King Crimson: In The Court Of The Crimson King (2/10/2024)

King Crimson: In The Court Of The Crimson King [Robert Fripp, 1969/2004] When listening to the first seconds of "21st Century Schizoid Man," one cannot help but to notice the similarities between its intro and that of Radiohead's "Kid A," the revelatory title track of Radiohead's masterpiece. The beautifully soulless sound could be a mellotron-one is credited in King Crimson's liner notes, and Radiohead's Kid A was synthesizer-based in general. The similarities don't end once the brass section and Greg Lake's processed scream enter the speakers-like "21st Century Schizoid Man" fused jazz with metal, Radiohead fused two genres together that are loosely connected-jazz and hip-hop. "The National Anthem" on Kid A combined a menacing bass loop with a terrifying brass section and funky hip-hop beats. Unlike Kid A, which combined panic attacks with spacey meditations, In The Court Of The Crimson King has less mood swings and is less abrupt in general. The album draws more from early progressive metal, which, if anyone reading owns Lateralus, draws more from jazz and classical styles than Radiohead did. King Crimson was more overtly jazz and classical than Radiohead ever was, which works well for this album. "I Talk To The Wind," a melodic and slightly ambient but not atmospheric track brings out some flutes, and "In The Court Of The Crimson King" is Tolkien for the populist masses. If one were to sit down and listen to the flawlessly ordered five tracks, they probably wouldn't find fault. However, the album's bombast does not always match its enthusiasm, and on the title track, one does not know whether to laugh or cry at lyrics like "The rusted chains of prison moons are shattered by the sun." However, this doesn't affect the album too much, and endures in the listener's mind. My favorite of the tracks is "Moonchild." While the vocal part starts off as mournful and depressing, the singing fades out to immerse the listener in an ambient universe of music for the next eight minutes. The result is drastic. Masterpiece? Not a chance. Pretentious? Sure, we'll give 'em that honor. They're prog-rock, what did you expect? Neither D+ nor perfect-score worthy, it stands as overrated, not because it is a bad album that was given too much credit, but as a great rock album that was probably groundbreaking in its time, but has worn on audiences 50+ years later. But who cares about all that review jazz (fusion)? Excellence takes many forms. [8.9/10]