Robert Fripp (b. May 16, 1946) is an English guitarist, composer and a record producer best known for being the guitarist for, and only constant member of, the progressive rock band King Crimson. His work, spanning four decades, encompasses a variety of musical styles.
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King Crimson is a rock band founded in Dorset, England in 1969. Although often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band has incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during its history (including jazz and folk music, classical and experimental music, psychedelic rock, hard rock and heavy metal, new wave, gamelan, electronica and drum and bass). The band has been influential on many contemporary musical artists, and has gained a large cult following despite garnering little radio or music video airplay.
The band's lineup (centred on guitarist Robert Fripp) has persistently altered throughout its existence, with eighteen musicians and two lyricists passing through the ranks. A greater degree of stability was achieved later on in its history, with current frontman Adrian Belew having been a consistent member since 1981. Though originating in England, the band has had a mixture of English and American personnel since 1981.
The debut lineup of the band was influential, but short-lived, lasting for just over one year.
Between 1970 and 1971, King Crimson was an unstable band, with many personnel changes and disjunctions between studio and live sound as the band explored elements of jazz, funk and classical chamber music. By 1972 the band had a more stable lineup and developed an improvisational sound mingling hard rock, contemporary classical music, free jazz and jazz-fusion before breaking up in 1974. The band re-formed with a new line-up in 1981 for three years (this time influenced by New Wave and gamelan music) before breaking up again for around a decade. Since reforming for the second time (in 1994), King Crimson has blended aspects of their 1980s and 1970s sound with influences from more recent musical genres such as industrial rock and grunge. The band’s efforts to blend additional elements into their music have continued into the 21st century, with more recent developments including drum and bass-styled rhythm loops and extensive use of MIDI and guitar synthesis.
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In the Court of the Crimson King is the 1969 debut album by the British progressive rock group King Crimson. The album reached #3 on the British charts. The album is certified gold in the United States.
The album is generally viewed as one of the strongest of the progressive rock genre, where King Crimson largely stripped away the blues-based foundations of rock music and mixed together jazz and Classical symphonic elements. In his 1997 book Rocking the Classics, critic and musicologist Edward Macan notes that In the Court of the Crimson King "may be the most influential progressive rock album ever released."
The Who's Pete Townshend was quoted as calling the album "an uncanny masterpiece."
In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came #4 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums."
The album was named as one of Classic Rock magazine's "50 Albums That Built Prog Rock."
The album was remastered and re-released on vinyl and CD several times during the 1980s and 1990s. All of these versions were based on tape copies that were several generations removed from the originals. The original first-generation stereo master tapes were finally located in an Island Records storage vault in 2003, leading to a much improved remastered CD version (see below) in time for the album's 40th anniversary.
Side One
"21st Century Schizoid Man" (Fripp, McDonald, Lake, Giles, Sinfield) – 7:21
including "Mirrors"
"I Talk to the Wind" (McDonald, Sinfield) – 6:05
"Epitaph" (Fripp, McDonald, Lake, Giles, Sinfield) – 8:47
including "March for No Reason" and "Tomorrow and Tomorrow"
Side Two
"Moonchild" (Fripp, McDonald, Lake, Giles, Sinfield) – 12:13
including "The Dream" and "The Illusion"
"The Court of the Crimson King" (McDonald, Sinfield) – 9:25
including "The Return of the Fire Witch" and "The Dance of the Puppets"
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Freddie Mercury (b. Farrokh Bulsara , 5 September 1946 - 24 November 1991) was a British musician, best known as the lead vocalist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range.
As a songwriter, Mercury composed many hits for Queen, including Bohemian Rhapsody, Killer Queen, Somebody to Love, Don't Stop Me Now, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, and We Are the Champions. In addition to his work with Queen, he led a solo career. Mercury also occasionally served as a producer and guest musician (piano or vocals) for other artists. He died of bronchopneumonia brought on by AIDS on November 24, 1991, only one day after publicly acknowledging he had the disease.
Mercury, who was a Parsi born in Zanzibar and grew up there and in India until his mid-teens, has been referred to as "Britain's first Asian rock star."
In 2006, Time Asia named him as one of the most influential Asian heroes of the past 60 years, and he continues to be voted one of the greatest singers in the history of popular music. In 2005, a poll organised by Blender and MTV2 saw Mercury voted the greatest male singer of all time.
In 2009, a Classic Rock poll saw him voted the greatest rock singer of all time.
Allmusic has characterised Mercury as "one of the most dynamic and charismatic frontmen in rock history."
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Queen is a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury, (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), John Deacon (bass guitar), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals). Queen's earliest works were heavily influenced by progressive rock; in the mid-1970s, the band ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works, bringing them greater commercial success.
It also became something of a trademark to incorporate more diverse and innovative styles in their music, exploring the likes of vaudeville, gospel music, electronic music, and funk.
Brian May and Roger Taylor had been playing together in a band named Smile. Freddie Mercury (then known by his birth name of Farrokh, or Freddie, Bulsara) was a fan of Smile, and encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and recording techniques. Mercury himself joined the band shortly thereafter, changed the name of the band to Queen and adopted his familiar stage name. John Deacon was recruited prior to recording their first album. Queen enjoyed success in the UK during the early 1970's, but it was the release of Sheer Heart Attack (1974) and A Night at the Opera (1975) that gained the band international success.
The latter featured Bohemian Rhapsody, which stayed at number one in the UK charts for nine weeks.
In 1991 Mercury died of bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS, and Deacon retired in 1997.
Since then May and Taylor have infrequently performed together, including a collaboration with Paul Rodgers under the name Queen + Paul Rodgers.
The band has released a total of 18 number one albums, 18 number one singles and 10 number one DVDs, and have sold over 300 million albums worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists. They have been honoured with seven Ivor Novello awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
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News of the World is the sixth studio album by British rock group Queen, released in 1977.
Containing hit songs We Will Rock You,
We Are the Champions, and Spread Your Wings, the album went platinum in the United Kingdom, four times platinum in the United States and achieved high certifications elsewhere throughout the world as well.
News of the World was the second album to be produced solely by the band (the first being A Day at the Races) and was recorded at Sarm West and Wessex Studios, England and co-produced and engineered by Mike Stone.
[8946 Shore / 8946 Fripp / 8945 Clapton]
