Is King Crimson the best rock music has to offer?

[71 dB]

King Crimson is much more than rock. Rock is kind of the starting point for KC  to create great innovative music. I don't listen to rock music that much in general because I find rock a bit dumb form of music. Of all the rock music I have heard in my life, King Crimson is in their own league. For me King Crimson really is the best rock music has to offer.

[The new erato]

Rock and popular music has so many genres, and complexity is definitely NOT the only way to evaluate quality in music, so I find the question nearly impossible to answer. But I'm a great fan of KC and Yes as well, and at least within those parametres I find those bands as good as it gets.

[escher]

as said by new erato, complexity is not the only way to evaluate quality. Also because "complexity" is a vague term. Complexity of structure? Or complexity of emotions?
In the second case,  the first album for example is for most epic, romantic music with too much sentimentality. In that sense there are a lot of rock albums more complex than In the court of crimson king.

[ibanezmonster]

Here are a couple King Crimsons of our day: 


http://www.youtube.com/v/qV1Fe9de0dA


http://www.youtube.com/v/e2UwIMUYeIU

You can thank me later.   

[bigshot]

When I was in college, I listened to "progressive rock"... Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, King Crimson, etc. I was very proud of myself because I thought that "art rock" was more sophisticated and adult than other rock music. Now I look back on that stuff and I don't know what I was thinking. Art rock is neither. It's just bloated, pretentious meandering.

Rock music evolved out of jump blues, country and the blues. I'd much rather listen to music that still has some authentic roots to it than the noodlings of art school dropouts.

[ibanezmonster]

When I was in college, I listened to "progressive rock"... Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, King Crimson, etc. I was very proud of myself because I thought that "art rock" was more sophisticated and adult than other rock music. Now I look back on that stuff and I don't know what I was thinking. Art rock is neither. It's just bloated, pretentious meandering.

Rock music evolved out of jump blues, country and the blues. I'd much rather listen to music that still has some authentic roots to it than the noodlings of art school dropouts.

That makes no sense at all. You're just overthinking it.

[The new erato]

When I was in college, I listened to "progressive rock"... Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, King Crimson, etc. I was very proud of myself because I thought that "art rock" was more sophisticated and adult than other rock music. Now I look back on that stuff and I don't know what I was thinking. Art rock is neither. It's just bloated, pretentious meandering.

Rock music evolved out of jump blues, country and the blues. I'd much rather listen to music that still has some authentic roots to it than the noodlings of art school dropouts.

Yes, and Beethoven's Diabelli variations sprang out of simple, little tune by Diabelli.

[Mirror Image]

When I was in college, I listened to "progressive rock"... Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, King Crimson, etc. I was very proud of myself because I thought that "art rock" was more sophisticated and adult than other rock music. Now I look back on that stuff and I don't know what I was thinking. Art rock is neither. It's just bloated, pretentious meandering.

I disagree I think progressive rock was a logical step in rock music's evolution. It had to get out of that blues idiom and start absorbing other influences. I think it's sad when a person, such as yourself, looks back on the music they once enjoyed in utter dismay. What were you thinking? You were thinking "This is good music and I like it." But now, you're somehow above it?

I still listen to alternative rock music. I don't think I'm above anything. I still listen to bluegrass and even "New Age" music (i. e. Will Ackerman, Michael Hedges, etc.). Music that moves us never leaves us.

[Grazioso]

Rock music evolved out of jump blues, country and the blues. I'd much rather listen to music that still has some authentic roots to it than the noodlings of art school dropouts.

Why are the roots more important than the branches?

[Szykneij]

I was unfamiliar with King Crimson untill I started exploring the group as a result of this thread. While I've liked most of what I've heard, I'm not sure if everyone is talking about the same thing when they speak of "King Crimson's music". There were no fewer than five King Crimson bands, with Robert Fripp as the only common member of each group. As a result, I find the output of each formation considerably different from the previous or later incarnation.

[Karl Henning]

Is King Crimson the best rock music has to offer?

Whether or no . . . I'm listening to them a lot this week.

