

"21st Century Schizoid Man" The first track is the most boisterous, with crunchy electric guitars, wailing saxophone, heavy tom fills, and the greatly distorted voice of a young Greg Lake. The music runs through several time signatures (including free time). The lyrics consist of mostly sentence fragments describing (at least in part) the perceived chaos of the Vietnam War; before a live audience, Fripp stated that the song was dedicated "an American political personality whom we all know and love dearly. His name is Spiro Agnew." There are other valid interpretations that are worth exploring that will not be recounted here. The song concludes with cacophonic improvisation.
"I Talk to the Wind" What the first song is, this song isn't. The distortion is gone from Lake's voice, and only a velvety harmony remains. The song is flute-laden, and is perhaps comparable to early Camel in sound and structure. It is pleasant in many ways, calming even.
"Epitaph" The heavy waves of Mellotron and the acoustic guitar that open "Epitaph" is one of the best moments of this album. Lake's voice is undeniably good here, and the strikes of acoustic guitar that punctuate the piece are impressive even though it's a small addition. The Mellotron's saturation of this piece is also part of what makes this one of the better tracks present. The problem with this song is that there's simply too much of it; at almost nine minutes, there are no noteworthy changes in pace or structure, only in intensity, so the song has a propensity to become tired after so long.
"Moonchild" One might not expect a third soft song in a row, but this is as quiet as it gets on this album. The vocal section is very good, though, with guitar work that was the harbinger of Fripp's sound. There's not much more one can say after that: Everything after four minutes is directionless improvisation. This is the musical equivalent of an artist who is hailed as genius for randomly smearing and splattering paint on a canvas. It could be forgivable, but no- it takes up three-quarters of the album's longest track. Quite a bit of what is going on here makes me think the band left the studio unlocked, with everything still running, and a gaggle of seven-year-olds with a couple of dogs snuck in and began enjoying themselves. It's unbelievable.
"The Court of the Crimson King" Once again we have a song that overstays its welcome, at nearly ten minutes. The Mellotron riff is a classic example of its use in progressive rock, although it is seriously overused throughout the song (and especially at the end). It is heard at least nine times, not counting instances when there are no vocals. The verse sections are fantastically written, and the words are haunting. The first instrumental section is upbeat but brief. The flute-led second instrumental section in the middle is simply beautiful. Regardless of the above criticisms, the song stands as one of the best offerings from King Crimson, and the reason I can't rate this album less than three stars.

No, this wasn't the start of progressive rock. Whether I like to admit it or not, I consider maybe The Beatles, Franz Zappa or the Moody Blues to be a start for this genre to the best of my knowledge. It is undeniable though, that this is the album that put prog on the map. I don't give it extra stars for that reason; it put prog on the map because it was just a great album by itself. I find it to indeed be one of the best albums in the 60's.
At this time, there was no leader like there is now. This band was made up by Robert Fripp (guitar), Ian McDonald (winds, sax, keyboard, mellotron, everything etc.), Greg Lake (bass, vocals), Micheal Giles (drums, percussion) and Peter Sinfeld (lyrics). It is important to recognize every member that has ever been in King Crimson. The pretty much all are virtuosos at their instruments and each form something magical after their go-around with King Crimson. Basically, this band is just full of high- standards.
21st Century Schizoid Man is the opening number. Probably the most chaotic thing to hit the music scene at this time, with some really heavy, distorted guitar with the drums and saxophone blasting away also. Greg Lake's voice is also heavily distorted giving this track a pre-heavy metal feel. Quickly going into a time signature shift thereafter with some jazz licks, the track just goes into chaos. There is a spacey guitar solo in here as well. The track closes out with a sort of 'free-improv' section where everyone is doing their own thing at the same time instead of focusing on one musician. Very creative.
Not content to keep the same format, the next track starts out with a flute intro, very calm and relaxing. The track features Greg Lake finally getting some clean vocals done, which sounds great and some fantastic guitar interplay by Fripp.
Epitaph is one of the most depressing songs I have ever heard. This track uses the mellotron to its deepest appeal.
Moonchild is the most important track on the album. The guitar intro by Fripp is very unconventional to me even now, after hearing so many different things. It is all over the place, but remains so melodic and smooth. The track really feels like a song for about 3 minutes until there is just minimalism, short bursts of sound and very little improv for a good number of minutes. It really leaves it open to interpretation. I just feel a sense of curiosity and calming when it's done, it really speaks out to me as something different.
In the Court of the Crimson King closes out this brilliant album. Plenty of mellotron and chanted vocals giving this a really really old song appeal from the medieval times. The lyrics fit so well accordingly too. Can't really argue here, this song is a masterpiece of music.
This wonderful and diverse album deserves no less than five stars in my opinion. It put prog on the map, because it was a good album, it is already clear it wasn't the first.

ITCOTCK opens with the proto-jazz-metal of 21st Century Schizoid Man with its catchy opening riff and the main theme for its middle section Mirrors. IMO, Ian McDonald was one of the great musicians to pass through King Crimson in the band's entire history (he plays nearly half of the instruments on In the Court...) and his sax playing on Schizoid Man is one of the best parts of the album by far. The second track, I Talk to the Wind is a great ballad that again features McDonald's exceptional woodwind playing, only this time on flute. Epitaph is a strong example of mellotron rock that KC, along with the Moody Blues, pioneered. Its lush string sounds provide the perfect backing to Greg Lake's wonderful and ominous vocals. Moonchild has a half-decent opening vocal melody but then dissolves into what I believe is a frankly juvenile attempt at free jazz (if you want good free-form jazz without the yawn try Albert Ayler or Ornette Coleman). The final track, the title track, is probably the second best song on here besides Schizoid Man. It is a wonderful culmination of all the thing that made this line up of King Crimson great: Greg Lake's captivating voice (that turns Peter Sinfield's imaginitive lyrics into magnificent melodies) Ian McDonald's woodwinds and mellotron, Robert Fripp's serene and aggresive guitar playing, and Michael Giles loose-but-steady drumming.
After the last track fades out, it leaves me awed at the sheer skill and craft that these four (or should I say five) musicians possessed. It is sad that this was the only album these particular men all made together but that's not a bad thing because ITCOTCK is a fine collection of songs that is timeless and will remain a rock classic for years to come.

For all the claims of this being the originator of prog, King Crimson borrow alot of their sound from the Moody Blues. Classically influenced, organ / mellotron dominated, ethereal atmospheres, all of these signature elements were well established by the Moodies quite awhile before this album emerged. 21st Century Schizoid Man's riffing certainly establishes a heavy psychedelia that upped the ante at the time, but it was but one step in a long line of great headbangers. The rest of the album really is the airy post-Moody material I mentioned before. The sound has never wowed me, never seemed truly challenging or ever all that innovative. Probably so many have borrowed from the album, and the sounds are so overused, that the once original sound long ago has become the norm. (Similarly, I remember Pearl Jam's Ten sounding original at one point. Now, it's a good album, but hardly unique or challenging) At the same time, however, if you go back and listened to classics like the Beatles' Rubber Soul, Yes' Close to the Edge, or Led Zeppelin IV, they still come across as amazing pieces of work. Certainly those albums have been borrowed from extensively as well, but their power still dazzles.
ITCOTK is, to me, a good album more valuable for it's place in history than for music that still inspires me. It's great to have in the library, but it's not an album I listen to all that often. (Though later KC does have a place in the rotation.)



I think that apart from the music...special attention must be given to Greg Lake's voice that evetually I think became one of the best singers KC ever had.....and ELP really benefits from that as we'll.....Here once again its so often Greg's beautifull singing that stands out.....
The only song that I never really could apreciate was 21 Century Schidzoid Man...perhaps because of the fact its to jazzy.....perhaps because of Greg vocals that are distrurbed......But I never listen to this song and usually then to skip it right to the much more sensitive and touching I Talk To The Wind, that builds up perfectly (in my opinion) to the highlight of the album and one of the highlights on KC carrear and Prog music in general) Epitaph....I must have listened to that song a thousand times and still am not tired of it....The Mellotron.......is really really amazing on this one...not suddle like in so many KC songs as The Sailor's Song, or Starless but fully blown in your face, not abble to avoid....One reviewer here remarks the utterly depressing lyrics of this album, but I think because of the Mellotron the song gets much more sad and melancholic. Something that is repeated again with ITCOTCK, which has the same spectaculair use of Mellotron.....
The Mellotron that was used for this is in the hands of Tony Banks...or although thats what he said in Chapter & Verse...but then he adds that Fripp said that of every Mellotron he owned.....I think Hackett once remarked that this particulair Mellotron was called The Black Bitch....KC eventually became a major inspiration to Genesis...and I think you can hear that....
This album eventually became one of the most important Prog albums in history, the one that was a major inspiration to everything that came after that....and cleared the path for that what was yet to come....from them (unfortunatly only already soon in another formation) and all that other bands that are the reason why we as fans are vistiting this website in the first place.

Hey!!!,Wake up!!!!!it is only an album.;)

One of the most fascinating albums I have ever stumbled upon, this was the first album by King Crimson and (rare for any band) their best album. It's a wonderful fusion of Rock, Jazz and Classical themes with dark lyrics about man's downfall. This can be reflected on the album cover with a face of a man who seems to be in immense pain.
First starting with 21st Century Schizoid Man, your ears will pierce in delight from the heavy guitar and saxophone work. The 'Mirrors' section is a powerful instrumental piece and the ending of the song is absolutely chaotic.
It quickly goes from chaotic to peaceful when 'I Talk to the Wind' starts with a gentle flute piece, a lovely song that is peaceful and is a break from the heavy previous song. 'Epitaph' is a haunting song about judgment day and the end of the world.
'Moonchild' is the weakest song of the album, not that its utter crap, the first 2 and a half minutes is wonderful and hypnotic. But the rest of the 10 minutes left is just experimenting in free form. It's great to listen to in the middle of night while in bed and having your eyes closed, but at any other tie it's simply boring.
The title track is a masterpiece with a wonderful use of the mellotron, and Lake's vocals are stunning as well as the drumming. One of my favorite songs ever, everyone in the world should be force to listen to this.
A masterpiece of any genre of music and a must buy for Prog Rock fans.

21st Century Schizoid Man starts things off, and it's one of the best songs in the entire prog rock genre. The booming sax and guitars, distorted vocals, absolutely crazy drum parts... this track is incredible, a seemless blend of rock, jazz, and classical.
I Talk To The Wind is next, a great soft piece with a wonderful melody, great woodwind section courtesy of Ian McDonald, and great Greg Lake vocals.
Next, we have the second big highlight, Epitaph. Lake absolutely shines on this one, with possibly the most powerful vocal delivery in the history of rock music and absolutely beautiful Mellotron tracks, once again courtesy of McDonald. It's chill-inducing all the way through, a masterful piece of music.
Moonchild is next, and it starts with a beautiful Mellotron driven section before devolving into an avant-garde sound collage that is sure to turn a lot of people off.... and it IS boring at first.... but do you think that I'm going to bash an album that gives us 35 minutes of the best music ever made just for including an experimental bit? Not at all. Just listen to it and let it grow on you for God's sake, the rest of the album is so damn perfect.
Wrapping things up is the beautiful, moving, exceptional title track. It's a Mellotron driven epic at heart, and it manages to be on par with the previous two highlights (which are the two BEST rock songs ever written up to that point, mind you). The vocal harmonies are gorgeous, the instrumentation is pure perfection, and the song is an all around masterpiece.
So..... three of the best songs ever written, padded by two solid progressive rock songs, all in one record. Nothing less than a five.
THIS IS A MASTERPIECE AND YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM. PERIOD. (Honestly, music fans in the 60s and 70s were spoiled, this was the big stuff back then and now we are subjected to garbage like Nickelback and gangster rap. Yyuck.)

This album is a landmark album for not just prog, but music in general. With experimentation, avant-garde, and a dark painted scene as backdrop for some of the best music you will hear.
Starting off with the metallic punch of 21st Century Schizoid Man, it is a dark proto metal that has depressing, yet powerful lyrics and musical skill that was quite possibly unmatched in their time.
And racing down the last song's highway you fly off the cliff into the soft ravine of I talk to wind, a flute lead peaceful tune. Calm and floaty, it is another emotion led by this brilliant band.
Another somber tune, Epitaph, this one darker than I Talk To Wind. But better, in my opinion, even though this whole album is simply classic.
Moonchild, which is often slated as the only weak point on this album, is also the most experimental. I have been able to let it grow on me, but can understand the reasons for dislike.
Finally, you have The title track, a prog opus. A befitting end to a magnificent album.

Well, I do agree with many people on this being one of the starting points of true progressive rock. But to say it's THE starting point and THE progressive rock album...give me a break. That to me is like saying that all prog fans must like The Beatles because without them, progressive rock would never have existed. Prog rock would still have come about with or without The Beatles. It would just have been different. Just like how progressive rock would have come about even without this album. Also, being someone who is young and wasn't alive during prog's heyday, I fell that I can make a fairly good judgment on this album.
I will give the critics here this: this is actually a fairly good album. My issues with this album however are: 1) many instrumental parts feel too repetitive, 2) Moonchild and Epitaph are just too long for their own good, and 3) large portions of this album have filler. I can't put it any nicer than that. I know me saying such things may upset some people, but it's honestly why I can't give this album any more than 3 stars. To be honest, 21st Century Schizoid Man saves this from me giving it 2 stars. The King Crimson what I have come to know and love, the one with avant-garde, jazz, and lots of experimental and eclectic natures lacks quite a bit on this album. Besides the first track, the vocals also serve as one of the redeeming qualities. I'm sorry, but an album with this much filler is begging for a 3 star rating. I've tried and tried and tried yet some more to give this album a chance, but noodling isn't going to get me to like it anymore.

