Tubular.net :: Mike Oldfield Forums Discussion, news, reviews, fan music, and more.
	Search :: Members :: Help :: Guidelines

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Sonilink Group: Members Posts: 393 Joined: Jan. 2005 Posted: May 14 2007, 11:02 I got into KC not too long ago and I must admit I'm very impressed by their music. Robert Fripp is an under-rated guitar hero. So far my favorite line up is the 1973/74 with John Wetton and Bill Bruford, closely followed by the double trio. you like 'em.. -------------- Take the Time Back to top

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1767 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: May 14 2007, 13:44 I got into king crimson just a couple of years ago. I was blown away the first time I heard the "Islands" album. It's such a perfect mix of songs and sounds. It's a buried treasure for sure. Great atmosphere in that record. I like the bruford/wetton albums too. It's great hard rock with much experimentation. "Red" is the best of the bunch, but it's almost unbearably dark music. "Great Deceiver" (from "Starless and Bible Black") has one of the greatest and most unlikely choruses ever. 80s Crimson is not my cup of tea. I think Adrian Belew screws it up with his pseudo-joke lyrics and vocals + the sound is too 80s. 90s/00s Crimson is weird. Like a mix between the "Red"-era sound and experimental prog-metal. Listenable, but a little old-hat. The first three albums have escaped me I'm afraid. I've listened to them but never got to appreciate them properly. I guess I have to give them more time. Conclusion; King Crimson - yes please. -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

moonchildhippy Group: Members Posts: 1807 Joined: Dec. 2004 Posted: May 15 2007, 04:58 Quote (larstangmark @ May 14 2007, 17:44) I got into king crimson just a couple of years ago. I was blown away the first time I heard the "Islands" album. It's such a perfect mix of songs and sounds. It's a buried treasure for sure. Great atmosphere in that record. I like the bruford/wetton albums too. It's great hard rock with much experimentation. "Red" is the best of the bunch, but it's almost unbearably dark music. "Great Deceiver" (from "Starless and Bible Black") has one of the greatest and most unlikely choruses ever. 80s Crimson is not my cup of tea. I think Adrian Belew screws it up with his pseudo-joke lyrics and vocals + the sound is too 80s. 90s/00s Crimson is weird. Like a mix between the "Red"-era sound and experimental prog-metal. Listenable, but a little old-hat. The first three albums have escaped me I'm afraid. I've listened to them but never got to appreciate them properly. I guess I have to give them more time. Conclusion; King Crimson - yes please. How strange In The Court Of The Crimson King was the first album I played this morning. I was loaned an LP copy of ITCOTCKabout 10 years ago , and I love it , also a LP of "The Young Persons Guide to KC", this made me want to check out some more. SO I ended up buying Lizard and Larks Tongues in ASpic (my soon to be ex husband has these, I'll have to get them again). Lizard WTF??? I can't quite get this album, LTIA with a number of listens this album has began  to really grow on me . Last year I bought "In The Wake Of Poseidon" , I've heard this described as ITCOTKC 2, yep I like it but can't decide if this is better than ITCOTKC, as some peoe people have said, I'll have to give ITWOP a blast later    .  I'm also a fan of ELP, so I love the Greg Lake KC. Now there's a thought King Crimson were on the bill supporting the Rolling Stones at their free Hyde Park Concert 5th July 1969, I'd love the Stones and to see KC too   -------------- I'm going slightly mad, It finally happened, I'm slightly mad , just very slightly mad If you feel a little glum to Hergest Ridge you should come. I'm challenging  taboos surrounding mental health "Part time hippy" I'M SUPPORTING OUR SOLDIERS BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!! Back to top

