King Crimson
In The Court Of The Crimson King

This album, the debut of a colossal and fundamental band in the history of rock, is recognized as the progenitor of Progressive, the starting point of that genre that performed wonders in the first half of the '70s. A style that presented itself as an evolution of rock towards more mature and complex musical shores, rich with classic, dreamlike, and majestic sounds. In the album that launches progressive (because it probably doesn't invent it entirely), the preached complexity finds a very enjoyable and suggestive form.

The five tracks that compose it form a compact and unbreakable emotional block that finds its exception right in the opening track, that fierce "21st Century Schizoid Man" which remains an epoch-making track, a sharp attack on modernity, in an album that seeks a path to the future by drawing from the past. The fury is perfectly expressed in the hysterical and distorted singing, in the powerful guitar outbursts, in the rhythmic frenzy that turns into delirium. Among the malevolent visions and sad omens, the track slowly transfigures into a furious jam for percussion and winds, a frontal assault on the future. Reread almost 40 years later, that pessimism seems at least truthful; "Nothing He's Got He Really Needs". After the immense opening track, we encounter three very akin songs, three stunning frescoes with bright and sweet hues, very evocative and suggestive.

"I Talk To The Wind", in its perfect synthesis of melody and instrumental charm, results as the simplest composition of the work, the most catchy and immediate. A wonderful ballad for teasing winds and bare drums; the richness of the musical fabric is equally excellent, among soft nuances, splendid atmospheres, and bright flautist and keyboard phrasing.

The central piece of the album, probably the best of the five, is a deceptive crescendo of emotions. The splendid majesty alternates with a military rhythm combined with ethereal melody, it is bittersweet, the absolute communicative peak; the guitars tear the sky open, the rhythm imposes itself overwhelmingly, the central stasis is left to the acoustic guitar and the sulfurous mellotron. The musical richness of the album is sublimated here. A magically poetic text, fearful and full of communicative strength gives the grace touch to this immense gaze towards the sky and the future. "Epitaph" is one of the most beautiful songs of all time (in my opinion).

The beauty of "Moonchild" is one that hurts, crystalline melody, and excellent instrumental accuracy; it is a crucible of sounds, of enchanting touches at the right moment and the imaginative power of the lyrics. Never will progressive be so functional to the track and not an end in itself. The splendid emotion then turns into fear in the next ten minutes leading to the final, definitive act of the album. Here the mind is sifted, seeking references to the past, always with a view to the future. The last phrase is clear "Waiting for a smile from a sun child." That is the Crimson King reigning in the last track; thus we understand that the long psychedelic drift of "Moonchild" is the best introduction to the final act; in the drawn-out minutes anticipation grows, emotions fossilize and only await the final explosion.

"The Court Of Crimson King" what does it mean? A majestic medieval stride narrating the first emperor of the modern age. The entire philosophy of Crimson (and Prog) is encapsulated here; using the instruments of the past in a modern key; that is, modernizing the past. The track then reveals itself as beautiful as all, powerful and evocative.

This album will remain in history as an excellent philosopher-musical work. A splendid musical expression of the desire to transform rock that had by then reached a point of no return; it is the beginning of a genre that, although exhausted in about a decade, will bring a different philosophy to music that still persists; no longer music for the feet, but also for the mind.

If this isn't a revolutionary album...