I was wondering what are the good King Crimson albums. I have Lark's Tongues which I think is pretty good. Is this the best one? Your thoughts please. :)

This is probably overstating the obvious but In the Court of the Crimson King is a classic.

Well, I'm a long-time Crimhead, so my official opinion is "buy 'em all!" :yes:

Having said that, some thoughts:

Lark's Tongue is indeed the best of their official "studio" albums
"The Great Deceiver" 4-disk live set, from the Lark's Tongue era, is what I play most often
Other favorites of mine include (roughly in order) Beat, Thrak, Discipline, Three of A Perfect Pair, Red ... and the recent Power to Believe is pretty good.

Bottom line: Buy more Crimson! :banana:

I am a big Crimson fan-> love them all.
But "RED" is particularly far out.

I think the most consistently good are:

Starless and Bible Black, RED, In The Court Of The Crimson King, I like also the live CD USA..

Discipline. Three of a Perfect Pair, and Beat all from the 80's have some good moments. but I cant listen to them as often as the above mentioned....and the three sound exactly alike.

Discipline. Three of a Perfect Pair, and Beat all from the 80's have some good moments. but I cant listen to them as often as the above mentioned....and the three sound exactly alike.

True - I think of them as sort of all part of one (somewhat uneven) album. Some great songs, though.

Robert Fripp.
Adrian Belew.
Tony Levin.
Bill Bruford.

can you dig...? :thmbsp:

clint.

What was the one that had "Catfood" on it ? Starless And Bible Black? Another good song was "Song of the Gulls"-it sounded kinda like classical. I remember turning some of my buddies on to "Larks Tongues" whilst riding the E.Tn backroads drinking beer-THAT was an experience !! Especially "Book of Saturdays" w/its "backwards" playing...<grin>-Sandy G.

"Catfood" is on In the Wake of Poseidon

"Song of the Gulls" is on Islands, and is indeed classical sounding - in fact, I believe it is essentially ripped off from a classical piece whose composer escapes me at the moment.

Don't forget other members of KC LONG before Belew and Bruford and Levin:
Michael Giles, Greg Lake succeeded by John Whetton, Mel Collins and of course Keith Tippet's piano madness on Catfood.
Don't have any other names in memory from the Court and Wake era.
Absolutely amazing group driven by Fripp's guitar and Lake's sonorous vocals.

I was wondering what are the good King Crimson albums. I have Lark's Tongues which I think is pretty good. Is this the best one? Your thoughts please. :)

Well, if you like Lark's Tongue then Starless and Bible Black should sit well with you. And Red is another classic that should not be passed up.

Personally, I like the Belew period. The 80's with Discipline, Beat and Three Of A Perfect Pair and the 90's/00's with Thrak, Construkction Of Light and The Power To Believe. But what I really dig is the live material from those years. Absent Lovers, Vroom Vroom, Heavy Construkction and B'Boom are all outstanding. And I also like Fripp's Projekct stuff but that's another tangent altogether.

Another K.Crimson live musicians :
Pat Mastelotto - Drums.
Trey Gunn - Guitars.
Bill Forth - Guitars.
Chris Botti.

Robert Fripp and The League of Gentlemen :
Barry Andrews: organ
Robert Fripp: guitar
Sara Lee: bass guitar
Jonny Toobad: drums.

clint. :thmbsp:

King Crimson : my favorite band of all times. Hearing during 20 years the best progressive rock in the world.

1-Lizard - A really masterpiece. A very good angle of jazz-rock
2-In the Court of the Crimson King
3-Islands
4-Larks tongues in aspic

But all that comes from Crimson (that is from the brain of Robert Fripp) has very high quality even the last productions (that are very different to those of the golden age).

Anyone who is fond of the first King Crimson album might also enjoy the McDonald and Giles album. Not all that easy to find, but worth it -- a real period piece -- its hard to imagine it being recorded at any other time.

For completists out there, a bunch of King Crimson alumni, John Wetton, Ian Wallace, Mike Giles, Boz Burrell, and Mel Collins---am I forgetting anyone?---play on the 1974 album Chapman-Whitney's Streetwalkers, which doesn't sound anything like KC recording. It's only available as an LP.

I'm a Fripp fan, which makes me a KC fan by default. Of course, the 1st album was a favorite in my teenage years and is poblably the most consistent and inspired of all KC albums. IMO, it is the album that made the best use of the mellotron. Consistent in the sense that if you hear and like a song, you're bound to enjoy the whole album. Not so for all other albums (let's exclude the 80's period). Albums like RED, Starless, lark's tongues, Earthbound all contain real KC gems, but all also have obscure experimental tracks which will turn off the average pop listener. The constant about 70's KC was to never be constant, except for Fripp's presence. If you can find the Young person's guide to King Crimson (don't know if available on CD), it is a double best-of which gives an honest overview. The added insert is interesting for the photos and reveals KC's worst reviews, which shows how KC was determined to be "uncommecial".

