i heard myself thinking "i can't believe he didn't put that album higher" for every single album up until around 6th when i realized this train of thought was a testament to how great a band it is. great list!
Thank you for watching and commenting! I know... ranking them was tough as they never really put out any bad albums imo. I have stopped ranking and albums and do more individual album ratings for this reason. Thank you again!
Listening to some of Crimson's earlier work, you can really hear how much they influenced Genesis. By the way, Bruford re-named Starless 'Braless and Slightly Slack.
@@Starman-zi9tl I read it in an interview with Robert Fripp back in the 80s. According to Fripp Bruford had a habit of re-naming their albums (Three of a Perfect Pair he called Tree of a Perfect Pear).
My favourite is Discipline... Probably because I love me some math rock and as you can probably tell I'm also a big Talking Heads fan. I mean Adrian Belew was clearly going for a Byrne impression on "Elephant Talk' 😆 All the tracks on that album are just epic and memorable.
Thanks for putting Starless and Bible Black at #4. A classic w/ Bruford clickin', Whetton wailin' and Fripp frippin'. Their improve jams are cool, too. And I believe Fripp wrote the lyrics... "Cigarettes', Ice cream, figurines of the virgin mary, etc." Peace on earth.
My favorite album is easily Lizard. I never get sick of listening to this masterpiece. #2 Poseiden #3 In the Court #4 Islands #5 Starless #6 Larks #7 Red #8 Discipline (Saw live in Vancouver 1980) #-- the rest.
Great video, love the fun facts and end quotes. Great ranking about a great and for me best ever band. Thank you! My list and yeah true there are no bad KC albums... 13 ConstruKction of Light 12 Beat 11 Three of a perfect pair 10 Thrak 09 Islands 08 Wake of Poseidon 07 Power to believe 06 Starless & Bible Black 05 Discipline 04 Court of the Crimson King 03 Lizard 02 Red 01 Larks Tongues in Aspic
Thank you for watching and commenting. I appreciate your kind words as well! Agreed! They never made a bad album! Your list is very solid too! Thanks again!
Neat video! King Crimson are one of my absolute favourite bands, I love all of their stuff (except Earthbound but I'm only human). If I had to rank their albums, I'd probably put them like this: 13. The ConstruKction Of Light - [Favourite Track(s): "The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum"] 12. Beat - [Favourite Track(s): "Neurotica"] 11. In The Court Of The Crimson King - [Favourite Track(s): "21st Century Schizoid Man", "In The Court Of The Crimson King"] 10. The Power To Believe - [Favourite Track(s): "Eyes Wide Open", "Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With"] 9. Starless And Bible Black - [Favourite Track(s): "Fracture", "The Night Watch", "The Great Deceiver", "Dr. Diamond (yes I know it wasn't on the album but it should've been!)] 8. Lizard - [Favourite Track(s): "Lizard", "Indoor Games", "Happy Family"] 7. Three Of A Perfect Pair - [Favourite Track(s): "Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part Three", "Three Of A Perfect Pair", "Dig Me"] 6. Islands - [Favourite Track(s): "Formentera Lady", "Islands", "Prelude : Song Of The Gulls", "The Sailor's Tale"] 5. THRAK - [Favourite Track(s): "B'Boom", "Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream", "VROOOM/VROOOM VROOOM/VROOOM VROOOM coda"] 4. In The Wake Of Poseidon - [Favourite Track(s): "Pictures Of A City", "Cadence And Cascade", "Cat Food"] 3. Discipline - [Favourite Track(s): "Elephant Talk", "Frame By Frame", "Discipline"] 2. Larks' Tongues In Aspic - [Favourite Track(s): "Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part One", "Exiles", "Easy Money", "Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part Two"] 1. Red - [Favourite Track(s): "Red", "Fallen Angel", "One More Red Nightmare", "Providence", "Starless" (the entire album is flawless in my opinion)] That's my ranking, anyhow. I know it's probably a bit strange but to be fair so am I a lot of the times.
Thank you for watching and commenting! There are no wrong answers here. Also, Dr. Diamond is amazing and SHOULD have been on Starless and Bible Black!!!
MY Ranking: 13. The Construkction of Light 12. The Power to Believe 11. Thrak 10. Three of a Perfect Pair 9. Beat 8. Lizard 7. In the Wake of Poseiden 6. Islands 5. Discipline 4. Starless & Bible Black 3. Larks Tongues in Aspic 2.. Red 1.. In the Court of the Crimson King
I largely agree with your Genesis ranking, but I couldn’t let your KC ranking go unchallenged. 80s Crim is right up there with the mid-70s lineup in my opinion. What other prog rock band changed their style so drastically in the pursuit of a new and unique sound? So my ranking, best to worst, is: Larks’ Tongues in Aspic Discipline Red Beat In the Court of the Crimson King Three of a Perfect Pair THRAK The Power To Believe The Constrkction of Light Starless and Bible Black In the Wake of Poseidon Lizard Islands But I respect your choices and am looking forward to watching more of your rankings.
That is a very fair point, and I totally respect your opinion. KC was tough for me since I really do like all of their albums and there were so many phases of the band. Thank you so much for watching and commenting!
I agree with you the 80 are undervalued. My 4 first are the same as you and in 5 Thrack instead of "In the court of KC" Their first album on the 1st place is a joke for me, it means that KC had never made better. Generaly people who don't know well KC mentioned this one, it's a shame Fripp, Bruford, Wetton, Cross and Fripp, Belew, Bruford, Levin later, have been two combos more creative.
A couple of comments I read from Fripp: "If you don't know what to play, play a C." "I know we're going to make mistakes tonight, just as long as they're not to same mistakes we made last night!" Ending that video with Starless is 100%! Thank you.
I've been a huge fan since I was a kid. Of the ones I rank I have all but one on LP (Thrak on CD). My list... 1. Larks' Tongues 2. Islands 3. Poseidon 4. Court 5. Starless 6. Red 7. Lizard 8. Thrak 9. Discipline 10. Beat 11. Perfect Pair Never heard Construction of Light (sounded pretty bad from the video) or Power to Believe (sounded fantastic on the video) I would not argue with your list but I am not as big of fan of Red as you are. Thanks for sharing. Brings back great memories.
*This is my current ranking although all of them have been my favorite at some point* 1. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (1973) 2. Starless & Bible Black (1974) 3. Islands (1971) 4. Red (1974) 5. Three of a Perfect Pair (1984) 6. In the Court of the Crimson King (1969) 7. Discipline (1981) 8. Lizard (1970) 9. Beat (1982) 10. In the Wake of Poseidon (1970) 11. The Power to Believe (2003) 12. THRAK (1995) 13. The ConstruKction of Light (2000)
Eh ill rank mine cause why not From least best to best 13: Three of a Perfect Pair 12: THRAK 11: Red 10: The Power To Believe (I love this album but i cant rank it any higher than this) 9: Lizard 8: Starless And Bible Black 7: The ConstruKction of Light 6: In The Court of The Crimson King 5: Larks' Tounges in Aspic 4: Discipline 3: Beat 2: In The Wake Of Poseidon (Court but done better imo) 1: Islands
For me there is mandatory listening (ITCOTCK, INWOTP, Larks, Starless, Red, Discipline, 3/Pair, Vrooom/Thrak) and optional, but still enjoyable, listening (i.e. - everything else). Having said that, their first album has a special place in my ears as my father played it for me when I was eleven. It was too far out there. I loved it at 14 but 11 was too early! BTW - LUV your channel name; a perfect mashup! The first record I ever purchased with my own $$$ was Ziggy Stardust! : )
1. The Construkction Of Light 2. Larks' Tongues in Aspic 3. Three Of A Perfect Pair 4. The Power To Believe 5. THRAK 6. Discipline 7. Starless And Bible Black 8. Beat 9. Red 10. In The Court Of The Crimson King 11. Islands 12. In The Wake Of Poseidon 13. Lizard
MY RANKING LIST: 1- larks tongues in aspic (5 stars) 2- in the court of the crimson king (5 stars) 3- red (5 stars) 4- lizard (4 stars) 5- the wake of poseidon (4 stars) 6- discipline (4 stars) 7- islands (4 stars) (I don't know well the other albums so i don't ranking it)
This is a good ranking… probably because it’s pretty close to my personal ranking although I would put Lizard higher and I prefer Larks Tongues over Red. Good video!
my own ranking (from "worst" to best) 13-Starless and Bible Black (3.5/5) 12-Islands (4/5) 11-Lizard (4/5) 10-Larks Tongues in Aspic (4/5) 9-The Power to Believe (4/5) 8-THRAK (4.5/5) 7-Beat (4.6/10) 6-Three of a Perfect Pair (4.7/5) 5-Discipline (4.7/5) 4-Red (4.8/10) 3-Construktion of Light (4.8/5) 2-In The Court of the Crimson King (5/5) 1-In The Wake of Poseidon (5/5)
A typical list, mine is different but my taste is more to the avant-garde, rio. 1. Lizard 2. Larks Tongues in Aspic 3. Starless and Bible Black 4. Red 5. Islands 6. In the Wake of Poseidon 7. In the Court of the Crimson King 8. The Power to Believe 9. Thrak 10. Discipline 11. The Construction of Light 12. Three of a Perfect Pair 13. Beat Some albums like In the Court may be lower than expected in my list. After listening to King Crimson for 50 yrs, familiarity may breed contempt. Favourite KC box sets work out different because of the extras and improvised music, especially Heaven and Earth because it has all the Projects stuff. 1. Heaven and Earth 2. Starless 3. The Road to Red 4. A Sailor's Tale 5. Larks Tongues in Aspic 6. On and off The Road 7. Thrak 8. In the Court of the Crimson King(original box) Second favourite band of all time, I've seen them live several times, most line ups. Favourite band, Van Der Graaf Generator/Peter Hammill.
