Today, Oct. 10, marks the 45th anniversary of King Crimson's classic debut album In the Court of the Crimson King. With its blend of jazz and classical music with rock and even heavy metal, the album is considered to be one of the very first progressive rock albums and would pave the way for '70s prog giants such as Yes, Jethro Tull, and of course, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, whose own Greg Lake rose to fame as King Crimson's bassist and vocalist. In celebration of this classic album's 45th anniversary, here are its five songs ranked from weakest to best.
5. I Talk to the Wind
At six minutes, "I Talk to the Wind" would be the longest song on most albums, but it's actually the shortest on In the Court of the Crimson King. That distinction makes it the most "pop friendly" song on the album (it also has a chorus, so that's something), though you'd be hard pressed to find a pop song based around woodwind instruments and jazz drumming. The instrumentals are gorgeous, as well as Greg Lake's vocals, but if the title is any indication, the lyrics come off as a bit hokey and overly poetic, which is a problem with much of progressive rock.
4. Moonchild
The first two-and-a-half minutes of "Moonchild" is one of the album's highlights, matching "I Talk to the Wind" with its gorgeous instrumentals and vocals, but taking on a slightly darker yet much dreamier tone. Following these first two-and-a-half minutes however comes 10 minutes of ambient free jazz improvisation, which is a bit too much. Improvisation was an integral part of King Crimson's live shows so it certainly makes sense that they wanted a studio document of it but they could have cut "Moonchild" down by about six minutes and made room for another song on the album instead.
3. Epitaph
Right in the middle of the album comes its darkest and most dramatic track, "Epitaph," which introduces King Crimson's signature mellotron keyboard that would eventually become a progressive rock staple. It's the album's most traditionally prog song (if you think there's such a thing as a "traditional" prog sound), which should mean that it comes off as pretentious and bloated, yet its stunningly beautiful melodic figures justify its grandiosity, particularly during multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald's clarinet solo in the song's middle section.
2. 21st Century Schizoid Man
Though "21st Century Schizoid Man" is King Crimson's most famous song by a considerable margin, it strangely doesn't sound anything like the album's other tracks. While the rest of the album is dreamy and delicate, "21st Century Schizoid Man" is quirky, loud and incredibly heavy, fusing distorted metal riffs with blaring saxophone in a way that had never been heard before. When Kanye West samples your music, you know you've made something pretty raunchy and powerful.
1. The Court of the Crimson King
It may seem sacrilegious to many King Crimson fans to place "The Court of the Crimson King" above "21st Century Schizoid Man," but this song is simply too monumental to deny. Describing it as "heavenly" probably gives off the wrong impression since the song has a menacing quality that you're more likely to find in Hell than Heaven, but it's the sort of menacing beauty that King Crimson managed so well. Plus, the song's use in the film Children of Men has forever made it synonymous with bleak, helpless desperation to my ears.
What's you're favorite song from In the Court of the Crimson King? What did I get wrong? Let us know down in the comments section!
