King Crimson Albums
by emptysquares

Reccomended Crim related listening not in this chart:

The Cheerful Insanity of Giles Giles & Fripp by Giles Giles & Fripp - eccentric origins of Crim including an impressive demonstration of Fripp's picking technique on Suite No.1

McDonald & Giles by McDonald & Giles - had the 1st lineup not disintegrated on the US tour following the 1st album, it is likely that the subsequent 2nd Crim album would of consisted of much of the material found here although one suspects that Fripp would of much improved the production.

USA by King Crimson - great live versions of Larks part II and Schizoid Man and a powerful improv on Asbury Park.

Exposure by Robert Fripp - I prefer the version where Daryl Hall handles most of the vocals.

Lone Rhino by Adrian Belew - my favourite of his solo offerings is his 1st with some classic Belew guitar noises.
There are 0 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and this chart has not been rated yet. Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.

View the complete list of 57,000 charts on BestEverAlbums.com from The Charts page.

Share this chart
Collector's summaryLog in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!
Sort by
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Kick-started so much - and not just Crimson.
g:Fripp; k,f,c&s:MacDonald; b&v:Lake; d:Giles; ly:Sinfield; Produced by King Crimson
[First added to this chart: 08/22/2019]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
28,437
Rank in 1969:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (89/100 - 2432 votes)  89 (2,432 votes)
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Like a fine wine, the older this (and I) get, the better it sounds.
g&k:Fripp; ly&k:Sinfield; v&b:Boz; k:Tippett; s&f:Collins; d:Wallace; Produced by King Crimson
[First added to this chart: 08/22/2019]
Year of Release:
1971
Appears in:
Rank Score:
640
Rank in 1971:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Largely recorded live with any audience noise removed. Fracture, which according to Fripp is "impossible to play", was still in the setlist in 2016 leading to Fripp commenting... "to keep Fracture-fit takes 80% of my time and attention - which is too much and it's almost improper that a man of 70 should be doing the high-wire every night."
g&k:Fripp; v&b:Wetton; vl&k:Cross; d&p:Bruford; Produced by King Crimson
[First added to this chart: 08/22/2019]
Year of Release:
1974
Appears in:
Rank Score:
815
Rank in 1974:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
This sounded SO original when released in 1981 and is a rare example of 80's prog that still sounds great.
g:Fripp; v&g:Belew; b:Levin; d&p:Bruford; Produced by Rhett Davies & King Crimson
[First added to this chart: 08/22/2019]
Year of Release:
1981
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,291
Rank in 1981:
Rank in 1980s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Following a gap of 11 years, Fripp assembles the "double trio" lineup. Belew is in strong song writing form, particularly on Dinosaur & Sex, Sleep, Eat, Dream. On drums Bill Bruford combines well with (or sometimes opposes) Pat Mastelotto while Tony Levin and Trey Gunn's various bass noises never sounded better than on here.
g&k:Fripp; v&g:Belew; b:Levin; b&g:Gunn; d&p:Bruford/Mastelotto; Produced by Dave Bottrill & King Crimson
[First added to this chart: 08/22/2019]
Year of Release:
1995
Appears in:
Rank Score:
275
Rank in 1995:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Wetton's efforts to nudge Crimson towards greater commerciality came to the fore on Red and would ultimately alienate Fripp and lead him to disolve the band immediately following its completion. To be fair to Wetton, not many would regard this material as lightweight - maybe Fripp detected a tendancy in Wetton to drift towards banality that he would later embrace with Asia, in which case Fripp did pull the plug at just the right time.
g&k:Fripp; v&b:Wetton; vl:Cross; s:Collins/McDonald; d&p:Bruford; Produced by King Crimson
[First added to this chart: 08/22/2019]
Year of Release:
1974
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,206
Rank in 1974:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Top rated album (86/100 - 1103 votes)  86 (1,103 votes)
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Just when we thought the well had run dry, this came along and turned out to be rather groovy.
In fact both Elektrik and Level V are essential Crim listening.
g:Fripp; v&g:Belew; b:Gunn; d&p:Mastelotto; Produced by Machine
[First added to this chart: 08/22/2019]
Year of Release:
2003
Appears in:
Rank Score:
212
Rank in 2003:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
First outing for the Wetton / Bruford / Cross era.... although it's the inspired percussion curtesy of Jamie Muir that makes this sound distinctive. Only a rather lifeless production prevents from being higher in this chart.
g&k:Fripp; v&b:Wetton; vl,k&f:Cross; d&p:Bruford/Muir; Produced by King Crimson
[First added to this chart: 08/22/2019]
Year of Release:
1973
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,385
Rank in 1973:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Like Islands, this seems to actually mature with age and the inherent "jazziness" provided by Mel Collins & Keith Tippett combines well with Fripp's guitar and Mellotron. Overall though, no amount of elaborate arrangement and instrumentation can disguise the flakiness of some of the underlying songs and lyrics.
g&k:Fripp; ly&k:Sinfield; v&b:Haskell; v:Anderson; k:Tippett; s&f:Collins; d:McCulloch; Produced by Fripp & Sinfield
[First added to this chart: 08/22/2019]
Year of Release:
1970
Appears in:
Rank Score:
696
Rank in 1970:
Rank in 1970s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album United States
  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
  • #Sponsored
Not exactly easy listening, The ConstruKction of Light is in part a musical "retelling" of 2 Crim instrumental classics in FraKtures and Larks' Tongue in Aspic IV both of which work well.
However, there is an underlying "harshness" to the sound of this album partly due to Mastelotto's piercing electronic kit (no round drum tones on offer here) which when combined with the full on sonic attack from Fripp & Belew ask a lot from the listener. Elsewhere, Belew throws in some of his most idiosyncratic vocalising.... it's not bad, but you need to be in the right mood.
g&k:Fripp; v&g:Belew; b&g:Gunn; d&p:Mastelotto; Produced by King Crimson
[First added to this chart: 08/22/2019]
Year of Release:
2000
Appears in:
Rank Score:
153
Rank in 2000:
Rank in 2000s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 13. Page 1 of 2
Don't agree with this chart? Create your own from the My Charts page!

