If you have not listened to King Crimson before, I would recommend starting at the beginning--"In the Court of the Crimson King" is a lot more accessible and it is a lot more fun to explore this band and its many incarnations as a process of evolution. King Crimson, unlike many of its Prog-Rock contemporaries, went to some really dark places in the music. This is most certainly the case here. The humor is biting and sarcastic, but every range of human emotion is bottled inside of this album, to be stretched out and hyperbolized as a near-divine comedy that plays like a tragedy if you're caught unawares. I would at least recommend "Lark's Tongues in Aspic" before this album, just to set up the progression of the music and the sense of humor exhibited. You can get lost in the deep grooves, compositional variety and ambiguous meanings, making this an album with an excellent re-listen value. In fact, I bought the CD version of this album because my King Crimson collection is on LP and it's a pain to put vinyl on LP. Knowing King Crimson as I do, however, "Starless and Bible Black" was an easy choice to make as to which one I wanted first (I actually have "Lark's Tongues" on CD from eight years ago, because the LP version is hard to find). If you want to see one of the early influences of metal music, this is certainly one of the cornerstones! Just note that fans of metal will find it more "jammy" than they expect and "jam-band" fans will find it darker than they expect. It says a lot of King Crimson and especially this album that they stand at that nexus. Enjoy!Read full review
Sounds great. The jewel case is beat up and cracked, but you don't listen to the case
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Great reissue.Great sound.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Music is your friend
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Great purchase!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
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