Readers Poll: The Best Prog Rock Bands of All Time

The big bang of prog rock was King Crimson's 1969 debut LP In the Court of the Crimson King. Months after the record was released, the original line-up dissolved and Crimson has existed in countless permutations ever since. The only constant member is Robert Fripp, though he seems to have lost interest in the band and they haven't played in a few years. "As long as I felt it necessary for KC music to enter the world, I was prepared to take on pretty much whatever nonsense came with it," Fripp wrote in a December 2010 diary entry. "Today, there are greater necessities for me than pulling new KC music from the air & touring the world to present it to ears that would rather hear an older repertoire (which is pretty fab, may we note). Live KC music of any period would have value, but I doubt it would shape the contemporary musical debate. A grief of expectations, conventionality, conflicting demands – a younger Fripp would have dealt with it, and suffered. An older Fripp chooses his suffering more carefully." Hey Robert, here's an idea – reunite the original line-up for one final concert. If you're sick of the band, bring the whole thing full circle and then pull the plug.