I totally respect and get your list. Without doubt one of my favorite bands as well. I was thinking of doing a VDGG video, since I am a HUGE fan of them as well. Thank you for watching and commenting!
My top: 10) Beat 9) Thrak 8) Lizard 7) Discipline 6) In the Wake of Poseidon 5) Islands 4) Starless and Bible Black 3) Larks' Tongues in Aspic 2) In the Court of the Crimson King 1) Red note: - 1) & 2) in top-10 albums of all time - 3), 4) & 5) in top-50 albums of all time
Finally completed all of the guitar parts on Cirkus. One of the hardest I've learned in a bit. Yes and Crimson are the two bands I actually feel accomplished completing one of their songs. I learned Close to the Edge. [ KNEW aYaI and Siberian, already but I couldn't find the score for CTTE for the longest time and finally did ] CTTE took me months and finally finished. Next was Cirkus and now; I'm gonna go for more Crimson. KCs stuff is difficult to choose songs to learn. Their best albums for me [ 70-73 ] seem to either have extensive guitar work on a song or nearly none; where it's so few and far between in terms of guitar tracks.
@@Starman-zi9tl I bet. It still troubles me to know how uninspired and uninterested Bruford was during the whole CTTE proceedings. Like, HOW!? For a drummer who had no desire to play on the album; his work is still stunning. If you look at Bruford during that 1972 live video of LTIAwith Crimson; he looks like a kid in a toy store. I just can't believe he didn't care for CTTE. Aside from the song; the rest of the album is awesome. I must admit; I kind of run out of steam ìn the Yes catalog after CTTE. Something about the albums that follow; they just fail to keep my attention the same way. What are the best bands for you as a drummer?
@@masokotanga7356 Right!? I couldn't agree more regarding Bruford's opinions on making CTTE. He is in my top 5 list of greatest drummers. His playing is so creative, technical, yet can improvise freely never playing the same part exactly the same way. CTTE was their peak no doubt. For me, in regards to my favorite bands for drummers, I would say King Crimson (has/have many great drummers including Brudord and one of my newer favorite drummers Gavin Harrison). Stereotypically, I love Rush of course and Neil Peart was brilliant with the drum parts that he wrote along with his technical ability. NOT prog, however, I do love Carter Beauford's drumming with DMB. On the heavier side of things I also enjoy Dream Theater and Tool. Both bands have very interesting drum parts. And of course there are like a million more... haha
Thank you for watching and commenting! I TOTALLY respect that even if Beat is not one of my favorites of theirs. It's still a very good album (they didn't really make bad albums imo). There's no denying the importance of this incarnation of King Crimson moving forward from the 70's.
1. Red 2. Wake of Poseidon 3. Court of the Crimson King 4. Lizard 5. Larks Tongues in Aspic 6. Islands 7. Three of a Perfect Pair 8. Starless and Bible Black 9. Discipline 10. Beat I forgot how the rest sounded
my ranking: 13. The ConstruKction of Light 12. The Power to Believe 11. Beat 10. Thrak 9. Three of a Perfect Pair 8. Lizard 7. Islands 6. Starless and Bible Black 5. In the Wake of Poseidon 4. Discipline 3. Larks' Tongues in Aspic 2. Red 1. In The Court of the Crimson King
I'm not very fwmiliar with KC post-Perfect Pair but the scippet of Construkction Of Light sounds like it's from the Discipline-era. For a band that's all about progressiveness, trying new things, that snippet sounds like a throwback.
Interesting take. Thrak for me is tied for first place in my book. Incredible. Lizard is probably my other 1st place. Agree 100% with your view of CoL. Lark's Tongue & Red are probably tied for 2nd for me. What a GREAT band, btw. Oh, as a high school kid I bought a guitar from Adrian Belew, during KC's long break - at the time he was fronting The Bears... humorously, I did not realize who he was until after driving home with my guitar... it took me a while to put the pieces together! He was very nice, btw.
I get the feeling that my ranking is a bit controversial for several reasons 13. Three of a Perfect Pair 12. The ConstruKction of Light 11. In the Wake of Poseidon 10. Beat 9. Thrak 8. Islands 7. Larks' Tongues in Aspic 6. Discipline 5. Lizard 4. Starless and Bible Black 3. The Power to Believe 2. In the Court of the Crimson King 1. Red Love 'em all, but this is my take :p
@@danburnes722 See, it's funny you say that, because the list has changed a great deal since I made this post. I'm kinda disgusted by my old takes, lmao Still think I show due respect to the Belew period, but it's very... different now
Thank you for watching and commenting! Perhaps Lizard is too jazzy for people's tastes? Like I said, I love all their stuff including Lizard, terrific band all around.
I agree. To me Lizard is #1. Not always a first choice for most, however it is so complex it never gets old for me. Heavy on the mellotron which I love. A masterpiece in my opinion.
Thank you for watching and commenting! I know! I'm in the minority there ranking Power over Discipline. All I can say is, it's all good! Thank you again for watching!
@@Starman-zi9tl thank you for accepting my opinion. What i liked about TCOL was a return to simpler arrangements, which i think was due to not only less players but music which needed to be reproduced live with less players. Also the drumming. Don't get me wrong - I loved Bruford, but tired of his overplaying. It's time had come, and passed. Mastelotto on the other hand played to the music, much like Giles did. For me it was a refreshing change.
@@PeterGrenader Of course! I love to hear other peoples opinions and interpretations on albums. Your reasoning makes perfect sense to me. Thank you for not hating me for putting it at the low end of my list! Although, I don't think they really made a "bad" album.
@@Starman-zi9tl At the time it was released, I found Islands a step backward from Lizard - which i really enjoyed. Islands was under-produced IMO and suffering from studio errors: the talk back monitor 'beep' in the middle of Collins' solo on The Letters, along with the mic placement picking up the sound of his bari's pads & springs, generally poor micing of the drums throughout the album and the bad splice and panning change of the ride cymbal cadence at the end of Formentera leading to Sailor's Tale. The title track always seemed like a demo to me. It just wasn't finished. The material was fine, it just wasn't presented/produced in a manner befitting the rest of their catalog.
For what it's worth, here's my list: 13 Three of a perfect pair 12 Beat 11 Wake of Poseidon 10 ConstruKction of Light 09 Islands 08 Power to believe 07 Lizard 06 Thrak 05 Starless & Bible Black 04 Discipline 03 Larks Tongues in Aspic 02 Court of the Crimson King 01 Red
Damn, I owned an og album of ItCotCK, should of kept it. Nevertheless, I loved the line up with Greg Lake, but I enjoyed Wetton line up the most. Have you ever heard the debut album from the Band U.K. ? That’s Wetton at its best...
While I like the rankings, I just think ‘Beat’ edges out ‘Three Of A Perfect Pair ‘. Of the 80’s releases for me it has always been been Discipline, Beat, TOAPP.
1. In The Court Of The Crimson King - 1969 2. Larks Tongues In Aspic - 1973 3. Red - 1974 4. Discipline - 1981 5. Starless and Bible Black - 1974 6. Islands - 1972 7. Lizard - 1971 8. In the Wake of Poseidon - 1970 9. Thrack - 1995 10. Beat - 1982
My personal ranking (worst to best) 13. Beat 12. Three Of A Perfect Pair 11. In The Wake Of Poseidon 10. Islands 9. ConstruKction Of Light 8. THRAK 7. Starless And Bible Black 6. Power To Believe 5. Lizard 4. In The Court Of The Crimson King 3. Discipline 2. Larks Tongues In Aspic 1. Red
King Crimson taught me that "progressive" is not a feature of genre, but a feature of a band and that band's persuit. Some listeners and fans(like you, it's not a blame) rate recent albums(relatively, the power to believe, three of a perfect pair, thrak, the construkction of light) under their early age's albums. But what a suprise. I'm really wondering how a band made so many and various kind of sounds which Even Pink Floy didn't achive. Living in the age of capitalism, most artists(not only the musicions) lost creativity and they don't know(or understand) what is the nobel life. I mean the life that prepared to be suffered to make thier own out of suroundings and fashions. King Crimson have never been in mainstream and that popular, but they made their uncomparable, unique sounds. KC deserves to be a virtue for modern artists and modern souls.
Thank you for watching and providing your insight! Well said!
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As you say, one of those rare bands with no bad records, just some better than others. I would push Lizard a bit lower, since I think they did not quite get what they are looking for, and would push Discipline a bit higher, at least for its paradigm shift value. My list in this moment: 13. The ConstruKction of Light 12. Beat 11. Thrak 10. Three of a Perfect Pair 9. In the Wake of Poseidon 8. Lizard 7. The Power to Believe 6. Discipline 5. Islands 4. Starless and Bible Black 3. Red 2. In the Court of the Crimson King 1. Larks' Tongues in Aspic Lower ranked albums are very good by themselves, but I think they do the same better in other places.
This is very safe rank. Poseidon is too high - its just a copy of a debut. Lizard is far too low - maybe you didnt understood album fully? First two are predicted from the start while watching this video. Meh...
