Definitive debut album, which was almost too good (it took years for them to come up with a record as concise and distinctive), an orchestrated vision of apocalyptic doom dominated by Ian McDonald's Mellotron, Greg Lake's dignified voice, and the ferocious guitar playing of Robert Fripp. The latter would be the only survivor onto subsequent albums. * * * * *

- Bruce Eder, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.

Bonus Reviews!

In the Court of the Crimson King showed that progressive rock could be as heavy as Led Zeppelin yet as intricate and full of dynamic contrasts as classical music (the howling, bludgeoning "21st Century Schizoid Man" was the first of many Crimson classics in unusual time signatures), and sometimes as tuneful as the Beatles. An influentual album that stands up well, it is the definitive statement by the most powerful Crimson lineup (Fripp, Wetton and Bruford). * * * *

- Steve Holtje, Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, 1996.

This psychedelic window into the '60s simultaneously defined and mastered progressive rock, with songs ranging from the controlled cacophony of apocalyptic heavy metal epics to windblown English flute ballads, both poetic and moving. Crimson courtiers crown this debut as a groundbreaking, seminal work far ahead of its time, rife with popm, circumstance and bombast -- back when those things were cool. * * * *

- Zagat Survey Music Guide - 1,000 Top Albums of All Time, 2003.

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