-21st century Schizoid Man- A really great opener. It starts with a a silence, and some strange, mecanic sounds, and then explodes into the chaotic riff that defines the song. A lot of guitar, sax, complex drums with constant changing rythms and the rough, angry and frightening mood of the song. This song really is what king crimson is all about. The only thing that keeps me from giving the song a higher rating is that the middle section, the instrumental mirrors is a little bit too long. 8/10
-I Talk to the Wind-
Right after the first song, the band surprises you, again. The contrast after Schizoid Man couldn't be larger than this, after the schrieky guitars and saxophones, we are now calmed by the harmony of a very mellow track. Flutes, reeds and soft, surrealistic vocals brings us another fantastic song. After a long, chaotic, tireing day, nothing offer better recovery than this song. 9/10
-Epitaph-
The previous song is slowly fading out, and the best song of the whole great album explodes right from the start in a wall of melancholy. Then it fades, with only the bass, drums and vocals left in the speakers, and the song gradually builds-up. A song couldn't possibly be more sad and epic at the same time than this one. No moment is vasted, the mellotron and accoustic guitar are fantastic, some short noodling at the electric guitar adds much to the song, a reed is also featured, and the pessimistic lyrics are above it all. So many instruments, and the song wouldn't be the same without just one of them! The climax of the album reaches when Greg lake repeat: But I fear tomorrow I will be crying again and again with the haunted, melancholic mellotron in the background, while the drum from the intro appear once again. 10/10
-Moonchild-
The intro of this song is a romantic, strange, mellow and fantastic love song. The song sounds, more than the rest of the album, influenced by the moody blues. Then, after 2 minutes, the song changes into some instrumental noodling, very improvised. In the beginning it's OK, but after 6 minutes of the song the instruments and tunes seems randomized and doesn't seem to go anywhere, all the moods are quickly swept away. Such a disapontment, when the beginning was so good! Luckily, the song gets somewhat back on the track after 10 minutes, with only two minutes remaining. But it's hard to not press skip during that frustrating middle section... 7/10
-The Court of the Crimson King-
After the slow moonchild, this song really brings some life into the record again. It's sort of a medieval ballad. You can find the structure (main mellotron riff followed by verse, followed with main mellotron....) quite boring and repetative for a prog album, but those parts are so good composed, epic and memorable so it doesn't matter very much. And there are still two solo sections whitch gives some variation. Excelent song, but it wouldn't have lost anything if it was 2 minutes shorter. 8/10
I have to say this one really is balancing at the 5-star rating, because of the dull part of Moonchild. You don't want music like this at a five-star album. But all the other tracks are fantastic, and the record itself is such a great step in history for the progressive rock in general, so I can't let Moonchild let it down. The really dull part just include 4 minutes, the rest of the album is extraordinary. Five stars!

1)Musical virtuosity
2)Long epics
3)Crazy improvisations (21rst Century Schizoid Man)
4)Beautiful ballads (Epitaph)
5)Amazing lyrical content, from the surrealistic I Talk to the Wind to the realistic Epitaph and the Orwellesque pesimistic vision of the world of 21rst Century...
+ it features Greg Lake's vocals which adds something really special to the music
-21rst century... is one of the best oppeners to an album that i've ever heard, you'll never expect something like this even in your wildest dreams. With high expectations and a bit skeptical, you put on a record with a great (and really weird) cover art and you're told that it is one of the greatest things on earth (something hard to believe), and then... it HITS you, its like dreaming but then you realize that you are awake and listening to a bunch of musicians that are easily among the best in the world just madly jamming... when the track finishes you have to stop the record to listen to it again, then you realize the amazing (and distorted) singer, the lyrics, which really mean something (they aren't just silly words glued with silly music), and the well defined role of each instrument from the leading guitar and winds to the rhythm and backing section.
-In contrast with the previous crazyness follows the quieter and surrealistic (more amazing lyrics provided by Peter Sinfield) I Talk To the Wind, which immerses you into the spirit of the album and transports you through a different universe to the beauty of Epitaph and Moonchild.
-Epitaph is kind of a quiet ballad in which Lake shows his ability as one of the most talented singers in music, this song surrounds you with a magnificent and beautiful, yet sad atmosphere. (I really love the mellotron work here)
-Moonchild continues in the same mood, but is a bit too long (nonetheless, is always fun and interesting to listen to Crimsonian experimentation).
-The album finishes with the title track, which really transports you to the Court of the Crimson King (or kings?) where the band displays what they can do with their talent, knowledge and a few instruments. Great mellotron usage, beautiful instrumentation (specially the instrumental sections, and the flute is simply outstanding) and lyrical content that only a poet could write. A masterpiece ending for a masterpiece record...
This album is almost orchestral, in the way that each instrument has its own role and none is superfluous, even the backing mellotron has its well defined place in the piece...(well its a symphonic prog album after all).
A masterpiece of prog and rock in general and a must have in any serious rock collection, specially recomended to first timers in the genre...in the words of Jimmi Hendrix, King Crimson is...the best band in the world!...5 stars aren't enough...


The first time I heard 21st Century Schizoid Man, I almost fell out of my seat due to the incredible drum sound. How a snare drum could be so dry and snappy was beyond my understanding, and I loved the whole sound of the band from the very start. When the song then went into its staccato section with some of the most precise playing ever recorded, I almost died. I have since then gotten more used to awesome prog records (so I'll hopefully not die again), but this is truly one of the most epic moments in prog, or music altogether.
After 21st Century Schizoid Man, there is an abrupt change of tone and feel, and I Talk to the Wind begins. I simply love Ian McDonald's playing here, adding tons upon tons of pure harmony to the song. Next song is Epitaph (with its confusing subtitles), and the mellotron really comes through in this song, yet again delivering a huge doze of harmony and pure loveliness.
Also: Moonchild. An incredibly mystical song with many quite subtle ambient sounds swishing around, all in all creating my favourite song on the album, and on of my favourite songs of all time. The structured part of the song is over in not too long, instead flowing over into an improvised and quite psychedelic jam with very sparse playing. This can either be viewed as boring or beautiful - I choose the latter.
The album ends epically with the grand In the Court of the Crimson King, a song which features choral verses aplenty while still managing to be heavy, atmospheric, sweeping and so much more. The song has a couple of different parts (full name is The Court of the Crimson King/The Return of the Fire Witch/The Dance of the Puppets), but keeps the general atmosphere alive throughout them all.
This album truly deserves its high rating.


Crimson followed what was mainstream back then, maybe not mainstream-mainstream, but prog-mainstream. Uses of mellotrons and flutes didn't make Crimson such a special band, but the song-writing and the performance of each band member is just insanely amazing and proves this album has aged well, and WILL age well. Every song from "In the Court of the Crimson King" is just tight, using parts for songs actually allowed Crimson to play both soft and loud at the same song, and while sounding very, very weird, Crimson actually pulled it off quite well. Every song on this album except for "I Talk to the Wind" has at least 2 parts in it, making it possible to maintain what every prog band would like to be able to do; be versatile. From Mirrors in "21st Century Schizoid Man" up to Dance of the Puppets in "In the Court of the Crimson King", Crimson pulled off what a lot of bands couldn't back then and made the progressive rock genre what it really is, making bands like Yes and Genesis make the music they make.
And I know Yes and Genesis might not admit it, but I really think "In the Court of the Crimson King" influenced them, no matter if they were formed before, or even at the same exact second. So I recommend this album to every prog fan out there, old or new, prog metal or prog rock, just to find out what the origins of the music you listen to today are.
5/5 for just being King Crimson, and making music.

A quick run through the tracks:
1. "21st Century Schizoid Man" A disturbing piece of exploding jazzrock. One of KC's key songs, and also one of their best. 5/5
2. "I Talk to the Wind" A mellow ballad, with some nice playing and vocals. The weakest track in my opinion. 4/5
3. "Epitaph" Epic and haunting, with nice melltron sounds and drums. I also love the lyrics of this one. 5/5
4. "Moonchild" Some complains that this track is too long. I disagree. I love the improvised playing, it's very atmospheric. 4/5
5. "The Court of the Crimson King" If "Epitaph" was epic, then this is EPIC! I love the false ending, when the song comes back in the shape of a keyboard that sounds like something from Disney's "Snow White". And the chorus, ah the chorus! LOVELY! 5/5
Of course this record is worth five points!

The Music:
"21st Century Schizoid Man"- This is an almost hard rock song, and is a great way to open the album. This has excellent use of saxophones from Ian McDonald with Robert Fripp's excellent playing. This has an improvised jam in the middle that builds and progresses incredibly back into a reprise of the opening. This is an excellent way to open up the album.
"I Talk To the Wind"- This is a much mellower song in contrast to the previous heavier song. This isn't a particularly interesting song, and is actually kind of boring at times. It does, however, have a very catchy melody with some nice woodwinds, but isn't exactly a "standout" track.
"Epitaph"- Another softer (but more epic) song, with no really "aggressive" sections. I like this song much than the previous song that somewhat bored me, and this is one of the best songs off the album. This has an excellent chorus and great use of a Mellotron.
"Moonchild"- Well, this is the one reason this album is a rounded down to a four, not rounded up to a five. It has a nice (if not very memorable) melody at the beginning, but for the last 9 or 10 minutes it's just pure improvisation. It's very directionless, doesn't build at all, and I have never been a huge fan of free time, so by default I shouldn't like most of this song. I always stop this song at three minutes.
"In the Court of the Crimson King"- This is the masterpiece on the album. There are a few other great songs, but this is the climax of the album, and is a great closer. It, once again, has exceptionally good use of the Mellotron and I wouldn't argue that this song is anything short of a masterpiece.
Conclusion:
I do highly recommend this album to any progressive rock fan, and I won't deny this is a very important album historically and that this is a classic prog album. It has a few flaws, but they can all be excused in the presence of some of the greatest progressive rock ever recorded.
4/5 stars

Bill Bruford once said 'if you want to hear where music is going in the future, you put on a King Crimson album.' While this sounds a bit oddly self-serving coming from the drummer of the band, it is undeniably true. This album was working around with so many genres, some of which would not even come to fruition until a decade later.
There are few albums that still sound fresh years after they are put on the market, especially not from the realm of prog. Many prog albums from the 60s and 70s era have not aged well, to the point of the derogatory term 'dinosaur prog' being used in fair abundance. King Crimson's opus 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' however, demonstrates how fresh an album can remain if it has the right level of innovation in it.... and this album is in no short storage of innovation.
The album starts off with one of the heaviest songs of that generation, '21st Century Schizoid Man.' Never have I ever heard a song from the 1960s that sounded so heavy and 'metal.' From the first jazz-infused chords, it's clear that this is something special and an album worthy of it's praise. The tightness of the musicians is almost unparelleled, and despite such grim subject matter (a bleak, post-apocalyptic future) there still manages to be an energetic groove; especially in the middle, frantic section. To this day, '21st Century Schizoid Man' stands as being one of the most groundbreaking, landmark songs in all of rock music, and the obvious highlight to this already-superb album.
The two highlights of the album are the opener and closer; both classic tracks. It's easy to see why King Crimson is considered 'eclectic prog' from listening to this album. The aforementioned first track for example ,delves into jazz-fusion and proto-metal, whereas the title track has a heavy symphonic influence. I would not want to be the guy entrusted to properly catalogue a band as diverse as this!
The only downside of the album is the second half of the song 'Moonchild.' While the three 'middle' tracks aren't quite as memorable as the two monsters, they are all beautiful and melodic, except for the second half of 'Moonchild,' which really hurts the flow of the album. After a very calming ballad progresses for a few minutes, the songwriting and composition breaks down into a random jam, which would have been fine except for the fact that the jam is too mellow to retain much real interest for the listener. It's more or less a few minutes of relative silence until the great closer. Disregarding this however, the album is fantastic.
'In The Court Of The Crimson King' is an album that every prog fan owes himself to listen to. A dominating contender for my favourite King Crimson album (only challenged by 'The Power Believe.')
A progressive masterpiece, and King Crimson's quintessential work.

Here, finally it's time for me to review the debut album of King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King. Probably I have to begin with the fact I don't hear all these things the other members of the PA have heard. Moreover, I think very much people doesn't rate what they' ve heard, but something else - they rate the importance of this album for the birth of progressive rock as a genre with 5 stars, but not the album as a value for itself with 5 stars. It has been converted into a symbol of the genre and this overshadow the judgements of the real musical quality.
It contains some really good moments like precise voice of Greg Lake, the beginning of Moonchild and the last homonymous song - The Court of the Crimson King, which is the sole I could rate so high as 3.5 stars. On the other side: everything else are early samples of 60s rock music, I'll put the scraping on the first song - 21st Century Schizoid Man, middle- class songwriting and mediocre musicianship of the band members and I don't want to forget it is full of boring repetitions.
Yeah... the importance of this release can't be denied, because it is one of the first progressive rock albums. So what? All people repeat this. At the dawn of progressive rock music, it's obvious impossible to make something really good. It's a new genre - you have to pass through the worst things before reach the best. It's not necessary the first one to be one of the best. It's just the first one and nothing more. But here comes my next thought. It's not even the first one. Pink Floyd's A Saucerful of Secrets is earlier and it's progressive rock, too. But it's not a symbol of the genre.
So it's not the first, it's not the best from firsts... What's then? I suppose it's the debut album by British progressive rock band King Crimson. I'm looking forward to the next King Crimson album to be reviewed soon by me. For the debut not more than 2.5 stars!!!

I am not going into too much detail since this album has already been reviewed to death. Also, you just have to listen for yourself. So I will just say this is a great album. Robert Fripp is of course the undisputed God of prog but what I enjoy most about this album is the drumming of Michael Giles. While this is a great album, it is not perfect. Some parts drag a bit, and some are downright boring. This is especially so on Moonchild. It starts off great and the huge improv section I like, at first. The soft part is wonderful and soothing, but starts to drag.The more, "upbeat" section starting at around 5 minutes left is also good for a while, but drags near the end, and I am glad the song is over.
I was going to give this album five stars right off the bat, for its historical standing. However, I can not. I pride myself on analyzing albums on solely their music, and not any outside forces. So even though this album is the birth of prog...I have to give it four stars. Some parts just go on for way too long. Now if you have the chance to get this album, GET IT! It is a wonderful work and it is like owning a piece of musical history. However, the album is not perfect. Based on that, I give "In the Court of the Crimson King
Four Stars

The train hoots. Silence. And there comes the 21st Century Schizoid Man running out of the music boxes. Trumpetlike sounds urge him to hurry, guitars howl and the bass determines the speed. Brilliant. The court of the crimson king is still one of the most important measures of modern music. An unsurpassed piece of music and I do not need to add more words since much well-deserved compliments have been given in the past 40 years. Let me conclude with one remark: there are only a few albums in my collection where all songs have five stars. This album is one of them.