Thank you for watching and commenting! Red will always be my favorite as this is what got me into the band. Honestly, I enjoy all their albums, I just find myself listening to some more than others. Ask me today and my rankings could be different. This is part of the reason why I shopped making worst to best videos. Regardless, thank you again for watching and commenting.
I'd probably rank the 80s albums higher, since I like the 80s stuff alot. But I have to agree that absent lovers only had better versions of all the studio recordings. I like Three of a perfect pair better than Discipline and Beat tho. Beat also gets alot of hate imo and with ReconstrKction of Light I really found a new appreachiation for the tracks from ConstruKction of light. Still, a very solid ranking and probably also the way I'd recommend King Crimson to a newcomer, altough I am weird and like Lizard more than their debut.
Thank you for watching and commenting! Yeah, however there are no bad Crimson albums imo. So, although those albums are low on this list, I still think they're great.
My ranking: In the Court of the Crimson King (5/5), Red ( 5/5), Larks Tongues in Aspic (4/5), Starless and Bible Black (4/5), In the wake of Poseidon (4/5), Lizard (3/5), Islands (3/5), The Power to believe (3/5), Discipline (3/5) Almost the same as this video's ranking !
1969-1984 only - Love Thrak, the double trio and saw this lineup live in Austin front row center - I swear Fripp was staring at me the entire show, maybe the best concert I’ve ever been to, and I saw them on the Discipline tour. This was better. Much better. 10. Lizard (the best thing about this album is the cover. The music? It’s the sound of a Mellotron being bludgeoned to death. Horrid. No wonder Fripp left all the band business to another member. He was depressed that the band had slipped this far in only two album. Only Keith Tippet saves anything here). 9. Three of a Perfect Pair. (More like “Music in the shape of a pear.” After a good opening, the band sounds lost, uninspired. They used up all their tricks. On one song they literally turned on all of their effects pedals and swung their instruments around. They knew this lineup had reached its end, for now. 8. In the Wake of Poseidon (every album from here is a masterpiece, IMO - Catfood, catfood catfood, again! 7. Beat (love the way they took the previous album and combined elements of the Wetton/Bruford lineup - I really got into Beat. Loved it). 6. Discipline (not what I was expecting at the time, but in typical KC fashion, they blew me away with originality and great compositions. No band reinvents themselves like the Crim!) 5. Islands (the beautiful and pastoral album by the Crimson boys. Lovely, and Fripp hints at what’s to come.) 4. Red (great, but too short, and Providence doesn’t belong on this album, leaving this album with four tracks - four great tracks). 3. In the Court of the Crimson King (do I need to say anything? No, I don’t). 2. Larks Tongues in Aspic (probably the greatest comeback album of all time. The band was almost dead after Lizard and Island, then Fripp called in the A team. A perfect album!). 1. Starless and Bible Black (The absolute height of what King Crimson is and was always meant to be. Fripp keeps going back to the model established here over and over again. This album captures this lineup at their very best, at the top of their game. The previous album, although perfectly arranged, the musicians sounded like they were still in their previous bands and unsure how loud they could play, but here they’ve become the muscular, confident and brash, “Health food fagot” band that were so full of energy that they imploded by the time of Red).
You make great points on each album! I have tried so hard to really get into Beat, it just doesn't resonate with me as much as their other works. I am NOT saying it's a bad album by any means, I just prefer their others a little more. Thank you for commenting!!
I had all of these records Starting with In the Court of the Crimson King which we used to acid trip to it, staring into that strange cover, with the colours breathing as they are wont to do; i had the textured version and at one point had 3 copies of that LP. I stopped buying after Discipline whereupon i lost interest. This is the music i went through high school with, i was a progger but then ended up marrying the drummer in an all girl punk band after which i made a shift more into ethnic folk musics, dub, afro-funk, spanish guitaristos, experimental and strange stuff like Harry Partch eventually. I also loved Adrian Belew’s firs solo record and m first band covered on of those songs from that record. Also Belew’s work on the live Talking heads stuff was remarkable, that double live album The Name of This Band Is….. Must mention Fripp’s solo and session work also which influenced my greatly as a guitarist. Still to this day my guitar is often frippish and i aspire to Fripp’s level of virtuosity, power, originality, poetry of his notes, really felt them deeply back in the day. Raised on Classical as a child before all of that. I consider Larks’ Tongues in Aspic to be the greatest prog composition of that Era. It’s still fresh after all these years still inspires and delights me, it was ahead of it’s time for sure but at the same time right on time it was. At the same time i studied the whole history of guitar from Segovia through Zappa, Fripp of course, many others, Jeff Beck’s Blow by Blow was influential and had some juicy bits and mind blowing expressive virtuosity, Van Halen, i was into him for a bit in high school, just the earlier stuff then lost interest in that also. Anyway, thx for making this man, got me thinking. I see you are also a Gentle Giant fan; also one of my favourite band back in high school days. I especially like excerpts from Octopus and Mr. Class & Quality, Strange Ways also, Meanwhile Ry Cooder’s work with Ali Farka Toure was a high point in guitar-o-centric circles as was Django back in the day, Jaco on bass, some highlights from be-bop and some of the funky jazz from the early 70’s was cool. Mingus had his moments, 3 or 4 shades of Blues… oh but i’m rambling on, going to record tonight on my electro-spaz-mo-tron. Happy New Year!!!
Thank you for watching and commenting! I live those stories especially since I was not around when a lot of this music was new. I appreciate you taking the time and sharing! Happy New Year!
Discipline 10? Of course this is subjective, but WTF. Imposible for me to put Lizard above any of 80s albums. I think that Discipline, Red, Larks, ITCOCK, The Power To Believe and Thrak are their best works.
I think I'm in the minority who prefers their later works to their quintessential prog stuff. My list would be: THRAK 10/10 Larks Tongues In Aspic 10/10 Lizard 10/10 The Construkction of Light 9/10 Discipline 9/10 Red 9/10 Islands 9/10 Beat 8/10 The Power to Believe 8/10 Starless and Bible Black 8/10 ItWoP 7/10 Three of a Perfect Pair 7/10 ItCoCK 7/10 (I know, putting this in the last spot is blasphemy. It's still a very good album, I just like the other ones better)
I'm sorry but you putting the albums with Belew so low is really making my brain hurt. I mean I can understand Beat being there I guess, but Three of a Perfect Pair is better than their later albums and their less liked early albums, and Discipline is close to perfection.
Thank you for watching, and I'm sorry about that! I love all Crimson and my rankings can change day to day, which is why I no longer make worst to best vids. Thank you watching!
KC fan of almost 50 years. Nice list. Aside from Red, I find that the old Crimson magic seems to kick most when Fripp starts a new KC incarnation. This is my list, where the new, "fresh" Crimsons are near the top. All albums in the list up to Lizard are essentials for me: ITCOTCK Red Discipline LTIA ThraK The Power to Believe Poseidon Lizard SABB (I know this is popular but I only really love FraKcture) Islands (another popular one but I only love Ladies of the Road, Sailor's Tale and the improv of Formentera Lady) Beat TOAPP ConstruKction of Light
Great list! Thank you for commenting and watching! You know, you make a very valid point regarding the first albums of a new incarnation being the most solid (Red being the exception).
@@Starman-zi9tl Cheers. I really enjoyed your list too. I was shocked when I first heard Discipline. It was on the radio in the car. It sounded like Talking Heads to me - funky, catchy and stuck with one rhythm for the song. That, to me, was not KC. Now I think Discipline might be KC's most mature album. I understand your rating of ThraK. Side Two is not great - but Side One is. I like TPTB's sound and style, although it sometimes felt like it was repeating standard Crimson tropes. Hmm, I could almost be convinced to rank Poseidon and Lizard above ThraK and TPTB. It's close. I don't know why, but I don't like the SABB production, except FraKcture, of course. Almost everyone agrees that CoL comes thirteenth haha. The title track is amazing but it is easily Crimson's ugliest album.
I can also see how Genesis took some stuff for their music, I respect them a lot but some is just too eclectic for me. And that does by no means mean it is bad.
Good list. I like Beat better than Three of a Perfect Pair. And Red better than In the Court. But my list would be similar Starless is my favourite KC song as well. Fun fact : I have seen all tours since 1981 (Discipline) with the exception of the Three of a Perfect Pair tour.
"Islands" and "Wake of Poseiden" better than any in the Belew-era is difficult to go along with. In fact, all of the 1981-2003 albums listed in the last appears to reflect a bias and not very balanced perspective in my opinion. I'm not clear KC would have continued without Belew who was invited into the band by its founder. The energy of this younger player absorbing the culture of the '80s in ways I think it unlikely the older player would not be capable of) bridged the band for two decades so it did not go the way of so many other great bands of the 60s and 70s.
Thank you for watching and commenting. You make very valid points. Music is subjective and is not always balanced I have found. Let me get one thing straight, I love ALL KC albums, there really are no bad ones. It just my ear tends to enjoy the earlier stuff slightly more than the Belew lead incarnations. And you are absolutely right about everything you said about Belew. Thank you again for watching and commenting!
@@Starman-zi9tl I'm with Starman 100%, I don't see "absorbing the culture of the 80's" as a positive. I still don't understand when you've got Fripp's soundscapes and a rhythm section of Bruford/Levin, why you'd want to sound like the Talking Heads. And vocally, let's just say that Belew is no Lake or Wetton. I'd rather listen to Gordon Haskell.
