Music Banter - View Single Post - I know what I like: Trollheart's History of Progressive Rock and Progressive Metal

Trollheart · 12-18-2016, 09:44 AM

Album title: In the Court of the Crimson King
Artiste: King Crimson
Nationality: British
Label: Island
Year: 1969
Grade: A
Previous Experience of this Artiste: Zero (go on, laugh: you know you want to!)
The Trollheart Factor: 0
Landmark value: Seen as one of the defining albums of prog rock, one of the first to embrace elements of jazz and classical as well as symphonic material. One of the first early prog albums to not only make a decent showing the charts, but get into the top five.
Tracklisting: 21st Century schizoid man/ I talk to the wind/ Epitaph ((i) March for no reason (ii) Tomorrow and tomorrow)/ Moonchild (i) The Dream (ii) The Illusion)/ The Court of the Crimson King (i) The return of the fire witch (ii) The dance of the puppets)
Comments: It might seem odd to those of you who don't know me for me to admit that I have never listened to King Crimson at all, but those more familiar with me will know that although I am a prog head, there are quite a few major prog bands I either have not heard or do not enjoy, and this is certainly one of the former cases. A chance to address this now, though I have to admit there's a word in the Wiki description of this album that worries me: atonal. I like my music to have melody, harmony, call it what you will: I need to be able to enjoy the music, and atonal music is not a thing I enjoy. However, we will see.

Once again, Spotify lets me down and off to the Y I go. That's YouTube, not the YMCA. It's a powerful, punchy start for “21st century schizoid man”, with a long intro on guitr and keys, which so far is relatively pleasant to me. Well, not that long after all: I was originally listening to some cunt doing a cover on his synth! Jesus! Got the original now, so start again, and vocal then is heavily distorted, can't say I really like that. Sort of like listening to Waits playing prog, if that analogy doesn't offend every KC fan, which it probably will. Well, if so, in the spirit of Christmas let me say, fuck you.

I can definitely hear the jazz in this and, well, you know me and jazz, so no, I don't personally like it. I'm sure it's very technically pleasing but it's a little too much for me. Does get heavy as fuck though near the end as the vocals leak back in. I see why there is no part two, or rather, don't understand why they break it up as it's basically an instrumental with a few vocal bits thrown on. Not the worst I've ever heard but I don't get the love, not at least on the basis of this track.

Great: the next track is fucking live from the BBC! Well fuck you Robert poxy Fripp and your obsessive control over your music, neither allowing Spotify to have it or it to be uploaded to YouTube! Now I have to buy this album, an album I probably won't like, just to review it. That's forty cents out of my hard-earned paycheque! That's nearly half! Well, not quite, but still, forty fucking cents! But it's the only way I'm going to be able to review this properly instead of hopping from YouTube to poxy YouTube and trying to piece it together. I guess it deserves better. Right, I have it downloaded now, will take this up again tomorrow, tired now.

Okay, so here we go. Track two is “I talk to the wind” and has a very classical opening and then an almost Everly Brothers vocal harmony; very pastoral and with a lot of Simon and Garfunkel in it too. I'll say a ballad, though I suppose it could change. I hope not though. Nah, it isn't going to change now. Very nice. Enjoyed that. “Epitaph” starts off beautifully, slow and majestic, even if the vocal is almost inaudible. Builds to something of a crescendo in the fourth minute and then into a really nice instrumental section which I assume is the second part. Very impressed with this. Very. Oh, right: it's not instrumental. Still lovely. Great so far. What's next? “Moonchild”, a twelve-minute track. Okay.

Seems again very laidback, with a lot of soft flute, at least at first, which surprises me, as I had somehow been led to believe this would be a very harsh, in-your-face album. Not so far. Opener aside, I've really enjoyed it. This gets a little abstract and expressionist further in but it's nothing to set the teeth on edge (gets so quiet that at times I had to check my amp was turned up: it was, as I found out suddenly when the title track kicked in!) and even when the title comes through with a slight punch it's still relatively gentle enough, with some great harmonies and sort of psych overtones. Stops at the seventh minute of the nine it runs for to usher in a sort of little instrumental I guess, a reprise of sorts, very effective.