One of the reasons I waited so long with this review is my problem with rating it. This must be just about the only album in history I can actually reward with all 5 ratings. I will try to explain that by saying that in my most negative way of looking at this album I could give it one star because the music on it is not really my favorite style at all. I would pick all terrible moments (Moonchild's last ten minutes f.i.) and use them as a reason to give the one star. Same with two stars but then I would say there are some nice moments on some of the songs and use that as explanation. The most likely rating for my taste (and it has crossed my mind to actually give this) would be the three stars. Two very good songs (I talk to the wind and the title track), two that have good moments (Epitaph and the Schizoid song) and one that's more or less awful (Moonchild). This would justify a three star rating and in case I'm in a good and generous mood I could also give four stars for this view of the album.
But you know what I'm going to do ? I'm going to crank it up a notch and grant this album a bonus star for historical significance combined with my generosity and then I could give the full five here (like so many obviously did before me). And that's what it's going to be. I feel I've done enough harm to my reputation by giving the one star to Lark's Tongue (which I would do again if I could do it all over) and let's face it: this debut is indeed much much better and more bearable than the latter "masterpiece"'. So five it is and now if you'll excuse me I go back to my beloved neoprog where I belong ...


Overall, In The Court Of The Crimson King remains one of progressive rock's greatest masterpieces and deserves a high rating.

Even if you wouldn't like the music it's still a 5 star album as it's the landmark of prog rock. Not the best probably, but certainly the most important album of all. In the Court of the Crimson King kicked off a small decade of fruitful experimentation in rock, absorbed elements from classical music and jazz and ultimately created something that was bigger, louder and more ambitious then what rock used to be.
Granted, Crimson's album did not came out of nowhere: the Nice and many other bands had experimented with classical influences and Pink Floyd was (with Umma Gumma) even exploring deep space, but those bands where still rooted in the traditional 60's approach to rock song writing. They sure were extending the format, but did so with jamming your socks off inside the existing format. Instead, ItCotCK is something entirely new: long songs with alternating soft and loud parts that were fully composed, with crescendo's, climaxes, weird time signatures, instruments like the mellotron and so on and so on. No doubt. Progressive rock was born.
And historic relevance aside, the music is brilliant of course!

Songs:
21st Century Schizoid Man (including "Mirrors") (4 stars) The start of this song suggests an arrival at a train station but not one that you might recognize. Then horns and guitar explode in synchrony and a portrait of unstoppable insanity is painted in music and lyrics. In the midst of this song is "Mirrors" which is a long instrumental featuring some guitar sounds that I suspect are unique to Robert Fripp. The instrumental puts you on a rollercoaster ride through hell until you emerge back into the initial hard rock with horns insanity the songs starts out with. I mean all of this in a good way.
I Talk To The Wind (4 stars) In my music collection, this song probably has the most flower power. This song has a serenely gentle melody with vaguely passive aggressive mystical lyrics. The extent to which this song might sound dated is also the extent to which this song evokes a mood perhaps unique to its time. The song ends with a nice flute solo.
Epitaph (including "March For No Reason" and "Tomorrow and Tomorrow") (5 stars) In "cliche" saturated lyrics we hear the lamentation of one who looks for meaning and value in a world overruled by chaos and destruction. There is misery and emptiness in the instrumentation and mood of the music. "March For No Reason" invokes a pointless treading through wasteland; "Tomorrow and Tomorrow" seems to be the coda that launches you into an endless void.
Moonchild (including "The Dream" and "The Illusion") (3 stars) Quiet melody with lyrics that paint some fantasy image of a young girl in the language of the flower children. After two and a half minutes you are required to sit back and relax and let your imagination come in as an additional band member and visualize to some extent based on the quiet free form instrumentalization that occurs throughout the rest of the song. I find this enjoyable when I am sitting and relaxing, but not so much when I am otherwise active. This song fits into the album as a whole with its counterbalancing effect set against the strong, cold passions in the songs which flank it. This song will require some extra effort focus wise and will probably not appeal to many or even most. I can't say when "The Dream" ends and the "The Illusion" begins in this song...and I hope that that wasn't intended by the band because I felt like I just wrote another lyric for them...
The Court Of The Crimson King (including "The Return of the Fire Witch" and "The Dance of the Puppets") (4 stars) The mood of the music and the lyrics on this song suggests to me a sentimental looking back at some lost fantasy realm where magical figures performed their timeless ceremonies. "The Return of the Fire Witch" is an instrumental interlude where the music picks up a more hurried energy. "The Dance Of The Puppets" is another short instrumental interlude that relaxes into a quiet guitar and flute duet. This song seems to end at one point, but picks up again. A carnival sounding organ precedes a return to the timeless main theme. This time the melody is punctuated with additional instrumental and keyboard sounds that seem to suggest a kind of static degradation of the otherwise pure emotion/memory as if this whole fantasy world-album is now beginning to disintegrate.
Album: If The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper..." was a concept album, which it wasn't, then this album is a better concept album, which it isn't. "Sgt. Pepper...", The Moody Blues' "Days of Future Passed" and this album all bring the listener effectively into another world that reflects our own. The songs combine and reflect and contrast one another and produce a sense of a complex space. "In The Court Of The Crimson King" simply takes you further away from the world that we know. This album in its new sounds in both the instruments and in its production is a world unto itself and for this reason this album has a timeless quality even as it does, at times, sound dated. With its stark fantasy and powerful album cover, this album is often hailed as the first true progressive rock album. This album invites you on an imaginative journey full of strange glories and frightening darknesses. As such it engages the unconscious more strongly than is typical and for this reason qualifies this work as Art Rock in the truest sense of the term Art.
MP3 recommendation:
Essential (5 stars) 1. Epitaph (5 stars)
If you only get one song from this album I recommend Epitaph. It contains most of the great qualities found in the various songs on this album.

I am not going to talk about all the tracks seperately. I'd say it is a very impressive achievement that is stunningly loaded with energy, a musical madness, insanity at the gates of hell, and an experience that stays with you. Lacking the words to describe the feeling that is evoked specifically by this album I must end this review here and let the music do the rest of the job.

Many say that it's impressive that such an album as this was released back in 1969. The birth of prog say others. I'd even take it one step further. This is the album that could remain as the only progressive album, yet summarize just about everything that progressive rock was about.
The album starts off with the harder-than-metal-kick-in-the-face intro of "21st Century Schizoid Man" and in a few seconds breaking ground for zeuhl, heavy prog and (with the distorted vocals) even progressive metal. The song then leads into a wonderful instrumental jazz-rock middle section, before returning to the heavy riff from the beginning and ending with a seemingly uncontrolled frenzy that leads thoughts to the experimental/avant-gardistic side of progressive rock.
After this comes the beautiful prog ballad "I Talk to the Wind" and the dark and atmospheric "Epitaph", which combines emotion and complexity in an astonishing way. Both must-hears. Next track is "Moonchild", and judging from most of the earlier reviews, this particular child must be the bastard of the otherwise so perfect family. While most agree on the beauty of the ballad in the opening of the song, the following ten minutes of free-form improvisation remain controversial. While I honestly can't argue for its musical brilliance, I can't skip the track either, as it offers a both entertaining and relaxing journey and serves as a perfect build-up for what's to come.
The final track of the album. Pompous. Grandiose. A true symphonic masterpiece. This is Progressive rock in a nutshell.
Okay, so what I tried to say here is that this album is very special. Not only because it was so early, but because it had glimpses of so many the "main" sub-genres of prog. Not only are these glimpses performed. They are performed in such a fashion, that we can be sure that King Crimson would be a leading inspiration of whatever sub-genre they might have chosen.

It begins with the hard-rocking, proto-metal "21st Century Schizoid Man", which successfully blends metal, jazz, rock, and prog into a heavy, bruising monster of a song. Next is the gentle, serene "I Talk to the Wind", which soothes the listener after the preceding barrage, leading him or her into a peaceful state. Then comes the melancholy Epitaph, which seems builds of the previous track, though the placid soundscapes have now turned into an atmosphere of sadness and mourning. And then comes the center of this album's controversy- Moonchild. I side with the camp that states that the first two or three minutes are great, taking the melancholy of Epitaph and transforming it into outright depression- but this then turns into a messy, boring, overly experimental jam- however, if you're a fan of randomness and experimentation, then you may like this- all music is subjective, and some may find this 10-minute slab appealing, while others may deem it repulsive. However, the album goes out of the gate strong, with the epic title track, which is almost stereotypically prog, particularly the heavy use of mellotrons and the medieval lyrics- this is probably the second best track on the album, after the opener. I have two reasons why I give this album 5 stars, despite the fact that Moonchild drags on way too long: First, the four other songs and the first quarter of the aforementioned track are brilliant, and second, this album is the epitome and the beginning of progressive rock as we know it, and while I don't like to say that ANYTHING is ABSOLUTELY essential, I must say that, to get prog rock, this epic album by one of prog's greatest bands is required listening. Highly recommended to anybody.

From the beginning, with "21st Century Schizoid Man", the album is a constant delight of fantastic music. This dark, menacing track is followed by a really beautiful tune, "I Talk to the Wind", which almost takes us to a bucolic, pastoral scene, but one that is a little bit darker than what it looks like. Fripp and his bandmates could do melody, after all. Then we have another brilliant success: "Epitaph", a longer, slow song, with an epic feel to it, that reeks of 60s-70s magic, with a fantastic vocal performance. "Moonchild" is the reason many people either love or hate this record (around here we'll find more of the first ones, though). After a rather melodic start, we have about 8 minutes of pure sychedelic improvisation -or it it really-? Everything is just little details: few notes and chords here and there, dissonances, drum fills that are short and barely noticeable, a rock band ahead of its times, in a word. Finally, probably the best track in the album after "Epitaph" is the title-track, which follows directly and blends perfectly with "Moonchild". Another long epic, the chorus is just magnificent. A reaffirmation of the majestic, arrogant (in the best of ways) music we just have heard.
The musicianship is amazing, the flow of the album is perfect, with a symphonic feel to it. A perfect masterpiece that's considered the first proper progressive rock album, and that deserves all its accolades not because is the first, but because it's one of the very best. Anything lower than 5 stars is just unthinkable for me.


1. "21st Century Schizoid Man" - 8.5/10
2. "I Talk to the Wind" - 9/10
3. "Epitaph" - 8.5/10
4. "Moonchild" - 6/10
5. "The Court of the Crimson King" - 8.5/10
40.5/5 = 81% = 4(-) stars

Because honestly, In the Court of the Crimson King is intoxicatingly beautiful, confident and yet is still brave enough to explore. Each track is so well balanced and each has a unique quality which diversifies the entire album as a whole. And what even blows my mind even more is that this album was released in 1969. I was expecting to see a release date of at least mid to late 70's but for them to be making this level of intricate music in 1969 is truly impressive.
Its almost criminal that so few people know the name of King Crimson. Its even more criminal that I just listened to this album for the first time less then a week ago. I never knew, and no one around me (young or old) knows who king Crimson is. I plan to change that as much as I can from this point on.
In the end, the Court of the Crimson King is truly and excellent album, which never gets old, and always leaves me wanting to re listen.

But first of them was ItCotCK (terrible acronym). Rocking first, calm ballad like second, philosophical third, jamming fourth and conclusion in fifth, take this as my epitaph to this album. Something like Marty was here, because for most people, this is well known album that they don't have to listen again. And even I feel like saying a lot about this record, what else can be said. So let's finish this with cliché
5(-) with one exception - Moonchild, where I'm not so sure that it's so exceptional song. More research needed. Anyway, before I entered PA forum. I though that it's shame song, really bad one, but certain people made me think about it. And so I did.

I went home and put on this CD. The first track was outstanding. There were a lot of complex moments, crazy instrumentals and everything that makes prog unique. I was excited to hear the rest of this CD.
However, I soon realized that there is only one progressive song on here, the first one. The next four tracks are all slow songs. Sure, they are ok songs over all, but they are not progressive rock. The drums aren't doing anything complex. The lyrics are repetitive. Moonchild has to be one of the most boring songs I've ever heard. All it is is the band members randomly playing their instruments with no pattern or anything.
I don't recommend this CD to anyone who likes up tempo progressive rock. However, if you are a person who likes mostly slower songs, this may satisfy you.


Untarnished by continuous radio airplay, In The Court Of The Crimson King was more of an artist's album that veered off the beaten track of the American R&B trends of the day, almost consciously deviating from a standard six bar blues substructure. Virtually devoid of individual solos, the grandiose multi-sectioned compositions featured odd time signatures and unusual instrumental combinations that demanded concise execution and concentration from all band members. No Keith Moons or Jimi Hendrixes here. Despite the macabre nature of the abstract free imagery contained in the lyrics, it still managed to appeal to the hippies while inspiring and setting precedents for a new generation of artsy bands that would surface over the next few years. Not only did the sepulchral lyrics create dense atmospheres, compressed walls of mellotrons and the uncanny use of angry saxes and delicate woodwinds contributed to it's fierce and imposing sound whose tension was occasionally alleviated by sullen passages by the woodwinds as well as the guitar. The album can also attribute it's unique sound to things that went wrong in the studio, from misaligned tape heads to lost master tapes that resulted in an overall muted sound ironically creating even darker cohesive textures throughout.
Although the sound deficiencies were compensated for on a 2004 remaster after some lost tapes were discovered ( and to a greater extent on a 2009 5CD blowout ), the full audio-visual effect of In The Court Of The Crimson King : An Observation by King Crimson ( Phew ! The name even gives the impression that something huge is about to transpire ! ) must be heard in it's original vinyl format in order for it's exquisite splendour to be explored and revered. I can only imagine what it must have been like to listen to this creature for the first time in October 1969 holding the foreboding album sleeve in hand gazing at the paranoid Edvard Munch meets Wiliam Blake artwork of Barry Godber, wondering what might lurk behind those glaring eyes of the 21st Schizoid Man, the subject of the chaos and cacophony of the opening track with it's classic plodding main riff written by vocalist/bassist Greg Lake and reed man Ian Macdonald. Covers by everyone from Ozzy Osbourne to April Wine ( who arguably do the most credible version ) not only bear testimony to it's lasting appeal, but it has also been ressurected on the 2005 Crimson Jazz Trio's 2005 CD, The King Crimson Songbook ( featuring original drummer the late Ian Wallace ) which reveal it's free jazz possibilities. It's restive metaphorical lyrics could be a contemporary comment on the Vietnam war but like the lyrical chaos and catchy idioms that persevere throughout the album, Pete Sinfield's dark, philisophical lyrics captured listener's imaginations and delved deeper into their conciousness like no album that prededed it. An onslaught of mellotrons and harmonized vocals colour the four other elongonated tracks ( I Talk To The Wind, Epitaph, Moonchild and In The Court Of The Crimson King ) which served as templates for so many bands that would surface in the early seventies, which would adopt and integrate the profound classical musical devices, dynamics and forms of these prototypical art rock compositions into their own musical endeavours. A definitive ground breaking album that confronted the unknown, In The Cort Of The Crimson King would even recieve positive reaction from the musical press who would later lambaste recordings from bands like Yes and Genesis and King Crimson themselves who would harvest and filter components from the work gradually turning this new high art music concept into clichés that by 1974-75 at times bordered on the ridiculous . With some notable exceptions, King Crimson well nigh took what would become known as progressive rock to it's verge here and could quite arguably be credited with both it's creation and destruction on this leviathan recording.
A nonetheless undisputed revolutionary audio document from countless perspectives, In The Court Of The Crimson King sits as comfortably on the shelf with other innovative recordings from Stravinsky or Coltrane as it does with The Beatles or The Sex Pistols and is quite simply one of the most important recordings of the 20th century period.

