Sometimes it’s quite hard to describe to a younger music fan just what a groundbreaking and influential album this was at the time. This album is 53 years old now. So much music has been made that has been influenced by this album since its released, so much so that the sounds embedded in these grooves come across as dated to the new listener.
The opening track, 20th Century Schizoid Man stills sounds as insane and awesome as the first day I heard it. I Talk To The Wind follows, it is one of the few tracks that main-man Robert Fripp had not written. Sounding very Beatles-esque complete with mellotron, it’s a million miles away from the opening track. You could say that Crimson invented Prog, and Epitaph, complete with swirling mellotron and the huge ending gives testimony to that.
Moonchild opens up Side 2 in the most beautiful and gentle way with the softness of Greg Lake’s vocals, but this gives way to some crazy improvisations. The title track closes out the album and this is the best track on the album, its my favourite. I love the melody, tone, and the content of Lake’s vocals, and the way the track just builds is epic. It looks as though Mr Fripp has called time on the touring from Crimson, but I do hope they will record some new music as the musical landscape is a lot more interesting with him in it.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
