Category Archives: King Crimson

King Crimson

Overview
King Crimson released their first studio album in 1969, and their last studio album in 2003 (as of 2011). In those 35 years, they released 13 regular studio albums. I say “regular” because they released a ton of other irregular studio albums, many under what they consider part of their improvisational “ProjeKcts” collections. In addition to the 13 “regular” studio albums, they have released a ridiculous number of live albums and other improvisational albums. In terms of Personnel, they have had at least 30 different members, and they have spent more time broken up and disbanded, then they have spent together. Lastly, they have covered an abundance of different musical styles and sounds, so very few albums sound alike. Thus, their music is not for the average listener. It is extremely complex, challenging, and sometimes, it is just plain confusing. So, for the sake of simplicity, I’ll try to further explain King Crimson in just two Points:

#1 Robert Fripp
King Crimson is really not a band, but rather an idea. The idea that music should be ever changing and progressing. Over their long history, the only constant member has been Robert Fripp, so Fripp really is King Crimson, kind of in the same way that Ian Anderson really is Jethro Tull, but with one major difference. Ian Anderson is not only the leader of Tull, but he has always been the primary songwriter. Fripp on the other hand is certainly the leader of Crimson, but he often delegates the writing duties to other band members, and I think that’s why they have been able to successfully master so many different styles of music.

#2 Progressive Rock
Several bands had incorporated progressive rock tendencies into their music before King Crimson, but King Crimson really put progressive rock on the map with their debut release “In the Court of the Crimson King.” After that seminal album was released, progressive rock really took off and progressive rock bands were everywhere, but here’s what really makes King Crimson different; they didn’t stop progressing. After the release of their first album, they released 3 more albums (all within 3 years) in that same style of original progressive rock. Then in 1971, they pulled out, and they called that style of music (that they invented) out dated. They then took 3 years off, and returned with a new line up for 1973-1974, and they recorded 3 more albums in a completely different style. Once again, this style of music was  completely new to the rock world, and I think it is best described as improvisational proto-progressive metal. They then pulled out again, only to return for another run from 1981-1984 with three more albums of a completely different style. This time around, the music is probably best described as progressive new wave, and during this period they were heavily influencing and being influenced by other new wave bands. They then took about 10 years off, but they returned again in 1995 and recorded 3 more albums. This time around, I would classify their sound as industrial and avant-garde progressive metal, and it was heavily influential to other bands such as Tool, with whom they toured.

My point with all this is that they are truly progressive in the sense that they keep progressing and pushing the boundaries of music in completely innovative and new directions. All in all, King Crimson is a really difficult band to get into. Their music is not easily digestible, and they have covered so many different styles that every album is completely unpredictable, but it is for these reasons that they are such an interesting band, and it is worth it to explore at least one album from each of their four main periods that I’ve highlighted.

Styles and Genres
Progressive Rock

Original Band Line-Up
Robert Fripp – guitar
Ian McDonald – flute, clarinet, saxophone, vibes, keyboards, mellotron
Greg Lake – bass, vocals
Michael Giles – drums, percussion
Peter Sinfield – lyrics, illumination

Other Key Member
Adrian Belew – guitar, lead vocals (1981- Present)

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King Crimson In the Court of the Crimson King- 1969
Album Rating- 8

“In the Court of the Crimson King,” and most notably “21st Century Schizoid Man” (the lead track of the album), is to music what the “Wizard of OZ” is to movies. It’s really a perfect analogy. “The Wizard of OZ” is the first widely accepted color movie, and “In the Court of the Crimson King” is the first widely accepted progressive rock album.

On the movie side, there were actually movies made in color dating all the way back to the early 1900’s, and “Gone with Wind” was also released in color in the same year as “OZ,” but color movies didn’t really take off until Dorothy stepped into the land of OZ and the movie changed from black and white to color in a single instant. It was an absolutely groundbreaking moment in film history.

On the music side, there were progressive rock elements in music dating back to the mid-sixties, and the Moody Blues had released three semi-progressive albums by the time “In the Court of the Crimson King” was released, but it took Greg Lake screaming into a megaphone during “Schizoid Man” for progressive rock to really take off; therefore, I consider King Crimson’s “In the Court of the Crimson King” to be the first true progressive rock album, and the song and album were absolutely groundbreaking moments in music history.

So before I go any further, here is the audio clip from “Schizoid Man” (click here to listen to 21st Century Schizoid Man ). Now, if you’re hearing this for the first time, it might not seem that groundbreaking, but you have put yourself back in 1969. There was just nothing else like this. This pre-dates Sabbath, so there was nothing this heavy; there was nothing this chaotic, and there was certainly nothing that had its title track sung through a megaphone; “Schizoid Man” was completely unique. Remember, this was 1969, and The Beatles, The Stones, and The Who still owned the airwaves. Those are all great bands, but their music was nowhere near as groundbreaking as “Schizoid Man” or the remainder of this album.

