Where is the best place to start with getting into King Crimson?

Like Zappa, there are several good entrypoints depending on what you like about Crimson.

Their best, most consistent period is definitely the 1973-75 era, when they had a consistent lineup of ex-Yes drummer Bill Bruford, ex-Family bassist John Wetton and Violinist David Cross along with mainstay Fripp. All three albums are highly recommended, but I would recommend Red over Starless and Bible Black and Larks' Tongues In Aspic. This period is their heaviest, and generally sounds like some of the other prog bands of the early seventies. Indeed, Red is my favorite record of all time.

If you prefer a sound closer to Emerson Lake and Palmer, you like the Greg Lake era stuff...their first two albums. In the Court of the Crimson King is a nearly flawless debut for them, but it suffers from sounding slightly conservative and a little bit dated in my opinion. The follow-up, In The Wake of Poseidon is a slightly weaker offering, but not bad by any stretch.

The two intermediate albums, Lizard and Islands are mixed affairs. Lizard has a lot of Circus themes, acoustic guitars and keyboard calliope. There's a couple of good songs, but it's the sound of a band really searching. Islands is a much better album, featuring bassist vocalist Boz Burrell (who would later go on to co-found Bad Company. It's a more ethereal and spacey affair, and worth the purchase if only to get the amazing "Sailor's Tale"....it's also wildly inconsistent from track to track, moving from Beatles-like harmony pop songs ("Ladies from the Road") to straight up classical music with a string quartet ("Song For the Gulls")

The 80s are good if you like Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, a more electronic drum sound, and a more sheen sound in general. Discipline is an excellent record and best represents this era, although it DOES sounds like an 80s album in a lot of ways.

I like Adrian Belew a lot, but the 80's albums are a bit of a glossy start.

Lark's Tongue is the one I listen most, but Spade's right about Red and Starless.

Let me second the material of the 73-74 band (King Crimson had already disbanded by 75.) Instead of the studio albums, however, I will make an argument for any of the many live offerings from that period. The most easily, commercially available should be The Nightwatch, which is the concert that yielded up some of the material that would end up on Starless And Bible Black, sans the studio overdubs that would make it sound more finished. Also available in stores, on CD finally, is USA, which is a more succinct look at this amazing set of musicians, once again live. Heading over to Discipline Global Mobile you can find couple dozen official bootlegs in the "King Crimson Collectors Club," a few of which are of this band. KCCC #15, Live in Mainz, Germany, comes very highly recommended - great sound quality and a fantastic, tight performance.

The live bands of 1971 and 1972 are actually incredible - it's the studio output that isn't so spectacular (Lizard and Islands.) This band had a higher jazz pedigree and it showed in concert, and Fripp has been focusing a spotlight with his Club on this period to highlight an, until now, much-maligned period in Crimson history. Simply put, this band sizzles live - they might not burn as hotly as the 73-74 band, but they had a different energy level that seems to put them on a higher intellectual level. There's an excellent primer for this live band in the form of Ladies of the Road which features one disc culled from the many Club releases of this band and a second disc that is essentially a jazz version of "21st Century Schizoid Man" - nearly an hour of solos from various live performances stitched together in such a way that it feels like a single, very long performance of that song. It sounds like it might drive you insane, but it's strangely intriguing and engaging.

As an alternative, if you have a little extra cash, you might want to invest in The 21st Centurey Guide To King Crimson, Vol. 1 1969-1974" boxset. Two discs of the studio stuff (a pretty good starter for the band, actually) and two discs of previously released live material. For years the first two discs of the now out of print Frame by Frame boxset suited me fine for this period, so this might do you very well. (This 21st Century Guide box and its follow-up will replace Frame by Frame.)

Also highly recommended:

1. Discipline - think of what the Talking Heads were doing with Remain in Light and Fear of Music and turn up the focus on the technical nature of that music. It can be a little geeky at times, but it's really interesting music nonetheless. The other two studio albums from the 80s are big steps down from this, but have some great stuff on them nonetheless. Wait for the 21st Century Guide, Vol. 2 for this period.

2. Vrooom EP and Thrak - King Crimson in the 90s, a lot noisier than they'd been in the 80s.

3. The Power To Believe - the most recent incarnation of the band, back with a slightly ballsier sound that shows the influence Tool had on them when they joined them on tour a few years back. It's quite a good album.

And, again, I highly suggest picking up the associated live albums - they get a lot more attention from me than the studio work. King Crimson is a live band through-and-through, and Fripp's been working to prove that with a slew of commercial and internet-only releases. It's certainly not for everybody, but if you get into it you have many years of catching up to enjoy.

Actually the best overall live document of that era remains the out-of-print boxed set The Great Deceiver which sports four discs of that band at it's live Zenith.

Have these albums been re-mastered at any point? The old second hand copy of 'Red' that I bought sounds like shit.

I entirely agree, but I was trying to point Flowthgin towards things that were currently in-print and which should be reasonably easy to get. But yeah, if you find yourself facing a Great Deceiver box at a decent price, you can't go wrong - these four discs are incredible and have provided me with many years of enjoyment. I'm still finding new things to love about the set, actually.

I take it back: it is BACK in print, but how available it is in stores is unknown to me. Flowthgin, do yourself a favor and buy this the moment you can.

Well I will definitely look for that Great Deceiver boxset in some used cd stores I know of. If I do not find it, I will most likely buy it from that site. There are some recordings from PA, which is where I live and that adds some intrigue.

I also think I will buy the 21st Century Guide to King Crimson boxset to get an introduction to the studio and live material and then go from there. It seems this band has GREAT live material, which excites me because as of late I have been having trouble finding (in my opinion) GOOD live albums, even of bands I really love.

Thank you all for your input and if more needs to be said, by all means, continue.

Was going to post a new thread but found this and is good enough.

Ok, so yeah Im definitely a Larks Tongue in Aspic and In The Court.. kinda guy (listening to Starless and Bible Black- which is hit and miss for me)... what next?

I'm so lame I thought this was going to be a thread about the Gunslinger series of books.

I'd highly suggest The Night Watch - a live album from 1973, some of which was used as backing material for Starless and Bible Black, but this material is so good that you really need to hear it as a concert instead. If The Great Deceiver live boxset is in your price range and you can find it, BUY IT. It will not disappoint - I have had this for a decade and it continues to amaze me. One of the best box sets EVER.

I saw your previous post about the box set, but its soldout from that link you sent.. I will look for it though..