King Crimson Appreciation Thread

[Phoenix87x]

It pains me to no end that I missed KC when the toured in 2008.

 Is anyone aware of the current state of affairs, as to will there be one last tour, or is that it?

[The Letter M]

I think Fripp has KC on ice, and even denied calling last year's ProjeKct a Crimson album, despite the band being 4/5ths all King Crimson members, past and present.

KC's 45th Anniversary hits in 2014... I would only hope that Fripp would seize that opportunity to record with the A Scarcity of Miracles band and call the album a King Crimson album, and not a ProjeKct.

-Marc.

[Sketchy]

I'd personally hope they record with Adrian Belew (I still need to check out the Miracles album... King Crimson + a guzheng, nothing can go wrong with that), but I would not be surprised if when I hear that album, I'll want another one from that line up too.

[Nekov]

Well you should listen to the album and see how it goes for you. i don't want to spoil anything for you but i found it quite different from anything KC has done before.

[Sketchy]

I keep meaning to, but I keep getting excited about some random other thing each time I mean to.

[Ħ]

Listening to ITWOP for the first time. Wow, Devil's Triangle was absolutely amazing. Best adaptation of Mars I've heard.

[darkshade]

^ Your balls would explode if you heard the live version, simply titled "Mars", which I believe is on the live album "Epitaph".

[Nel]

Still trying to get into this band. Been going by cover-art I like, just like I did as a teenager. Started with A Scarcity Of Miracles (I don't care if it's a "Projeckt", I'm putting it under KC) and that took a while to warm up to. But it makes for good background music now. Then I bought Starless and Bible Black about a month ago. Some songs I liked, but didn't really get. Last week I bought Islands, and that did not gel with me at all. 

I want to get the first album next, but it hasn't been at the store. The record store I go to has the other re-issues, though. Any recommendations?

[Nekov]

Well Nel, KC is a band that is hard to get into. I would recommend Red or you might wanna go with their second era and get The Construktion of Light

[The King in Crimson]

Still trying to get into this band. Been going by cover-art I like, just like I did as a teenager. Started with A Scarcity Of Miracles (I don't care if it's a "Projeckt", I'm putting it under KC) and that took a while to warm up to. But it makes for good background music now. Then I bought Starless and Bible Black about a month ago. Some songs I liked, but didn't really get. Last week I bought Islands, and that did not gel with me at all. 

I want to get the first album next, but it hasn't been at the store. The record store I go to has the other re-issues, though. Any recommendations?

Wow, you picked, IMO, the worst albums to start off with.   

Starless and Bible Black is a good album, but most of the songs are live jams gussied up into studio tracks and it shows. I quite enjoy it, but I'm glad I didn't start off with it! Islands is... well, it's my least favorite of their 70's albums. 

In the Court of the Crimson King and Red are both great starting albums. I started off with them and I'm a fan now. In the Wake of Poseidon is also very, very good (screw the naysayers!).

[Pols Voice]

The Power to Believe is their best.

[Orbert]

Well Nel, KC is a band that is hard to get into. I would recommend Red or you might wanna go with their second third era and get The Construktion of Light

The Wetton-Bruford era is generally considered the second era.  The first era was... well, everything prior to Wetton-Bruford.  Before then, the lineup pretty much changed every album.

[seasonsinthesky]

The Power to Believe is their best.

agreed fully, but this is a very controversial opinion of the band that made In the Court... and Red

[carl320]

Red is a great album.

You might try the Belew-Fripp-Levin-Bruford era KC (Three of a Perfect Pair or Discilpine) if you want to get into them.

[KevShmev]

The Power to Believe is their best.

Agreed, although Discipline and Red are not far behind.

[Nel]

Thanks for the advice guys!  Think I'll check out Red next. I've mostly just been concentrating on buying special editions and remasters from bands lately. I know the store had plenty of copies of Red and Discipline, but the other remasters seem to fly in and out of stock in a heartbeat. And at $22 an album I really only like going one per paycheck.

