1) King Crimson
Finally, we’ve reached number one, and the band that tops the list may not come as a surprise to many. King Crimson just may be the most influential of all progressive rock bands. Yet so many don’t even know of their existence. Their relative obscurity may give them even more reason to take the top spot, due to their their ability to stick to their roots with long, dark, and experimental songs. King Crimson practically created the prog genre. Bands before them like The Beatles will often get credit for being prog, but King Crimson made the genre as we have come to know it. With their debut album In the Court of the Crimson King, King Crimson shook up the rock scene. The music was longer, more obscure, more bombastic and harder than anything before them.
Their lineup has seen drastic changes over the years. Prog and rock giants have come and gone as members of the band, such as:
While they have seen an array of members, each album has been able to keep that King Crimson sound while being distinctive. All of their work manages to keep a dark and haunting tone influencing many metal prog bands in the future, notably, Tool has cited King Crimson as a major influence. They would go on to release some of the strongest work in the genre, albums like, In the Court of the Crimson King, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Red, and In the Wake of Poseidon.
King Crimson pushed rock to new possibilities, incorporating new instruments like the mellotron and an eclectic range of genres like jazz and classical. Not only did King Crimson define the genre, but they released so many of the genres greatest works.
Essential Albums: In the Court of the Crimson King and Red
posted by Jeff at 8:10 PM
10 Comments:
I think one thing that sets King Crimson apart is that the pushed the limits perhaps more than just about anyone and they maintained an unbelievable level of techncial skill, yet they always manages to actually rock. It never felt like some experiment gone awry.
Bob - Good point. One of the biggest problems with prog rock is when bands are trying to push the limits and the music becomes too abstract and pretentious for its own good.
I never felt that they were experimenting; merely perfecting, or actualizing what they already heard. So many (unsuccessful) bands willfully try to create bizarre music with a prog bent. I don't think that's the case with these guys. Have you heard Giles, Giles and Fripp? I have The Cheerful Insanity and the Brondsbury Tapes. It's positively insane. And yet it never seems so, simply because it actually sounds natural. You never fault a blind person for not being able to see the world as we do; why should KC be expected the same when they obviously operate differently musically? I admire these guys even when what I'm hearing sometimes is awful. Robert Fripp is fucking great. Period.
A bold choice--and a good one. Even other prog giants of the era, like early Genesis, cited KC as a major imfluence. I recall reading that Peter Gabriel et al. played Court constantly--and had the cover of Court hanging up to inspire them--when they recorded one of the earliest albums.
I'd also cite Tony Levin as a prominent member. Although quite a departure from Court, Larks Tongue, etc., Thrak shows off some of Tony's chops, highlighting him as one of the best bass/stick players ever.
Mad Hatter - I feel like everything they did sounded very natural because of how well they executed it. I chose to use the term "experimental" because of how different it is to most Rock music. I suppose if this was a classical music blog I would have used a different choice of words. Their odd instrumental sections in songs like "Moonchild" just are so unique in comparison to everything else out there.
David - I remember reading about Genesis saying they were a huge influence. I know Yes were influence by them as well... I'm not sure if I mentioned that in my post.
No Surprise since I know you like them so much and they didn't appear anywhere else on the list :)
It truly is a classic.
"Moonchild" is an example of what I would call experimental awfulness. On one hand, it's wild stuff, but on the other, I could never dig into it. This is quite different, than, let's say, "Alan's Pyschedelic Breakfast" -- which is gobbidge. "Moonchild" never stops trying, and that's why I'm not hateful of it. Just not my thing. That aside, Court is pretty ridiculous, and despite my other leanings, I still listen to the album straight through -- being the purist that I am -- in spite of "Moonchild."
Also, while we are briefly on the subject of KC -- which is more oftener than not NOT the case -- does anyone feel as I do that, despite Fripp's presence, that KC was not really KC with the Discipline album? I love Discipline, but a brand new Belew area ushered in and it doesn't feel the same. That and I'm not fond of much after Discipline, either. Circa 1969-1974 is where these fellows made their mark for me.
Mad Hatter - After "Red" it doesn't really sound like KC anymore. I know Fripp wanted to rename the band to Discipline during this time but ended up sticking with KC. I think I would give KC even more credit if they did change the name to Discipline because like you said, it's just not KC anymore. I'm not a big fan of the album anyway so that gives me more reason to wish that they would have ditched the KC name...
Agreed about the Belew change. but all bands evolve, and I'm sure it would have gone a different yet still "new" direction if someone else had come in.
Red remains my favorite, even if I keep a warm place in my heart for Court (and even for Poseidon, on which "Cat Food" still cracks me up).
David - Sometimes I just have to skip over "Cat Food", I love the album so much but that song is a bit too weird for me.
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