Inkanta Group: Admins Posts: 1453 Joined: Feb. 2000 Posted: May 21 2007, 10:27 I've always liked KC, particularly the work that bassist Tony Levin did with them; love The Power to Believe. It nearly did (i.e., as per the lyrics). -------------- "No such thing as destiny; only choices exist." From:  Moongarden's "Solaris." Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: May 22 2007, 20:31 Larks' Tongues in Aspic is one hell of a mindblowing record, and for me, the best King Crimson there is. I could never appreciate their debut as the masterpiece that it's often called, but 21st Century Schizoid Man is a wonder of prog rock, and almost singlehandedly justifies its existence. I also like Discipline - Adrian Belew has that hyperactive vocal style a la David Byrne, and I like him almost as much as I like Byrne himself. -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1767 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: May 23 2007, 12:50 Quote (Sir Mustapha @ May 22 2007, 20:31) - Adrian Belew has that hyperactive vocal style a la David Byrne, and I like him almost as much as I like Byrne himself. Yes! That's what he sounds like. I thought it sounded familiar. That's also why I don't like it. I think David Byrne is terrible. -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

Taurus 4 Group: Members Posts: 46 Joined: Aug. 2007 Posted: Sep. 06 2007, 14:28 They did some good stuff. My favourite albums are Discipline, In the Court of the Crimson King and Red. Back to top

Holger Group: Members Posts: 1506 Joined: Feb. 2003 Posted: Sep. 06 2007, 17:44 A band I'm still struggling to make heads or tails of. The first two albums I've always loved, in the same way I've always loved Genesis' 70s stuff. Funny though how the second one is almost a carbon copy of the first. I'm not very likely to play either of them a lot these days, they belong to a certain era of my life and when I play them, it's like revisiting that era, and that's something I really have to be in the mood for, as I feel I've changed a lot since then. From Lizard onwards it gets a bit weird. Lizard itself to me sounds like, "right, we don't really want to stay in that same place, but we don't know where else to go either, so let's just add a little more weirdness to our formula". Still a nice album though. Islands, I feel, is a really oddball album in their discography. It's just so incredibly laid back and smooth, I don't think they've sounded quite like that at any other time. Larks' Tongues In Aspic is a really strange phenomenon to me - an album I've played dozens of times but can't remember a single note of. I don't think I could say I like it. Starless And Bible Black I've only heard a few times, can't really comment on it. Red is extremely impressive, and I feel it's incredible how fresh that album still sounds (well, most of it, anyway). That said, again I really have to be in the right mood for it. Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair... very difficult for me. It's certainly very interesting music, but at the same time it totally gets on my nerves. Belew's vocals in particular are almost unbearable. Thrak, again I've only listened to that a few times and can't really remember anything from it except Dinosaur which is OK. The Construkction Of Light is an album I've taken a curious liking to. It's not like I play it very often, but somehow I appreciate its weirdness in a way that I don't with a lot of other KC albums. I guess the fact that it's mostly instrumental helps a lot. The Power To Believe seems to be the only proper KC studio album I've never heard. Wow, I had no idea I was that familiar with them actually - they seem to have this monster of a discography, but actually most of it is live albums, compilations and side projects. And I didn't know I had that much to say about them either, but in some ways, this band has always been sort of present in my life, both because I like them to a certain extent myself, and because a few friends of mine are really into them. Back to top

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1767 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: Sep. 07 2007, 11:39 Quote (Holger @ Sep. 06 2007, 17:44) Larks' Tongues In Aspic is a really strange phenomenon to me - an album I've played dozens of times but can't remember a single note of. There are so many notes on that album! I agree that it's a bit more difficult to get into than the other albums. It's a very experimental album, and therefore I don't really understand why it's allways presented as the "essential" KC album. "The Power to Belive" is worth money alone for the track "Level Five" which is too good for words. Could be because Belew isn't singing on it. But overall his singing is more bearable (and less contrived) on the 90s KC releases. -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: Sep. 08 2007, 22:49 Quote (larstangmark @ Sep. 07 2007, 11:39) There are so many notes on that album! I agree that it's a bit more difficult to get into than the other albums. It's a very experimental album, and therefore I don't really understand why it's allways presented as the "essential" KC album. To me, Larks' Tongues in Aspic sums up everything there is about the band (in terms of style, not just of sound), and it captures its tightest, most powerful line-up. They wisely sidestep the free improvisations (something they did not on Starless and Bible Black), the barrier breaking instrumental work is amazing, and the vocal tracks hold up really well (I have always liked Book of Saturday a lot, myself). Hardly any track can dethrone 21st Century Schizoid Man, but the whole album works phenomenally. I'd say that the only other album that's somewhat close to it in terms of cohesion and efficiency is Red - all the others are just a part of the band on display. -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1767 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: Sep. 09 2007, 09:49 The free improv pieces are fantastic. The two piece on "Starless and Bible black" are great. There's an unbelievable musical telepathy going on. I would say that "Starless..", although not the greatest KC album, is the one that best displays the many sides of King Crimson. And no track on "Larks Toungues..." is as immediately catchy as "Great Deceiver". BTW has anyone heard the new "Churchscapes" record from Robert Fripp? -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

