Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Recommendations/Featured albums
Forum Description: Make or seek recommendations and discuss specific prog albums
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=59574 Printed Date: June 26 2025 at 01:07 Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: King Crimson-like bands?Posted By: freudiana
Subject: King Crimson-like bands?
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 14:32
Can someone name some bands similar to King Crimson?
I know a few:
Anglagard Anekdoten Ange Atoll Wobbler Tool The Flower Kings Pentacle
Replies: Posted By: rpe9p
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 14:48
Every prog band =)
Posted By: daslaf
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 15:06
Barbaro, they're from Hungary I think... it's kindda fusion between 80's Crimson and Muse
Enjoy
------------- But now my branches suffer
And my leaves don't bear the glow
They did so long ago
Posted By: Kestrel
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 15:09
Birds and Buildings reminds me of the '72-'75 era of King Crimson... both are busy, have heavy contrasts of heavy and light, and good musicianship. Definitely worth checking out.
Posted By: Ricochet
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 15:16
Dificil Equilibrio, Eskimio and Akt are modern bands that can be rightfully called in the vein of KC. Akt and DC have even released a cover EP, the first being better (DC's actually completely weak).
Lizard, with their "Psychopuls" records, could be counted (I believe their rest of discography is different).
For the record, I don't think that Anglagard, or Wobbler for that matter, are just Crimson-like. They extend to much more.
-------------
Posted By: Vompatti
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 15:18
daslaf wrote:
Barbaro, they're from Hungary I think... it's kindda fusion between 80's Crimson and Muse
Awesome, except for the vocals. Just like 80's Crimson.
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 15:31
../artist.asp?id=3564 - ZAPOTEC are very nice and unknow band which sounds like Birds Of Fire by Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Red by King Crimson
Posted By: Roland113
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 15:33
Hmm, ok, if The Flower Kings sound like King Crimson, then apparently I'm listening to the wrong Crimson. Can anyone verify their similarity and if so, which Crimson albums should I explore?
------------- -------someone please tell him to delete this line, he looks like a noob-------
I don't have an unnatural obsession with Disney Princesses, I have a fourteen year old daughter and coping mechanisms.
Posted By: Ricochet
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 15:42
harmonium.ro wrote:
../artist.asp?id=3564 - ZAPOTEC are very nice and unknow band which sounds like Birds Of Fire by Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Red by King Crimson
They're more the jazz-rock kind though.
-------------
Posted By: J-Man
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 15:43
Roland113 wrote:
Hmm, ok, if The Flower Kings sound like King Crimson, then apparently I'm listening to the wrong Crimson. Can anyone verify their similarity and if so, which Crimson albums should I explore?
I'm not sure what that comment was about. King Crimson is not AT ALL like TFK.
I can hear a few influences at times, but they are much more symphonic and Yes-sounding.
------------- Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime
Posted By: J-Man
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 15:44
Ricochet wrote:
harmonium.ro wrote:
../artist.asp?id=3564 - ZAPOTEC are very nice and unknow band which sounds like Birds Of Fire by Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Red by King Crimson
They're more the jazz-rock kind though.
Just a question (I know nothing about this band): why did YOU add them under eclectic prog if they are jazz-rock?
------------- Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime
Posted By: Ricochet
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 15:57
progrocker2244 wrote:
Ricochet wrote:
harmonium.ro wrote:
../artist.asp?id=3564 - ZAPOTEC are very nice and unknow band which sounds like Birds Of Fire by Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Red by King Crimson
They're more the jazz-rock kind though.
Just a question (I know nothing about this band): why did YOU add them under eclectic prog if they are jazz-rock?
I only meant they're more jazz-rock than Crimson-rock.
The reasons for their eclecticism is explained in their bio (paragraph 3, last paragraph, and the "why is this artist listed" one-line).
P.S.: There's no "YOU" (or "I", whatever) in Team.
-------------
Posted By: Easy Money
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 16:03
Quiet Sun's Mainstream was the perfect companion album to Lark's Tongue when both were released in the states.
Posted By: J-Man
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 16:05
Ricochet wrote:
progrocker2244 wrote:
Ricochet wrote:
harmonium.ro wrote:
../artist.asp?id=3564 - ZAPOTEC are very nice and unknow band which sounds like Birds Of Fire by Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Red by King Crimson
They're more the jazz-rock kind though.
Just a question (I know nothing about this band): why did YOU add them under eclectic prog if they are jazz-rock?
I only meant they're more jazz-rock than Crimson-rock.
The reasons for their eclecticism is explained in their bio (paragraph 3, last paragraph, and the "why is this artist listed" one-line).