So wait what? You took the trio of the first incarnation of the Belew years and put them at the END of the list. I mean sure THRAK is good, but dude, Discipline. You gotta put AT LEAST 3 of a Perfect Pair and Discipline before The Power to Believe and Thrak. And I'm sure fans who've been listening for a long time will agree. I can tell your number 1 is gonna be way off no offense and I haven't even gotten there yet. Listen to Lizard again. Also it's not the second to do a transitional lineup. There were major changes in In the Wake of.... Man I need to make these videos. I'm sorry but your list is like friggin backwards with a couple small exceptions. Thrak is exactly where it should be, lol, but EVERYTHING else was gone. Present this list to someone 40 or over and they will laugh. I love that ya made it though. At least you're spreading the word. Just have to disagree with placement. To put Starless and Bible Black, the weakest of the Wettons before Discipline is a crime. Let me guess, your number 1 is Larks??? If not it's definitely In the Court of just because that's what every newbie says (although it is top 5). Oh no, you put Larks at 3. Well at least Red is gonna be in a good spot. Your top 3 isn't bad. This comment was written in real time watching. Thank you. Here's my top 10 // 1. Lizard 2. Larks 3. Red 4 In the Court of 5..... okay, I'm just gonna stop there because now that you've gotten to the number one I can tell you're just reading things off the internet and aren't using your own way of describing these things. Put a little more of YOU in the video next time. I wanna hear what YOU have to say. I've already read the wiki pages. Also look into the allegories of the Sinfield years, it gets really deep. It's more than just lyrics. Every word can be traced back to something deeper in things like ancient history, alchemy, mad kings (obviously), Eastern Princes - at all adds up to something big. But it stops at Islands. Then Petey went on to produce one of the best albums of all time, Roxy Music ST! Yay. Plus the ELP & PFM stuff. But really though, this is all constructive criticism. Take no offense, I'm happy to see people are still digging the KC.
Thank you for watching and constructive criticism. I take no offense and welcome it. However, just for the record, I have been listening to KC for well over 20 years and am just about 40. ;)
Interesting. Discipline is actually my least favorite album of the 80's line-up. It sometimes feels less like music and more like a show off. I think Beat and TOAPP (my favorite album from crimson, actually) shows how good these guys are when they're more laid back. Though I like the 70's Crimson, I absolutely LOVE the 80's Crimson. But still, both are amazing on their own.
Awesome list. I feel there's no more diverse a fan base than KC. My list is different from everyone else's as theirs are different from each other's. But I must give my rather unpopular opinion, which goes with Fripp's; Lizard is unlisternable. I've tried, I hear the praise folks like you give and I'm inclined to give it another try, but I can't, even the snippet in this video made me cring. So it's easy to tell which one goes on the bottom for me. I appreciate ConstruKtion, so it goes higher than most would place it, but I 100% understand why it usually goes on the bottom. Cool ideas but falls flat as an album. In short, I feel Crimson is more worthy of a tier list rather than a ranking. For me, post In the Court/Pre Wetton on the bottom. Latter 80's above Power and ConstruKtion above that In the Wake and back to Discipline above that THRAK then the debut before reaching the mighty Wetton era on the top.
Thank you for watching and commenting. You make an excellent point regarding rating them on a tier basis. For that reason, I stopped doing worst to best videos after this one. Thank you again for sharing!
13. The ConstruKtion Of Light (WTF??) 12. Discipline (way too strange, but Elephant Talk is ok) 11. Three Of A Perfect Pair (better than Disicipline, and has some better songs) 10. Power To Believe (fairly decent and one of their more interesting albums) 9. Lizard (way too silly and the title track is a chore to sit through but it's still good) 8. Islands (not one of their best efforts from the 70s, but it has some bright moments) 7. In The Wake Of Poseidon (although Greg Lake had already left, it's one of his bright moments) 6. Stateless And Bible Black (a very good album that i would recommend to everyone) 5. Beat (their best album of the 80s) 4. THRAK (an interesting effort that is their best of their more recent works) 3. Larks' Tongues In Aspic (My favorite album of theirs and the title track is their best work) 2. Red (their most heavy prog album) 1. In The Court Of The Crimson King (no words to describe this masterpiece)
@@RedStrikerBeetleborg lol, very good point. It does depend on ones mood. After 50 years of listening to their albums my choices are pretty much set in stone. Obviously, there are times when I feel like listening to 80s Crimson, others when I listen to 70s and then there is the later material, not forgetting the extremely experimental projects stuff which I love. Interesting take on Discipline, you call weird, I regard as one of their more conventional albums along with Beat. I also regard The Power to Believe as their heaviest not Red. King Crimson are probably the best group ever. My favourite artists though are Van Der Graaf Generator and Peter Hammill, don't think you can consider one without the other, to me they are one and the same. What I personally consider their best isn't necessarily my favourite, that can be true. So your point is taken. 👍
i heard myself thinking "i can't believe he didn't put that album higher" for every single album up until around 6th when i realized this train of thought was a testament to how great a band it is. great list!
Thank you for watching and commenting! I know... ranking them was tough as they never really put out any bad albums imo. I have stopped ranking and albums and do more individual album ratings for this reason. Thank you again!
Have to agree here. I know I'm criticizing on a pedantic level. I hope that's clear in my comments.
Listening to some of Crimson's earlier work, you can really hear how much they influenced Genesis. By the way, Bruford re-named Starless 'Braless and Slightly Slack.
bahaha I have never heard that!
@@Starman-zi9tl I read it in an interview with Robert Fripp back in the 80s. According to Fripp Bruford had a habit of re-naming their albums (Three of a Perfect Pair he called Tree of a Perfect Pear).
@@markhunter8554 just when I thought I couldn't like Bruford more, you tell me this. Lol
Clueless and Slightly Slack (infact)
KC influenced tons of bands even outside of prog rock...... guys from TOOL cited them as one of their main influences
My favourite is Discipline...
Probably because I love me some math rock and as you can probably tell I'm also a big Talking Heads fan.
I mean Adrian Belew was clearly going for a Byrne impression on "Elephant Talk' 😆
All the tracks on that album are just epic and memorable.
Thank you for watching! No doubt it's a great album!
Thanks for putting Starless and Bible Black at #4.
A classic w/ Bruford clickin', Whetton wailin' and Fripp frippin'.
Their improve jams are cool, too.
And I believe Fripp wrote the lyrics... "Cigarettes', Ice cream,
figurines of the virgin mary, etc."
Peace on earth.
You're very welcome, and I totally agree!! :)
My favorite album is easily Lizard. I never get sick of listening to this masterpiece.
#2 Poseiden
#3 In the Court
#4 Islands
#5 Starless
#6 Larks
#7 Red
#8 Discipline (Saw live in Vancouver 1980)
#-- the rest.
Thank you for watching and commenting! Very interesting list! Lizard doesn't usually get much love, very nice.
Very based.
tough band to rank. the albums cross a few genres imo. different vocalists change so much as well. wow
I totally agree with you. There are a few different versions of this band that are quite different from each other.
Great video, love the fun facts and end quotes. Great ranking about a great and for me best ever band. Thank you! My list and yeah true there are no bad KC albums...
13 ConstruKction of Light
12 Beat
11 Three of a perfect pair
10 Thrak
09 Islands
08 Wake of Poseidon
07 Power to believe
06 Starless & Bible Black
05 Discipline
04 Court of the Crimson King
03 Lizard
02 Red
01 Larks Tongues in Aspic
Thank you for watching and commenting. I appreciate your kind words as well! Agreed! They never made a bad album! Your list is very solid too! Thanks again!
with my favorite segment of Starless at the end .... thanks so much for this.
Thank you, for watching!
Neat video! King Crimson are one of my absolute favourite bands, I love all of their stuff (except Earthbound but I'm only human).
If I had to rank their albums, I'd probably put them like this:
13. The ConstruKction Of Light - [Favourite Track(s): "The World's My Oyster Soup Kitchen Floor Wax Museum"]
12. Beat - [Favourite Track(s): "Neurotica"]
11. In The Court Of The Crimson King - [Favourite Track(s): "21st Century Schizoid Man", "In The Court Of The Crimson King"]
10. The Power To Believe - [Favourite Track(s): "Eyes Wide Open", "Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With"]
9. Starless And Bible Black - [Favourite Track(s): "Fracture", "The Night Watch", "The Great Deceiver", "Dr. Diamond (yes I know it wasn't on the album but it should've been!)]
8. Lizard - [Favourite Track(s): "Lizard", "Indoor Games", "Happy Family"]
7. Three Of A Perfect Pair - [Favourite Track(s): "Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part Three", "Three Of A Perfect Pair", "Dig Me"]
6. Islands - [Favourite Track(s): "Formentera Lady", "Islands", "Prelude : Song Of The Gulls", "The Sailor's Tale"]
5. THRAK - [Favourite Track(s): "B'Boom", "Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream", "VROOOM/VROOOM VROOOM/VROOOM VROOOM coda"]
4. In The Wake Of Poseidon - [Favourite Track(s): "Pictures Of A City", "Cadence And Cascade", "Cat Food"]
3. Discipline - [Favourite Track(s): "Elephant Talk", "Frame By Frame", "Discipline"]
2. Larks' Tongues In Aspic - [Favourite Track(s): "Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part One", "Exiles", "Easy Money", "Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part Two"]
1. Red - [Favourite Track(s): "Red", "Fallen Angel", "One More Red Nightmare", "Providence", "Starless" (the entire album is flawless in my opinion)]
That's my ranking, anyhow. I know it's probably a bit strange but to be fair so am I a lot of the times.
