Songs in the key of my life: King Crimson - Lark's Tongues In Aspic, Part I

I found King Crimson through the book 'Zoom Boom' by Raoul Hoffmann, the same source that led me to Frank Zappa. The chapter about innovative 'avantgarde' rock music described King Crimson's album 'Lark's Tongues In Aspic' in length, and since I was very much interested in what you now call 'prog rock' I was instantly convinced. I was in for a surprise, since this music was quite different to what I had expected. In fact, the first piece 'Lark's Tongues In Aspic, Part 1' starts in near silence, and if you're not patient you might have the impression something's wrong with the record. The piece is a swooping 13 minutes long, and there seems to be no apparent structure, although it does have that long silent 'build-up' and there are different parts, even some you could call 'heavy'. Later on the album there is a 'Part 2' with no coherent connection to the first part. Nevertheless, it consistently keeps up your interest and leaves you wondering about the concept of it as a whole. I still don't really understand it, but love to listen to it every so often - since more than 30 years. And yes, the whole album is great, but that first peice has stuck with me ever since.