On this the band's debut album, King Crimson fused elements of rock, classical and jazz to produce a monumental epic. From the metal jazz-rock of 21st Century schizoid Man, to the pastoral balladry of I Talk To The Wind and the ambient soundscapes of Moonchild, this is a truly groundbreaking work. However, for me the most striking aspect of the recording is the prominence given to the Mellotron on the albums two orchestral pieces; the crescendo-laden Epitaph, and The Court Of The Crimson King, which features some of the most exhilarating use of the instrument to be heard anywhere. The feeling of incredible power in these two tracks is almost tangible.
I first heard this album in 1972 when a friend at school lent me his copy. He had told me that it was choc-full of swathes of Mellotron, therefore I had expected something akin to my beloved Moody Blues or Barclay James Harvest. Imagine my reaction when the strains of Schizoid Man erupted from my speakers! Of course, I soon grew to love this track along with all the others; I even enjoy listening to the much-maligned ambient improvisation of Moonchild.
From the reviews on PA it is evident that this album is held in great reverence by many prog fans, and rightly so. 5 stars... and then some!

Each track is an inventive, original work, and each is representative of progressive rock as a whole; the heavy "21st Century Schizoid Man" has remained Crimson's most well-known song, and it is, like the record's other pieces, a depressing, scary, joyless melody that presents the world as a place of suffering and discrimination. "I Talk to the Wind" is certainly a change of directions, showing more of a folk influence than a bombastic jazz one, as the previous track did. Following is the horribly somber "Epitaph", which, like most Crimson songs, labels the world an uninviting place. The melody itself is really quite funereal, featuring grim atmospheric elements through Robert Fripp's acoustic guitar and Ian McDonald's keyboards. The fourth track, "Moonchild", is an interesting affair; it begins as a seemingly innocent ballad, but develops into an intense, jazzy jamming session, a la the Allman Brothers. The album closes with the beautiful "The Court of the Crimson King", which, to this very day, remains one of King Crimson's masterpieces. The heavy mellotron riff fits the melancholy mood excellently, and the result is absolutely brilliant.
This record is an absolute must-have for any fan of the progressive rock genre.

In The Court of the Crimson King has been called a great deal of hyperbolic things, a masterpeice, a birth of an entire genre, sublime, agressive, timeless, chaotic, you name it. But even though I've given this album five stars, it isn't quite perfect- but this is part of it's brilliance.
For a start, the album only has one agressive, chaotic track, the opener, which of course everyone here has heard an praised over and over. It combines rock sensibility and jazz ablilty in a fantastic statement that echoes out throughout the seventies, progressive rock and beyond. It is a great track, but it largely misrepresents the album- the album never again reaches this level or type of instensity, after all these years listening to it, it always seems to me to be very much out of place. How odd. But no matter. It's followed up by a flute-driven ditty that is ridiculously simple and benign in comparison, with some laid back lyrics and quiet sensibility. What a contrast. But of course, contrast and dynamic shifts is what prog is all about! So this switch is actually a stroke of genious, and the track actually is pretty brilliant. But then the flutes are ditched, just like the saxophone was ditched before that, replaced by that famous sample-playback machine, the mellotron, with those famous wide doom-laden strings. King Crimson seem to have oddly followed up a ballady peice with another ballady peice, how odd. This one in itself contains the musical dynamics which are now a hallmark of prog, and takes the emotional intensity back up again, but in a totally different way to the opener- instaead of tortured animalism, we have tempered intellectualism. Another stroke of genious. Another brilliant track. But oh dear. Moonchild. Easily the worst track on the album. Quite a nice song turns into ten minutes of what feels like mucking about in the dark. Dissapointing. Only once can i remember listening to this track all the way through without skipping. But improvisation! on a 'rock' album? Genious, once again. Not to my taste but to plenty of others' it seems. And then it ends with the title track (kind of), rather a rehash of the dynamics and mellotron of Epitaph, the first and only time the album repeats itself stylistically, with an anthemic sound that is magnificent and grandiose, a genious track also- with only one track that has something in common with those before it, it manages to make the album feel like a whole- uncanny.
So in closing, it shouldn't make sense that this is one of the two best and cohesive albums King Crimson has ever done (the other being Red), but it is. Essential prog in the strictest sense- even if this isn't where it really all started, its certainly the first one chronologically most worthy of paying attention to. In the Court of the Crimson Kiiiing.... aaaaahhhhhh....

21st Century Schizoid man is a wild song with an awesome guitar solo. I Talk to the Wind is such a beautiful song. The flutes are just dreamy. Epitaph is a very dark, dramatic song with great arpeggios from Robert Fripp. Moonchild is pretty great for the first few minutes, with nice experrimentation for the last 14 minutes. And In the Court of the Crimson King is the perfect end to this album, telling a great little story.
I've never connected the lyrics myself, but some say this album is a concept album/rock opera. The only prevalent theme I can imagine is innovation and awesomeness throughout the whole album. 5 stars, easy.

Unlike King Crimson's future works, which are more specialized brands of music, there's really something here for everyone. Whether you're looking for the frenetic pacing that KC is most known for, a soft ballad, grandiose symphonies, or weird experimentation, ITCOTCK will more than likely have at least one song that you'll fall in love with. About 85% of the album is sheer bliss, while some of the experimentation and jamming the band gets into is interesting the first few times around, but quickly becomes tiring.
I would not say that any one instrument really defines this album. It's really the combination, and the sheer chaos, of all of the instruments working together that make these songs such a joy to listen to. You might think that it would get out of hand (to be fair, it does occasionally), but these arrangements, while crazy, still manage to be very well structured. While you'd be hard pressed to find a guitar solo on this album, there are a few special moments that make you rewind and go, "wait, that was guitar?" that are among my favorite moments. Also to be noted is the use of Mellotron, which is simply fantastic, and is surely one of the top examples of the instrument. The vocals/lyrics are arguably the best that KC would ever achieve, and are truly a joy to listen to.
So 40 years later, whether it was the first prog album or not doesn't really matter. The simple fact is that this is a fantastic piece of music. Even though not every song is perfect, and you may even want to skip one every time, you simply must hear this to fully understand the genre.

Overall, In the Iourt of the Crimson King maintains a much higher musical standard that Stg. Pepper's. King Crimson are simply more talented players and the tracks which made the cut for the album are much more interesting. What I would consider to be the flaw with the album is just how long winded it is. The compositions all easily hold my attention at first, but then proceed to linger in the same ground for too long.
The influence of jazz music on In the Court of the Crimson King is very apparent. I think it must nearly qualify as a fusion album. Much like the fusion classic, Heavy Weather, In the Court jumps right up with the most exciting and entertaining piece on the album; probably one of the things which makes it so significant. The wailing guitars and saxophone along with the fuzzed out vocals are perfect for the aptly named 21st Century Schizoid Man. Taken on its own this song is a masterpiece.
Again like Heavy Weather, the album takes an abrupt drop off in intensity. Unlike Heavy Weather however, it scarcely recovers any of that intensity. What I can say though is that the slow portions or In the Court are far more entertaining than those on Heavy Weather. I think owing to a difference in pop-music intentions. The first track of the rest of the album is I Talk to the Wind. It is a flighty psychedelic piece. The lyrics, vocals and that smooth jazz influenced drumming are excellent. The rest of the piece is made up primarily of woodwinds making for a very gentle journey; one which might end in a journey straight to bed. I Talk to the Wind is representative of the aforementioned long winded quality of the album.
After 21st Century Schizoid Man, Epitaph is the most interesting piece. Greg Lake is again excellent, this time instead of woodwinds the primary backing music is a distant mellotron later joined by an acoustic guitar. I would say it is sonically superior to its predecessor and therefore easier to forgive it when it drags out a bit through the middle.
In my review for ELP's eponymous album, I was critical of the unstructured improvisational style. It's unpredictable and often responsible for more harm than good. This criticism surfaces again on Moonchild. Interestingly enough like on ELP, I really just wish Greg Lake kept singing. Moonchild is very sparse and I often lose interest during its extended improvisation. Closing out the album is the not quite title track, the Court of the Crimson King. This is probably the liveliest piece after the opener, but it is still nowhere close. I think its closest relative on the album is I talk to the Wind for its vocal style and use of flutes. The singing does get more intense at times and it is cut up by Epitaph style mellotron stretches. I don't really know what to make of the dissonant staccato keyboard portion, not really a fan.
In the Court of the Crimson King is a stronger more entertaining album than any of the others which I brought up throughout the review. I can see why to certain tastes this album would qualify as a four or more often five star entry. However, I find following the frantic introduction in stays at a near coma level of activity. There is some really good stuff in there, but not when you compare it to the elephant on the album. Schizoid Man is essential, but the album as a whole really only qualifies as good, three out of five stars.

Already, virtually everything can be said about this album already has been said, and so this will be a very short review. But in a nutshell: this is one of highest-rated, most beloved Crimson records, and it's just their first release! These guys were amazing and revered before they even had a hit, and they weren't making music for commercial success or status; they simply wanted to make great music. And make great music, they did. I wish that attitude would be more common among so many of the modern-day Proggers.
Everything on this album has a magnificent sheen of brilliance and polish. From the kick-to-the-face Jazz-Rock epic opener that is ''21st Century Schizoid Man'' all the way to the majestic title tack album closer, this record is a resounding piece of musical history that should not be missed. I am one of those people who tends to look at the biggest hyped works of art with a closer eye than others, since I do believe a work can get 'too much credit', but in the case of In The Court of The Crimson King, all the praise is well-deserved.
Of course it can be argued that the band would later go on to do even better things in the future, but this is where their legacy began, and few other bands can say they hit it out of the park on the very first try. It's an enormous accomplishment and an iconic piece of music. Minor flaws here and there might be a huge deal to some, but as far as I am concerned, this is an album you shouldn't pass up. It's certainly one of the greater works of the decade, and while not fully 5-star material in my personal opinion, I think enough people have already given all the reasons why you should in fact pick up a copy of this monumental record.
So on a personal level, this is 4 out of 5, but don't fret; it's still one of the better records of the era, and a must-have for Psychedelic Jazz-Rock fans, or followers of King Crimson. Ideally, everybody should give this one a try once. It might be a little unevenly-paced for some, but as a complete experience, it was hard to beat at the time, and it's still a grand, well-loved work of art to this day.
Happy listening.

After giving this album a few more listens, I've really fallen in love with it. Each track has a life of its own, yet while listening to the album, I never feel like it skips a beat. 21st Century Schizoid Man is frightening and powerful and about halfway through the song when it goes into double time is very cool. I Talk To the Wind is mellow and features the flute. Epitaph is despairing and can bring you to tears if you let it. Moonchild is gentle and mystical and the five minute avant garde jam session is interesting. The final track in this album is very powerful and dark.
I don't have many elegant words to describe this album. Every composition is very strong and very different. ITCOTCK is a very unique King Crimson album and is a must-have for every fan of progressive music. This album is flawless and prog at its best. 5/5


Yeah, really, if you don't like prog or you don't "get it", this is the album you should listen to. It's very easy, everything is there: creative songwriting, unexpected melodies, conceptual ideas, great performance and a music way more sophisticated than what was fashionable at the time. Yeah, an album that has already 41 years old it's still the reference to "get" and enjoy prog. That's it.
King Crimson is basically Robert Fripps solo work. Well, at the time this was really a group but has changed line ups all the time, but at this time, this was a team work and everything is great about this album.
I don't have too many words to add to the others reviews. Just that if you are a prog fan and you still don't have heard this album, you should do it, right now and see where prog rock emerged. The melodies are creative, innovative, the orchestration is outstanding and the quality of the production is great. 5 stars. This is THE masterpiece. Go now and check it out. You won't regret it.

"...knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules, the fate of all mankind I see is in the hands of fools.. "
Right from the beginning, King Crimson are doing what they do best - they are being creative, proving themselves a pioneering driving force in the yet to be fully defined genre.
I would have to say that this is the one of the darkest albums I have ever listened to. The aura of tragedy is just, beautiful.. that mellotron moves me every time! Not only with poetry, but with the music itself, the artists capture the darkness of their message so brilliantly.
Perhaps the season of inspiration of this lineup was just too great to last. We all know the story now don't we?
"21st Century Schizoid Man", "Epitaph" and "In the Court of the Crimson King" surely changed rock, prog, and the world of MUSIC forever in 1969.
A must listen for all who love art!

The main reason why In the Court of the Crimson King is to be considered the first progressive rock album, in detriment of other contenders, like Days of Future Past, is that... it is progressive. Tempo, rhythm and climate changes, subdivisions within songs, along with high degrees of experimentalism and musicianship.
Since there really is not much I can say to add up to the common knowledge, the reviews already made, and the hints to those newcomers yet to discover In the Court of the Crimson King, all I want to do is give my personal impressions about it.
In the Court is one of the classic rock albums that failed to catch my senses for many years before I began to truly enjoy it (some of the others are Tommy and Aqualung). It was not until I listened to Larks' Tongues in Aspic that my renewed interest in King Crimson finally opened my ears to the qualities of their first album.
The weight and distortion of 21st Century Schizoid Man makes a perfect opener and still a favourite among fans, but not particularly appealing to me, though within time I came to like it. I Talk to the Wind is its counterpart, light, melodic and more conventional, with beautiful flute work. Probably the less progressive song in the album. Moonchild, after a beautiful opening, drags into 10 minutes of minimalistic, hardly audible, music - and not much seductive even if you turn the volume to maximum. Just 10 minutes waste of tape and time. Epitaph and the title track are the strongest songs to me, I love the dark mood and Mellotron of the former, and the subdivisions of the latter, especially the brilliant section where the main theme is repeated solo by the flute - a much shorter and smarter example of minimalism.
The other reason why this album didn't get to me at first is the voice of Greg Lake. He hadn't still developed his skills as singer and interpreter. Sometimes his voice sounds in the wrong place and even off key. Still, not a major flaw. It is mainly because of the 10-minute equivocal of Moonchild that I give In the Court 4 stars, instead of the 5 stars that, aside that, would be very well deserved.

