Music

Retro Review: King Crimson ‘In the Court Of The Crimson King’

Published

13 years ago

March 1, 2011

Join me Bloody-Disgusting reader as we travel back to the year 1969. I am willing to guarantee that this was before the majority of you were born (it was WELL before I was even a thought), so let’s take a look at some of the major events of that year: Ohio State won the Rose Bowl. Nixon succeeded as President of the United States of America. The Beatles performed their last public concert. The Boeing 747 makes its first flight. Monty Python’s Flying Circus airs its first episode on BBC. And King Crimson releases their first album, ‘In The Court Of The Crimson King’, beginning a musical career that is still going on today.

The album opens up with what might very well be King Crimson’s most famous track, ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’. Mixing rock, jazz, fusion, folk and insanity, this track got a solid boost in popularity when it was featured on Guitar Hero 5 (where the drums kick my ass, even on medium). It’s a track that has both driving and catchy riffs, incredibly proficient drum work and powerful vocals.

The rest of the album features gorgeous instrumentation with astounding production. It’s an album that oozes that warm analog sound we audiophiles love while still sounding great compared to today’s music. The one thing that this album demands is patience, as King Crimson love to stray into long, noodling jams that have sporadic, almost Tourette’s like phrasing. The beginning of ‘Moonchild’ has some of the most beautiful music on the album: Haunting synth guitars hover in the background, sounding as though they are yearning, begging for something that cannot be delivered.

Something that should be paid close attention to when listening to this album is how brilliantly each member plays off of each other. Their mastery of the call-and-response technique makes it as if you’re listening to a conversation between instruments.

The Final Word: The impact of this album, and of King Crimson’s work, can probably never be fully appreciated. Maynard James Keenan says that Tool probably wouldn’t be around if it weren’t for King Crimson. Kanye West sampled ‘21st Century Schizoid Man’ in his song ‘Power’. Stephen King referenced the album in his Dark Tower series. There are countless more examples of the impact of this album, but to fully understand and appreciate it, you have to hear it. ‘In The Court Of The Crimson King’ is the definition of a perfect album, one that has withstood the test of time and will continue to inspire musicians for generations to come.

Remember to leave a comment with a suggestion for next month’s Retro Review OR shoot me your idea via Twitter at SimplyJonnyBD.

JonathanBarkan

Managing editor/music guy/social media fella of Bloody-Disgusting

Click to comment

Music

“He Walks By Night” – Listen to a Brand New John Carpenter Song NOW!

Published

2 weeks ago

April 9, 2024

John Squires

It’s a new day, and you’ve got new John Carpenter to listen to. John Carpenter, Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter have released the new track He Walks By Night this morning, the second single off their upcoming album Lost Themes IV: Noir, out May 3 on Sacred Bones Records.

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

Sacred Bones previews, “It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that would become Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts. Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. With Lost Themes IV: Noir, they’ve struck gold again, this time mining the rich history of the film noir genre for inspiration.

“Since the first Lost Themes, John has referred to these compositions as “soundtracks for the movies in your mind.” On the fourth installment in the series, those movies are noirs. Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes these songs “noirish” is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone.

“The trio’s free-flowing chemistry means Lost Themes IV: Noir runs like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now! And listen to the new track below…