Thank you for watching and commenting! There are no wrong answers here. Also, Dr. Diamond is amazing and SHOULD have been on Starless and Bible Black!!!
MY Ranking:
13. The Construkction of Light
12. The Power to Believe
11. Thrak
10. Three of a Perfect Pair
9. Beat
8. Lizard
7. In the Wake of Poseiden
6. Islands
5. Discipline
4. Starless & Bible Black
3. Larks Tongues in Aspic
2.. Red
1.. In the Court of the Crimson King
Thank you for watching and commenting! Great list!!
I think your listing is spot on. King Crimson is one of the very few bands that has continued to keep me coming back decade after decade.
@@echo-boy9649 Thank you so much for watching and commenting! I totally agree, they are one of my favorites as well!
I largely agree with your Genesis ranking, but I couldn’t let your KC ranking go unchallenged. 80s Crim is right up there with the mid-70s lineup in my opinion. What other prog rock band changed their style so drastically in the pursuit of a new and unique sound? So my ranking, best to worst, is:
Larks’ Tongues in Aspic
Discipline
Red
Beat
In the Court of the Crimson King
Three of a Perfect Pair
THRAK
The Power To Believe
The Constrkction of Light
Starless and Bible Black
In the Wake of Poseidon
Lizard
Islands
But I respect your choices and am looking forward to watching more of your rankings.
That is a very fair point, and I totally respect your opinion. KC was tough for me since I really do like all of their albums and there were so many phases of the band. Thank you so much for watching and commenting!
I agree with you the 80 are undervalued. My 4 first are the same as you and in 5 Thrack instead of "In the court of KC" Their first album on the 1st place is a joke for me, it means that KC had never made better. Generaly people who don't know well KC mentioned this one, it's a shame Fripp, Bruford, Wetton, Cross and Fripp, Belew, Bruford, Levin later, have been two combos more creative.
I am closer to your picks. (My oldest son is named Adrian for a reason.)
A couple of comments I read from Fripp:
"If you don't know what to play, play a C."
"I know we're going to make mistakes tonight, just as long as they're not to same mistakes we made last night!"
Ending that video with Starless is 100%! Thank you.
I love those! Thank you for sharing! Starless is one of my all time favorites!!
I've been a huge fan since I was a kid. Of the ones I rank I have all but one on LP (Thrak on CD). My list...
1. Larks' Tongues
2. Islands
3. Poseidon
4. Court
5. Starless
6. Red
7. Lizard
8. Thrak
9. Discipline
10. Beat
11. Perfect Pair
Never heard Construction of Light (sounded pretty bad from the video) or Power to Believe (sounded fantastic on the video)
I would not argue with your list but I am not as big of fan of Red as you are.
Thanks for sharing. Brings back great memories.
Thank you for watching and commenting! Great list btw!
Thanks for ranking and Greetings from Germany
You're very welcome! Thank you for watching and commenting! :)
*This is my current ranking although all of them have been my favorite at some point*
1. Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (1973)
2. Starless & Bible Black (1974)
3. Islands (1971)
4. Red (1974)
5. Three of a Perfect Pair (1984)
6. In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)
7. Discipline (1981)
8. Lizard (1970)
9. Beat (1982)
10. In the Wake of Poseidon (1970)
11. The Power to Believe (2003)
12. THRAK (1995)
13. The ConstruKction of Light (2000)
Thank you for watching and commenting! Great list!
Eh ill rank mine cause why not
From least best to best
13: Three of a Perfect Pair
12: THRAK
11: Red
10: The Power To Believe (I love this album but i cant rank it any higher than this)
9: Lizard
8: Starless And Bible Black
7: The ConstruKction of Light
6: In The Court of The Crimson King
5: Larks' Tounges in Aspic
4: Discipline
3: Beat
2: In The Wake Of Poseidon (Court but done better imo)
1: Islands
Very interesting ranking! I like it. Thank you for watching and commenting!
For me there is mandatory listening (ITCOTCK, INWOTP, Larks, Starless, Red, Discipline, 3/Pair, Vrooom/Thrak) and optional, but still enjoyable, listening (i.e. - everything else). Having said that, their first album has a special place in my ears as my father played it for me when I was eleven. It was too far out there. I loved it at 14 but 11 was too early!
BTW - LUV your channel name; a perfect mashup! The first record I ever purchased with my own $$$ was Ziggy Stardust! : )
Thank you for watching and commenting! Sounds like a cool father! :) Thank you for the compliment on the channel name!
1. The Construkction Of Light
2. Larks' Tongues in Aspic
3. Three Of A Perfect Pair
4. The Power To Believe
5. THRAK
6. Discipline
7. Starless And Bible Black
8. Beat
9. Red
10. In The Court Of The Crimson King
11. Islands
12. In The Wake Of Poseidon
13. Lizard
Thank you for watching and commenting! Honestly, one of the most interesting rankings I have seen, very cool.
MY RANKING LIST:
1- larks tongues in aspic (5 stars)
2- in the court of the crimson king (5 stars)
3- red (5 stars)
4- lizard (4 stars)
5- the wake of poseidon (4 stars)
6- discipline (4 stars)
7- islands (4 stars)
(I don't know well the other albums so i don't ranking it)
This is a good ranking… probably because it’s pretty close to my personal ranking although I would put Lizard higher and I prefer Larks Tongues over Red. Good video!
Thank you for watching and your kind words! :)
my own ranking (from "worst" to best)
13-Starless and Bible Black (3.5/5)
12-Islands (4/5)
11-Lizard (4/5)
10-Larks Tongues in Aspic (4/5)
9-The Power to Believe (4/5)
8-THRAK (4.5/5)
7-Beat (4.6/10)
6-Three of a Perfect Pair (4.7/5)
5-Discipline (4.7/5)
4-Red (4.8/10)
3-Construktion of Light (4.8/5)
2-In The Court of the Crimson King (5/5)
1-In The Wake of Poseidon (5/5)
Thank you for watching and commenting!
A typical list, mine is different but my taste is more to the avant-garde, rio.
1. Lizard
2. Larks Tongues in Aspic
3. Starless and Bible Black
4. Red
5. Islands
6. In the Wake of Poseidon
7. In the Court of the Crimson King
8. The Power to Believe
9. Thrak
10. Discipline
11. The Construction of Light
12. Three of a Perfect Pair
13. Beat
Some albums like In the Court may be lower than expected in my list. After listening to King Crimson for 50 yrs, familiarity may breed contempt.
Favourite KC box sets work out different because of the extras and improvised music, especially Heaven and Earth because it has all the Projects stuff.
1. Heaven and Earth
2. Starless
3. The Road to Red
4. A Sailor's Tale
5. Larks Tongues in Aspic
6. On and off The Road
7. Thrak
8. In the Court of the Crimson King(original box)
Second favourite band of all time, I've seen them live several times, most line ups.
Favourite band, Van Der Graaf Generator/Peter Hammill.
I totally respect and get your list. Without doubt one of my favorite bands as well. I was thinking of doing a VDGG video, since I am a HUGE fan of them as well. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Absolutely correct!! I couldn’t agree more! I had the 8-track in college and wore it and 7-8 LPs through the years and still my favorite!! Great job
You are not afraid of the 'Fripper-Copyright hammer', and For that my sir you have my respect.
LOL Thank you!
Yep, I agree with the top 5. But I would have put Larks Tongues #1. Starless#2. Red #3 Court of the Crimson King #4.
My top:
10) Beat
9) Thrak
8) Lizard
7) Discipline
6) In the Wake of Poseidon
5) Islands
4) Starless and Bible Black
3) Larks' Tongues in Aspic
2) In the Court of the Crimson King
1) Red
note:
- 1) & 2) in top-10 albums of all time
- 3), 4) & 5) in top-50 albums of all time
Thank you for watching and commenting. Totally agree regarding your notes!
Wow what a great video!! I agree with almost all your choices. The music between albums is astounding!!!!
Thank you so much for watching this and your kind words! It is much appreciated! :)
Finally completed all of the guitar parts on Cirkus. One of the hardest I've learned in a bit. Yes and Crimson are the two bands I actually feel accomplished completing one of their songs. I learned Close to the Edge. [ KNEW aYaI and Siberian, already but I couldn't find the score for CTTE for the longest time and finally did ] CTTE took me months and finally finished. Next was Cirkus and now; I'm gonna go for more Crimson. KCs stuff is difficult to choose songs to learn. Their best albums for me [ 70-73 ] seem to either have extensive guitar work on a song or nearly none; where it's so few and far between in terms of guitar tracks.
oh wow, that's impressive!! I'm sure those parts are not easy! I am a drummer and I know the Bill Bruford parts on CTTE are not easy!
@@Starman-zi9tl I bet. It still troubles me to know how uninspired and uninterested Bruford was during the whole CTTE proceedings. Like, HOW!? For a drummer who had no desire to play on the album; his work is still stunning. If you look at Bruford during that 1972 live video of LTIAwith Crimson; he looks like a kid in a toy store. I just can't believe he didn't care for CTTE. Aside from the song; the rest of the album is awesome. I must admit; I kind of run out of steam ìn the Yes catalog after CTTE. Something about the albums that follow; they just fail to keep my attention the same way.
What are the best bands for you as a drummer?
