Your favourite King Crimson album?

Personally, I'm a big fan of the three Belew albums, with Discipline being the winner.

 

Add Islands. It's the gateway to what came next. Plus you get ladies of the Road.

 

Lizard

 

Starless. Without even thinking.

 

Ladies is the weak link there methinks.

That may be just me though.

 

It was always my least-favorite KC song, but I can't help but notice that Fripp chose that one track to personally introduce on almost every live show on the Islands/Earthbound tour so it's not hard to imagine that he, for some reason, really seemed to be proud of it.

 

So many great and vastly different albums, I'd vote Larks/Starless/Red as the high point without being able to pick one.

 

Court. After Poseidon they got a little too technical and less melodic. Also, they never had a real singer after the first two albums. I still like all of their catalogue though.

 

Re Starless

Totally. And the foundation for Crimson's best 'be-all end-all' big box.

 

I don't "get" King Crimson. What am I missing?

 

I didn't for years either, but one day with a little "herbal" help, Larks Tongues clicked big time. Now I love the Bruford/Wetton era, but still don't love the earlier and later stuff.

I would give Red a serious listen, and if you dig it, check out Larks Tongues and Starless and Bible Black. If nothing else, listen to Fracture off of Starless, its ridiculously good

 

It used to be 'Larks' until the 'Lizard' remix came along.

Now it's Lizard. What an accidental masterpiece.

Love 'em all though.

 

If you don't mind spending the cash, I'd highly recommend seeing them live next time they come through the States. Do you like other heavy/progressive bands?

 

Favourite: Anything between - and including - ...Poseidon to Discipline (excluding Earthbound, due to audio quality).

Not favourite: In the Court of the Crimson King - while it has great parts, it's never appealed as an album. Their greater works came after it. I know many here will disagree.

 

Well, finally got around to those later albums, so might as well put down my thoughts

Discipline: Very good album, took a couple listens to grow on me and get me used to the change in style, but now I love it, from Adrian Belew’s weird guitar playing and voice, to the cool interplay, to Tony Levin’s weird Chapman Stick. Was not expecting to be into it, but I really am. Highlights for me would be Frame by Frame, Indiscipline, and The Sheltering Sky

Beat: Not quite as good, but still fairly enjoyable. Highlights would be Neal and Jack and Me and Waiting Man

Three of a Perfect Pair: Yeah sorry, couldn’t dig this one (pun intended). Maybe I need to listen to it more. Highlights would be Model Man, Nuages, and Dig Me.

Thrak: Ew, not a fan. I think Inner Garden was the one I liked, but not a fan. Probably should give it another chance.

Construkction of Light: Quite a bit better, still not wonderful though. I think Heaven and Earth is probably my favorite.

Power to Believe: Wow, what a great surprise. This is a very good album, right up there with Discipline imo. Favorite song is probably Power to Believe II, but Level Five and Eyes Wide Open are also great in my opinion.

So yeah, King Crimson is pretty awesome.

 

Apart from a few tunes here and there, I'm not a particular fan of the first 4 albums. The three with Wetton and Bruford after those are my favorites all in all, can't really rank them. I like Discipline, Thrak and Power to Believe very well also

 

Good to see Lizard getting some love here!

 

In the Court is actually my least favorite (barring counting the ProjeKct albums as Crimson albums).

It's kind of impossible for me to pick a favorite. I don't play any more than others. I love them all for what they are. I even like In the Court, I just don't like it as much as the others.

 

Red is my absolute favorite album, by anyone in any genre. It's hard for me to rank the rest, as I think they are all brilliant up through Red--special mentions to Starless & Bible Black, Lizard, and the title track (part 1) to Larks' Tongues in Aspic.

The Belew-era albums are much less to my taste--they all feature inventive playing, but his very "American" vocal and lyrical style, plus the absence of the more "romantic" elements of mellotron, violin, or woodwinds, takes away from the deeply personal connection for me.

 

In The Court of the Crimson King... it's the only real King Crimson album. King Crimson without Ian McDonald is like The Beatles without Paul McCartney.

What followed is the Fripp and Sinfield band, followed by the Fripp band. Still lots of ace music of course, but...

 

Larks, Red and Lizard are my top three.

 

Red

 

Red is the only album with any staying power for me.

 

RED. The next album, according to Wetton, would have been called BLUE and had an accordingly blue feel. Ian Macdonald would likely have been along for it. It’s definitely an interesting what if.