King Crimson Albums composition

Decade Albums %


1930s 0 0%
1940s 0 0%
1950s 0 0%
1960s 1 8%
1970s 6 46%
1980s 3 23%
1990s 1 8%
2000s 2 15%
2010s 0 0%
2020s 0 0%
Artist Albums %


King Crimson 13 100%
Country Albums %


United Kingdom 13 100%

King Crimson Albums chart changes

There have been no changes to this chart.
TitleSourceTypePublishedCountry
RANKED: KING CRIMSON Captain_DudeCustom chart2017
King Crimson Albums RankedDeckillerCustom chart2021Unknown
King Crimson - Ranked doombringerCustom chart2025
King Crimson's Albums Ranked flamingyesdeptCustom chart2022
F2LF: King Crimson ExTeaSeaCustom chart2020
Top 11 Greatest Music AlbumsKubyOverall chart2020Unknown
Top 12 Greatest Music AlbumsLukasVasquez88Overall chart2017Unknown
Top 12 Greatest Music AlbumsPoserKillerOverall chart2015Unknown
Top 11 Greatest Music AlbumsyossiOverall chart2015Unknown
Top 12 Greatest Music Albumsraf62Overall chart2014Unknown

King Crimson Albums similarity to your chart(s)


Not a member? Registering is quick, easy and FREE!


Why register?


Register now - it only takes a moment!

TitleSourceTypePublishedCountry
Pink Floyd Albums - RankedemptysquaresCustom chart2021
King Crimson AlbumsemptysquaresCustom chart2021
Radiohead Albums RankedemptysquaresCustom chart2021
Genesis Albums - RankedemptysquaresCustom chart2023
Bowie Albums RankedemptysquaresCustom chart2023
emptysquares has created 10 other custom charts - click here to explore them all.

King Crimson Albums ratings

Not enough data Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating

King Crimson Albums favourites

Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a favourite

King Crimson Albums comments

Be the first to add a comment for this Chart - add your comment!

Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for King Crimson Albums

Anonymous
Let us know what you think of this chart by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
Log in or register to assign a rating or leave a comment for this chart.
Recognised  Year Charts (2025)
1. Top 40 Albums of 2025 by Decibel (2025)
2. Albums of the year 2025 by Rough Trade (2025)
3. Albums of the year 2025 by The Line Of Best Fit (2025)
4. 50 Best Albums of 2025 by The Alternative (2025)
5. Albums of the year 2025 by Uncut (2025)
6. BrooklynVegan's Top 58 Albums of 2025 by BrooklynVegan (2025)
7. Albums of the year 2025 by Piccadilly Records (2025)
8. Albums of the year 2025 by Pitchfork (2025)
9. Top 50 Albums of 2025 by The Needle Drop (2025)
10. Albums of the year 2025 by Stereogum (2025)
11. The 20 Best Records of 2025 by Deep Cuts (2025)
12. Albums of the year 2025 by Dork (2025)
13. The 50 best albums of 2025 by Paste (2025)
14. Top 100 Listener Voted Albums of 2025 by KEXP (2025)
15. Albums of the year 2025 by Eel Pie Records (2025)
16. The best southern albums of 2025 by The Bitter Southerner (2025)
17. Best Albums of 2025 by The New Yorker (2025)
18. Albums of the year 2025 by Badlands Record Shop (2025)
Back to Top