P.S.: There's no "YOU" (or "I", whatever) in Team.
Alright, sorry for the comment. I didn't read the whole bio.
------------- Check out my YouTube channel! http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime" rel="nofollow - http://www.youtube.com/user/demiseoftime
Posted By: Slartibartfast
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 16:20
Artcane. Kind of like how Triumvirat was ELP-like.
------------- Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
Posted By: rosenbach
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 21:25
Regarding to french bands, i think Shylock and some Heldon albums are more Crimson-like than Ange or Atoll.
Another swedish band (apart of Anglagard and Anekdoten) would be Sinkadus.
From Chile, Mar de Robles has some Fripp influence in the guitar work.
The piece McDonald's lament of Darryl Way's Wolf (Canis Lupus album) always reminds me of KC.
Posted By: Tsevir Leirbag
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 21:52
rpe9p wrote:
Every prog band =)
Yeah, maybe. Or the absolute opposite, King Crimson is UNIQUE
------------- Les mains, les pieds balancés
Sur tant de mers, tant de planchers,
Un marin mort,
Il dormira
- Paul Éluard
Posted By: Kazuhiro
Date Posted: July 15 2009 at 22:01
Heldon
Posted By: Agemo
Date Posted: July 16 2009 at 10:44
Nebelnest
------------- Dona Nobis Pacem
Posted By: daslaf
Date Posted: July 16 2009 at 10:54
rosenbach wrote:
From Chile, Mar de Robles has some Fripp influence in the guitar work.
yep man that's right, these guys are from my hometown, they also have a chapman stick player but as you said it's just a little influence, these guys go further than copying Crimson.
Here's the myspace if someone is interested, cool stuff
------------- But now my branches suffer
And my leaves don't bear the glow
They did so long ago
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: July 16 2009 at 13:17
freudiana wrote:
Can someone name some bands similar to King Crimson? I know a few: Anglagard Anekdoten Ange Atoll Wobbler Tool The Flower Kings Pentacle
Ange does not fit here. Ange fits more into a lilterary tradition and story telling and acting with their vocals that Genesis went on to copy and drop altogether.
For the record, the Emile Jacotey album was an original and Roger Waters did the same thing later with lots more anger ... but somehow we never give the french artists their credit an due!
There are a lot more, but there is a fine line and crossing area in this "type of music" and I suggest not even thinking in those terms ... because you will lose the appreciation of a lot of other music out there. some of which also helped inspire a lot of these bands.
A few (older stuff):
Secret Oyster
Tasavalan Presidenti (sp.) -- Yukka Tolonen
Frank Zappa -- who probably is more responsible for this type of music than anyone else!
SFF
The Heldon group ... the guitarist did some solo albums that are insane and non stop Fripp on acid! (I know ... tough image!)
PFM
Banco del Muttuo Soccorso
Wolf (Darryl Way -- although a violin replaces a guitar)
Phil Manzanera - Solo albums are all about guitar parts that explode on you with massive sound effects and really good use.
Nektar
Wigwam
There would be other scenes that should be mentioned. It's weird to think of music that "sounds like" ... I can listen to all the different things that Mike Oldfield does in so many albums, and find things like Amorok, way more advanced and experimental that Mr. Fripp ... in a different way. And that takes away from your ability to actually someone really palying well and beautifully ... because you can only listen to "one style" ... or as I like to say ... "one copy"!
Free up your tastes ... don't do that.
One other thing ... a lot of the Scandinavian bands have a funny image of having a "dark edge/side" to them, for some odd ball reason, it is thought that some parts of the music is dark, or suggestive of some inner loneliness or some kind of image lifted right out of Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal film ... and both Anglagaard and Anedokten have this a bit ... and it differs from King Crimson in that KC's idea of darkness and weirdness is represented in some forms of cacophony and discordant notes ... something with has been a part of a lot of modern classical musical concepts going back to the 1920's and 1930's ... so when you are looking for KC type music, you are assuming that everyone knows/has similar musical training, and that is simply not possible or likely, and cultural influences make things even more different.
Just remember it's the same Fender guitar ... pretty much the same keyboards ... and it is not about how KC did it ... it's how Robert Fripp does it ... and understands music. No one else can copy him per se!
Posted By: moshkito
Date Posted: July 16 2009 at 13:19
Easy Money wrote:
Quiet Sun's Mainstream was the perfect companion album to Lark's Tongue when both were released in the states.
Phil Manzanera ... and the band that eventually became Random Hold ... I have to check those histories again! Or was it EGG ... I can't remember!
