Court Of The Crimson King vs. Wake Of Poseidon

In the Court IS the better album, BUT I think In the Wake is also among my personal favorites from the group. Top 4, actually, along with Discipline and Larks' Tongues in Aspic.

In the Wake may be more consistent, but it never rises beyond consistency; whereas the songs that work on In the Court are overwhelming and obviously more memorable.

I too like both. But, have to go with the first release...

I heard Poseidon first, and it blew my mind away. When I got to hear Islands, I thought this group was up to something serious, and decide to look for the rest of their albums. When I heard In The Court, I could see how the band had evolved and grown, but still, I really loved their first release, so, for very personal reasons, Poseidon gets my vote, mainly because for me, is the album that open the door to the King Crimson experience.

Hard decision for me... I like both of them equally.

ICOTCK no question. Poseidon is almost the same album.

If I could forget what came first it'd probably be a draw. I can enjoy them pretty much equally well when listening to them. But I can't forget  that Court came first and was super original whereas Wake was kind of like Court.

Ik the Wake,... but both are unique albuns, but In wake have more developed ideas and ecplores more fields

In the Court, very easily. I do see the resemblance between both albums, like trying to copy their debut, but that's not what really bothers me from Poseidon... it's rather that I prefer every single equivalent song from ItCotCK.
- The Peace Themes are just forgetable. Too short, and if I remember well, barely audible.
- I really like 21st Century Schizoid Man (though it took be a while to get used to it, and I still prefer later live versions with guitars playing the parts of the Sax), while Pictures of a City is just annoying.
- I Talk to the Wind is beautiful, though still not among my favourite Crimson songs, Cadence and Cascade is just boring, and I prefer Lake singing much better than Haskell.
- In the Wake of Poseidon is indeed a wonderful song, by far my favourite on the album, but I still like Epitaph much better (my favourite Crimson Song, along with Starless, and the one with the most emotive singing from Crimson, Greg Lake, and one of the most emotive for me in prog and rock)... and I would also compare In the Wake with The Court of the Crimson King... and I do like Court a bit better too.
- Cat Food is a nice little song with some really interesting piano, but still not nearly enough to make the album better.
- I guess The Devil's Triangle could be related to Moonchild... and in a way to The Court. Related to Moonchild because of the long improvisation/ambient nature of the song... in which case Devil's Triangle may be a bit better, but because of the more traditional and beautiful song format at the beginning of Moonchild I give the nod to that one. And I could relate it to The Court because of the use of Mellotron and that it's got a small reprise from the main theme from Court... but still the song on the debut is much more enjoyable to me, while Devil's Triangle sort of goes into improvisation territory that I don't really enjoy so much (in any case, I much prefer the early live versions of Mars over Devil's Triangle).

So, all in all, I find ItCotCK far superior and more enjoyable... easily a 5 star album (despite the long improv section on Moonchild), while In the Wake would be... just about a 3 star album, I guess.

debut