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Rating: A few days ago, specifically on Monday, February 9th, in a New York hospital, Ian McDonald died of cancer at the age of seventy-five. To celebrate this exceptional musician, I intend to take inspiration from this work which, among those he contributed to, sees his talent shine most brightly and completely.
The Court of the Crimson King is considered, by absolute majority, the best work of King Crimson in their jagged, fluctuating, fifty-year career: there are reasons from the History of Music (the birth of Progressive with a capital P happens here, still in 1969) and simply artistic reasons as the album is filled, at least 80%, with immortal quality music.
The flaw of many rock enthusiasts, including the lost adorers of King Crimson and therefore theoretically well inside their dynamics, is to attribute all, absolutely all, the credits to the group’s boss, Robert Fripp: Fripp, a great guitarist, composer, arranger, musical researcher, theorist, teacher, influencer, philosopher of music.
Instead, the value of such a record, its standing out among all other productions of the band, is precisely due to the democratic framework, and therefore necessarily ephemeral, within which it was generated. Alongside Fripp, two major composers worked on it, more skilled than him (in the sense: more musical, more instinctive). One was singer and bassist Greg Lake, the other, precisely our Ian McDonald, saxophonist, flautist, and mellotronist.
The fiery, memorable opening track "21st Century Schizoid Man" explodes with a riff of nine notes: the first six ascending notes are a contribution by Lake, the other three, those in chromatic ascent, by McDonald. From the latter also came the idea to insert, at the beginning of the instrumental portion, a sax cadence he had composed long ago and was waiting for a placement. The excellent Fripp then provided a fantastic guitar solo. Drummer Mike Giles added his own touch by inflating the piece with his sporadic, somewhat disordered yet personal interventions. Lake handled the vocals. The somewhat sci-fi lyrics were by Sinfield. The end. Long live democracy, as long as it lasts.
"I Talk to the Wind" is all McDonald’s. Ian would have also liked to play the acoustic guitar, an instrument with which he had composed it. But he couldn’t… he already had enough on his plate with saxophones, flutes, mellotrons, and pianos… taking that part from Bob couldn’t even be up for discussion. But to Fripp, something so relaxed and musical could never occur (he has always admitted it too: "McDonald’s contribution to the group? Musicality, absolute musicality!").
“Epitaph” and “The Court of the Crimson King” are dominated by the mellotron, in McDonald’s hands. Such thunderousness from this eccentric tape-based keyboard had never been heard before, and will never be heard in the history of rock again. Genesis would come close with “Fountain of Salmacis” and “Watcher of the Skies”, played, among others, on the same exact machine! (purchased by Tony Banks from King Crimson, who owned three). The melodies were predominantly Lake’s. Now, Fripp would try again without these two, playing the Mellotron himself on "Cirkus" and "Starless" for example, but it would not be the same… Lake’s melodies and McDonald’s mellotron impact were not replicable by John Wetton and Fripp with that level of musicality.
The only track where Ian is not the star is "Moonchild", unsurprisingly the only weak moment of the album, because of the long, boring minimalist jam session tacked onto the short initial vocals. Everyone plays quietly and softly, even Lake doesn’t push his mighty voice and the many minutes of the piece remain in the category of experimentation & research, without rising to timeless anthems like the other four.
A nightmare, personally, to go through the career of such a musician and realize that, besides this great album with Crimso and three others with Foreigner, also equipped with an authentic boss in the guitarist Mick Jones, there's almost nothing else: a very weak solo album, collaborations here and there (even with King Crimson, in “Red”) and no other highlight. As Noodles’ bartender friend says when he sees him return after many years, older and embittered: "I would have bet on you!".
"And you would have lost…" Noodles replies. I would have bet on McDonald; instead, in 1969, at twenty-three, he had already given the best of his career. In the other fifty-two he disappeared like Noodles, but perhaps he had a happy life, a good family, good friends, many other things to be proud of…
Thank you, Ian.
Tracklist and Videos
05 The Court of the Crimson King (including The Return of the Fire Witch and The Dance of the Puppets) (09:22)
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Other reviews
By zaireeka
If you want to experience a 1000-year time jump, start this album and let it take you there.
The album can evoke a sinister or 'sick' impression, supported by its apocalyptic tones and striking cover art.
By joe strummer
"21st Century Schizoid Man" remains an epoch-making track, a sharp attack on modernity.
This album will remain in history as an excellent philosopher-musical work.
By paloz
Just the cover alone is terrifying, the face of the man screaming face to face with the future listener is shocking.
ESSENTIAL Album.
By tuisampa
It’s almost as if you can hear the scream of the schizoid man... the cover is worth the cost.
‘In the Court of the Crimson King’ will always remain a microcosm unto itself, a manifesto of Progressive.
By Miki Page
"King Crimson is a group that behaves like an organism. It works on three levels: the head, an intellectual expression; the heart, an emotional expression; and the hips, a physical expression."
"One of the most visible (or audible...) innovations is the use of the mellotron, a kind of proto-synthesizer that electronically reproduces sounds similar to strings and choirs."
