By its reputation, I should be naturally hating this album. If not ground zero for prog-rock aesthetics, it's at the very least very close to that dangerous neighborhood. As a 1960s popster with touches of French avant-garde Musique Concrete, and a feel for a great torch song here and there, logic would tell you that I should remain far away from "In The Court of the Crimson King." In fact, I never wanted to be in any court of any sort, especially one attached to King Crimson. But alas, I'm a prejudiced soul!
I have been curious about this album for decades now. As mentioned in another commentary on King Crimson, I admired Robert Fripp as a guitarist and his work with David Bowie, Eno, among others. Still, is it possible for me to ever love or like a song called "I Talk to the Wind?" Or worse yet, "Moonchild?" The odds were even against this ever ending up in my home or on my turntable. But under a weak moment, and perhaps the effect of wine, I purchased this album, due to curiosity, but also the fact that it's almost impossible to hear this album in its entirety online. That I find is admirable. If I want to hear it properly, I'm going to have to get the credit card out, and deal with the fallout if that's the case may be. I did, and I kind of love "In The Court of the Crimson King."
To be honest, at the height of the FM radio years I loved to hear the song "In the Court of the Crimson King." I'm a total sucker for the grand over-the-top melody, and when one adds a mellotron to the mix, it's a guilty pleasure. Still, listening to the entire album, and looking at the credits, I was shocked that Fripp didn't write or co-write the actual "In the Court..." song! Also, the big ballad "I Talk to the Wind" was written by its' multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald and lyricist Peter Sinfield, who produced the first and great Roxy Music album. It is actually through Roxy that I started to change my mind about Crimson, in that I realized that they shared similar roots and characters. Still, the big masterpiece by King Crimson and Fripp had nothing to do with it, on a songwriting level is a shock to me.
As an album, "In the Court..." is extremely well-paced, and the band knows something about avoiding excess, and still manage to bring out different sides of the band/work. Side one starts off with the killer riff of "21st Century Schizoid Man" and leads perfectly to "I Talk to the Wind," and then the final cut on that side "Epitaph" (must they always have pretentious titles). This is a perfect example of economy, pace, and seducing the listener to their world. Greg Lake is a good singer, and anyone who can sing those lyrics by Sinfield, alone, is a magnificent effort.
Side two of the album, compared to the first, is more interesting. "Moonchild" is free-form playful music that leads up to the swelling and majestically structured "In the Court of the Crimson King." The other surprising aspect of this album is that I always have the sound of the mellotron was attached to Fripp, but according to the credits on the record, it's McDonald who plays the instrument. King Crimson is always a band that collaborates with all the musicians, in all forms of Crimson. Fripp is the mainstay, but one can't underestimate the contributions from the other members of the band. If there is another active music force on this group/album, it's for sure McDonald. Lake comes through on his own, and the drumming of Michael Giles is solid.
In conclusion, I'm now buying all the early King Crimson albums, for the purpose to explore whatever my taste is or was. It is something that I can't imagine I would have done in the past, but still, there were signs of this to come. My best friend in the 1970s was very much into King Crimson and a mega-Eno fan. He liked Fripp/Crimson first, which led him to Roxy/Eno world. That always stayed on my mind, even after all these years.
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