Unnecessary: Last 9min of KC's Moonchild

I've been listening to King Crimson's ITCOTCK and for me, its a great example of classic prog - or music for that matter - regardless of genre... ...all but around 9 to 10 minutes of it. That 9 or so minutes is the tail-end (that one huge tailend. hehe.) of track #4 - "Moonchild".

I've listened to a lot of complex music for sometime: Math Rock, Post-Rock, a bit of ambient and the like, so I'd like to think that I have an appreciation for this type of music, but I just find "Moonchild" very unnecessary... all but the first 2 and half minutes.

It's like weak and uninspired jam caught on tape... For me, just random bits that doesn't add up to very much.

This thread was started not to bash, but rather to try and get your comments so I could see what I'm missing. I know music is an exclusively subjective meduim, but it's also nice to hear other peoples thoughts in the journey that is music appreciation. Peace!

Edited by lastdodobird - May 22 2006 at 22:27

I have to disagree, the 9-10 minute noodling works beautifully on the album and it would not be the same without it.....compare it to say The Waiting Room on the Lamb!

I have always enjoyed this part of the album, and think it makes an unique atmosphere. It works great as a "quiet before the storm" kind of thing. And by the way, I feel that the first 2.5 minutes of this song is extremely underappreciated. In fact it is some of the most beautiful music they ever wrote !

I disagree. it's necessary and reminiscent of many things to come

erlenst wrote: I have always enjoyed this part of the album, and think it makes an unique atmosphere. It works great as a "quiet before the storm" kind of thing. And by the way, I feel that the first 2.5 minutes of this song is extremely underappreciated. In fact it is some of the most beautiful music they ever wrote !

   

Exactly right.

The whole of Moonchild is perfect from start to finish not only in itself, but in the scheme of the album; It needs to be that length to give the overall structure its shape.

ITCOTCK is not simply an album to be digested piece by piece, you need to get to grips with the whole form to understand the components and how they fit in.

I used to dislike it, but always played it anyway. I am now rather fond of it and wouldn't have it any other way.

Red seems uninspired to my ears (the track, not the album) and just seems to make me want to listen to it less often.  Starless and Bible Black is a better album in my opinion.

Robert fripp hates that jam, in fact when he decided to remaster some of the tracks of ITCOTCK for a boxset (I don't remember which) he included every song but he abridged Moonchild erasing that final jam because he thought that it was the only uninspired jam in his career.

 

eddietrooper wrote: Robert fripp hates that jam, in fact when he decided to remaster some of the tracks of ITCOTCK for a boxset (I don't remember which) he included every song but he abridged Moonchild erasing that final jam because he thought that it was the only uninspired jam in his career.

Wow. Is this true? If it is, then that sounds VERY interesting...

Geck0 wrote: Red seems uninspired to my ears (the track, not the album) and just seems to make me want to listen to it less often.  Starless and Bible Black is a better album in my opinion.

I can't give an overall impression for the album yet, but the moment "Fallen Angel" hit my ears, I knew it was a thing of beauty... and I still do... more than any KC song I've heard.

erlenst wrote: I have always enjoyed this part of the album, and think it makes an unique atmosphere. It works great as a "quiet before the storm" kind of thing. And by the way, I feel that the first 2.5 minutes of this song is extremely underappreciated. In fact it is some of the most beautiful music they ever wrote !