King Crimson

By Terence Chan
Contents:

Introduction -------------------- P. 1

History --------------------------- P. 2

Importance ---------------------- P.3

Major Albums ------------------- P.4

Summary ------------------------- P.5

References ----------------------- P.6

Introduction

King Crimson, a hot rock band which was active

in the late 80s and 90s, originated in London. It
is founded by guitarist Robert Fripp and
drummer Michael Giles. They are well-known
for as a foundational progressive rock group,
with other genres such as jazz fusion,
experimental rock, avant-garde, hard rock and
new wave.
History

King Crimson was founded in 1969. Their debut

album, “In the court of King Crimson”, include
greatest track “21st Century Schizoid Man”, was
widely considered as the landmark of
progressive rock. After the release of the second
album, due to the fact that Fripp and other
members (McDonald & Giles) had different
vision towards the band’s future, McDonald and
Giles decided to leave the group. Loads of group
members got in and out throughout the time.
The group went their separate ways until their
8th album released in 1981. Later on, they “took
a break” for almost a decade until 1994.

Islands - 1971
Importance

Rock band in the early 70s like Genesis and Yes

were directly influenced by King Crimson and
developing their unique style, with mellotron
rock in it.
Also, their various influences such as hard rock,
heavy metal, with a mixture of England and
American rock, scored themselves into the top
rank of the rock bands all time.
Their influences continued to extend to the
1990s and 2000s. Kurt Cobain, who is the lead
vocal of late 90s band, Nirvana, also stated that
Red meant a certain importance to him.
They are often citied as the groundbreaker of
progressive metal; it then inspired Voivod to do
a cover of “21st Century Schizoid Man” in 1997.
Major Albums

In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)

In the Wake of Poseidon (1970)
Lizard (1970)
Islands (1971)
Larks' Tongues in Aspic (1973)
Starless and Bible Black (1974)
Red (1974)
Discipline (1981)
Beat (1982)
Three of a Perfect Pair (1984)
THRAK (1995)
The ConstruKction of Light (2000)
The Power to Believe (2003)
Summary

King Crimson contributes one of the great spot

in the rock music history. The early initial track,
“21st Century Schizoid Man” was a signature of
band’s instrumental piece, while they often
improvise in their live performance and studio
recordings for example “Moonchild” from their
debut album, their improvisation was mainly
done it and created by the entire band though.
My favorite song of them is “21st Century
Schizoid Man”, with no doubt. I thought it would
be a song with loads of heavy metal and rock
element, it turns out to be a mainly softer rock
instrumental piece, with a little part of singing,
so audience and fans can really see their talents.
References
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Crimson#Influence_o
n_other_bands
2. http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/King-Crimson-
Biography/1E0973BD5DF9FFFB48256A8700147911
3. http://www.lyricsfreak.com/k/king+crimson/biography.
html
4. http://www.king-crimson.com/