In The Court Of The Crimson King (An Observation By King Crimson)
by King Crimson

I honestly think this album is a tad bit overrated. Yes it’s an incredible prog rock album, and Epitaph 21st Century Schizoid Man are incredible songs, but I don’t even think this is the best album by King Crimson, let alone best of ‘69. I Talk to the Wind and the title track are nice additions to tidy up the album, but Moonchild brings the rating down. A great first three minutes, but then… nearly dead silence for nine minutes. Could’ve used that space to put a studio version of A Man A City, but at least we still get it in the expanded version. Great album, just slightly overrated in my opinion.

An alomost flawless, absolute, Rock masterpiece. Crimson then went on to make some great music but nothing as wonderful as this.

An album simply fantastic!

A fantastic debut record that is amongst one of the greatest albums of the prog rock genre. We are treated to 4 fantastic songs on here that are just as stunning no matter how many times you hear them. They open on 21st Century Schizoid Man which is an electric and energetic opener that sets a high standard right from the start. They continue with the quality into what is quickly becoming my favourite song on here which is I Talk To The Wind. The music on this song is just so soft and beautiful that it is so easy to just glide along with the instrumentation and vocal and be placed into a state of bliss. Next is Epitaph which sounds grand and significant making it one of the more engaging tracks on the record. After this, we have the weak point of the release in my opinion which is Moonchild. If you cut this song then this album is a top 10 of all time but this track really drags it down. It is the longest on the release and just feels a bit empty. About 9 minutes of it is just slow instrumentals which don't go anywhere and aren't exciting, engaging or even easy to get lost in. This makes the record so frustrating as it should be right at the top but I don't think I can look past that song. Finally, we have the epic closer that is the title track which ends us on a high and brings back the quality that was so consistent at the start. Overall, this is a fantastic record that has some of the best prog moments of all time on it but is held back from its true potential by one song in my opinion.

Tracks 1 and 3 are good. The rest is passable with the exception of the last 9 minutes of Moonchild. The first three minutes is beautiful, but I really don't get the instrumental part - incredibly dull and if it were only a couple of minutes you could get away with it but there's NINE MINUTES OF IT. Fair play to anyone who enjoys that. But it's not my jam. This unfortunately drags the rating down for me.

An extremely impressive album, my only complaint is that moon child drags on to long.

A fantastic debut from one of the most important bands in rock, this is a brilliant album. Favourites - '21st Century Schizoid Man' - I love the tempo change at around the 2 minute mark, 'I Talk To The Wind' - the song that introduced me to this album, a calm change from the mad opener and 'In The Court Of The Crimson King' - a beautiful symphonic number. A must listen for everyone, but 'Moonchild' is far too long and pretentious, but apart from that, genius.

Perhaps the most impressive debut album of all times.

Great album

Almost an immaculate prog rock album and one of the most important albums ever! The only part I don't care for is the extended instrumental on Moonchild, basically everything else is complete genius!