Annie Clark (St Vincent) has described how she learned to play Jethro Tull, one of the bands jolted into changing their sound by In the Court of the Crimson King, in her teens in a practice room decked with a King Crimson poster, while bands from Marillion through Radiohead to Mars Volta and Muse have used, abused, or reinvented prog (even if, like Radiohead, they vehemently refuse to admit it). Robert Fripp wasn’t surprised – many of these prog acts had gone “tragically off-course”, he has said, adding, “KC had the wit to cease to exist in 1974 which makes those who associate KC, with ‘the bombastic excesses of prog rock’ and those who served them up, at least as dopey.” But then came punk with its DIY minimalism and lo-fi ethic that almost instantly made any prog act look ridiculous. Mike Oldfield’s 1973 Tubular Bells stayed in the UK chart for a year, while Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon has now sold nearly 50 million copies. Yes, ELP, Pink Floyd and others sold prog albums by the tens of millions.
In the Court of the Crimson King opened floodgates. Prog acts that followed learned their lesson – Roger Dean’s images of alien landscapes arguably did as much for Yes’s popularity as any mystical lyric. It seemed to have transcended packaging to become art in the same way the music appeared to have gone beyond simplistic forms to do the same.
Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign upĪnother element of the template for prog set by the album was the cover, a brightly coloured nightmare face painted by Sinfield’s friend, Barry Godber.