Baggiesfaninessex Group: Members Posts: 682 Joined: Mar. 2002 Posted: Sep. 17 2007, 15:55 I think King Crimson sum up Progressive Rock in the truest sense of the phrase (not genre). Too many bands attempt to emulate others with the Neo-Prog movement of the 80s, 90s and 00s, still trying to emulate Pink Floyd, Yes and Genesis. However, KC have moved with the times, never getting stuck in the rut that others have been stalled by and as a result, every new album has a freshness, life and energy that is unique to Crimson. Their improvisations push the envelope to the limit and their instrumentation and compositions stand out amidst a sea of mediocrity. ITWOP is ITCOTCK Part 2 and track for track, pushes it to the finishing line. 21st Century Schizoid Man is reprised on Pictures of a City. Cadence and Cascade is I Talk to the Wind part 2 and the eponymous track from ITWOP emulates Epitaph in classic style with swathes of mellotron. Similarly, Side 2 has virtually half the side devoted to unusual instrumental passages but whereas ITCOTCK suffered as a result of Moonchild's prolonged twee tinkerings on triangles, ITWOP gains serious momentum as a result of the sheer build up, power and momentum behind Devil's Triangle. ITCOTCK redeems itself with the anthemic epoynmous track whereas ITWOP has a wonderful jazzy piece (and single) in Cat Food and snippets of Peace - a repetitive theme running through the album. Personally, I prefer ITWOP for Devil's Triangle, which when comparing albums, blows Moonchild (part 2) away. But it's fair to say, there is very little to choose between them. Lizard doesn't get much of mention here but for me, it is a very clever album. Probably more famous for the fact that Jon Anderson took lead vocal on Prince Rupert Awakes (Lizard part 1), I can still see similarities in construction and composition with the previous two albums, although Lizard is more complex. Circus has superb mellotron again and Happy Families proved that KC jazz breaks went a step further than Cat Food and compared favourably with Easy Money from LTIA. The eponymous side long track is incredible - it takes a few listens - but it is an amazing piece of work considering the (already) substantial personnel changes taking place. Islands is my least favourite album from the first phase of KC. I find Formentera Lady annoying in its simplicity and frustrating in its longevity. The barely audible vocals on Letters are equally galling and the promising start to the eponymous track (beautiful melody) is succeeded by more tedium and repetition ad nuaseum. However, all is not lost. The sexual tension exuded in Ladies of the Road complete with the most orgasmic guitar solo you're ever likely to hear, the wonderful jazz instrumental Sailor's Tale which builds to wonderful crescendos and the sheer beauty of Prelude/Song Of The Gulls go some way in redeeming the album. My thoughts on LTIA, SABB and Red will follow soon. Maybe.   -------------- “A dog is not intelligent. Never trust an animal that's surprised by its own farts.” - Frank Skinner Back to top

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Forums | Links | Instruments | Discography | Tours | Articles | FAQ | Artwork | Wallpapers
Biography | Gallery | Videos | MIDI / Ringtones | Tabs | Lyrics | Books | Sitemap | Contact


Mike Oldfield Tubular.net