King Crimson In the Court of the Crimson King- 1969
Album Rating- 8
“In the Court of the Crimson King,” and most notably “21st Century Schizoid Man” (the lead track of the album), is to music what the “Wizard of OZ” is to movies. It’s really a perfect analogy. “The Wizard of OZ” is the first widely accepted color movie, and “In the Court of the Crimson King” is the first widely accepted progressive rock album.
On the movie side, there were actually movies made in color dating all the way back to the early 1900’s, and “Gone with Wind” was also released in color in the same year as “OZ,” but color movies didn’t really take off until Dorothy stepped into the land of OZ and the movie changed from black and white to color in a single instant. It was an absolutely groundbreaking moment in film history.
On the music side, there were progressive rock elements in music dating back to the mid-sixties, and the Moody Blues had released three semi-progressive albums by the time “In the Court of the Crimson King” was released, but it took Greg Lake screaming into a megaphone during “Schizoid Man” for progressive rock to really take off; therefore, I consider King Crimson’s “In the Court of the Crimson King” to be the first true progressive rock album, and the song and album were absolutely groundbreaking moments in music history.
If you haven't heard King Crimson or "21st Century Schizoid Man" before, check out the YouTube clip of the song below. Now, if you’re hearing this for the first time, it might not seem that groundbreaking, but you have put yourself back in 1969. There was just nothing else like this. This pre-dates Sabbath, so there was nothing this heavy; there was nothing this chaotic, and there was certainly nothing that had its title track sung through a megaphone; “Schizoid Man” was completely unique. Remember, this was 1969, and The Beatles, The Stones, and The Who still owned the airwaves. Those are all great bands, but their music was nowhere near as groundbreaking as “Schizoid Man” or the remainder of this album.
The album contains four other tracks. “I Talk to the Wind” and “Epitaph” are much calmer than “Schizoid,” and provide a soothing and needed break from the chaos that ensued from that track. Both are great songs, and both make great use of the Mellotron, which make them sound very similar to what the Moody Blues had already been doing for a few years. The Moodies really pioneered the use of the Mellotron as an instrument, but I prefer these two Crimson tracks to any of the early Moody Blues tracks. Then you get “Moonchild,” which is also an extremely important track; it is my least favorite track on the album, but it is by far the most avant-garde track of the album, and I comment on its importance because this concept of avant-gardism and experimentation would become a staple of Crimson’s music on every album they released, and it also pushed the boundaries of what other bands were willing (and were allowed) to do on studio albums. Lastly, you have “In the Court of the Crimson King,” which is certainly the most influential track on the album, in that it absolutely defines progressive rock, and it laid the groundwork for progressive rock in the early 1970’s and as we know it today.
In closing, “In the Court of the Crimson King” is the album that brought progressive rock into the mainstream; it is a landmark album, and even if you’re not into progressive rock, you should at least hear it. Lastly, let’s circle back around to the “Wizard of OZ” comparison one more time. “OZ” didn’t win the academy award for best picture in 1939. It was beat out by “Gone with the Wind,” but I think “OZ” was more important in pushing the boundaries of color in movies. This is the same reason that I’m not scoring this album a perfect-10, but there is no doubt that it did more to push the boundaries of progressive rock than any other album in history.