King Crimson (Official Thread)

[Chevelle]

I know this may sound weird to some of you. I have ten LPs by King Crimson but I'm not all that familiar with the band.
I've been meaning to revisit some bands that I did not have time to get into back in the seventies. I'll be watching this thread to see which LPs I should start with.

 

[jives11]

Well , from a collectors point of view ,if you have 10 LP's of King Crimson you certainly should keep them. I was in a store yesterday and copies of Court of the Crimson King on LP fetch from £70-£150. I was close to buying it for a special price of £50 which would be the most I ever spent on an LP, but in the end I couldn't quite do it. I do have it on other media

I'd start with that album and also "Red". Red has the track "Starless" which for me is truly awe inspiring.

 

[Sweaty]

If you have them on Pink Island they fetch a pretty penny, I do need to revisit them myself and would not get rid of my albums.

 

[Aktivator]

I know this may sound weird to some of you. I have ten LPs by King Crimson but I'm not all that familiar with the band.
I've been meaning to revisit some bands that I did not have time to get into back in the seventies. I'll be watching this thread to see which LPs I should start with.

You should listen to all of them.
And if u don't like it play them again until u get it!

 

[Khor1255]

For starters I would go with the debut In the Court of the Crimson King not only because it is the first album but because it is one of the best albums of it's genre. If that isn't really your speed I would next try Red since it id quite a departure from the style of the first album (some parts almost sound like metal) and a very accessible album.
As much as I love Crimson (they are one of my favorite bands) most of their albums have varying degrees of accessibility. What I mean by that is there are almost always songs you might like right away (like 21st Century Schitzoid Man or Epitaph from the first album) and songs that take a little longer to grow on you. On a twentieth listen you might find yourself loving a song you previously thought of as so so because a lot of it is heavily nuanced and subtle at the same time.

Anyway, there is such variety in all their recordings that with ten albums I think you are going to find a lot of stuff on each album you like right away and a lot that takes a while to grow on you or never appeals to you at all. For my part I can hear the intricacy and appreciate the musicianship of a lot of tunes that fail to 'hook' me into them.

Maybe the next few thousand listens will change that.

 

[Big Ears]

I agree, start with In the Court of the Crimson King and Red, then work forward from In the Wake of Poseidon. Khor is right to mention 21st Century Schizoid Man and Epitaph as they are glorious pieces.

If you like King Crimson, you will probably like UK with John Wetton and Eddie Jobson. 21st Century Schizoid Band are also worth a listen as they recapture the spirit of the original band (albeit without Greg Lake).

 

[Riff Raff]

Doesn't matter which of the first two to start with to be honest both are great albums.

 

[Khor1255]

Yep. For the longest time 'In the Wake' was my favorite KC album. But now I don't like to sever one finger in favor of the other.

 

[Riff Raff]

Listening to Islands album at the moment. Not bad but I still prefer albums like Red to it though.

 

[Khor1255]

Lizard and Islands (Earthbound as well) took the longest to grow on me and are still my least favorite pre Belew albums. They have their moments though. Formentara Lady/A Sailor's Tale is an epic jam.