''In the Court of the Crimson Queen'' is a studio album by British singer

Toyah Willcox Toyah Ann Willcox (born 18 May 1958) is an English musician, actress, and TV presenter. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Willcox has had eight top 40 singles, released over 20 albums, written two books, appeared in over 40 stage plays an ...

, originally released in 2008 by Willow Recordings.

Background

The album title (a reference to

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

's debut album, ''

In the Court of the Crimson King ''In the Court of the Crimson King'' (subtitled ''An Observation by King Crimson'') is the debut studio album by English rock band King Crimson, released on 10 October 1969 by Island Records. The album is one of the earliest and most influentia ...

'') was suggested by producer/co-author Simon Darlow and was endorsed by King Crimson mainstay and Toyah's husband

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...

. It was Toyah's first full-length album of new material since 1994's ''

Dreamchild ''Dreamchild'' is a 1985 British drama film written by Dennis Potter, directed by Gavin Millar, and produced by Rick McCallum and Kenith Trodd. The film, starring Coral Browne, Ian Holm, Peter Gallagher, Nicola Cowper and Amelia Shankley, is a ...

''. Originally released in September 2008, it did not chart, but was reviewed as the "CD of the Year" in the American ''

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was television's first African ...

'' magazine. The album was then re-issued in 2013 with an additional track. In April 2019, ''In the Court of the Crimson Queen'' was reissued by Edsel Records. It featured five additional tracks, including "Dance in the Hurricane" (with spoken word intro from Robert Fripp). Many of the tracks had been slightly remixed and included live drums and extra backing vocals. An abridged LP edition was also released for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

. This time, the album charted at #74 in the official

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

(her first entry since 1985's ''

Minx Minx, MinX or MINX may refer to: Music * MINX (band), dissolved South Korean girl group replaced by Dreamcatcher * MINX (musician) (born 1983), Australian DJ and producer * ''Minx'' (Leatherface album), 1993 * ''Minx'' (Toyah album), 1985 Pr ...

'') as well as peaking at #22 in the UK sales chart and #7 in the independent albums chart. The album was re-released yet again in February 2023, featuring the 2022 single " Slave to the Rhythm" and re-recordings of selected songs with

on guitar. It was branded as the "definitive version of the album".

Singles and promotion

The lead single "

Latex Messiah (Viva la Rebel in You) "Latex Messiah (Viva la Rebel in You)" is a song by the British rock singer Toyah Willcox, released in 2007. Background The song was written by Toyah and her collaborator Simon Darlow, and was produced by Darlow. It was her first single release s ...

" was released digitally in 2007 and was accompanied by a number of music videos. Further videos for the tracks "Heal Ourselves", "Lesser God" and "Sensational" were made available on Toyah's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel. "Lesser God" was performed on a national UK tour of

Steve Steinman ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

's ''

Vampires Rock ''Vampires Rock'' is a musical stage show which premiered in 2004. It is performed by the group headed by Steve Steinman, who had appeared on ''Stars in Their Eyes'' as Meat Loaf. The group has toured for several years with ''The Meat Loaf Stor ...

'', in which Toyah was a guest star during 2008 and 2009. A track originally recorded for the album, but not included in the initial release, entitled "

21st Century Supersister "21st Century Supersister" is a song by the British rock singer Toyah Willcox, released in 2011. Background The song was originally written by Toyah and her collaborator Simon Darlow for the 2008 album '' In the Court of the Crimson Queen'', but ...

", was subsequently re-worked with new lyrics to be featured in the 2011 film ''The Power of Three'' in which Toyah starred. The track was also released as a digital single along with the original demo as its B-side. The re-worked version was included in the 2013 CD reissue of the album. From December 2012, "Sensational" was used in a national UK TV advertising campaign for slimming brand

Weight Watchers Weight Watchers or WW may refer to: * Weight Watchers (diet), a comprehensive weight loss program and diet * WW International WW International, Inc., formerly Weight Watchers International, Inc., is a global company headquartered in the U.S. tha ...

. The album's 2019 edition was preceded by a new video for "Sensational" and a promotional download of "Telepathic Lover". In July 2019, "Dance in the Hurricane" was released as a digital single. The accompanying UK tour took place in autumn 2019.

Track listing

Original release

2019 re-release

2019 LP edition

2023 Rhythm Deluxe Edition

Personnel

– vocals, arrangements * Simon Darlow – all instruments, backing vocals, arrangements, production, mixing * Alfie Darlow – drums on tracks 1, 3 and 4, violin on track 3 * Ben Darlow – mastering * Alan Sawyers – artwork * Dean Stockings – photography

Charts

References

External links

Official audio stream
on

The official Toyah website
{{Authority control 2008 albums 2019 albums Toyah Willcox albums