King Crimson
In The Court Of The Crimson King

EG    EGCD 1  (1969)
Recording Date   August 1969

Rock/Pop
CD, 5   Tracks, 43:50  Length
01 21st Century Schizoid Man (Including "Mirrors") Greg Lake; Ian McDonald; Michael Giles; Peter Sinfield; Robert Fripp 92 bpm 07:20
02 I Talk To The Wind Ian McDonald; Peter Sinfield 81 bpm 06:05
03 Epitaph (Including "March For No Reason" and "Tomorrow And Tomorrow") Greg Lake; Ian McDonald; Michael Giles; Peter Sinfield; Robert Fripp 129 bpm 09:47
04 Moonchild (Including "The Dream" and "The Illusion") Greg Lake; Ian McDonald; Michael Giles; Peter Sinfield; Robert Fripp 77 bpm 11:13
05 The Court Of The Crimson King (Including "The Return Of The Fire Witch" and "The Dance Of The Puppets") Ian McDonald; Peter Sinfield 135 bpm 09:25
Music Details
Product Details
Packaging Jewel Case
Spars AAD
Sound Stereo
Musicians  &  Credits
Guitar Robert Fripp
Woodwinds Ian McDonald
Bass Greg Lake
Drums Michael Giles
Words Peter Sinfield
Musician King Crimson
Producer King Crimson
Engineer Robin Thompson
Cover by Barry Godber
Personal Details
Index # 1772
Owner Dave
Tags Prog Rock, Symphonic Rock
User Defined
Purchased New
Notes
The group's definitive album, and one of the most daring debut albums ever recorded by anybody. At the time, it blew all of the progressive/psychedelic competition (the Moody Blues, the Nice, etc.) out of the running, although it was almost too good for the band's own good -- it took them nearly four years to come up with a record as strong or concise. Ian McDonald's Mellotron is the dominant instrument, along with his saxes and Fripp's guitar, making this a somewhat different-sounding record from everything else they ever did. And even though that Mellotron sound is muted and toned down compared to their concert work of the era (see Epitaph, below), it is still fierce and overpowering -- coupled with some strong songwriting, most of it filled with dark and doom-laden visions, the strongest singing of Greg Lake's entire career, and Fripp's guitar playing (a strange mix of elegant classic, Hendrix-like rock explosions, and jazz noodling), the mix was overpowering. Fripp would be the only survivor on their subsequent records. . -- Bruce Eder (allmusic.com)

The plus is because Peter Townshend likes it. This can also be said of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Beware the forthcoming hype--this is ersatz shit. D+ -- Robert Christgau