After this breathtaker, the album changes dramaticly, into the sweetest ballad, "I Talk to the Wind" Wonderful melodic vocals, wonderfull Flute solo's, Another Masterpiece and compleetly contrasting the first one. Notably the drumming is still very much part of what makes this take that special.
Now to the side 1 closer, Epitaph, my favorite track, and the track that to me defines the birth of Symphonic prog. , the heavy use of melotron and woodwind, gives the track a deepness and almost classical music feel, even though both Guitars, Bass, and drumming shows a clear rock tradition. Prog rock at its best.
Side 2 opens with the epic 12 min.+ Moonchild, often described as the weekpoint of the album, Not mainly because of the song, that takes up the first 2-3 min, but due to the following allmost 10 minutes of improvisation, without much melody. I dont hate this piece as much as others tend to do, its an integrated part of the album, and its defining prog. as a genre of experimentation. Hard to imagine the album without it, after all those years, isnt it ?
The closing track is the legendary title song, more than nine minutes of symphonic prog at its best, The melotron again very dominant, and this time a very strong use of choral vocals, everytime the verse hits the word "king", combined with a strong flute solo in the mid section, gives the distinctSymphonic feel to the track. Again a masterpiece, that has defined to many, what prog. rock should be, and what King Crimson was at the time, they gave birth to prog. rock.
Even though lyrics dosent mean much to me, in this case Peter Sinfields words are perfectly matching the moods on every track, storytelling not just songs. Depressing but sweet. The album, is the one most people would say defines prog. rock and King Crimson at its best, even though many hardcore crimson fans, tends to like the wetton period as much as the debut. Couldent find an album that deserves those 5 stars more than this one.

In the illustrious 'Court of the Crimson King', one can discover five songs that blend whimsical folk melodies, dark jazz workouts and paranoid polyrhythms in an enormous symphonic vessel, drenched with thick mellotron and that 'quintessential English charm' that prog fans always bang on about. The lyrics are about as poetic as things get around here (think Thomas Hardy on acid?) and the instrumentalists deliver virtuosity and emotion in seemingly correct ratios; that is, constant lightning-fast drum fills trapped beneath melodic bass lines, with delicate yet calculated guitar and some beautiful flute decoration. Occasionally the saxophonist blows his own trumpet, resulting in confusion all around. The first track 'Schizoid Man' is deceptively cool. After a dosage of heavy jazz riffs and distorted vocals (Metallica take note) the whole affair shifts into an improvisational workout, carrying Fripp's first ever maniacal guitar solo, although perhaps thankfully the only one on this album. While something in the vein of Larks' Tongues in Aspic would benefit from the guitarist's angular and dissonant style, this record suits the modest, 'Wimbourne village' side of Fripp (since when were place names adjectives though?). Two double-tracked squealing saxes follow and the steadier opening theme is reprised. Structure brings clarity to chaos; a successful formula.
Remaining tracks fit into the epic symphonic category or the calm jazz one. Each one creates a mood; easier said than done, although it's notable that none of these moods are particularly optimistic. Medieval, apocalyptic, schizophrenic? it's no wonder Mr Fripp seeks to create mostly instrumental music these days! The highlights on this album come not from Peter Sinfield's baroque rambling, but rather the emotions bleeding from the Spanish guitars, woodwinds and of course, that omnipresent mellotron. An epic finale of a title-track leaves the listener satisfied and likely to come back for more, but the band would outgrow this style (and indeed most of these members) within the next couple of years.
Largely without flaws, 'In the Court of the Crimson King' retains a certain power each time I take it for a spin. Complimented by a strikingly apt cover image and an (unfortunately short-lived) chemistry within the band, this debut already says a lot about the genre it popularised. Things would get a lot more interesting from here on in.

"In The Court Of The Crimson King" is the quintessential Prog Rock album.
King Crimson are one of those bands that could be loved by anybody: their extremely proud of their eclecticism, as every album they've ever released is different in a way from the rest. In the case of their debut "In The Court Of The Crimson King", well, nothing sounded quite like that before, and much of progressive music sounded like it after. Indeed, it is absolutely the best, most important and influential Progressive Rock album of all time.
This mighty creature is the result of legendary guitarist Robert Fripp's genius, sided by a band that is to die for: Greg Lake on bass guitar and vocals, Ian McDonald on all wind instruments plus mellotron, Micheal Giles on drums, and last, but not least, Pete Sinfield, the lyricist. Together, they were King Crimson, however the lineup after this release will change on almost every album released. Before 1969, only a few Progressive Rock traces were around, and this album gave a huge push to the genre, bringing up all the elements of Prog, Art Rock, Jazz Fusion, carefully mixing them all together, all in a little more than forty minutes. ITCOTKC has, like I said, all the elements of progressive rock, before the genre was developed: it has the aggressive, virtuous, multi time changing song ("21st Century Schizoid Man"), the soft, flute based ballad ("I Talk To The Wind"), the melancholic, yet extremely apocalyptic and mellotron based song ("Epitah"), the minimalistic, the quirky tones mixed with free improvisation ("Moonchild"), the epic sounding soundscapes ("The Court Of The Crimson King"). This album has it all, even though, for the most skeptical ones, this album might seem inconsistent, like I use to feel, because it had one strong, in your face song and the rest were mellow. But it actually is, for the already explained reasons, one of the most complete albums in terms of sound.
Lyrically, the album is extremely enigmatic, fascinating, evoking fantastic situations, people and creatures: dancing puppets, witches, and what more, are present, especially in the last track; however, there are many other themes echoing all over the album, such as grief, confusion, worrying, frustration, but also cheerfulness and sweetness, but they are written with such a mysterious touch that they are not at all thorny and complex.
The opener "21st Century Schizoid Man" is one of the fundamental pieces of Progressive Rock, adding in strong elements of Jazz Fusion, thanks to the massive presence of the sax. The main riff has become pretty much a trademark for the genre. "I Talk To The Wind" easily is one of the best ballads of all time, the soft tones are just of an incredible power, that haven't aged a bit, thanks to the magical wind instruments that create them. "Epitah" a solemn, beautiful, mysterious song, with enigmatic lyrics, a great flow, and great instrumentation overall, especially concerning the mellotron. Most of "Moonchild" consists of a minimalistic instrumental improvisation, but the actual, only riff here is the softest you'll get from this album. A memorable and wonderful track, even counting the frequent odd moments. "The Court Of The Crimson King" is the perfect ending for an album, with an epic, once again solemn tone, with a gigantic riff and beautiful, soothing vocals; even in the quieter moments, the emotion is always there, just like in all the forty three minutes of music in the entire LP.
Even after more than forty years, "In The Court Of The Crimson King" is and remains a masterpiece of modern music, a landmark achievement that will always be remembered. An essential listen not only for who loves Progressive Rock, but for everybody who listens to any kind of music.

Of course, one should note that its impact and importance wasn't completely for the better. On the one hand, its overnight success inspired many bands that might not have otherwise done so to take up the prog genre, and that wasn't (at least in the short term) necessarily a good thing. It's no concidence for me that the outpouring of terrific prog albums began not one year later, but two years later - 1970 is filled to the brim with clumsy transitional albums by talented bands that wanted to be prog but hadn't quite figured out the genre's finer points. There were some exceptions (Gentle Giant, though it's VERY much like this album, or H to He by Van Der Graff Generator, though even they put out their own mediocre prog album that year in The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other, or ELP, which is nearly as good as this one is), but they were just that, exceptions.
There's also the fact that, ultimately, this album, in my humble opinion, helped shorten the shelf-life of "quality" prog (in its purest form). Most genres have a lengthy "embryonic" stage, where the rules and boundaries and positive qualities of the genre are established. Then there's a "peak" period, where a slew of solid albums are released within the genre, and afterwards there's a decline, where high quality output gets harder and harder to find. In the Court of the Crimson King had the interesting effect of completely eliminating the "embryonic" stage in one fell swoop. Ultimately, 95% of all the further developments of the genre were embellishments of the ideas presented here, and while that allowed for greatness for a good while, the possibilities were capped simply by this fact.
Alright, enough of the peripheral impact of this album, let's talk about the music. The most important member of the band at this point, despite what "Fripp runs everything" proponents might believe, was mellotronist/saxophonist/flautist Ian McDonald, who also played the biggest role in the songwriting. The melodies are heavily based in a classical, operatic tradition (except for the opener, of course), with some connections to regular pop but much more bombastic. Still, the melodies are GOOD, so even somebody who might hate the idea of pretense in music might still get a kick out of the quality tunes found here. The arrangements tend to follow suit - the mellotrons create an overwhelming symphonic effect at times, while the drumming (courtesy of Michael Giles) is deep, echoey and, yup, bombastic. Fripp is mostly downplayed (except, again, on the first track), yet makes his presence felt with some brilliantly beautiful electric and acoustic lines.
The vocals and lyrics also fit firmly into the bombast motif. Pete Sinfield contributes the lyrics (though nothing else), and while they're as pretentious as all get-out, they're not imageless by any means. It actually helps to listen to the lyrics the way you'd listen to the lyrics of an opera - listen to the sounds of the words, occasionally pick up on a moving or repeated line here and there, and just let them blend into the instrumentation. Granted, Sinfield turned out to be a HORRID influence, provoking whomever to jot down the most pretentious yet meaningless stuff imaginable ("All we are is dust in the wind!" - I'm grumpy towards Kansas, what can I say), and even he himself wasn't so great all the time, but on this album, he's more or less ok. And besides, it helps that he has Greg Lake to sing his lines - of all the voices in rock, I can't think of anybody more suited to bombastic, near operatic-singing, and he allows all the lines, good and bad, to come alive.
Now, at this point, I should start talking about the actual songs. Problem is, this album has been reviewed a 100 zillion times by people like mine, and I'm not sure there's ANYTHING left to say about them that hasn't been said. So here's the general breakdown - if you want more details, just piece them together from the other reviews on the net (including on this site).
"21st Century Schizoid Man": Booming guitar-based rhythm track, distorted screaming vocals, beautifully apocalyptic lyrics, incredible mid-song sax-guitar jam, WILD Hendrix- style guitar soloing.
"I Talk to the Wind": Lovely melody, lots of flutes, ultra-pretentious lyrics, nice breather between epics.
"Epitaph": Brilliant melody, layers of well-constructed bombast, lots of mellotron and woodwinds, terrific lyrics, AWESOME vocals, beautiful guitar solo, lengthy but not overlong fadeout.
"Moonchild": Major mis-hit of the album, first two minutes are a decent ballad, next ten are quiet and incoherent rambling jamming on vibes and bits of percussion. Blargh.
"In the Court of the Crimson King": Ultra-bombastic, brilliant melody, TERRIFIC harmonies following the chorus, lots of mellotron, lots of variation on the main theme.
There you have it. Again, if you go to this album looking for the pinnacle of prog, you'll be disappointed, but if you come here looking for where it all began AND why anybody cared in the first place, you won't be let down.

Lead by the incendiary genius of Robert Fripp, KC have concocted an album which incorporates equal parts jazz rock with breath-taking symphonic bombast a la mellotron. Adopting the 'shock and awe' formula: Court careens from the incredable maelstrom of Schizoid Man, through the mornful jazz of I Talk to the Wind & Moonchild and then into the epic aureas Epitaph and the title track. The instrumentation varys wildly with jazzy flute and sax mixing with electric and acoustic guitar along with the ever present mellotron. Special mention goes to the subtle drumming of Michael Giles who is undoubtably the best procussionist KC ever possessed. The lyrics, which expess the disillusion and dislocation of the individual from society, are much more serious than you'll find with most prog bands; although Pete Sinfield mixes in healthy doses of fantasy as well. The overall mood is perfectly expessed by the spectacularly frightening cover art.
The real stength of Court lies in the album's internal tension which at times (on Schiziod Man) threatens to tear the music apart and at times becomes almost unbearable. Sometimes this beast of sound rampages freely and sometimes it is restrained but KC controls it so that it always treatens to break loose. What would the title track be without Moonchild's long outtro? Part silence, part roaring fury; it makes for a truly engaging experience. Dispite what you may think about the quality of the music (and judging by the amount of glowing reviews, there are few who doubt it), Court epitomizes the genre we all love. It IS brilliant, it IS daring, it IS a masterpiece. This is the album that puts 'progressive' in progressive rock.

The importance of this album is undisputed. It is an album that defined the term progressive rock . It is also the grandfather of a lot of albums in this genre. So full marks for that.
Music wise.......... It starts with the classic 21st Century Schizoid Man. It is an excellent song, although not one of my favorite songs.I Talk To The Wind on the other hand is a masterpiece and one of my all time favorite songs. It is very lyrical and poetic. Epitaph is off course another classic King Crimson song and a brilliant one too. I do not care too much about Moonchild where the avant-garde is to overwhelming. The title track is another classic King Crimson song which sums up the 1960s in a nutshell. So what we have here is four classic tracks and one not so great track. Hence my four and a half sprinkling of stars.
This album is though an essential album in anyone's collection. I am sure I will still enjoy this album when I am drinking black coffee from a straw in a rocking chair and tell the nurses when I drove to the planet Mars in an 1979 model Volvo car. The joy of old age and senility..........
4.5 stars

It's not the first progressive rock album. Many bands were playing progressive rock at the time (not that it was called progressive rock). Pink Floyd, The Nice, Frank Zappa to name just a few were experimenting with the edges of what would become prog. But this album changed everything. This album was heavy. This album was deep. This album was dark. This album pushed the boundaries of rock music. And this album was pure prog. And it paved the way for many of our favorite bands, and helped them become the monster they were in the seventies.
Stangely enough, not one of the songs on this album come close to my list of favorite tracks, even by this band. But back in the early seventies, when I first heard the album, I could not stop listening to it. It was a gateway to ELP, Yes, Gentle Giant....
To me, it may have been surpassed my many other albums, but it is essential.
For that I give it five stars.

