IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING
King Crimson
1969

I’ve been trying to be cool enough to enjoy King Crimson since hearing the iconic “21st Century Schizoid Man” sample in Kanye West’s “Power.” As a teenager, I wasn’t ever able to access the split between that track and the remaining four. The instrumental groove on “Moonchild (The Illusion)” is the kind of thing I used to get impatient with – now, I appreciate being peppered with small, fragmentary sounds. I’m more attracted to songs like “I Talk To The Wind” and “Epitaph,” adoring their sweet sadness. In the Court of the Crimson King’s loose, relaxed songs primarily anchor themselves on Greg Lake’s plaintive vocals and gorgeous, low-key instrumentals.

You can hear in “21st Century Schizoid Man” and “In The Court of the Crimson King” the germ of progressive rock’s experimentation with major tempo shifts and extended jazz instrumental breakdowns. But the titles there betray a semi-mythical status the songs don’t necessarily employ – the lyrics throughout the album are closer to the poetics of folk music than the arcane mythology of Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s later “Karn Evil 9” or the rock opera of Rush’s 2112. The “21st Century Schizoid Man” is a survivor of war. The title track has medieval themes, but is in line with Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower.”

The later evolution of the Tolkienesque and science fiction in progressive rock is what I anticipated hearing that future blast through that opening riff, that vocal distortion effect, the absolute chaotic ramp into high tempo chaos. I was really into Stephen King, Mass Effect, and Dungeons & Dragons at the time. I don’t blame that kid for not enjoying the pleasures of Ian MacDonald’s woodwind solos – now, I really adore them. This being the inaugural album for this birthday project, it feels apropos that it’s one that had to grow on me over thirteen years.

KEY TRACKS: “21st Century Schizoid Man,” “I Talk to the Wind”

NEXT STOP: Close to the Edge, Yes

AFTER THAT: Ege Bamyisi, Can