I came to KC quite late. For some odd reason I didn't get much exposure to them in college so they really didn't blip onto my music radar. In the late 80s I worked at an audio store. The manager was a real prog head who loved KC but was always drawn to their 80s stuff, not to mention side projects. So anything he played in the store sounded remote and rather mathematical. Plus he was a major asshole. So I stayed away. Cut to whenever I started hanging out on PE and stumbling across these long obsessive KC threads (none of which were as insane or drama-soaked as Yes threads) got me to wondering. Then a post on a mellotron thread of one of the early songs made me realize that KC was not all about dissonant minor key 80s music. And I got started with this album.
Since then I've got most of the catalog through the Red/Starless era. I did give Discipline a try but it does nothing for me. But the music between the debut and Red makes me wish I had paid more attention to them back in the day. But at least it's all still fresh and full of revelations. I have to be in the right state of mind for that improv section of Moonchild, gets a little too tinkly sometimes. But the debut is still one of the best debut albums in rock history, a bolt of thunder from out of nowhere, opening the genre wide open.
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