Yes! Here I am reviewing the album that arguably started at all. The father of prog. Not only is it the father of prog, but also has the honour of being (in my opinion) the greatest debut album of all time. This album showed that King Crimson meant business.
A description of the music: It's really hard to classify this album with a certain sound. "21st Century Schizoid Man" is a jazzy track with a blaring saxophone and very distorted vocals. The dual saxophone solo uses an effect that screeches and hurts your ears, but is actually quite enjoyable. An amazing track! "I Talk To The Wind" is a very pretty flute ballad with beautiful vocals from Lake. "Epitaph" is an incredibly powerful song with pessimistic lyrics. Lakes vocals here are great. "Moonchild" starts out very wonderfully, then gets to the part that seperates true fans. 10 minutes of very quiet experimentation is not for everyone, but if you just lie down, close your eyes, and relax this is really pretty. Otherwise, you may want to skip this track after the vocals are done. "The Court Of The Crimson King" has incredibly forgiveable repitition. While it repeats itself often, it doesn't matter because the power of this song never fades and remains constantly enjoyable from beginning to end. The mellotron riff here is just unforgettable.
PROS: Opening and closing:
Flute work: I love the flute work on this album. It may not be on par with Ian Anderson, but then again who is? The flute is just beautiful on "I Talk To The Wind" and the flute sections of "The Court Of The Crimson King" are very powerful.
Uniqueness: This album is just so unique. "21st Century Schizoid Man" is just one of those tracks where nothing sounds like it. Many people have attempted to imitate the sound of King Crimson, but have never captured the essence of the band or their greatness.
Vocals: The legendary vocals of Greg Lake are at their finest on this album. His best track is "Epitaph," where he puts the necessary emotion into the lyrics and makes them very powerful.
CONS: Moonchild:
Song ratings: 21st Century Schizoid Man: 10/10 I Talk To The Wind: 9/10 Epitaph: 10/10 Moonchild: 8/10 if you can abide the experimentation. 1/10 if you can't. The Court Of The Crimson King: 10/10
Recommended for: Fans of old music. People who love the magic of the flute.
My rating: 5 stars. This is the probably the most important album in prog history. If you are interested in the early roots of prog its mandatory you have this in your collection.

After a whirlwind of emotions filled with many shades and colors,from the beginning "21th century "to "In the court",the red curtain closes with a warning against the manipulators and the oppressors:" THE YELLOW JESTER DOES NOT PLAY,BUT GENTLY PULLS THE STRINGS AND SMILES AS THE PUPPETS DANCE...IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING"
ONE WORD....MASTERPIECE



It's never easy to judge an exact moment when a genre becomes defined. There are many blurred edges, and many contenders pushing from several directions for a say in where music is going at any one time in history. Yet I keep coming back to the release of this album as the most certain instant when something of the future gelled.
Having said that, it's glaringly obvious that the inspiration for this came from Fripp's well attested visits to see 1-2-3 (Clouds) at the Marquee in early 1967. Listen to this description of King Crimson's music from a publicity blurb for this album. "the trademark Crimson would stick to throughout their career is shown here--dynamic variations between soft/lyrical and raucous/experimental. This was seen not just between songs but in the drastic dynamic shifts between sections in a single composition." This could be a blueprint of a 1-2-3 performance, as Brian Hogg, speaking of a 1966 performance, noted in "The History of Scottish Rock". "Their set comprised of original songs and standards, but these latter pieces were studiously reshaped, to become, in essence, new. It anticipated the techniques later used by America's Vanilla Fudge, but where the US group slowed their creations down for melodramatic emphasis, 1-2-3 were more concerned with dynamics and jazz-like swing, and used the pieces as stepping stones to self-expression, rather than a means in themselves. Yet they balanced this esoteric desire with a conspicuous focus on melody. There was nothing else remotely like it around."
The inspiration and concept may well have come from 1-2-3, but it must be said that Crimson took it to a level of confidence and sophistication that brought the new genre to the marketplace in a way that 1-2-3 or anybody else was unable to do, perhaps in the case of the Scottish band, because they were simply too early, in 1966 and 1967, audiences were not yet ready for that level of sophistication. Nevertheless, the seeds were sown, and bands like Crimson, Yes, ELP were the rich commercial harvest of these early experiments.
The real jewel of the album is the first track, shocking to untrained ears in its sudden vibrant shattering of mainstream conventions. The melodies of this and the other outstanding track, In the Court of the Crimson King are very recognizably Lake's, but the urgent improvisation and superb synchronizations are very much the province of the band as a whole. Outstanding instrumental technique abounds, and the freshness and vitality is something that few bands could match at that time. 5 stars.

Well first off, I loved 21st century shizoid man and I talk to the wind. (Of course I already knew that.) The harsh chaos of shizoid man makes the transition to the more calm I talk to the wind very welcome. And the progression of a lyrical story is evidant here. Perhaps the protagonist of the first song is a pessimistic insane man, (possibly because he can predict the near future). I talk to the wind appears to be about his lonelyness. This man has probably been shunned for his insanity, rejected the world due to his views, or both.
Epitah was good, but the vocals lacked volume. I found the lyrics hard to hear. But from what I was able to hear, it seems to have the same views of the previous two songs.
Moonchild it don't think I'm ever going to like. Noodling is okay with me as long as it's done in moderation and in good taste, but this song is ridiculous. A lot of it sounded like a monkey playing percussion instruments while computers turned on and off.
The title track does well enough to make you forget this though. If the vocals on the verses were a bit louder, it would be the perfect ending.
I found to most impressive part of this album to be the drumming. Other than moonchild, it sounded like every tap, hammer, and roll was done with utmost precsion and thought. It had both texture and melody, not as much of the latter as Neil Peart's drumming, but it didn't really need that much melody. It went perfectly with the music.
I really can't say whether I'd pin this down as a concept album or not. If I could hear more of the lyrics, I'd probably be able to make a better judgement.
Overall, 3/5 stars. It shows a lot of promise and talent, but you need to make sure that your audience can hear your lyrics, especilly when they're this thoughtful, and having a blotch on your album as big as moonchild is a big mistake.

What can I say about this album that hasn't already been told???
this is my personal experience with this album...
After reading and hearing a lot of people talking about this album I decided to listen to a couple of songs....
So I went to youtube and the first song I found was 21st century schizoid man...
the first seconds were amazing. I had never before heard progressive rock of any kind so was surprised by the song, especially Greg Lakes singing. but then the song came to this frenetic and confusing headache inducing distortion laden mess full of screeching guitars & dissonant harmonies. In other words nothing I had ever heard before prepared me for the big mess this musicians were making. I HATED IT!!!.
fast forward a couple of months and more reading and i was becoming more and more intrigued by the music that I had heard that day so finally i decided to give it a chance.
This time i listened to the entire album.
PERFECTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!
By the time the album ended I was amazed & depressed (something that always happen when I listen to this album). But the important thing is that it left a lasting print in my head. I absolutely LOVE THIS ALBUM!!!!!! its different and wayyyyyy ahead of its time.
A TRUE MASTERPIECE
because of this album i have discovered the following bands and become a proud owner of their discography king crimsons (duh),yes (the albums with steve howe), genesis (the peter gabriel stuff), emerson lake palmer , dream theater,and more lately porcupine tree & mars volta.
all of this because of the lasting impression that this album caused on me...



Here is my own review of this and I took the liberty of using the original review as a spring board. Thx Atomic.
"In the Court of the Crimson King" was the first album by the group "King Crimson". When it first appeared it was quite a shock to many listeners, similar to The Beatles White Album, which defied description and challenged your perception of music and where you stood, or thought you understood these things. Somehow, at the time, not many people thought as much about "pop music", or gave it some credit for literacy, which is usually not associated with popular top ten songs in Billboard or Top of the Pops.
As the years have passed, and it is now 2010, this album gets a lot more reviews and comments than The Beatles' White Album and I think this is well deserved. That is not to say that The Beatles had lost their touch, they had not, and their last album was the next one voted in this particular list of albums. Abbey Road, however, was not the "anti- topofthepops" that "The White Album" had been and indeed, it appears that the fracture in the band had already caused issues and prevented the music from being better, or at least from just being a bunch of songs, and every member on their own trip, which is very clear in both of those albums, and the album "Let It Be".
Like many of the more outlandish rock bands in those days, this King Crimson album featured a lot of things ... and the small list added above is a very good example of some of the things found in the album ... however, one should appreciate the fact that many of these had been happening for some time in many other artist's repertoire ... with one exception ... you did not see them all in the same album!
So, in this album you will find a lot of weird things, jagged guitar licks, weird drum time signatures, massive keyboard sounds, and specially with a mellotron. As for influences, this would be a bit harder to define ... one could say that this piece appears to be towards jazz, this one towards rock, but how do you define this other piece and that other piece?
But there are some things that tell you that this whole album is done by people that have a conscience and an attitude. It may not be quite as visible or as important today (2010) since we have nothing to fight for anymore, but let's start with the very first piece on the album.
21st Century Schizoid Man The harsh guitar attack right at the front of it all, leads the way ... and singer Greg Lake lets you have it ... ... At paranoia's poison door Twenty first century schizoid man. ... Blood rack barbed wire Politicians' funeral pyre Innocents raped with napalm fire Twenty first century schizoid man. ... Death seed blind man's greed Poets' starving children bleed Nothing he's got he really needs Twenty first century schizoid man.
It doesn't take any smarts to realize the socio-political commentary of this whole thing. From VietNam (Napalm fire reference) to Oil to politician's funeral pyre (IRA conflict) ... and the guitar attack right out front.
I've always thought that the guitar licks were almost the same thing as the images that you saw on the TV, and the brutal violence of it all, and the point, TO ME, was ... what are you going to do about it? It was not about it being "progressive" or anything else. It was about your own conscience and your ability and desire to take action and help change the insanity in this world ... the 21st Century Schizoid Man was the maniac that you saw with guns in their hand ... because he wanted the oil and the money it could bring ... ohh, by the way, have things changed much? ... and you can see the importance of something like this is likely to last out a lot more than ... a lot of other music out there.
Greg Lake's voice, is as important here as the album itself ... why? There is a screaming/shouting/and cynical/satirical edge that helps make the point, where a regular singer would not sound as important or create such a strong impact. It's hard to think of this song as just guitar, saxophone and breaks and time changes ... without the lyrics spoken in the right spot, the ability to accentuate a meaning dries up ... and that is not something that happens in this whole album. More on this later.
I Talk to the Wind More of a folk song than anything else, with soft vocals by Greg Lake, and the woodwinds by Ian McDonald ... and it is one of those pieces that stands out, more because of the contrast to the opening piece than anything else, but unlike most rock bands or conventional and popular music bands, these lyrics are a continuation of the 1st piece. Check this out:
... I'm on the outside looking inside What do I see Much confusion, disillusion All around me. ... I talk to the wind My words are all carried away I talk to the wind The wind does not hear The wind cannot hear.
It's actually a very sad song, because it KNOWS that it has a voice and an opinion and wants to help create change ... but no one listens or cares? ... actually one could say that the wind is at fault since it carries your words and does not bring the meaning in to you ... or you would hear it! And, know it! I'm particular to that thought and feeling ... because too much that is said is often ignored and not appreciated or (as is the case here in the board) understood, and quite often you get a group of people that are ... quite simply ... not interested at all.
Epitath The next song, if not one of the most important of the album, is without a doubt one of the prettiest things ever done in rock music anywhere. And it is a massive eulogy to the many innocent vitims of corruption and wars that mean absolutely so little to most people, except those that wish to take advantage of whatever natural resourses in some form. With a stunning opening scene that is better than almost any movie ever made, and the best imagery that any literature can offer ... or the prettiest painting you ever saw ... that gave you ugliness, such a perfect image to illustrate so much of the 20th century and its wars ...
The wall on which the prophets wrote Is cracking at the seams. Upon the instruments of death The sunlight brightly gleams. When every man is torn apart With nightmares and with dreams, Will no one lay the laurel wreath As silence drowns the screams. ... (and then it closes with)
... Confusion will be my epitaph. As I crawl a cracked and broken path If we make it we can all sit back and laugh. But I fear tomorrow I'll be crying, Yes I fear tomorrow I'll be crying. ...
There is no such emotion, and amazing imagery, in most lyrics and music anywhere.
Most of the rock lyrics hope to tell you a story with insipid lyrics and ideas that are trying to make any band come off as relevant, and in the end, it is vacuous and not important ... it's just trying to make sense and sound important ... but it rarely can reach the heights and level that these lyrics and poetry can.
The larger special point to be made here is how it is sung. Greg Lake is NOT an average singer, and in fact, I like to joke that he can't sing at all. But when it comes to "acting" and "accentuating" words and moments, there are not many in the music business that are any better than what his work examples have done. In a business where we worry about tenor, baritone and rock singer and whatever else description we can give it, in the end, we can see why so many people that love rock music do not enjoy a lot of classical materials, like Opera ... can you imagine a Greg Lake singing in Turandot? ... oh my gawd ... she would die after the first set of words. Can you imagine Greg Lake as Siegfried challenging the Gods? ... yeah ... it's very different from a song about some bitch or some girl that left you behind!
With one of the prettiest sounding mixes of keyboards, mellotron this song stands out as an anthem for the ages, and the kind that will be remembered for a long time to come. It is the ultimate conscientious objector Anthem, and stands out like Jimi's American Anthem at Woodstock or Toni McPhee's endearing version of Amazing Grace prior to that. If there is a God, or a theme, or a heart ... you won't find many out there that even come close.
Lyrics, regardless of where they come from can make or break something. Poems can kill, or lead people to war. But pure heart and soul, is hard to ignore. And it has been with us for hundreds of years in many forms and idioms, and this is one of the finest examples of what poetry and music can do ... it's not just the lyrics ... it's everything else wrapped up in one.
Moonchild ... She's a moonchild Gathering the flowers in a garden. Lovely moonchild Drifting on the echoes of the hours. ...
Like the soft piece before it (I Talk To The Wind), this one comes and goes, and you don't know what to make of it. Sometimes, when I hear this, I think of the "hippie" thing and ideal that led to many communes and pictures of women dressed up as angels and other rather insulting images for the male ego. But the image sticks. The song lingers. The loveliness of the woman lingers. Your experience lingers.
A lot can be said about the improvisations that appear to be just some meanderings in music with little attention to anything else. Things like Moonchild come off like they were what is called in theater "guided explorations" which are often done in very advanced acting classes and these usually end up defining the difference between the "boys and the men" and the "women from the girls", the words taken with lots of salt and sugar of course. The point is that you see something on a screen, let's say, and the visual shows a girl picking up flowers and you would play what comes to mind to fit the mood of the film ... very much as if it were a soundtrack for the visual. This is something that some people can stand, when you close your eyes and allow the images to flow with the music or the lyrics. The problem is that there are many folks that are not capable of doing that and they "have to be told" by the lyrics what it is all about ... and when that happens the Shelley'esque poetry goes right out the door and is not understood or appreciated.
Not all improvisations are just meanderings into nothing and back. Theater and film actoing schools (the advanced ones not the rest) use a lot more exercises that help you develop that "inner" character in order for the performance to get stronger. All the major groups across the world live by similar processes and that is the main reason why they are so well known. There is no reason to believe that musicians are not intelligent enough to not want to experiment and learn something else about what they do ... with the exception of the rock music ego, that thinks that the world can not experiment or try different things that are not "music". Actually the same thing happens in academic circles.
The results in these things vary. In general, for most acting exercises, it is the directors' calls and changes and little things thrown here and there that cause the process to change and each character (in this case instrument) have to update itself and adjust to the feeling at hand, and this is something that most "prog" drummers can not do when all they are concerned with is "time" ... and in the picture that you are "coloring" the time changes ... and you are not changing it? ... or adjusting?
The Court of the Crimson King This is the last song in the album and it is a long one with massive layers of keyboards and mellotron like the song before (Epitath). And while I, personally, do not think that this is a massive anthem like 2 other songs in this album, it still stands out ... but for another reason. The lyrics.
It's hard not to appreciate the cynic here and the view from the "Fool's" eyes. In essence the whole thing is like saying that in the end we're nothing but puppets on a string in a much bigger court ... it's a wonderful analogy for the state of affairs politically and philosophically and what the 20th century had become ... ideas don't matter any more and no one cares any more and business interests run a muck and do what they want and convince you along the way they are funny and witty ... and you cry and scream fighting for these ideals and die for them sometimes.
Someone had a thread on one board on how evil this was. It is not evil. It is just like any other story about the King and the Fool and everything else around them ... and how one manipulates the others, and in the end, all that is left is a song, a few words, a poem ... and even them it doesn't mean much ... specially when today, we're talking 2010, this album is discussed as a major work in "progressive rock" and the rest of the artistic concept and design is totally left behind.
This is much more than a "progressive rock" album and that concept is nothing compared to the importance of the album itself, not only to the time and day when it came out, but today, in September 2010 and any time after today ... it's still important. And it stands up because both the mucis and the lyrics are so direct and such a strong screen shot of a day and age and time that we want to remember the music, but not what it created, including the hurt, the anger, the wars, the bombings, nameless acts ... that were all shown on your television in that day and age.
Few albums have that much importance! And this album deserves the credit for one of the most intelligent and defining moment of my generation, people that I am proud to stand up for because they meant a lot more than some other ideas and concepts that were simply defined by advertising and social belief!
But you must choose ... if you like to have your strings pulled, or if you want to be the player. I side with the artist and the player.
... The yellow jester does not play But gently pulls the strings And smiles as the puppets dance In the court of the crimson king.
Lastly, is the discussion into what became known as "progressive music" many years later.
I, personally, do not think that when you have your center in the right place and you know what you believe in and what you want to try and what you want to accomplish with your art ... that a whole new world reaches out to you. That world is one that is unknown to many folks and even scary for 95% of all the musicians out there. Why? ... how do you keep track of everything and stay together ... the answer my friend, lies in the wind ... and not the drum beat ... and what that tells you is that the musician and person that is asking the question is not listening to that wind! ... and that is what "I talk in the Wind" and "Moonchild" are so important to this album ... trying to help you see ... but sadly all we can think of is some kind of improvisational this or that which makes it some kind of fusion that we can't define, and it takes away from the music itself, the moment and ... most importantly its very soul.
Music, is about "expression" ... and very few musicians are talented enough to know the difference between notes and scales and art. One you can listen and call "progressive" or "prog". The other you live and die with and love every minute of it.
The opening song itself is about "megalomania" if you will with a political edge ... but in other ways it was also an attack on a lot of music at the time that was noisy, loud and did not have a whole lot of strength behind it. To me, that is also an important edge in this album ... that "noise" and "loud" can also be good and important, not just a Rolling Stones concert, which was usually too loud ... and often out of tune too! And it's hard to separate that megalomania and "star" think in the history of rock music ... even if the progressive contingent wants to separate itself from the over blown "stars" of rock music ... and in the end create another group of stars .... progressive is a lot less about the individual than it is about the music, and this is one thing that we tend to forget, and must understand first of all.
It is important for us to realize that a lot of "progressive" music came out of a lot of experimentation and improvisation and that a lot of the music was cleaned up and then lyrics added. It might be said that sometimes the lyrics were there and then the music was added and that is definitly a possibility when you are looking at lyrics in this album by Pete Sinfield. Although not a major poet at the time, what he did write was solid enough to give him some credit for his work, and all it took was one group of musicians that had enough respect for some wonderful words ... to be able to find some music that fit the whole thing beautifully ... and you can't say that about The Beatles or anyone else! At least you will have a hard time listing these in one finger.
This album is not, for me, the best of them all, in terms of the top of the progressive list, but it certainly is one of the top ten albums and a definite must listen. However, this is not a good listen, in general, for today's (2010) audience of metal and prog and some other genre's that are quite meaningless when placed next to something like this. You either appreciate a time and a place and its music ... or you simply are not someone that enjoys music ... for music, in the end, is not about jagged pills or mellotrons or synthesizers ... it's about the very heart that created what it did ... and this album is by far one of the very best ever in that area. Few albums can stand up to that kind of strength, unity, design and above all .. BEAUTY!


