365 Days of Songs (1969)

I know later Crimson would hew more to the vision Robert Fripp had of the band, and I have much love and respect for what followed, but In the Court of the Crimson King will always be my favorite Crimson record. I remember when I was a kid, those mellotron sounds from the title track floating up from my brother Ed’s listening room in our basement. The way this song builds, pauses, then builds again to its climax is epic. Such a rich arrangement—great drumming, melodic bass playing, mellotrons, clarinet and bass clarinet, subtle electric and acoustic guitars, and the ebb and flow of the dynamics of the song. What a song, what a record.