@@masokotanga7356 Right!? I couldn't agree more regarding Bruford's opinions on making CTTE. He is in my top 5 list of greatest drummers. His playing is so creative, technical, yet can improvise freely never playing the same part exactly the same way. CTTE was their peak no doubt. For me, in regards to my favorite bands for drummers, I would say King Crimson (has/have many great drummers including Brudord and one of my newer favorite drummers Gavin Harrison). Stereotypically, I love Rush of course and Neil Peart was brilliant with the drum parts that he wrote along with his technical ability. NOT prog, however, I do love Carter Beauford's drumming with DMB. On the heavier side of things I also enjoy Dream Theater and Tool. Both bands have very interesting drum parts. And of course there are like a million more... haha
I personally feel like Beat gets way too much hate and I feel like the Fripp/Belew/Levin/Bruford trilogy are King Crimson's best work.
Thank you for watching and commenting! I TOTALLY respect that even if Beat is not one of my favorites of theirs. It's still a very good album (they didn't really make bad albums imo). There's no denying the importance of this incarnation of King Crimson moving forward from the 70's.
1. Red 2. Wake of Poseidon 3. Court of the Crimson King 4. Lizard 5. Larks Tongues in Aspic 6. Islands 7. Three of a Perfect Pair 8. Starless and Bible Black 9. Discipline 10. Beat I forgot how the rest sounded
my ranking:
13. The ConstruKction of Light
12. The Power to Believe
11. Beat
10. Thrak
9. Three of a Perfect Pair
8. Lizard
7. Islands
6. Starless and Bible Black
5. In the Wake of Poseidon
4. Discipline
3. Larks' Tongues in Aspic
2. Red
1. In The Court of the Crimson King
Great ratings! Thank you for watching!
I'm not very fwmiliar with KC post-Perfect Pair but the scippet of Construkction Of Light sounds like it's from the Discipline-era.
For a band that's all about progressiveness, trying new things, that snippet sounds like a throwback.
For me the only Studio Crimson i have problems with (but LIVE versions are awsome) Is "Thrak" and "Construktion of Light"
Interesting take. Thrak for me is tied for first place in my book. Incredible. Lizard is probably my other 1st place. Agree 100% with your view of CoL. Lark's Tongue & Red are probably tied for 2nd for me. What a GREAT band, btw. Oh, as a high school kid I bought a guitar from Adrian Belew, during KC's long break - at the time he was fronting The Bears... humorously, I did not realize who he was until after driving home with my guitar... it took me a while to put the pieces together! He was very nice, btw.
Thank you for commenting and sharing! That is amazing!!! What a cool story, I always pictured him being a down to earth type of guy.
As a long time fan, nice job.
Thank you for watching!
I absolutely love the drumming on In the Wake of Poseidon track.
Yes!! Some amazing drumming on that track for sure!
Michael Giles on those first two albums was just great. I especially love his Tin Pan Alley tricks in the album version of Cat Food.
Right, KC has no Bad albums !!! 👍🎼🎶
I get the feeling that my ranking is a bit controversial for several reasons
13. Three of a Perfect Pair
12. The ConstruKction of Light
11. In the Wake of Poseidon
10. Beat
9. Thrak
8. Islands
7. Larks' Tongues in Aspic
6. Discipline
5. Lizard
4. Starless and Bible Black
3. The Power to Believe
2. In the Court of the Crimson King
1. Red
Love 'em all, but this is my take :p
Looks good to me! Like you said, I love 'em all too! Thank you for watching and commenting!
I like this list, better respect to the Belew period.
@@danburnes722 See, it's funny you say that, because the list has changed a great deal since I made this post. I'm kinda disgusted by my old takes, lmao
Still think I show due respect to the Belew period, but it's very... different now
My order:
1. Starless and Bible Black
2. Beat
3. Larks Tongues in Aspic
4. Three of a Perfect Pair
5. Red
6. Discipline
7. ....the rest
Thank you for watching and commenting!
My ranking:
1. Lizard
2. In the court
3. Larks tongues in aspic
4. Starless and bible black
5. Islands
6. Red
7. In the wake
Thank you for watching and commenting! Great list!
I love TCOL's title track so much. Can't even describe why, it just sounds like outer space to me
It definitely has that spacey feel to it.
Starless is an astounding track, but 3. Islands; 2. USA; 1. Lizard.
Yes! USA is amazing!
A very good list. I'm just left wondering why isn't Lizard that highly thought of. I feel it's definitely a top 3 album.
Thank you for watching and commenting! Perhaps Lizard is too jazzy for people's tastes? Like I said, I love all their stuff including Lizard, terrific band all around.
Because happy family one hand clap 👏 is so good that it wraps all the way around to being bad
I agree. To me Lizard is #1. Not always a first choice for most, however it is so complex it never gets old for me.
Heavy on the mellotron which I love.
A masterpiece in my opinion.
Great band and pretty much agree with your listing
I love Red above all else, but agree your top three for sure
Bruford is the man
Thank you for watching! Yes, Bruford is the man!!
Power to Believe over Discipline? I would rank Power dead last and Discipline second place :) However, thanks for the Video, very informative and fun.
Thank you for watching and commenting! I know! I'm in the minority there ranking Power over Discipline. All I can say is, it's all good! Thank you again for watching!
Constuction of Light was an amazing album. Swap it with The Power to Believe..
Fair enough! It's a very good album just not one of my favorites of theirs.
@@Starman-zi9tl thank you for accepting my opinion.
What i liked about TCOL was a return to simpler arrangements, which i think was due to not only less players but music which needed to be reproduced live with less players. Also the drumming. Don't get me wrong - I loved Bruford, but tired of his overplaying. It's time had come, and passed. Mastelotto on the other hand played to the music, much like Giles did. For me it was a refreshing change.
@@PeterGrenader Of course! I love to hear other peoples opinions and interpretations on albums. Your reasoning makes perfect sense to me. Thank you for not hating me for putting it at the low end of my list! Although, I don't think they really made a "bad" album.
@@Starman-zi9tl At the time it was released, I found Islands a step backward from Lizard - which i really enjoyed.
Islands was under-produced IMO and suffering from studio errors: the talk back monitor 'beep' in the middle of Collins' solo on The Letters, along with the mic placement picking up the sound of his bari's pads & springs, generally poor micing of the drums throughout the album and the bad splice and panning change of the ride cymbal cadence at the end of Formentera leading to Sailor's Tale. The title track always seemed like a demo to me. It just wasn't finished. The material was fine, it just wasn't presented/produced in a manner befitting the rest of their catalog.
@@PeterGrenader Totally agree about Islands.
11:28 that's so awesome, great track
For what it's worth, here's my list:
13 Three of a perfect pair
12 Beat
11 Wake of Poseidon
10 ConstruKction of Light
09 Islands
08 Power to believe
07 Lizard
06 Thrak
05 Starless & Bible Black
04 Discipline
03 Larks Tongues in Aspic
02 Court of the Crimson King
01 Red
Thank you for watching and commenting! Great list!
Other than I'd put Lizard higher than Islands and Poseidon I don't have too much of a disagreement with these choices.
Thank you for watching!
Damn, I owned an og album of ItCotCK, should of kept it. Nevertheless, I loved the line up with Greg Lake, but I enjoyed Wetton line up the most. Have you ever heard the debut album from the Band U.K. ? That’s Wetton at its best...
Thoughrally enjoyed that, thank you so much.
Thank you for watching and your nice words! :)
While I like the rankings, I just think ‘Beat’ edges out ‘Three Of A Perfect Pair ‘. Of the 80’s releases for me it has always been been Discipline, Beat, TOAPP.
Thank you for watching and commenting! Yes, I respect that, I may have been a little too harsh on Beat. It's a good album no doubt about it!
I agree with this list ~ with one exception. I would switch Lizard and Islands.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Fun fact: That's a Barry Godber self-portrait, too.
1. In The Court Of The Crimson King - 1969
2. Larks Tongues In Aspic - 1973
3. Red - 1974
4. Discipline - 1981
5. Starless and Bible Black - 1974
6. Islands - 1972
7. Lizard - 1971
8. In the Wake of Poseidon - 1970
9. Thrack - 1995
10. Beat - 1982
Great list! Thank you for watching and commenting!
My personal ranking (worst to best)
13. Beat
12. Three Of A Perfect Pair
11. In The Wake Of Poseidon
10. Islands
9. ConstruKction Of Light
8. THRAK
7. Starless And Bible Black
6. Power To Believe
5. Lizard
4. In The Court Of The Crimson King
3. Discipline
2. Larks Tongues In Aspic
1. Red
Yes, much more in my line of thinking.
King Crimson taught me that "progressive" is not a feature of genre, but a feature of a band and that band's persuit. Some listeners and fans(like you, it's not a blame) rate recent albums(relatively, the power to believe, three of a perfect pair, thrak, the construkction of light) under their early age's albums. But what a suprise. I'm really wondering how a band made so many and various kind of sounds which Even Pink Floy didn't achive.
Living in the age of capitalism, most artists(not only the musicions) lost creativity and they don't know(or understand) what is the nobel life. I mean the life that prepared to be suffered to make thier own out of suroundings and fashions.
King Crimson have never been in mainstream and that popular, but they made their uncomparable, unique sounds. KC deserves to be a virtue for modern artists and modern souls.
Thank you for watching and providing your insight! Well said!
