This Day in Music History (10/10): King Crimson/In the Court of the Crimson King

In the Court of the Crimson King (subtitled An Observation by King Crimson) is the debut studio album by the British rock group King Crimson, released on this day in 1969. The album reached #5 on the British charts, and is certified gold in the United States, where it reached #28 on the Billboard 200.

The album is generally viewed as one of the first works to truly embody the progressive rock genre, where King Crimson largely mixed together jazz and classical symphonic elements. In his 1997 book Rocking the Classics, critic and musicologist Edward Macan notes that In the Court of the Crimson King "may be the most influential progressive rock album ever released". The album was named as one of Classic Rock magazine's "50 Albums That Built Prog Rock".

Track listing:

Side One:

1) "21st Century Schizoid Man" (including "Mirrors")
2) "I Talk to the Wind"
3) "Epitaph" (w/"March for No Reason" and "Tomorrow and Tomorrow")

Side Two

4) "Moonchild" (I: "The Dream", II: "The Illusion")
5) "The Court of the Crimson King" (w/"The Return of the Fire Witch" and "The Dance of the Puppets")

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