[The King in Crimson]

Either way, Red or Discipline is a great choice.

[MasterShakezula]

I, for one, quite enjoy Islands.

Not quite as much as the others from the original 69-74 run, but its title track is nothing short of beautiful.

Now, Lizard, that is the best thing I've heard by KC! (all of 69-74 + Discipline)

My favorite of the Wetton era would be Lark's Tongue, but Red comes up to a close second.

[Nekov]

Well Nel, KC is a band that is hard to get into. I would recommend Red or you might wanna go with their second third era and get The Construktion of Light

The Wetton-Bruford era is generally considered the second era.  The first era was... well, everything prior to Wetton-Bruford.  Before then, the lineup pretty much changed every album.

Well, I've always seen King Crimson as a band with two faces. From ITCOTCK to Red they were able to maintain a similar sound even though the formation changed on every record. After the hiatus they came back with a completely different sound which is why I think of that as the second KC era.

[Phoenix87x]

Thanks for the advice guys!  Think I'll check out Red next. I've mostly just been concentrating on buying special editions and remasters from bands lately. I know the store had plenty of copies of Red and Discipline, but the other remasters seem to fly in and out of stock in a heartbeat. And at $22 an album I really only like going one per paycheck.

I think your in for a treat with Red, since it was the album that finally got me into KC after months of struggling.

Now lets just talk about Discipline for a second. Hot dam do I love this album, but It almost took as long for me to get into it as it did to get into KC in the first place, since its very different, but it really has grown on me and I love it now.

Two awesome songs from Discipline

1. Frame by Frame 

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mPlAr0Y62o

and my personal favorite 2. The sheltering Sky

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmN9QRWbreg

Enjoy Red and eventually check out The Power to Believe (I love that album).


And I also found this Video of Bruford talking about joining KC. It is delightful,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-f0P7-fxUQ

[Nekov]

and my personal favorite 2. The sheltering Sky

 

This song doesn't get enough love. Second favorite from that album for me

[Orbert]

Well Nel, KC is a band that is hard to get into. I would recommend Red or you might wanna go with their second third era and get The Construktion of Light

The Wetton-Bruford era is generally considered the second era.  The first era was... well, everything prior to Wetton-Bruford.  Before then, the lineup pretty much changed every album.

Well, I've always seen King Crimson as a band with two faces. From ITCOTCK to Red they were able to maintain a similar sound even though the formation changed on every record. After the hiatus they came back with a completely different sound which is why I think of that as the second KC era.

I can see that.  I just remember Crimson coming back in the 80's after a hiatus, and it was considered their third time around at the time.  It's been so long now that the earlier break doesn't seem like a break at all, and the 70's sound is overall different from what they've done since.  When there was only the pre-80's work to examine, the changes seemed more profound.  Now I suppose it does make more sense to consider the pre-80's stuff one era, and everything since then another.

[seasonsinthesky]

really unsure how anyone could say the 'hard prog fusion' trilogy (Red / Larks / Starless) sounds that similar to everything prior. there is much, much more continuity between Court, Lizard, Poseidon, and Islands, which was then severed with the 'Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Pink Floyd' sort of thing happening on R/L/S.

thus, the most accurate (imo!) KC breakdown would be four 'eras' regardless of breakups and lineup changes:
1969-71: In the Court of the Crimson King / In the Wake of Poseidon / Lizard / Islands
(fusion-developing freakouts blended with pastoral quiet pieces)
1973-74: Larks' Tongues in Aspic / Red / Starless and Bible Black
(balls-to-the-wall fusion, more improv-based, some Frippertronics, developing 'commercial' side influenced by stuff like "Have a Cigar")
1981-84: Discipline / Beat / Three of a Perfect Pair
(that '80s chorus guitar sound, mostly contrapuntal guitar writing, Belew vocals, balance between spacier instrumental material and a new 'commercial' side driven primarily by Belew's wacky blues influence)
1995-now: Thrak / The ConstruKction of Light / The Power to Believe
(incorporating electronic sounds like drumpads and Fripp MIDI-guitar controlled synths, retained some of the Belew blues influence, spacier but bombastic and explosive)

obviously each of those eras has a lot of leeway (Thrak was written and recorded with the double trio, for instance, whereas ConstruKction and Believe were quartet records) but there is a definite amount of consistency on an objective level within those eras.