As you say, one of those rare bands with no bad records, just some better than others. I would push Lizard a bit lower, since I think they did not quite get what they are looking for, and would push Discipline a bit higher, at least for its paradigm shift value. My list in this moment:
13. The ConstruKction of Light
12. Beat
11. Thrak
10. Three of a Perfect Pair
9. In the Wake of Poseidon
8. Lizard
7. The Power to Believe
6. Discipline
5. Islands
4. Starless and Bible Black
3. Red
2. In the Court of the Crimson King
1. Larks' Tongues in Aspic
Lower ranked albums are very good by themselves, but I think they do the same better in other places.
You make a very good point! Thank you for watching and commenting!
This is very safe rank. Poseidon is too high - its just a copy of a debut. Lizard is far too low - maybe you didnt understood album fully? First two are predicted from the start while watching this video. Meh...
Thank you for watching and commenting! Red will always be my favorite as this is what got me into the band. Honestly, I enjoy all their albums, I just find myself listening to some more than others. Ask me today and my rankings could be different. This is part of the reason why I shopped making worst to best videos. Regardless, thank you again for watching and commenting.
I would place court on on 3 red on 2 and larks on 1
Thank you for watching and commenting! Depending on the day, I would probably agree!! All great!
I'd probably rank the 80s albums higher, since I like the 80s stuff alot. But I have to agree that absent lovers only had better versions of all the studio recordings. I like Three of a perfect pair better than Discipline and Beat tho.
Beat also gets alot of hate imo and with ReconstrKction of Light I really found a new appreachiation for the tracks from ConstruKction of light.
Still, a very solid ranking and probably also the way I'd recommend King Crimson to a newcomer, altough I am weird and like Lizard more than their debut.
Thank you for watching and commenting! Nothing weird about that at all, they are no wrong answers when it comes to one's opinions!
Trakk is one of my favorite with The Power To Beleive !
Both awesome albums!!!
Surprised (but not really), that Discipline, Lizard, and Islands are so low. The latter two are my favorites and Discipline is probably in my top 5.
Thank you for watching and commenting! Yeah, however there are no bad Crimson albums imo. So, although those albums are low on this list, I still think they're great.
Interesting, IMHO, Discipline deserves to be up there in the top three, together with "In the Court..." and "Red".
I totally get and respect that. That was a very important album for them. Thank you for watching and commenting!
My ranking:
In the Court of the Crimson King (5/5), Red ( 5/5), Larks Tongues in Aspic (4/5), Starless and Bible Black (4/5), In the wake of Poseidon (4/5), Lizard (3/5), Islands (3/5), The Power to believe (3/5), Discipline (3/5)
Almost the same as this video's ranking !
1969-1984 only - Love Thrak, the double trio and saw this lineup live in Austin front row center - I swear Fripp was staring at me the entire show, maybe the best concert I’ve ever been to, and I saw them on the Discipline tour. This was better. Much better.
10. Lizard (the best thing about this album is the cover. The music? It’s the sound of a Mellotron being bludgeoned to death. Horrid. No wonder Fripp left all the band business to another member. He was depressed that the band had slipped this far in only two album. Only Keith Tippet saves anything here).
9. Three of a Perfect Pair. (More like “Music in the shape of a pear.” After a good opening, the band sounds lost, uninspired. They used up all their tricks. On one song they literally turned on all of their effects pedals and swung their instruments around. They knew this lineup had reached its end, for now.
8. In the Wake of Poseidon (every album from here is a masterpiece, IMO - Catfood, catfood catfood, again!
7. Beat (love the way they took the previous album and combined elements of the Wetton/Bruford lineup - I really got into Beat. Loved it).
6. Discipline (not what I was expecting at the time, but in typical KC fashion, they blew me away with originality and great compositions. No band reinvents themselves like the Crim!)
5. Islands (the beautiful and pastoral album by the Crimson boys. Lovely, and Fripp hints at what’s to come.)
4. Red (great, but too short, and Providence doesn’t belong on this album, leaving this album with four tracks - four great tracks).
3. In the Court of the Crimson King (do I need to say anything? No, I don’t).
2. Larks Tongues in Aspic (probably the greatest comeback album of all time. The band was almost dead after Lizard and Island, then Fripp called in the A team. A perfect album!).
1. Starless and Bible Black (The absolute height of what King Crimson is and was always meant to be. Fripp keeps going back to the model established here over and over again. This album captures this lineup at their very best, at the top of their game. The previous album, although perfectly arranged, the musicians sounded like they were still in their previous bands and unsure how loud they could play, but here they’ve become the muscular, confident and brash, “Health food fagot” band that were so full of energy that they imploded by the time of Red).
You make great points on each album! I have tried so hard to really get into Beat, it just doesn't resonate with me as much as their other works. I am NOT saying it's a bad album by any means, I just prefer their others a little more. Thank you for commenting!!
I had all of these records Starting with In the Court of the Crimson King which we used to acid trip to it, staring into that strange cover, with the colours breathing as they are wont to do; i had the textured version and at one point had 3 copies of that LP. I stopped buying after Discipline whereupon i lost interest. This is the music i went through high school with, i was a progger but then ended up marrying the drummer in an all girl punk band after which i made a shift more into ethnic folk musics, dub, afro-funk, spanish guitaristos, experimental and strange stuff like Harry Partch eventually. I also loved Adrian Belew’s firs solo record and m first band covered on of those songs from that record. Also Belew’s work on the live Talking heads stuff was remarkable, that double live album The Name of This Band Is….. Must mention Fripp’s solo and session work also which influenced my greatly as a guitarist. Still to this day my guitar is often frippish and i aspire to Fripp’s level of virtuosity, power, originality, poetry of his notes, really felt them deeply back in the day. Raised on Classical as a child before all of that. I consider Larks’ Tongues in Aspic to be the greatest prog composition of that Era. It’s still fresh after all these years still inspires and delights me, it was ahead of it’s time for sure but at the same time right on time it was. At the same time i studied the whole history of guitar from Segovia through Zappa, Fripp of course, many others, Jeff Beck’s Blow by Blow was influential and had some juicy bits and mind blowing expressive virtuosity, Van Halen, i was into him for a bit in high school, just the earlier stuff then lost interest in that also. Anyway, thx for making this man, got me thinking. I see you are also a Gentle Giant fan; also one of my favourite band back in high school days. I especially like excerpts from Octopus and Mr. Class & Quality, Strange Ways also, Meanwhile Ry Cooder’s work with Ali Farka Toure was a high point in guitar-o-centric circles as was Django back in the day, Jaco on bass, some highlights from be-bop and some of the funky jazz from the early 70’s was cool. Mingus had his moments, 3 or 4 shades of Blues… oh but i’m rambling on, going to record tonight on my electro-spaz-mo-tron. Happy New Year!!!
Thank you for watching and commenting! I live those stories especially since I was not around when a lot of this music was new. I appreciate you taking the time and sharing! Happy New Year!
@@Starman-zi9tl Happy New year younger brother ⚡️🥳
@@saltspringdesign Happy New Year to you too! 🙂
As for me, KC died after Red. Belew era is not real KC, just the name for money earn.
Thank you for watching and commenting! Although I may not fully agree, I respect it and can understand why.
one of the hardest bands to rank
Thank you for watching! Totally agree and part of the reason why this was my last worst to best video.
Discipline 10? Of course this is subjective, but WTF. Imposible for me to put Lizard above any of 80s albums. I think that Discipline, Red, Larks, ITCOCK, The Power To Believe and Thrak are their best works.
Lol, fair enough. It is a great album for sure.
ITCOCK lol
Lizard is my favorite album of king Crimson. It's magical and at the same time sinister
That is a perfect way to describe Lizard!
My ranking: Studio Albums Ranked - King Crimson | bicyclelegs
ua-cam.com/video/DggiXBafacY/v-deo.html
Thank you for sharing!
I think I'm in the minority who prefers their later works to their quintessential prog stuff.
My list would be:
THRAK 10/10
Larks Tongues In Aspic 10/10
Lizard 10/10
The Construkction of Light 9/10
Discipline 9/10
Red 9/10
Islands 9/10
Beat 8/10
The Power to Believe 8/10
Starless and Bible Black 8/10
ItWoP 7/10
Three of a Perfect Pair 7/10
ItCoCK 7/10 (I know, putting this in the last spot is blasphemy. It's still a very good album, I just like the other ones better)
Thank you for watching and commenting, there are no wrong answers here!
discipline at 10 is a tough pill to swallow lol
LOL sorry! I hated rating KC as there really is no bad albums imo. If you ask me on a different day, discipline could be a lot higher in ranking...
I'm sorry but you putting the albums with Belew so low is really making my brain hurt. I mean I can understand Beat being there I guess, but Three of a Perfect Pair is better than their later albums and their less liked early albums, and Discipline is close to perfection.
Thank you for watching, and I'm sorry about that! I love all Crimson and my rankings can change day to day, which is why I no longer make worst to best vids. Thank you watching!
Great list but Discipline has to be higher in my opinion.
Thank you for watching and commenting! Yes, if I made this video today, I think Discipline would be higher.
Nailed.
Thank you for watching!
great video
KC fan of almost 50 years. Nice list. Aside from Red, I find that the old Crimson magic seems to kick most when Fripp starts a new KC incarnation. This is my list, where the new, "fresh" Crimsons are near the top. All albums in the list up to Lizard are essentials for me:
ITCOTCK
Red
Discipline
LTIA
ThraK
The Power to Believe
Poseidon
Lizard
SABB (I know this is popular but I only really love FraKcture)
Islands (another popular one but I only love Ladies of the Road, Sailor's Tale and the improv of Formentera Lady)
Beat
TOAPP
ConstruKction of Light
Great list! Thank you for commenting and watching! You know, you make a very valid point regarding the first albums of a new incarnation being the most solid (Red being the exception).