The album contains four other tracks. “I Talk to the Wind” and “Epitaph” are much calmer than “Schizoid,” and provide a soothing and needed break from the chaos that ensued from that track. Both are great songs, and both make great use of the Mellotron, which make them sound very similar to what the Moody Blues had already been doing for a few years. The Moodies really pioneered the use of the Mellotron as an instrument, but I prefer these two Crimson tracks to any of the early Moody Blues tracks. Then you get “Moonchild,” which is also an extremely important track; it is my least favorite track on the album, but it is by far the most avant-garde track of the album, and I comment on its importance because this concept of avant-gardism and experimentation would become a staple of Crimson’s music on every album they released, and it also pushed the boundaries of what other bands were willing (and were allowed) to do on studio albums. Lastly, you have “In the Court of the Crimson King,” which is certainly the most influential track on the album, in that it absolutely defines progressive rock, and it laid the groundwork for progressive rock in the early 1970’s and as we know it today.

In closing, “In the Court of the Crimson King” is the album that brought progressive rock into the mainstream; it is a landmark album, and even if you’re not into progressive rock, you should at least hear it. Lastly, let’s circle back around to the “Wizard of OZ” comparison one more time. “OZ” didn’t win the academy award for best picture in 1939. It was beat out by “Gone with the Wind,” but I think “OZ” was more important in pushing the boundaries of color in movies. This is the same reason that I’m not scoring this album a perfect-10, but there is no doubt that it is one of the most significant albums ever released in progressive rock.

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King Crimson- A Scarcity of Miracles- 2011
A Scarcity of Miracles (A King Crimson ProjeKct by Jakszyk, Fripp and Collins)
RMR Album Rating- 6

Let’s lay down two important facts on this one before we get started….

Fact#1: This is not a new King Crimson album; it is a ProjeKcts album.
Fact#2: This is not a rock album; it is an Ambient/ Jazz album.

As for fact #1, King Crimson has 13 official studio albums, but since Robert Fripp and company have always had a penchant for experimentation, Fripp decided that rather than bogging down official King Crimson releases with even more experimentation than usual, he would create releases under the name “ProjeKcts.” The first ProjeKcts album (“ProjeKcts One”) was released in 1997, and this current ProjeKct, marks Fripp’s 7^th ProjeKct. Fripp has stated that the purpose of the ProjeKct albums is for “research and development.” Personally, I love this concept. I certainly don’t love all the music on all the ProjeKcts albums, but I like that they do their experimentation outside of official King Crimson releases and save the best stuff for the real albums. Take Pink Floyd’s “Ummagumma” as a counterpoint. The studio half of that album is all experimentation, but it is released as an official Pink Floyd album, so fans expect official Pink Floyd music, which “Ummagumma” is certainly not. Here’s my take home point with all of this: you shouldn’t pick up this release thinking that you’re getting an official King Crimson studio album.

As for fact #2, this release has nothing to do with rock music at all. It is a very ambient jazzy album. Fripp is credited with guitars and soundscapes, but there aren’t really any guitars that I can hear at all. The dominant instrument is definitely Mel Collins’ Saxophone, which he plays in a very jazzy way, and there is no heaviness to his playing at all. The album really sounds like the jazzy ambient sections of certain Pink Floyd songs, but Pink Floyd would balance those elements with rock sections of music, where as this release is really a sea of continuous jazzy ambience that just kind of flows into one long piece of music. With that being said, for the first week that I listened to this album, I absolutely hated it, but with time, its intricacies really started to come out, and I have grown to appreciate it for what it is… a research and development project in jazz and ambient sounds.

I also want point out that Jakko Jakszyk’s vocals on this album are fantastic. His voice sounds like a combination of David Gilmore (Pink Floyd) and Mikael Åkerfeldt’s clean vocals (Opeth). For me, he edges out John Wetton as my favorite King Crimson (or ProjeKcts) vocalist.

As for the songs, they all run together, but the title track and “Secrets” do stand out a bit more than the others.

Click here to listen to A Scarcity Of Miracles
Click here to listen to Secrets

This is certainly not an album that I will pull of the shelf very often (or ever again). However, I can appreciate it for the research and development project that it is, and it would sound fantastic layered behind a wall of King Crimson rock music, and to that point, if for Crimson’s next release they combined the sound of this release with the sound of “The Power to Believe” (King Crimson’s last release), and keep Jakko Jakszyk on vocals, we would have one of the best King Crimson releases ever.

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