It’s an attractive cover you cannot miss out. Look at it from any angle its hard hitting cover screams at you as you check out what it really is.

‘In the Court of the Crimson King’ is the debut studio album by English cult and progressive rock band King Crimson. The album is one of the earliest and most influential of the progressive rock genre, where the band combined the musical influences that rock music was founded upon with elements of jazz, classical, and symphonic music on their album. The album is considered the bands best work ever.

The album did very well on its release all over the world and got acclaim when it reached number five on the UK Albums Chart and number 28 on the US Billboard 200, where it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.

King Crimson consists of band members Greg Lake onlead vocals, bass guitar, production, Robert Fripp on electric and acoustic guitars, production, Ian McDonald on saxophone, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, mellorton, harpsichord, piano, organ, vibraphone, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "I Talk to the Wind", production, Michael Giles on drums, percussion, backing vocals, production and Peter Sinfield handling lyrics, illumination, production.

No text is included on the cover of "In the Court of the Crimson King", instead, a huge psychedelic cartoon image of a face exhibiting a feeling somewhere between shock and fear takes up the entire space. The schizophrenic 21st-century man. He's screaming at the top of his lungs on this record cover. What is he afraid of? Of neurosurgeons who want to conduct experiments on him? Napalm bombs? Greedy politicians?

The image is inspired by the lyrics of the first song on this album, "21st Century Schizoid Man". The song is a critique of politicians that launch and carry out wars as well as a remark on war. It foretells that everyone in the twenty-first century would become nuts as global conflicts wipe out entire generations' innocence.

Everyone would agree, the painting on this iconic cover's backdrop is obscure. A close friend of the lyricist, Peter Sinfield, Barry Godber was the genius behind the artwork. In the late 1960s, they both attended art school together. The period was marked by drug use and psychedelics, it's unclear if this had any impact on how the painting was created, but who knows?

Barry did, in fact, leave the realm of art one day and enter the world of computer technology the next. Indeed, Godber produced just one piece of art and that was the illustration on the cover. It’s a stretch, but a comparison can be made with Edvard Munch's 1893 masterpiece ‘The Scream’.

Four months after the album's release, Grober tragically passed away at the age of 24, and it looks that the mystery may have just gone with him. The group's oldest member, Robert Fripp, commented on the picture, saying: “If you cover the smiling face, the eyes reveal an incredible sadness. What can one add? It reflects the music.”

Add this record to your collection of beautiful but crazy covers and songs.

This album is available on vinyl at @drocer.record.

Rating: *****

Release Date: 10^th October 1969

Duration: 43:56

Genre: Progressive Rock

Label: Island Records

Reviewed by Kinjal Gosar

Kinjal Gosar is the Founder of Drocer Record, an online Vinyl Record Store based in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. She is a Rock head and a vinyl collector herself. They also have their Demo set up at Adagio, Bandra. Drocer Record is your one-stop shop for all your vinyl record needs. Our aim is to spread the joy of listening to music by transporting you to another world. We sell records of all genres – new and pre-loved, speakers, amps and audio solutions, cleaning solutions, Hi Fi Audio Solutions, Vinyl Accessories, and a lot more. www.drocerrecord.com