As for the 80's period, were talking a whole new band with a consitent style and a "disciplined" mix of experimental and trendy pop. I saw them live twice in 1982. Three albums were released within 2 years with the same musicians, same style, and same sound. The albums made them the only 70`s progressive rock band to survive the 80's. The only link with the 70's is the band name (and the presence of Bill Bruford and Fripp. Absolutely nothing in common with "In the court.."

Anyone who is fond of the first King Crimson album might also enjoy the McDonald and Giles album. Not all that easy to find, but worth it -- a real period piece -- its hard to imagine it being recorded at any other time.

In fact, the "McDonald and Giles" album overlaps with "In the Wake of Poseidon." At the end of 1969. after KC played the Fillmore East & West venues, the group broke apart when Giles & McDonald immediately left the US for UK because they were homesick (and maybe fed up with Fripp.) Fripp convinced McDonald & Giles' brother, Peter, to play temporarily as a "patched" up KC in England for a BBC appearance to plug the single release of "Cat Food/ Groon," which Lake sang on, but would not play the bass. The "McDonald and Giles" LP has 2 songs which were written by McDonald & Peter Sinfield. Both of these songs appear on both the KC "In the Wake of Poseidon" and the "McDonald & Giles" LP. Both tracks are similar yet different, as both camps of Sinfield & Fripp and McD & Giles had their own take on the original composition. The cuts are ""Cadence & Cascade"/"Flight of the Ibis" and "Wake of Poseidon"/"Birdman" , depending on which album you're listening to.

Ian McDonald had as much influence on King Crimson, if not more, than Fripp, as he was responsible for writing most of "In the Court..." compositions, played many of the instruments, & orchestrated the KC sound. btw, Stevie Winwood plays on the McD & G LP.

PS re "Lizard" Fripp wanted Jon Anderson of YES to join King Crimson as its lead singer. Jon refused, but agreed to sing "Prince Rupert Awakes," which Jon wrote the lyrics for, as a favor to his friend Fripp. Definitely a cool song.
Imagine if Anderson had left YES for KC. Lots of cross-pollination exists between YES & KC over the decades.

Never came across the Lizard LP (probably available on CD now), anyhow, I can hardly imagine a mix of Jon Anderson with Fripp, two group leaders. I was thrilled to hear once that many Yes songs were written (or sung) by Anderson who would sing the melodies to the other group members. Having at hand real virtuosos, the result was Yes, practically unplayable stuff. Not sure if that was ever Fripp's vision of composition.

"Dicipline" has always been a fav of mine. Tony Levin is just amazing.

Jon Anderson and Fripp,,weird combo. I dont think it would have lasted long, but you never now really,,sometimes the music magic rises above stuff.

I was listening to Jon Anderson's LP's Animation and Song of Seven...man, what an awesome songwriter and singer Anderson has been for an eternity. He just consistently gives the goosebumps.

Tony Levin, I like quite a bit, but I dont dig that his sound and phrasing is usually the same,,,no matter what, he doesnt seem to experiment that much...I saw him live in Atlanta and he was a riot on stage. Nice guy also.

Fripp instituted a "King Crimson Collectors' Club" a few years back, for which he released previously unavailable or bottlegged live concert material, many from the early years. One can now obtain legally & in best quality audio the original Hyde Park concert (in which KC opened for the Rolling Stones at the Brian Jones memorial concert), the Fillmore shows, & many excellent shows from the early 70s, with Mel Collins on sax & flute, Boz Burrell (later of Bad Co.), & Ian Wallace. The early 70 shows are very jazz bent, where Fripp lost control of the band & they really turned out some wild concerts.

PS Are you aware that Tony Levin was part of the alternate"YES" for awhile in "Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, & Howe" in the late 80s? He played bass in ABWH as Squire fronted the "other " YES group consisting of White, Kaye & Rabin, as Anderson jumped from them to ABWH? Hence the "Union" YES.

The early Crimson did have a free jazz twist. My favorite is Groon.

I never think of KC has having much Jazz...in fact, Fripp was very against improvising, and admonished Bruford for trying to play things differently each night...THey used strange tones and combinations of scales and Fripp tunings maybe, but I just seem them on the left side of prog rock, but not Jazz/

i bought two KC lps on ebay, and they arrived today!!! :banana: i ahve been dying to listen to them for a long time. ever since i heard The Court of the Crimson King on the radio a couple months ago :music: . currently spinning is "In the Court of the Crimson King", next up will be "In the Wake of Poseidon". these guys are amazing and what i've heard of this album so far kicks ass. i haven't even gotten to the second side, and already i want to hunt down more of their stuff. same thing happened to me with Frank Zappa after I listened to "Joes Garage Act 1" for the 50th time.

Whoa just realized this is my 100th post... :smoke:

Ok it wasn't jazz, but it was inspired by jazz. The reed solo on Schidzoid Man isn't what I'd call rock. Certainly sounds improvised to me. As for Groon, well that's jazz to me. Does jazz always have to be imrpovised? What was happening to jazz in the seventies? It started sounding like rock, and vice versa.

