King Crimson

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England (1969 – 1974, 1981 – 1984, 1994 – present)

King Crimson is a progressive rock group from England formed in 1969 by guitarist Robert Fripp and drummer Michael Giles. Though originally an all-British musical group, later members have included a number of Americans, most notably Adrian Belew, and Tony Levin. The name “King Crimson” was coined by Peter Sinfield as a synonym for Beelzebub, prince of demons.

King Crimson’s debut album was In the Court of the Crimson King. The first major success of the new genre of progressive rock, many bands that would come to dominate ‘prog’ in the 1970s first sought to emulate In the Court of the Crimson King, including Genesis, The Alan Parsons Project, and later Rush.

The lineup of King Crimson has at times changed drastically from album to album. Original lead singer and bassist Greg Lake left the group - as did lyricist Peter Sinfield - and went on to fame with Emerson, Lake & Palmer in 1970, replaced by Gordon Haskell, Boz Burrell, and, briefly, Jon Anderson of Yes. Also from Yes came drummer Bill Bruford, who joined King Crimson in 1972 and became one of the more enduring members. For the next three years, Bruford and Fripp were joined by future Asia frontman John Wetton. With comparatively few additional musicians, these mid-1970s albums and performances showed a more raw and stylistically focused - though still improvisational - King Crimson. In 1974 the band split temporarily.
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  • Smekermann

    Not a strong moment on Thrak? Most of that album is memorable as fuck: VROOOM, Dinosaur, Walking on Air, People, One Time, B'Boom/THRAK, Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream... I dunno, man. Then again it was one of the first King Crimson albums I got into, so maybe I have a disproportional amount of love for it. Even on its own, though, I think it's one of the finer prog rock albums of the 90s.

    yesterday evening Reply

  • guto013

    fripp is the biggest asshole in music history

    yesterday afternoon Reply

  • dr_bun

    maybe im wrong but there isnt a strong moment on thrak

    yesterday afternoon Reply

  • Akayz7

    there's artwork for this release though!!!: http://www.last.fm/music/King+Crimson/Park+West,+Chicago,+Illinois,+August+07,+2008

    Yesterday 2:44pm Reply

  • bgk90

    Lark's Tongue has always been the ultimate KC album for me, happy birthday Fripp

    16 May 7:33pm Reply

  • k_naruchiha94

    Happy Birthday Robert Fripp!! :)

    16 May 12:47pm Reply

  • Smekermann

    very clever, dimitrie gheto. if you post in hieroglyphs nobody will know what you're saying except the primitives who understand your backwards language. you're a true literary genius.

    16 May 3:34am Reply

  • DMITRII_GHETTO

    нихуя у вас шекерман бушует

    15 May 7:48am Reply

  • dr_bun

    with red and larks being the pinnacle of the kings career maybe even of all 70's progressive rock music

    14 May 1:04pm Reply

  • dr_bun

    listen to your buddies is what i would suggest. also i love islands its by far my favourite from the first 4 albums and i prefer it to eveything post discipline excluding the power to believe

    14 May 1:02pm Reply

  • guyraddudeman

    Maybe it's because most of my buddies seem to put Red on a pedestal. I like the softer side of KC, so maybe that's why.

    12 May 10:38pm Reply

  • MrLlamaLlamaa

    I don't see anything bizarre in that.

    12 May 9:24pm Reply

  • guyraddudeman

    I always considered myself bizarre for liking things in this order: Poseidon, Islands, It Cock, Larks, Lizard, Red, Starless, Discipline, everything else. I'm glad I'm not the only one, but yeah, a lot is borrowed from It Cock within Poseidon. Doesn't bother me though.

    12 May 5:33pm Reply

  • Smekermann

    and again, i say this as someone who enjoys quite a few of the songs off ITWOP, like the title track and pictures of a city. great songs. too bad they're just rewrites of ITCOCK and 21st Century Schizoid Man.

    12 May 6:06am Reply

  • Smekermann

    Itcock is not even my favorite Crimson album, by far. It was, however, hugely important for the prog rock scene and is probably one of the most important albums in rock music, solely due to it coming out before the likes of Black Sabbath - s/t or Deep Purple's In Rock, which makes 21st Century Schizoid Man one of the first metal songs ever recorded. ITWOP, by comparison, didn't have any of these advantages. It was just a prog rock album retreading the same ground ITCOCK treaded before. Sure, some of the songs are pretty good, but they're nowhere near the same level as their previous release.

    12 May 6:03am Reply

  • Smekermann

    nahh, sorry bro. itwop is not better than it cock. and moonchild is definitely not better than I Talk to the Wind. are you referring to the edit or something? Regardless, I Talk to the Wind is one of their best early songs, I do have to wonder what drugs you're on imo :(

    12 May 5:59am Reply

  • Ponchera-

    THE FUCKING ALBUM COVERS ARE STILL MISSING????? AAARRRRGHHH I AM ANGRYYYYY Ò.Ó

    12 May 1:38am Reply

  • Ponchera-

    And who fucking cares if it is innovative or not, ITWOP sounds better than ITCOCK, dot. And yes, Moonchild is better tthan the shity nice random melody from I talk to the wind .I.

    12 May 1:25am Reply

  • Smekermann

    also lol at the album cover being bad. guyruddedudemann, it's not bad, it's just kind of a "me too" album that doesn't really innovate or do anything other than ride the coat tails of it cock.

    12 May 12:30am Reply

  • MrLlamaLlamaa

    Lol @ Moonchild being better than others of the album. This is the first time someone said that, ever.

    11 May 11:04pm Reply
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