Posted By: Icarium
Date Posted: July 16 2009 at 13:42
Ricochet wrote:
harmonium.ro wrote:
../artist.asp?id=3564 - ZAPOTEC are very nice and unknow band which sounds like Birds Of Fire by Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Red by King Crimson
They're more the jazz-rock kind though.
i think there is A LOT of Jazz-influence in King Crimsons music, they are actualy diskribed as both Symphonic Prog, Experimental rock and Jazz-fusion on wikipedia.
i think actualy Mahavishnu Orchestra and King Crimson have som similaritys both sonicly, textural, complexity, dynamix but MO is more intrumental then KC and KC is much rawer wile after watt ive heard MO is more gentle and textural.
i think GG is also very close sounding to KC the debute is certenly Crimson influenced but souds GGish
but my knowledge is limeted as im kind of nuwbie and havent the moust inclusive Prog colection
Posted By: Toaster Mantis
Date Posted: July 16 2009 at 14:09
freudiana wrote:
Can someone name some bands similar to King Crimson?
Depends on what era of King Crimson you want something like... unless, of course, you mean it in the sense of changing style and line-up as often as KC.
------------- "The past is not some static being, it is not a previous present, nor a present that has passed away; the past has its own dynamic being which is constantly renewed and renewing." - Claire Colebrook
Posted By: HolyMoly
Date Posted: July 16 2009 at 15:52
I certainly see a lot of Crimson influence in Bondage Fruit, a Japanese band. Saw them at ProgFest back in '99 I think. One of the coolest bands of the weekend. Never got around to hearing an album though - I'll have to rectify that.
------------- My other avatar is a Porsche
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased.
-Kehlog Albran
Posted By: freudiana
Date Posted: April 23 2010 at 23:56
How about the US/American Prog band Discpline with Matthew Parmenter?
Posted By: Anirml
Date Posted: April 24 2010 at 05:17
Coma's first album sounds alot like King Crimson i think! They played Jazz fusion. At some moments they sound alot like King Crimson. (the drumming sounds a bit like something Mike Giles would do)
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: April 24 2010 at 06:58
moshkito wrote:
freudiana wrote:
Can someone name some bands similar to King Crimson? I know a few: Anglagard Anekdoten Ange Atoll Wobbler Tool The Flower Kings Pentacle
Wolf (Darryl Way -- although a violin replaces a guitar)
Not true. Wolf had a guitar player on all three albums - the formidable John Etheridge.
-------------
BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.
Posted By: Agemo
Date Posted: April 24 2010 at 14:25
For the 72-74 KC I would recommend
Mahavishnu Orchestra: Inner mountain flame
National Health: Playground
------------- Dona Nobis Pacem
Posted By: WalterDigsTunes
Date Posted: April 24 2010 at 14:30
Sunday All Over the World Robert Fripp & David Sylvian
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: April 24 2010 at 14:48
And to name a band which is a bit like King Crimson, but with a female singer: The Red Masque.
-------------
BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.
Posted By: tamijo
Date Posted: April 25 2010 at 02:49
Would this debate possibly fall under some Blasphemic paragraf, and be illigal ?
------------- Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
Posted By: zappaholic
Date Posted: April 25 2010 at 10:49
Les Claypool has been known to say that Primus was just a King Crimson ripoff band. (mainly Belew-era)
------------- "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." -- H.L. Mencken
Posted By: harmonium.ro
Date Posted: May 20 2010 at 04:48
This "new" band seems interesting:
There's likely to be some musical sparks happening when occasional Crim
Keith Tippett joins forces with Crim co-founder Michael Giles and the
MAD band next month. The group are playing at the Chapel Arts Centre in the heart of Bath on
Tuesday 1st June. Check out the http://www.chapelarts.org/view_event.ihtml?id=188 - Chapel
Arts Centre website for ticket details. You can also find out more
about the MAD band's collaboration with ex-Caravan violinist Geoffrey
Richardson, as well as hear some tracks from their debut album, over on
their http://www.myspace.com/madbandmusic - myspace
site . You can also read my take on the album over http://sidsmith.blogspot.com/2009/09/michael-giles-mad-band.html - on the blog.
Posted By: WalterDigsTunes
Date Posted: May 20 2010 at 05:06
Is it just me or is Michael Giles starting to look like Charly Garcia?