Favourite track(s): Everything bar the opener, and even that was all right.
Least favourite track(s): Nothing really
Overall impression: Considering what I had expected, this album pretty much blew me away. I can see now why King Crimson are so highly rated, and I'm glad I didn't try to experience this via piecemeal videos stitched together on YouTube. A superb first effort, and if this is typical of them, they may have found, at this late stage, a new fan. Glad I spent the forty cents now!
Personal Rating:

Legacy Rating:

Final Rating:

12-18-2016, 09:44 AM	#124 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,996	Album title: In the Court of the Crimson King Artiste: King Crimson Nationality: British Label: Island Year: 1969 Grade: A Previous Experience of this Artiste: Zero (go on, laugh: you know you want to!) The Trollheart Factor: 0 Landmark value: Seen as one of the defining albums of prog rock, one of the first to embrace elements of jazz and classical as well as symphonic material. One of the first early prog albums to not only make a decent showing the charts, but get into the top five. Tracklisting: 21st Century schizoid man/ I talk to the wind/ Epitaph ((i) March for no reason (ii) Tomorrow and tomorrow)/ Moonchild (i) The Dream (ii) The Illusion)/ The Court of the Crimson King (i) The return of the fire witch (ii) The dance of the puppets) Comments: It might seem odd to those of you who don't know me for me to admit that I have never listened to King Crimson at all, but those more familiar with me will know that although I am a prog head, there are quite a few major prog bands I either have not heard or do not enjoy, and this is certainly one of the former cases. A chance to address this now, though I have to admit there's a word in the Wiki description of this album that worries me: atonal. I like my music to have melody, harmony, call it what you will: I need to be able to enjoy the music, and atonal music is not a thing I enjoy. However, we will see. Once again, Spotify lets me down and off to the Y I go. That's YouTube, not the YMCA. It's a powerful, punchy start for “21st century schizoid man”, with a long intro on guitr and keys, which so far is relatively pleasant to me. Well, not that long after all: I was originally listening to some cunt doing a cover on his synth! Jesus! Got the original now, so start again, and vocal then is heavily distorted, can't say I really like that. Sort of like listening to Waits playing prog, if that analogy doesn't offend every KC fan, which it probably will. Well, if so, in the spirit of Christmas let me say, fuck you. I can definitely hear the jazz in this and, well, you know me and jazz, so no, I don't personally like it. I'm sure it's very technically pleasing but it's a little too much for me. Does get heavy as fuck though near the end as the vocals leak back in. I see why there is no part two, or rather, don't understand why they break it up as it's basically an instrumental with a few vocal bits thrown on. Not the worst I've ever heard but I don't get the love, not at least on the basis of this track. Great: the next track is fucking live from the BBC! Well fuck you Robert poxy Fripp and your obsessive control over your music, neither allowing Spotify to have it or it to be uploaded to YouTube! Now I have to buy this album, an album I probably won't like, just to review it. That's forty cents out of my hard-earned paycheque! That's nearly half! Well, not quite, but still, forty fucking cents! But it's the only way I'm going to be able to review this properly instead of hopping from YouTube to poxy YouTube and trying to piece it together. I guess it deserves better. Right, I have it downloaded now, will take this up again tomorrow, tired now. Okay, so here we go. Track two is “I talk to the wind” and has a very classical opening and then an almost Everly Brothers vocal harmony; very pastoral and with a lot of Simon and Garfunkel in it too. I'll say a ballad, though I suppose it could change. I hope not though. Nah, it isn't going to change now. Very nice. Enjoyed that. “Epitaph” starts off beautifully, slow and majestic, even if the vocal is almost inaudible. Builds to something of a crescendo in the fourth minute and then into a really nice instrumental section which I assume is the second part. Very impressed with this. Very. Oh, right: it's not instrumental. Still lovely. Great so far. What's next? “Moonchild”, a twelve-minute track. Okay. Seems again very laidback, with a lot of soft flute, at least at first, which surprises me, as I had somehow been led to believe this would be a very harsh, in-your-face album. Not so far. Opener aside, I've really enjoyed it. This gets a little abstract and expressionist further in but it's nothing to set the teeth on edge (gets so quiet that at times I had to check my amp was turned up: it was, as I found out suddenly when the title track kicked in!) and even when the title comes through with a slight punch it's still relatively gentle enough, with some great harmonies and sort of psych overtones. Stops at the seventh minute of the nine it runs for to usher in a sort of little instrumental I guess, a reprise of sorts, very effective. Favourite track(s): Everything bar the opener, and even that was all right. Least favourite track(s): Nothing really Overall impression: Considering what I had expected, this album pretty much blew me away. I can see now why King Crimson are so highly rated, and I'm glad I didn't try to experience this via piecemeal videos stitched together on YouTube. A superb first effort, and if this is typical of them, they may have found, at this late stage, a new fan. Glad I spent the forty cents now! Personal Rating: Legacy Rating: Final Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018