This is one of the freshest musical experiences this century had to offer, one of the very few ones that transcend its genre, its format, its period and enter a domain of eternal recognition and adoration. If you fail to grasp its greatness,no problem, but try again. It will hit you sooner or later, just as, say, Picasso or Herriman eventually will. It is THAT good.


King Crimson is well known for their experimentation. From distorted vocals to heavily affected guitars, through their 40+ year existence, Robert Fripp has been well known for his musical..... "anti"-genius, breaking down every single rule made for music to make some of the most inventive music of the time period. In the Court of the Crimson King, the pseudo self titled and debut album of the band, showed just how willing to experiment the band was. Each track has a tasty amount of prog, proto-metal, jazz, and King Crimson-esque noise.
21st Century Schizoid Man, one of the band's signature tracks, is an odd way to open up an album. Blasting forth with intense saxophone/guitar work, immediately one can see just how freely Fripp is willing to work. The distorted vocals add an intense metallic touch to the already intense music. The instrumental section is full of proggish virtuosity and jazzy fun, making the track just a blast to listen to. Overall, the track is easily one of the best openers I've heard, and certainly one of the better tracks the band has put out.
Being 1969, the band was in no position to put out an all "metal" album, and they needed to almost appease their critics. So, I Talk to the Wind, a beautiful melodic piece, contrasts the insanity of the previous track. Cool and melodic, the track is one of the more laid back the band has produced, and has many pleasant instrumental solos and vocal sections a la Greg Lake. Overall, the whole track is cool and melodic, making for a very relaxing ride.
Epitaph is next, a somber and again melodic journey. Featuring some of the most classic KC lyrics, the song is again one of the better tracks the band has released. With haunting mellotron chords and some very somber vocal work, the whole track is a beauty.
Moonchild is the strongest jazz influenced track on the album, featuring more jazzy guitar solos and softer keyboard. However, the track isn't purely jazz. The track has a certain degree of experimentation to it, not the type seen in 21st Century Schizoid Man, but a crazy avant type that featured random muted chords and eccentric drum splashes and such. Overall, a much more avant-garde and creative track is seen here, showing how willing to do what they wish the band truly is.
The "title track" The Court of the Crimson King is the last and one of the best tracks on the album. It features a very fantastic mix of everything that was played on the rest of the album, with heavy sections, somber melodic sections, uplifting melodic sections, and everything in between for a great overall experience, which ends an absolutely fantastic album.
ALBUM OVERALL: King Crimson sure knows how to compose music. With their debut album, the band fleshes out of the some of the best progressive music ever, holding it's wait even 40 years after it's release. The album holds virtually every element that is desirable in the genre, experimentation, great instrumental sections, melodic beauty, and so much more. Overall, In The Court of the Crimson King is certainly a masterpiece of progressive music. 5+ stars

Badly dated, with overblown arrangements and embarrassing lyrics, yet this remains the most important Prog album ever. It is certainly an essential album for those interested in the history of progressive music. But taken on its own merits, it perhaps lacks the timeless qualities that bear repeated listens. It is no doubt because this record was so pioneering that it has aged less well than others afterwards. They were able to learn from and improve on it.
The album starts off with the innovative "21st century schizoid man" which has been claimed as the progenitor of heavy metal and grunge among other things. I cannot fault it, especially in the instrumental section, but it has never been a favourite of mine. It also provides the sole example of an up-tempo song on this album; from now on, the mood will be slow, serene and funereal.
"I talk to the wind" is the subtlest piece on the album and thus often overlooked. A beguiling flute part adds a lot to the ethereal atmosphere. Were it not for the awful lyrics this might be better appreciated.
The overblown nature of this work really kicks off with Epitaph, a rather drawn out and dirge-like number with huge mellotron accompaniment. The lyrics, although not the greatest, do at least match the mood of the music.
"Moonchild" is perhaps the most prophetic piece here, in terms of King Crimson's subsequent development. After another slow and wistful sung section is a long ambling instrumental. Completely free form and dissonant, it rambles aimlessly for 9 minutes and is the major disappointment of this album.
"In the court of the Crimson King" is the mother of all bombastic prog tracks. In particular the chorus has massive mellotron strings and harmonies to match. The lyrics again are terrible and easily parodied.
Although I personally prefer many other prog albums (including some by King Crimson) I cannot see how this cannot be given 5 stars.

"21st Century Schizoid Man"-This sounds like a mix of Hendrix and Zappa. Seriously. There is nothing revolutionary or groundbreaking about this song. Is it heavy for 1969? Yep. But there were other songs that came out the same year that were just as heavy if not more so (check out Floyd's "The Nile Song" which came out in *early* 1969). The full-band writing credit on this song is misleading; Lake came up with the main riff, while Fripp and Giles came up with the jazzy middle section. If you took that middle section and added mallet percussion, it could have fit on Uncle Meat. If you removed that middle section from the rest of the song and got rid of the distorted vocals, it could have fit on Electric Ladyland. I don't think this song was very influential, however, there is a part on Soft Machine's "Facelift" that sounds very similar to a part in "Schizoid Man". ITCOTCK came out late '69, while Third was at least recorded early-mid 1970, so it may just be a coincidence.
"I Talk To The Wind"-pure Moodies except for the good drumwork, which is similar to the drumming of BJ Wilson of Procol. How influential was this song? I've heard a lot more songs from the '60s sound like this as compared to the 70s. "Epitaph"-pure Procol except for the Mellotron which sounds like the Moodies. In fact, if you want to hear a song from 1968 that sounds similar to this, listen to "In My First Mind" by Steve Miller(yes, *that* Steve Miller). Miller's song also has a slow tempo and is drenched in Mellotron. The lyrics on "Epitaph" are far superior of course. Lyric-wise this is my favourite Crimson song and Sinfield's finest hour as a lyricist. However, it is only slightly better than some of the lyrics Procol were coming up with at the time.
The first two minutes of "Moonchild" is a nice little ditty, nothing more. The rest is a perfect example of a band out of ideas. If you say you have listened to all 12 minutes of this song more than 10 times, then you: a)are lying, or b)have a greater tolerance for barely audible noodling than I do. Let's move on to the title track...more Moodies! Maybe a tad bit darker than the Moodies but wouldn't sound too out of place on In Search Of The Lost Chord. Of course the drumming is far superior to anything you'll find on a Moodies album, and maybe slightly more adventurous than what you would find on a Procol album.
So why the hype? The press loved it! People like Pete Townshend praised it to high heaven. It was Crimson's only gold album. It's considered the first prog album for no other reason than YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD SO! Compare this album to the Giles, Giles & Fripp album a year earlier. Worlds apart. Why? Because there are no Moodies, Procol, Hendrix and Zappa influences on that album...that's why. Keep in mind I am giving this 3 stars, not 1 or 2. Overrated as a all hell, but in general the music here is still pretty good. The drumming of Michael Giles in particular stands out. For an album recorded in the UK in 1969 on 8- track recording technology, this sounds incredible. In fact, the only other British release from 1969 that sounds better is Abbey Road. 3 stars it is.

"In the Court of the Crimson King" is the debut album of King Crimson, and is considered by many to be the first progressive rock album. It definitely is one of the best though. Even before listening to the album one could tell it's unlike most albums that had come before it, because it only had 5 songs, each of them of untypical, for that time, length.
Before I start talking about the music itself, though, I want to comment on the cover art. I will admit at first I found it uninspired. I still have no idea what it's point is, but I can see it, at least, does it's job well, and that is make you curious about the contents of this record.
Onto the songs, then.
The album begins with "21st Schizoid Man". This song does give the listener an idea of what's to come. King Crimson on this track shows their excellent songwriting skills. I sometimes try to imagine how it would sound without the sax and its extended instrumental sections, but these make it what it is.
"I Talk to the Wind" is the weakest song on this album, in my opinion. That does not mean it is a bad song, but I feel it lacks the energy of the other songs. I can see the beauty in its melody but I feel it is a bit longer than it should (even if it already is the shortest).
Ah, "Epitaph", the Crimson song everyone knows, and not without good reason. Lyrically, it's the best the album can offer. When it comes to song structure and instrumentation, it possibly is the least progressive. I feel that it is badly mixed, which detracts from the listening experience.
"Moonchild" is the most hated track. Longer than the others, it is often criticized as being too long, that it is self-indulgent with its "jazzy" instrumental parts. It is, however, a personal favorite. I really have no idea what it's all about, but it is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. I especially like the percussion on it. It definitely is not an easy listen though.
The last song on the album is "The Court of the Crimson King". As always, the lyrics manage to impress, while remaining extremely vague as to what it's all about. This one's the most symphonic of the lot, and also the most "consistent" never really straying from the basic melody.
If there is a single person on here that has yet to listen to this album (something I doubt) they should really give it a try. A great introduction to prog. Not as accessible as most of King Crimson's discography, but possibly better than it. King Crimson would never again create such a consistent and consistently good piece of work.