[Karl Henning]

I was unfamiliar with King Crimson untill I started exploring the group as a result of this thread. While I've liked most of what I've heard, I'm not sure if everyone is talking about the same thing when they speak of "King Crimson's music". There were no fewer than five King Crimson bands, with Robert Fripp as the only common member of each group. As a result, I find the output of each formation considerably different from the previous or later incarnation.

Yes; and apart from some of the very earliest albums, I like (a great deal) music from all the several incarnations . . . starting with Larks' Tongues in Aspic.

(One of these days, I should revisit the debut album, just for old times' sake . . . .)

[Jared]

I don't know whether this is still relevant to the original poster, but over in ProgArchives (a fabulous resource which I used to help out) highlights KC, Van Der Graaf Generator and Gentle Giant as three pionerers of the Eclectic Prog movement... the attached page will introduce you not only to their music, but to many more recent bands who have expanded on their territory.

I hope this is of help..

http://www.progarchives.com/subgenre.asp?style=42

[chasmaniac]

Yes; and apart from some of the very earliest albums, I like (a great deal) music from all the several incarnations . . . starting with Larks' Tongues in Aspic.

The 2 crimson trinities I've worshipped:
larks-starless-red
discipline-beat-perfect pair

[BobsterLobster]

An anecdote some of you might enjoy...
when I was 18, I worked in a guitar shop in London... and was heavily into Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Satriani, etc.
So one day, a smart looking middle-aged chap in a suit comes in wanting to check out our cheapest fuzz-pedal. Ah, a rich guy who works in a bank I assumed. So I grab a guitar off the shelf and play widdly-widdly away, showing off my chops and the pedal to this guy who I assumed was just a rich guy who couldn't play much. He kept pointing at all the walls, saying he had many of the really expensive guitars. Yes, just a rich banker! All this time, I've been playing mindless widdly-widdly Malmsteen stuff. He bought the pedal with a credit card, and signed his name 'Robert Fripp'. I just wanted to disappear into a hole at that moment!

[Ataraxia]

An anecdote some of you might enjoy...
when I was 18, I worked in a guitar shop in London... and was heavily into Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Satriani, etc.
So one day, a smart looking middle-aged chap in a suit comes in wanting to check out our cheapest fuzz-pedal. Ah, a rich guy who works in a bank I assumed. So I grab a guitar off the shelf and play widdly-widdly away, showing off my chops and the pedal to this guy who I assumed was just a rich guy who couldn't play much. He kept pointing at all the walls, saying he had many of the really expensive guitars. Yes, just a rich banker! All this time, I've been playing mindless widdly-widdly Malmsteen stuff. He bought the pedal with a credit card, and signed his name 'Robert Fripp'. I just wanted to disappear into a hole at that moment!

Great story.

King Crimson are enjoyable but somehow don't represent ROCK to me. 

[Jared]

I just wanted to disappear into a hole at that moment!

would that be when you decided to emigrate to Mexico City? 

[BobsterLobster]

would that be when you decided to emigrate to Mexico City? 

boom boom! 

[Mirror Image]

An anecdote some of you might enjoy...
when I was 18, I worked in a guitar shop in London... and was heavily into Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai, Satriani, etc.
So one day, a smart looking middle-aged chap in a suit comes in wanting to check out our cheapest fuzz-pedal. Ah, a rich guy who works in a bank I assumed. So I grab a guitar off the shelf and play widdly-widdly away, showing off my chops and the pedal to this guy who I assumed was just a rich guy who couldn't play much. He kept pointing at all the walls, saying he had many of the really expensive guitars. Yes, just a rich banker! All this time, I've been playing mindless widdly-widdly Malmsteen stuff. He bought the pedal with a credit card, and signed his name 'Robert Fripp'. I just wanted to disappear into a hole at that moment!

That is a great story, Bobster. He probably found your widdly-widdly amusing. There should be a lesson here: don't judge a person by the clothes they wear.

I remember running into Braves' Chipper Jones (don't know if he still plays with them or not) coming out of a mall and his clothes were pretty dingy and had holes in them. But I recognized his face, I ran up to him and said "Chipper Jones?" He said "Yes, you got me!" He was also driving a beat up SUV with mud all over it.

[Karl Henning]

King Crimson are enjoyable but somehow don't represent ROCK to me. 

Not that that's a bad thing . . . .