They opened up for the Rolling Stones at Hyde Park after Brian Jones' death. Jimi Hendrix saw them at the Revolution Club and declared the to be the greatest rock band in the whole world. They then toured America and nearly broke up entirely (there was still quite the exodus from the band after that tour.) Pete Townsend called the album an "uncanny masterpiece."
(The band originated as a continuation and augmentation of the folk/rock trio Giles, Giles & Fripp.)
Personnel in the band included:
Robert Fripp: electric guitar, acoustic guitar.
Ian McDonald: alto saxophone, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, vibraphone, mellotron, reed organ, piano, harpsichord, vocals.
Greg Lake: lead vocals, bass guitar.
Michael Giles: drums, timpani, vocals.
Pete Sinfield: lyrics.
The music on this album swings back and forth, from bombastic to pensive, track by track. What is striking about the musicianship is its excellence and how well coordinated it is. Many have commented on how thematically dark the album is. Apart from the song "21st Century Schizoid Man," I don't know that I really agree with that perception of the album. But as always, your mileage may vary from mine.) Artistic differences that arose from the album and the subsequent touring in America concerned a division within the band on how experimental it should be versus how romantic. In the end, experimental won out with Robert Fripp taking over leadership of the band.
Track 1: 21st Century Schizoid Man (7:24): This is probably King Crimson's best-known song. As I just said, it's loud and bombastic. But it's also really, really tight --many unison rapid starts and stops, showing off both their talent and the precision in timing. The middle instrumental section is pretty intense -- with just a hint, as someone pointed out to me reminiscent of the Mission Impossible theme. (Once someone points it out, you can't un-hear it.)
Cat's foot iron claw Neuro-surgeons scream for more At paranoia's poison door. Twenty-first-century schizoid man.
Blood rack barbed wire Politicians' funeral pyre Innocents raped with napalm fire Twenty-first-century schizoid man.
Death seed blind man's greed Poets starving, children bleed Nothing he's got he really needs Twenty-first-century schizoid man.
Track 2: I Talk to the Wind (6:05): A slower, lyrical song. Notable for its flute. There is an earlier version with Judy Dyble, which got included on the Young Listener's Guide to King Crimson.
Said the straight man to the late manWhere have you been?I've been here and I've been thereAnd I've been in between
I talk to the windMy words are all carried awayI talk to the windThe wind does not hearThe wind cannot hear
I'm on the outside looking insideWhat do I see?Much confusion, disillusionAll around me . . . .
Track 3: Epithaph (8:47): I would call it a sweeping, wistful ballad. Actually, it's a good companion to 21st Century Schizoid Man -- similar themes, but in treated with more tenderness and touch.
The wall on which the prophets wroteIs cracking at the seamsUpon the instruments of deathThe sunlight brightly gleamsWhen every man is torn apartWith nightmares and with dreamsWill no one lay the laurel wreathThe silence drowns the screams
Confusion will be my epitaphAs I crawl, a cracked and broken pathIf we make it, we can all sit back and laughBut I fear tomorrow I'll be crying . . . .
And the lines, "Knowledge is a deadly friend / When no one sets the rules / The fate of all mankind I fear / Is in the hands of fools" reminds me as a more bitter version of Alexander Pope's line from Anatomy of Criticism. It also seems wonderfully apropos to the moment we are living in right now.
Track 4: Moonchild (12:13): This is a disregarded song for many King Crimson fans. That was the case for me, until quite recently. The vocals and lyrics that start the song are very evocative. But then, the rest of the song . . . a pretty long stretch of it are seemingly random bells, xylophone, guitar and percussion. Let's just say, if you're in a hurry, it's boring and seemingly nonsense. But if you're patient and give it the time and attention it deserves, it rewards you.
Track 5: The Court of the Crimson King (9:25): This song is my origin story as a King Crimson Fan. I was in high school, and I liked to listen to music at night to go to sleep. At the time, I was listening to a Madison, Wisconsin station (I can't remember its call-sign.) That's when the song came on -- to say I was blown away by it at-the-time would be an understatement. The psychedelic and virtuosic vibe it gave out hooked me. I was a King Crimson fan, starting that night. I remember trying to stay awake enough to find out who they were so I could run out and get the album immediately the next day.
This song doesn't date as well as the others, I think. What is interesting about it -- and other King Crimson albums until the Warner years came around is the idea of the songs being in parts, vocal and then instrumentals, often in somewhat different styles or moods, that resembled the parts you might find in classical music.
The rusted chains of prison moons Are shattered by the sun I walk a road, horizons change The tournament's begun The purple piper plays his tune The choir softly sing Three lullabies in an ancient tongue For the court of the Crimson King
The keeper of the city keys Put shutters on the dreams I wait outside the pilgrim's door With insufficient schemes The Black Queen chants The funeral march The cracked brass bells will ring To summon back the Fire Witch To the court of the Crimson King . . . .
Behold the power of naming! Of presupposing that which exists . . . .
Grade: This is an important album. One of the four classic King Crimson albums that I mentioned previously. In this case, I just have to give it a solid A. Enjoy!
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