Monday, January 6, 2014

The Tournament For The Court Of The Crimson King: Final Thoughts and a collection of links

Fuck me, what a ride.  Nearly four months and one too many essays later we have made a final decision on this long winded matter.  I wanted to thank everyone who stuck around and read all these articles, and a huge thank you for all the kind words said during my feature.




A few last minute thoughts to consider

Either one of the final four I'd say is arguably the best and it all depends on your opinion and what kind of music you prefer.  I think Red is a bit of an enigma for Crimson in that it is so raw and emotional.

I think the tournament also addresses a popular question of which line-up/formation was the best.  If you give 1 point to a line-up for each time one of their albums you get this breakdown.  Remember that I'm going by the wiki breakdown that indicates we are going to be seeing version #VIII next.  Some would argue the 2014 version is #IX due to the instability of group #II, but  fuck it whatever.

Ver. I - 3
Ver. II - 1
Ver. III - 6
Ver. IV - 4
Ver. V - 1
Ver. VI - 1
Ver. VII - 0 (I mean....not even here sadly as it is a GREAT line-up)

I'd have a hard time arguing about that distribution.  I think Thrak (Ver. V) era would deserve one more point for how strong their live presence was, but that's about it.  Obviously this means that the 70s line-up from Lark's-Red is the pinnacle of the band, and I would agree.  As so many people pointed out some of these pairings were indeed like comparing two different bands.  I do not argue or disagree with that notion.  Regardless it is possible to measure an album by its merits regardless of whether we are comparing similar sounds.


If I could go back and do it all over I would make a few changes.  I would likely remove the Happy With EP.  While nearly a full length album with all the live bonus material it really did not fit in with the rest of the albums.  I used it more as a proxy in order to verbally lambaste Three Of a Perfect Pair.

In a somewhat bizarre and hilarious error I realized I had been listening to The ConstruKction of Light the song backwards since I had tried it out.  The instrumental is first, not the other way around as I had it.  This is what happens when you do not double check your CD rips.

It is a shame USA did not fit the tournament mold as it is easily a top four album.

The only album I wish went further was The Power To Believe.  It is genuinely a great album and if it ends up being the band's last studio output that is a fitting conclusion.  It makes up for how indifferent I feel about The ConstruKction of Light.

Also, in case you wanted some quick links to all the articles here they are.  When the website is done this will be much easier.
Round 1:
Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With vs Three Of A Perfect Pair
In The Wake of Poseidon v The ConstruKction of Light

Bonus:
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