But wait! Shockingly this album is a masterpiece. An absolute perfect album (well at least very very close). And yet not KC's best, but hell a damn good debut if not the best debut album by any band ever. And now the songs!
21st Century Schizoid Man: Absolute classic opener. The guitar line is face melting. Lake's vocals (which I'm not a huge fan of in ELP) are great, especially with the distorted effects. Pete Sinfield provides incredible lyrics. He's probably my favorite lyricist of all time. The drumming is probably my favorite aspect in the song. Michael Giles is an incredible drummer and his drumming on Schizoid Man just weaves the song together so tightly even though it feels like the song is going to explode every second. Lakes bass playing isn't amazing, but it's not bad. Ian McDonald's sax playing sounds like a swine being sacrificed to the devil. Absolutely ferocious. Amazing beginning.
I Talk To The Wind: The ballad that is still getting radio play today. I might say this is one of the best ballads of all time, and I would probably be right. McDonald's flute is gorgeous. It's surprising to hear such a dynamic change between his insane brutal sax to this beautiful melodic flute. The song has all the great aspects. And Fripp's minimal guitar playing is just so beautiful it can jerk you to tears. It's surprising to hear such beauty after the insane explosion which was Schizoid Man.
Epitaph: Great song, though probably my least favorite of the album. Sinfield's lyrics here are the most controversial than they've been in any song here, criticizing organized religion. The song has great mellotron and even better vocals and the best acoustic guitar playing. Fripp is showing quietly his virtuosity, though his full potential is yet to be seen. The song can be a bit to dramatic, and it sometimes feels like the mellotron is making the song sound like, and an actual Epitaph.
Moonchild: Most controversial song on the album. The vocals in the beginning are probably Lake's best ever. The lyrics are also beautiful. In my opinion the instrumental passage in the middle is incredible. It's showing a future KC, and while some might hate it for being dull and uneventful (which is legitimate), I love it for being challenging and surprising. Most challenging part of the album, and possibly most rewarding.
In The Court Of The Crimson King: Best song of the album. Beautiful mellotron in the beginning makes you feel like you're in this depressing ceremony. The lyrics are very interesting as poetry alone, and talk about the rule of a corrupt... ruler. Beautiful instrumental passages, beautiful vocals. Beautiful ending. Very emotional and very powerful.
This album is (shockingly!) a must have for any self-respecting prog rock fan. But even if you accidentally stumbled on this website you probably know this. So. Yeah.


It starts with "21st Century Schizoid Man," a song absurdity.Her is fast and aggressive, and it gives me pleasure to hear the distorted guitar of Robert Fripp, showing why he is one of the best guitarists of all times.Next track, "I talk with the wind," is my favorite album, and totally opposite of the earlier-it is quiet and reflective, and absurdly beautiful. "Epitaph" is a treat for lovers of Melotron, and it is quite another track beautiful. "Moonchild" is the largest-and worst-of album.Are 12 minutes flat, and I almost could not hear it for complete.The first two minutes are cool, there is a beautiful melody, but then there's an instrumental improvisation What is ridicule.God, I hate this song! Fortunately, all is not lost, because there is still the title track to save the album (thank God!). The chorus is wonderful, and again we have the presence of the mellotron.
(10/10) -21st Century Schizoid Man -I talk with the wind -Epitaph -In the court of king crimson
(5 / 10) -Moonchild (I'll just give 5 score by two minutes early, but I would give a zero)
Average-9
5 stars

This is progressive rock's first true album. With it is a legacy that, to this day, runs through progressive rock bands that have followed. Brilliant instrumental music, meaningless lyrics, sometimes sloppy vocals (though, they are pretty good here), ethereal, generally long song times, not much emotion.
When listening to this album, there is an air of excitement, there's an air about it,, which convey's something like 'we're doing something wonderful that's never been done before.' There are obviously a lot of pent-up ideas that were waiting to be unleashed.
The opening cut, the rocking '21st century schizoid man', has a catchy chorus, but look at what the instrumental music is doing, from rock to jazz to classical, changing time signatures, changing chords, changing signatures, etc. no one had ever pushed rock this far before. No, no-one had ever done this before, not even anything like it, and the listener can sense the excitement in the studio as they lay this cut down. They know what's going down... Classic and Timeless.
'I talk to the wind' is a vintage progressive rock ballad. But, at that end, it is not much more than that, obtuse lyrics, pleasant and airy, melodious.
Unlike almost anything that had come before, the dramatic 'Epitaph' is a very prophetic- sounding song. The lyrics seem to envisage a world in the future where there is chaos and disasters happen (maybe they were prophesising the future of music?), the vocals are dark and dramatic. Most of all, however, is a dark 'air' or ;aura' surrounding the song. This feeling is probably makes the song so attractive to listeners out there seeking something different. Something BEYOND the norm, the mundane, the ordinary.
There is the controversial 'Moonchild' (named after the Aliester Crowley book?), which I think rewards a patient listener, and the main part is a nice ballad, a kind of ethereal love song. That said, it does require a lot of patience to sit through nine minute of music that is 'barely there'.
Then, the title track kind of goes back to 'Epitaph', prophetic, dark, symphonic. The chorus is catchy, and, unusually for the Crim, there are some eerie vocal harmonies that hearken a bit to The Moody Blues. The song is catchy, and the instrumental music is very good.
But somewhere in this album, there are faults that plague so many prog efforts that have followed in it's wake. I know prog is about expressing artistic merit, but would it kill them to make the music a bit heartfelt? I mean, this is an excellent piece of art, but with almost no emotional value. The lyrics are often poetic, but rarely mean anything. Or maybe only Peter Sinfield knows what they mean.
And the album isn't a 'ball of fun', so to speak, although, admittedly, they rectified this later and many of their later albums are just as much fun as any hard-rock band. Good examples of this are Thrak, Red, etc.
But this album opened up a whole new genre, a genre that allowed limitless exploration, innovation and creativity. There have been many classic that have followed in it's wake, including albums made by the same band.


To add to all that, this is in fact the only true King Crimson album, the rest are a subterfuge, or a mish-mash of Fripp's increasingly eccentric ideas held together by various assorted pieces of glue called alternative musicians. Fripp's eccentricities were focussed only for this moment in a blaze of glory. Crimson itself lived and died right here in this album. Whether you like it or not, five stars is the only alternative, I can't understand why anyone would give less. I don't like everything about this album, there's a lot I don't like. For me, there are only two tracks to talk about, '21st century' and 'Crimson King', yet I wouldn't dream of anything less than five stars, its appearance is just too important and crucial to the whole reason we're here on this site writing anything at all.
Because Robert Fripp remained at the ship (or more accurately, at the wreck of the ship), he tends to receive all the lavish praise for this album. He rightly is lauded for his fine contribution, but every single member of that band had a crucial part to play. The real tragedy (or was it a blessing?) was that it couldn't be held together beyond this one moment.
But what a moment it was, in those two songs at least, a new vision was built. Many have rightly praised 1-2-3 for the idea of such a band, but that band, great as they were in concept, as a musical unit of just organ bass and drums, they could never have lived up to this promise of such dynamic power, texture, and colour, the power, texture, and colour necessary to drive these ideas into public consciousness and deliver a new style and genre to the masses.
This was the achievement of this one-album band, and it was glorious, nothing less.

The album kicks off with the visionary heavy metal prototype "21st Century Schizoid Man" that has been covered so many times over the years because it's simply an essential masterpiece. The distorted vocals, the agressive big band sounds, the unchained but always technical drumming, the wildly pumping bass guitar and teh hypnotizingly noisy guitars create an apocalyptic atmosphere with an unsurpassable intensity.
The rest of the record has a rather floating tone that breaks a lot with the first song which is the only negative part I could find out about this release. Even though this radical change doesn't really want to fit, the remaining four songs are excellent in their own way as well. We get the calm, dreamy and folk influenced hippy anthem "I Talk To The Wind", the beautifully sung spiritual ballad "Epitaph" that makes me think a little bit of The Moody Blues, the floating "Moonchild" with a weird and unique instrumental section that immediately puts you in an eerie mood and finally the catchy and peaceful epic hymn "In The Cour Of The Crimson King". Each song is profound, unique and shows the band's open minded versatility.
In the end, we have one truly heavy track and four songs that discover all possible aspects of the musical power of tranquility. Today, the album still feels magic and relevant and finally gets the credit it always deserved. If I had only one progressiev rock record to choose to introduce someone to this kind of music, it would definitely be this album. King Crimson prove right from the start that they are the true kings of progressive music and it's sad that they were never able to equal or top this release and get a little bit more recognition but once you will discover this album you may release why it's almost unbeatable and was never surpassed by any other band since its release.

The guitar sound is not always the prominent instrument. In fact there is only one guitar solo on the opening "21st Century Schizoid Man" which is jazz-rock fusion and a great piece. It is the most aggressive track that gives way to something delicate and beautiful. "I Talk To The Wind" has some gorgeous flute work and fragile arrangements.
The mellotron-laced, symphonic "Epitaph" is very atmospheric and mythical. Greg Lake's vocals are really striking and full of emotion. The textures on "In The Court Of The Crimson King" are just as majestic and passionate. "Moodchild" is very soft and slightly chilling with some soft percussion. The doodling at the end goes on a bit too long which would usually mean the loss of at least half a star from the overall rating. But with this album I will make an exception because the rest of the music is very special. There is a kind of presence that draws you in. I can't quite describe it. It's warm as well as touching, although also dark and melancholic. For me it's a masterpiece. 5 stars.

Rating: 10/10
In the Court of the Crimson King does not need my commentary. This is the album that is most often labeled as the first progressive rock album. Although artists such as The Bealtes, Frank Zappa, and Pink Floyd built a heavy foundation for prog, this is the album that catapulted rock music into a new level of creativity and artistry. In the Court of the Crimson King was so radically ahead of its time that if it were to have come out yesterday, I think that this description could still be applied.
Every track here is a separate entity in and of itself. Each is stylistically unique, with distinct compositional styles and musical dynamics. "21st Century Schizoid Man" is one of progressive rock's most recognizable songs; the vocal hooks, inventive guitar work, staggering rhythm section, and jazz-rock insanity make it a true classic. "I Talk to the Wind" calms things down quite a bit. This is a pastoral, folky song centered on flute and soft vocals from Lake. "Epitaph" is a Mellotron-laden epic with some of my all-time favorite lyrics. Lake sounds emotional, Fripp's acoustic guitar is gorgeous, and the entire song is quite an experience. "Moonchild" is one of the most controversial songs within this genre of music. It begins fairly normally, with soft vocals and vibraphone, then transitions into a ten-minute-long minimalistic improvisation that I won't even try to describe. Many people see this song as ramblingly overlong pointlessness, but I enjoy it quite a bit. Both the vocal section and the abstract portion manage to create a distinct atmosphere; I envision a full moon overlooking a gnarled oak tree whenever I listen to this. The title track brings back the Mellotron and the grandiosity. This song moves seamlessly between epic passages and quieter, more subdued sections - all with a distinct Renaissance feel.
In the Court of the Crimson King may be innovative, historical, and revolutionary, but these factors are not what make it such a masterpiece. Even if this wasn't the first progressive rock album, it would still be one of the greatest. Every moment of this album is memorable; the composition, musicianship, lyrics, and musical textures are some of the best ever recorded. This is one of those excessively-praised albums that actually deserves all of the love it receives; it is essential to anybody who is a fan of music.

A wonderful debut, sadly a band at its peak and zenith, imploding almost as it began, that truism somehow making it even more clear that this was the real deal.


The end of a path: where the seeds planted by the Beatles, Moody Blues, Procol Harum and other proto-prog bands finally sprout. A starting point: if there is an album that defines what is progressive rock, as we know it today, is this. Crimson's first album is the manifestation of a style, a record of immense historical importance that contains all the essential elements of prog. There are extended pieces of music with lot of instrumental passages, bombastic arrangements, epic and solemn tones, visionary lyrics and fantasy themes, mixtures with jazz and classical music, great tempo changes, and finally there is an amazing album cover in classical prog style. For the first time in an album does not lack any essential element of what we today consider progressive rock.
21st Century Schizoid Man is a revolutionary song, with distorted vocals, incredible rhythmic variations in the central part and a frenzied solo sax, destined to make history. Every prog fan should know this song, it is a must for any progger! All other pieces are less aggressive, from I Talk To The Wind, relaxing ballad featuring magnificent solos on flute by McDonald and a great performer by the singer Greg Lake, to the sumptuous and romantic Epitaph, and finally the title track, where triumph the solemn atmosphere created by the mellotron. The only flaw, unfortunately, is the long instrumental part of "Moonchild" (the first singed part is rather sublime) that at the time could be innovative, but now seems aging badly.
There are great individual performances by musicians, but of course it is the music as a whole that leaves breathless. Greg Lake's voice is at the highest level in his career and with ELP will no longer be so. The work of Giles on drums is amazing, especially in the "21st Century Schizoid Man." Robert Fripp is an incredibly innovative guitar player but I think this is an album where the underrated Ian McDonald is on the spotlight with a memorable use of mellotron and winds. Fripp is already the leader here, but his leadership does not seems absolute: without doubt all members give a great contribution on creating this masterpiece.
The most important record in the history of prog, a must for anyone. My rating is only 9 / 10 because of the instrumental part of "Moonchild".
5 stars.
Best song: 21st Century Schizoid Man

21st Century Schizoid man starts you heavy. This song has everything that psychedelic music was moving toward. Horns and crazy sound fast guitar. Screaming vocals and funky drums. One of the greatest breakdown/jam sections to be in a song for the time. The rest of the album is slower but just as epic.
I Talk To The Wind starts softly with some beautiful flute harmony. In fact Greg has some beautiful vocal harmonies in this song. A pastoral passage through the wind. Every instrument compliments each other perfectly.
Epitaph is a very powerful song both lyrically and harmonically. Though the drums aren't the strongest element in the band they do a perfect job on this track in particularly. The music truly accentuates lyrics. Peter Sinfield's a great modern poet. These lyrics in particular are amazing especially the chorus "Confusion will be my epitaph as I crawl a cracked and broken path. If we make it we can all sit back and laugh. But I fear tomorrow I'll be crying. I fear tomorrow I'll be crying." This is a track that can be listened to any time any day any week of any year and have the same affect upon oneself.
Moonchild's vocals are the first impression. This track is orchestrated very beautifully. Very folk yet much more. Psychedelic spaciness around the 2:30 mark that's very trippy. Fripp is jazzy in the sense of Wes Montgomery. Very pre-atonal pre-crazy guitar tuning Fripp. Almost can't tell this is the same man. Though if one listens closely you can see how he will develop in the future. This track is great but it doesn't have the replay quality that the other tracks do. Mainly because of the psychedelic softness that is the bulk of the song.
In The Court Of The Crimson King is the title track. This song is epic. The chorus with its vocal harmonies carrying it. Though I wish there was a little more to the song it is still the perfect song to end the album.
This album defined a generation. 4 stars.