[Nekov]

As Orbert says the Wetton/Brufford era does sound different from the precious stuff but if you compare how that sounds against the post hiatus records then it makes more sense because that trilogy has a lot more to do with the early KC than with Discipline and beyond.

[The Letter M]

As Orbert says the Wetton/Brufford era does sound different from the precious stuff but if you compare how that sounds against the post hiatus records then it makes more sense because that trilogy has a lot more to do with the early KC than with Discipline and beyond.

This is pretty true. The 80's line-up was pretty different and out there, so the difference between their 3rd "era"/line-up and their second is much greater, but still a great trilogy of albums! I would rank them like this:

1973-74
1995-03
1981-84
1969-71

I just never REALLY got into the older albums, they're good, but there's few great things on them. The Wetton-Era is just amazing, and there's so much good stuff on those three records. The 80's-Era is alright, but I prefer the more modern stuff to those three albums; TCOL and TPTB are pretty awesome albums with great music, and both contain songs that are worthy successors to the LTIA series.

-Marc.

[Mladen]

1973-1974
1969-71 (two are my favorites and two are my least favorites, but still)
1981-84
1995-03

[Phoenix87x]

I think I love all 4 era's equally, but it really comes down to what mood I'm in. 

But it is nice to have a different incarnation of KC to satisfy almost any of those moods.

[KevShmev]

I'll never get the undying love so many have for In the Court of the Crimson King.  I mean, it is a pretty good album, but that's it.  They made a handful that are better after that, and the idea that it was the first real prog rock album is a crock.

[seasonsinthesky]

^ i find it's bookended by two amazing pieces, but without much greatness in between.

i'd rank them in reverse order, tbh:
1995-03 (i know, i know... blame my electronic interests)
1981-84
1973-74
1969-71

that '80s trilogy really is something wonderful. i'm glad for the moments they channelled it in the '95-'03 era ("ProzaKc Blues", "One Time", et al).

now, the ProjeKcts... that's a whole other game, really.

[Nekov]

I'll never get the undying love so many have for In the Court of the Crimson King.  I mean, it is a pretty good album, but that's it.  They made a handful that are better after that, and the idea that it was the first real prog rock album is a crock.

Kev, I usually agree with you but not this time. ITCOTCK is one of the best prog albums ever. And while I agree that it was not the first real prog album, it made such a great impact at the time that the whole genre got a boost from it.

[Phoenix87x]

Kev, I usually agree with you but not this time. ITCOTCK is one of the best prog albums ever. And while I agree that it was not the first real prog album, it made such a great impact at the time that the whole genre got a boost from it.

I feel the same way, ITCOTCK is the pinnacle of prog for me.

[The King in Crimson]

I'll never get the undying love so many have for In the Court of the Crimson King.  I mean, it is a pretty good album, but that's it.  They made a handful that are better after that, and the idea that it was the first real prog rock album is a crock.

I think it's a great album and I totally understand its place in history, but it's by no means my favorite. I find Discipline, Red, and ITWoP to be stronger works overall.

[Ħ]

Listening to Lizard. So far it seems like KC is getting better with each album (I'm going through chronologically).

[The Letter M]

Listening to Lizard. So far it seems like KC is getting better with each album (I'm going through chronologically).

I was listening to the first four albums and found myself enjoying the first three more than I remembered, but Islands didn't fare as well. Stick it out and you'll find the AWESOMENESS that is the Wetton-Era Trilogy of King Crimson albums.

-Marc.

[Ħ]

So I'm at Starless and Bible Black now.  It's not as good as the others.