King Crimson
In the Court of the Crimson King

Attention: I don't want to write yet another review of this masterpiece, but only offer a new interpretation of it. I repeat, this is not a review, but my opinion on the album. Having said that, I can speak: "In The Court of the Crimson King" is the first album by King Crimson, considered by many, including myself, to be a masterpiece. With this album, the band already defines all the currents they will follow later: the hard, almost metal progressive ("21st Century Schizoid Man"), the romantic one ("Epitaph", "I Talk to the Wind"), and the experimental one ("Moonchild"); creating a wonderful and timeless work. But now I want to give it an adjective that had not yet been given, at least not in the sense I'm saying: the brilliance. Many will say: "Thanks a bunch, it took this kid to say this album is brilliant!". Well, you're right, but I say it's brilliant in the sense that with the music it wants to deliver a message (mind you, the lyrics have nothing to do with it, it's purely a musical issue). The message is this: with this album, we want you to label us as progressive, because we have the aptitude, but know that we will stand out. To understand my point of view, just listen to "Epitaph", a piece that everyone calls epic and solemn. Okay, take away the initial mellotron, and what's left? A rather minimal piece, without whirlwind instrumental tails and powerful keyboards, without virtuosic nightmares. In the sung part, you can't really hear any instrument, imagine that. That epic mellotron at the beginning is kind of a parody, and if you take it away, in a romantic key, you get the future style of the Crimson King, dry. The same goes for the title track, which is soft and calm, with that flute and those guitars, but with the mellotron becomes more medieval. I had doubts about my strange theory when I heard the following albums. For example, "In the Wake of Poseidon" and "Islands" are true progressive albums, no minimal tracks, no musical parodies, just pure progressive, with a bit of jazz. So, the conclusion is that "In the Court of the Crimson King" is an album from the first phase of King Crimson, but it already foreshadows the second, it already makes it clear that what they will do later with conventional progressive will have little to do with it. It's an album visionary also in this sense. Finally, I apologize for the word "parody," which is not very dignified for this masterpiece, but I needed it to convey the idea. Since this is not a review, I don't know if you should rate it (maybe I'll save myself from some low scores). I just want to know if you share my opinion or if at least it made you think.

Goodbye, and see you next time with another (real) review.