As for Zappa, expect some very obsure freaked out stuff. I can hardly get into it anymore.

I never said that Jazz has to be improvised...I just find it an overused word when relating to King Crimson, thats all...Jazz Fusion was mostly rock with a bit of jazz flair as well....I just find the definitions are industry made.

I never think of KC has having much Jazz...in fact, Fripp was very against improvising, and admonished Bruford for trying to play things differently each night...THey used strange tones and combinations of scales and Fripp tunings maybe, but I just seem them on the left side of prog rock, but not Jazz/

Jack, if you listen to the KC bootlegs from the 70s, you will hear jazz. That's what I meant by Fripp losing control of the band on the road. Once the concert started, the band members were free to wander away from Fripp's compositions, into the jazz ether. Fripp increasingly lost patience with the various KC members, hence the revolving door in the lineup, as the band members refused to play the compositions as Fripp wanted it. This is evident on "Earthbound," the only officially released live LP by KC (with the exception of USA Live) in the 70s.

I would have loved to hear Fripp curse one out...I saw a video of Jon Anderson laying onto someone big time...Kinda funny...

On the early albums, there's no doubt that some of the musiscians had a jazz backgound (the winds, drums) and it certainly influenced the music. But I won't qualify Fripp as a jazz guitarist. Fripp is Fripp. Later on, Bruford certainly brought some jazzy stuff, or should he be qualified as a "fusion" drummer?

Bruford is a jazz drummer. He joined YES to make a living, which he probably was unable to do as a jazz drummer at the time. His jazz group is known as Earthworks.

Bruford himself thought that Yes was more or less a jazzy group. especially when Peter Banks was the guitar player....It was the first group that he had seen that could sing 3 part harmonies. Listening to Bruford in KC, i still fail to hear much difference.
Honestly, to my ears, Bruford played more interesting parts in Yes that in Crimson...Probably because Wetton (imo) isnt as creative as Squire. In those days the Jazziest Bruford appeard in Fragile.

His drumming and composing with Earthworks is stupendous...I love most of the Earthworks stuff...especially after he went back to acoustic drum kits.

Probably would have made more money playing for the Bee Gees.

:thumbsdn: :tears: :boring:

I agree about Wetton, nothing very exciting. Always was a Bruford fan, even in the 80's albums. Very creative, but those octogonal Simmons drums had the worst sound.

lol..i actually liked the sound of them in the ABWH LP and tour....Bruford and Howe rip it together at the end of Starship Trooper....

I've seen Bruford play live moreso than any other musician. Countless times with King Crimson, Yes, Earthworks. Even once so him play with Genesis (!), when Phil Collins took over as lead singer and he was afraid that the percussion aspect of Genesis' sound would suffer; so Collins drafted Bruford to play the '76 tour (Trick of Tail tour, recorded as live "Seconds Out" LPs.)

Quoting my deleted post :lmao:

lol..i actually liked the sound of them in the ABWH LP and tour....Bruford and Howe rip it together at the end of Starship Trooper....

Bruford's electronic sounds were especially awesome during the YES "Union" tour as well.

Who else but Bruford could have backed Collins. I place Collins at the same level as Bruford. My favorites.

Just add Stewart Copeland and John Bonham.


(who really cares)

but I do like Discipline and Beat from the '80s. :yes:

I think Fripp stagnates after Beat. Three Of A Perfect Pair is somewhat puzzling in that side one is a blatant stab at mainstream, while side two is nearly unlistenable (thus the sides are labeled 'accessible' and 'excessive'). Thrak ('95) was very much a continuance of where they left off w/ 3OAPP, but is still a very well done album. I'm not thrilled with their output beyond Thrak, although Power To Believe has its moments.

Has anyone here seen the DVD from the the last tour?

I haven't, but I do have a DVD of their Thrak tour and its pretty good with a very comprehensive track list , but that Fripp fellow is a real flake. He sits in darkness while everyone else is spot-lighted. :scratch2:

that Fripp fellow is a real flake. He sits in darkness while everyone else is spot-lighted.

I once attended a KC concert in which Fripp sat with his back to the audience for most of the show. Also saw him at the World Financial Center WinterGarden, which was/is across the street from the World Trade Center towers. He loved to play his solo Frippertronic shows there, amongst the indoor palm trees. A beautiful setting (they've rebuilt it since 9/11.) Imagine the look of horror on the faces of the noontime audience eating their lunch as Fripp plays his nightmarish, "bats flying out of hell" Frippertronic sounds to the financial secretaries, brokers, & me.

I must admit, Frippertronics is a nice concept, but Fripp overdid it. That's obvious.

I like his Exposure album, on which he mixes Frippertronics tracks with agressive punk rock style riffs with Phil Collins on drums, Daryl Hall & Peter Gabriel on vocals, and many more people (Peter Hammil, Eno, Tony Levin). Some tracks have a KC flavour (Red). The late seventies were Fripp's most creative years.

I agree with 3-LockBox, after 3 of a perfect pair, I lost interest in KC.