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: May 20 2010 at 05:07
No one sounds like Crimson, that's why they're so good, and I'd agree Anglagard, Ange, Banco, Atoll, Tool and the Flower Kings sound very little like KC. They have many imitators or bands that took part of KC's sound [Dark Aether Project, Philharmonie, too many to mention] but the Crims progress far too often to really be captured, one of the few truly progressive rock bands to maintain that tradition to this day. Case in point: The Power to Believe sounds unlike any album I know, including past KC. Best suggestions so far have been NeBeLNeST, Heldon, Zappa, and Mahavishnu
Posted By: O666
Date Posted: May 20 2010 at 05:22
Roland113 wrote:
Hmm, ok, if The Flower Kings sound like King Crimson, then apparently I'm listening to the wrong Crimson. Can anyone verify their similarity and if so, which Crimson albums should I explore?
If KC like The Flower King then maybe ELP like Rush!!!!!! I dont think you listen to the wrong KC, I think The Flower King play wrong music!!!!!!!
Posted By: O666
Date Posted: May 20 2010 at 05:43
I cant undrestand this. KC is not " one genre" band. you can see many different styles and genres in KC's history. All essential musical things change album by album like : Arrangment, Instruments combination,Atmospher, Different players, Musical Philosophy behind and .......
You can compare bands with KC ONLY in specific era and if you do this you can't reach to The Flower King or Tool many of bands in list(at start of post). In some of KC's albums (70's era) i can find some similarity to Mahavishnu or Zappa.
KC in UNIQUE and I cant compare ANY bands with KC
Posted By: Bonnek
Date Posted: May 20 2010 at 06:00
If you're looking for the KC 74 sound then I recommend early Anekdoten, Nebelnest, Nil There's also a lot of current jazz-rocky things that come close to that era: One Shot, Mar De Robles, Djam Karet, ..
Posted By: rdtprog
Date Posted: May 20 2010 at 06:20
Bi Kyo Ran Lizard (Psyoplus) Anekdoten Lazuli Nebelnest Somnanbulist
The most obvious one...
------------- Music is the refuge of souls ulcerated by happiness.
Emile M. Cioran
Posted By: omri
Date Posted: May 20 2010 at 10:05
freudiana wrote:
How about the US/American Prog band Discpline with Matthew Parmenter?
I have the 2 Discipline albums and though I like them very much (especially the second - "Unfolded like staircase") I don't see much similarities with KC.
I also can't see why some here claim that they sound close to Mahavishnu orchestra.
I must say that I do hear something that passes through all their albums until "The power to believe" and it takes few seconds to say "this is KC" even with a track I never heared before so although they did change styles, something familiar is allways there.
------------- omri
Posted By: The Hemulen
Date Posted: May 20 2010 at 14:43
Turning outwards from prog bands, Manchester math-pop band http://www.myspace.com/dutchuncles - Dutch Uncles remind me of Discipline-era KC. Ignore the indie vocals and related trappings and listen to what's going on underneath it all... insane rhythmic interplay galore!
Quirky post-punk band http://www.myspace.com/stumpstum - Stump also put me in mind of that album for similar reasons, but they're definitely something of an acquired taste...
Posted By: The Monodrone
Date Posted: May 21 2010 at 12:37
The Mars Volta sound the slightest like 70s KC.... Omar Lopez (the Mars Volta guitarist) also has guitar influences from Fripp and McLaughlin, so his playing style is similar to both. A really unique band, and despite what some say, definitely not a KC ripoff, very unique band and style. Give 'em a try!
-------------
Posted By: lucas
Date Posted: May 21 2010 at 13:57
Today Is The Day
Check out the album 'willpower'.
Kinda toolesque.
------------- "Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood)
Posted By: Bonnek
Date Posted: May 21 2010 at 16:52
How could I forget Indukti !
Posted By: deafmoon
Date Posted: June 27 2010 at 08:01
Kenso.
------------- Deafmoon
Posted By: freudiana
Date Posted: August 07 2010 at 18:56
How about Gösta Berlings Saga?
Posted By: WalterDigsTunes
Date Posted: August 07 2010 at 19:00
Tony Levin's current band Stick Men is quite KC-ish. It helps that he has Pat Mastelotto on board.
Posted By: freudiana
Date Posted: May 21 2014 at 02:59
There is also the Rio/Avant bands Zaar/Sotos and Guapo. Would they count? Oh...and as for The Flower Kings having a Crimson like sound. I would think the live version of Circus Brimstone from Meet The Flower Kings and the majority of Unfold The Future falls into that category right?
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: May 21 2014 at 03:42
Toaster Mantis wrote:
freudiana wrote:
Can someone name some bands similar to King Crimson?
Depends on what era of King Crimson you want something like... unless, of course, you mean it in the sense of changing style and line-up as often as KC.
That's what I was thinking.
KC was about the approach to making music in equal measure to the actual songwriting itself.
------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy!
