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 21 st 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 bands 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 bands 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 21 st 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-CrimsonBiography/1E0973BD5DF9FFFB48256A8700147911 3. http://www.lyricsfreak.com/k/king+crimson/biography. html 4. http://www.king-crimson.com/
