King Crimson

★★★★ In The Court Of The Crimson King 50th Anniversary Edition PANEGYRIC. CD

Three CDs and one Blu-Ray disc celebrate the five-star album that created a genre.

For half a century that satanic tomato face has screamed out, announcing the mightiest progressive rock album of all. Today the mix of gothic anthems, jazz metal and cosmic balladry still packs a punch. It will, though, take concentration and an upscale hi-fi to discern the sonic tweaks that mark out these new remixes from, say, those on the 40th anniversary edition. There are also alternate takes, run-throughs, an early 21st Century Schizoid Man with 2019 soloing, and lots that you’ll listen to a couple of times, intrigued perhaps, but then forget. (The instrumental mixes could be useful on a prog rock karaoke night.) In other words, this is a loving barrelscrape for the hardcore but, for everyone else, the thunderous original will suffice.