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: May 21 2014 at 22:57
I listened to Ethos-Ardour, an American band from the late 70's or early 80's I think, they have some distinct similarities to KC as well as Cathedral- Stained Glass Stories.
------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin
Posted By: O666
Date Posted: May 22 2014 at 11:21
freudiana wrote:
Can someone name some bands similar to King Crimson?
I know a few:
Anglagard Anekdoten Ange Atoll Wobbler Tool The Flower Kings Pentacle
Anglagard ?! Anekdoten?!! Wobbler ?!!! The Flower Kings?!!!! "Tool"? Are you ever listened KC? some of Syphonic Prog Icons are in your.
Posted By: ole-the-first
Date Posted: May 22 2014 at 12:42
Anekdoten is very Crimson-esque. They sound like Wetton-era KC. Tool is a bit similar to Crimso's latter albums, but not so close though.
------------- This night wounds time.
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: May 22 2014 at 12:58
I know of a few obscure ones who are quite obvious in being influenced by KC of the 80's for example.
http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=8224" rel="nofollow - Mr. Euphoria
Posted By: Mirror Image
Date Posted: May 22 2014 at 20:11
Why listen to a band that's 'similar' to King Crimson when you can just listen to King Crimson? I never understood the need for people to seek music out that sounds like someone else when you can listen to the real thing any time you want. My suggestion listen to King Crimson!!! There, problem solved!
------------- “Music is enough for a lifetime but a lifetime is not enough for music.” - Sergei Rachmaninov
Posted By: Nogbad_The_Bad
Date Posted: May 22 2014 at 20:45
Because similar can be good too!!
------------- Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com
Posted By: Mirror Image
Date Posted: May 22 2014 at 21:07
Nogbad_The_Bad wrote:
Because similar can be good too!!
Well, I don't want similar, I want to hear a band that is pushing the envelope and doing their own thing. Of course, the great prog bands influenced so many others, but it takes some time for a band to shake off their influences and some, unfortunately, never do. As to whether I like this or that band is, of course, subjective from one listener to the next.
------------- “Music is enough for a lifetime but a lifetime is not enough for music.” - Sergei Rachmaninov
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: May 22 2014 at 21:34
The French band NeBeLNeST channeled King Crimson a bit, I don't know what ever happened to them. This is a nice tune!
I like it all the more because my cat was named "Redrum" (from the movie "The Shining" by Kubrick!)
Posted By: jayem
Date Posted: May 23 2014 at 06:45
Mirror Image wrote:
Nogbad_The_Bad wrote:
Because similar can be good too!!
Well, I don't want similar, I want to hear a band that is pushing the envelope and doing their own thing. Of course, the great prog bands influenced so many others, but it takes some time for a band to shake off their influences and some, unfortunately, never do. As to whether I like this or that band is, of course, subjective from one listener to the next.
Let's support this request for "similar" if one considers Crimson has only discovered a part of its own planet and we want to see the rest of the place.
Well, I don't want similar, I want to hear a band that is pushing the envelope and doing their own thing. Of course, the great prog bands influenced so many others, but it takes some time for a band to shake off their influences and some, unfortunately, never do. As to whether I like this or that band is, of course, subjective from one listener to the next.
100% agree. This is a right point IMO. Many bands go over "Similar" and make "COPY"!! and many of these Copies may be good but I don't like Copies and I think they are unvaluable.
Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: May 25 2014 at 12:04
Part of the problem is that there is only one Robert Fripp. I really have never known another guitar player like him, he's in a class of his own.
I've known players who could play complex Yes music note-for-note, but no guitarist I've met has been able to play Fripp's break in "Fracture"! I bet a few could, perhaps Goods or Fareed Haque.
My bud John Goodsall did this very nice cover of "Red"! Check him out!
Posted By: jayem
Date Posted: May 25 2014 at 21:35
Back in 1977 Kunio Suma was arguably playing it as good as Fripp...But the band he played in did imitate preexisting styles from earlier Crimson rather than invent its own, so he wouldn't get nearly as well known as the original composer...
Jazz virtuosos are all likely to play it as neatly as RF but once assured of their abilities, they'd hardly get fascinated by Fripp's solo and persona the same way as if they'd discovered Fracture before they learnt advanced guitar playing.
They'd rather go like "Uh-oh a plectrum master that went out of tradition to play in an unusual context". They might dismiss Fripp's solos as being part of too unbalanced, ill-driven or raw music for them.
Renderings of Fracture's moto perpetuo appear and disappear on the net here and then. How 'bout that one:
And Lark's Tongues...
Are they willing to discover yet unheard magnetically contrasting mixes of musical ingredients as well ?...