@@Starman-zi9tl Cheers. I really enjoyed your list too.
I was shocked when I first heard Discipline. It was on the radio in the car. It sounded like Talking Heads to me - funky, catchy and stuck with one rhythm for the song. That, to me, was not KC. Now I think Discipline might be KC's most mature album.
I understand your rating of ThraK. Side Two is not great - but Side One is.
I like TPTB's sound and style, although it sometimes felt like it was repeating standard Crimson tropes.
Hmm, I could almost be convinced to rank Poseidon and Lizard above ThraK and TPTB. It's close.
I don't know why, but I don't like the SABB production, except FraKcture, of course.
Almost everyone agrees that CoL comes thirteenth haha. The title track is amazing but it is easily Crimson's ugliest album.
@@AlmostEthical Thank you for watching and commenting! Great insights!
I love Beat 😭
I love ALL KC! Beat, by no means a bad album. Thank you for watching!
Red is my favorite KC album
One of my favorite albums of all time!!
I can also see how Genesis took some stuff for their music, I respect them a lot but some is just too eclectic for me. And that does by no means mean it is bad.
No Doubt , Court of Crimson King is a timeless and iconic classic, thanks Greg (RIP)
Thank you for commenting and appreciate your honesty, I respect that.
Good list. I like Beat better than Three of a Perfect Pair. And Red better than In the Court. But my list would be similar Starless is my favourite KC song as well. Fun fact : I have seen all tours since 1981 (Discipline) with the exception of the Three of a Perfect Pair tour.
"Islands" and "Wake of Poseiden" better than any in the Belew-era is difficult to go along with. In fact, all of the 1981-2003 albums listed in the last appears to reflect a bias and not very balanced perspective in my opinion. I'm not clear KC would have continued without Belew who was invited into the band by its founder. The energy of this younger player absorbing the culture of the '80s in ways I think it unlikely the older player would not be capable of) bridged the band for two decades so it did not go the way of so many other great bands of the 60s and 70s.
Thank you for watching and commenting. You make very valid points. Music is subjective and is not always balanced I have found. Let me get one thing straight, I love ALL KC albums, there really are no bad ones. It just my ear tends to enjoy the earlier stuff slightly more than the Belew lead incarnations. And you are absolutely right about everything you said about Belew. Thank you again for watching and commenting!
@@Starman-zi9tl I'm with Starman 100%, I don't see "absorbing the culture of the 80's" as a positive. I still don't understand when you've got Fripp's soundscapes and a rhythm section of Bruford/Levin, why you'd want to sound like the Talking Heads. And vocally, let's just say that Belew is no Lake or Wetton. I'd rather listen to Gordon Haskell.
best ever
Thanks for watching!
Funny I real like The Construktion of Light
I respect that. There are no bad Crimson albums imo.
Islands sounds like a progressive Beatles album.
That is a very interesting take, I never thought of it like that, but you're right, it does!
Otherwise, U did a good job at introducing the best band ever.
Larks and red are my favorite
You can't go wrong with either!!! Thank you for watching!
So wait what? You took the trio of the first incarnation of the Belew years and put them at the END of the list. I mean sure THRAK is good, but dude, Discipline. You gotta put AT LEAST 3 of a Perfect Pair and Discipline before The Power to Believe and Thrak. And I'm sure fans who've been listening for a long time will agree. I can tell your number 1 is gonna be way off no offense and I haven't even gotten there yet. Listen to Lizard again. Also it's not the second to do a transitional lineup. There were major changes in In the Wake of.... Man I need to make these videos. I'm sorry but your list is like friggin backwards with a couple small exceptions. Thrak is exactly where it should be, lol, but EVERYTHING else was gone. Present this list to someone 40 or over and they will laugh. I love that ya made it though. At least you're spreading the word. Just have to disagree with placement. To put Starless and Bible Black, the weakest of the Wettons before Discipline is a crime. Let me guess, your number 1 is Larks??? If not it's definitely In the Court of just because that's what every newbie says (although it is top 5). Oh no, you put Larks at 3. Well at least Red is gonna be in a good spot. Your top 3 isn't bad. This comment was written in real time watching. Thank you. Here's my top 10 // 1. Lizard 2. Larks 3. Red 4 In the Court of 5..... okay, I'm just gonna stop there because now that you've gotten to the number one I can tell you're just reading things off the internet and aren't using your own way of describing these things. Put a little more of YOU in the video next time. I wanna hear what YOU have to say. I've already read the wiki pages. Also look into the allegories of the Sinfield years, it gets really deep. It's more than just lyrics. Every word can be traced back to something deeper in things like ancient history, alchemy, mad kings (obviously), Eastern Princes - at all adds up to something big. But it stops at Islands. Then Petey went on to produce one of the best albums of all time, Roxy Music ST! Yay. Plus the ELP & PFM stuff. But really though, this is all constructive criticism. Take no offense, I'm happy to see people are still digging the KC.
Thank you for watching and constructive criticism. I take no offense and welcome it. However, just for the record, I have been listening to KC for well over 20 years and am just about 40. ;)
Interesting. Discipline is actually my least favorite album of the 80's line-up. It sometimes feels less like music and more like a show off.
I think Beat and TOAPP (my favorite album from crimson, actually) shows how good these guys are when they're more laid back.
Though I like the 70's Crimson, I absolutely LOVE the 80's Crimson. But still, both are amazing on their own.
Thank you for watching and commenting! I agree, they're both amazing!
Your top 3 is my top 3
Good list but I’d move Thrak to 6 and Red to 1
Thank you for watching and commenting! Yes, if I were making the list today, I would def. put Red at 1.
Awesome list. I feel there's no more diverse a fan base than KC. My list is different from everyone else's as theirs are different from each other's. But I must give my rather unpopular opinion, which goes with Fripp's; Lizard is unlisternable. I've tried, I hear the praise folks like you give and I'm inclined to give it another try, but I can't, even the snippet in this video made me cring. So it's easy to tell which one goes on the bottom for me. I appreciate ConstruKtion, so it goes higher than most would place it, but I 100% understand why it usually goes on the bottom. Cool ideas but falls flat as an album.
In short, I feel Crimson is more worthy of a tier list rather than a ranking.
For me, post In the Court/Pre Wetton on the bottom.
Latter 80's above
Power and ConstruKtion above that
In the Wake and back to Discipline above that
THRAK
then the debut before reaching the mighty Wetton era on the top.
Thank you for watching and commenting. You make an excellent point regarding rating them on a tier basis. For that reason, I stopped doing worst to best videos after this one. Thank you again for sharing!
Clearly not a true lizard head
Best KC for me is the 80’s band, I can’t disagree more with your point of view
Thank you for watching! That's the great thing about music, it is subjective. One thing I know we can agree on is that they're an amazing band.
Have all Crimson studio albums and agree with your top 4, but my #5 is Lizard followed by In The Wake. And Beat is my fave of the colours trilogy
Thank you for watching and commenting! I totally respect that. Truly an amazing band that didn't really make any bad albums.
Interesting how the three cuts from Beat, TOAPP and Discipline almost sound like the same song.
They certainly had a particular sound during that time period.
The word "WORST" is totally unacceptable to discuss anything about & around KING CRIMSON's epic saga!
Totally agree! That's why I no longer make worst to best videos any longer.
13. The ConstruKtion Of Light (WTF??)
12. Discipline (way too strange, but Elephant Talk is ok)
11. Three Of A Perfect Pair (better than Disicipline, and has some better songs)
10. Power To Believe (fairly decent and one of their more interesting albums)
9. Lizard (way too silly and the title track is a chore to sit through but it's still good)
8. Islands (not one of their best efforts from the 70s, but it has some bright moments)
7. In The Wake Of Poseidon (although Greg Lake had already left, it's one of his bright moments)
6. Stateless And Bible Black (a very good album that i would recommend to everyone)
5. Beat (their best album of the 80s)
4. THRAK (an interesting effort that is their best of their more recent works)
3. Larks' Tongues In Aspic (My favorite album of theirs and the title track is their best work)
2. Red (their most heavy prog album)
1. In The Court Of The Crimson King (no words to describe this masterpiece)
Your favourite album is at no. 3?
@@stuartraybould6433 can I have more than one favorite KC album? I like Larks' and In The Court Of The Crimson King
@@RedStrikerBeetleborg lol, very good point. It does depend on ones mood. After 50 years of listening to their albums my choices are pretty much set in stone. Obviously, there are times when I feel like listening to 80s Crimson, others when I listen to 70s and then there is the later material, not forgetting the extremely experimental projects stuff which I love.
Interesting take on Discipline, you call weird, I regard as one of their more conventional albums along with Beat.
I also regard The Power to Believe as their heaviest not Red.
King Crimson are probably the best group ever.
My favourite artists though are Van Der Graaf Generator and Peter Hammill, don't think you can consider one without the other, to me they are one and the same.
What I personally consider their best isn't necessarily my favourite, that can be true. So your point is taken. 👍
@@stuartraybould6433 what about the construKtion of light
@@RedStrikerBeetleborg What about it?
gregs voice