RED

For their next studio album, Fripp asked David Cross to leave the band, bringing King Crimson down to just the trio of Fripp, Wetton, and Bruford. The resultant album, Red, released barely six months after Starless and Bible Black, and was the band's heaviest yet. This result was due in large part to the influence of Wetton and Bruford, as Fripp took a more collaborative tack on the songwriting here.

Red opens on its title track, which features a pounding, upward riff that transitions into a determined passage. Wetton's bass adds a ton of weight, and Bruford's drumming is deft and nimble. A percussionless passage near this song's midpoint features some wonderful, creepy cello before launching back into a slightly-slowed-down take on the main riff. "Red" is one of the most seminal instrumental tracks in the progressive rock canon, right up there with the likes of "YYZ" and "The Great Gig in the Sky".

"Fallen Angel" is warm and sweet; Wetton's voice is soulful, and oboe brings a wonderful coziness to the verses. King Crimson have usually been good at these slow songs, and this is one of their shining highlights in this style. It's brought to new heights here with the swirling, distorted, plaintive chorus. Wetton's bass growls, a cornet wails, and Fripp's jagged strumming adds to the unease. Of course, Bruford is in top form here. 

There's a sense of anxious urgency to "One More Red Nightmare". The riff is dark and haunting, and Bruford's clattering percussion adds a lot. When Wetton's vocals come in, the verse is groovy and infectious. Heavily-affected handclaps add some nice textural variation and add to the track's surprising catchiness. Founding member of the band Ian McDonald gets a cameo with a sax solo that adds a lot to the dreamlike drama. 

Side two's opening track?"Providence"?sees the one hiccup on Red. Though nowhere near as bad a blight as the final ten minutes of "Moonchild", this improv-heavy instrumental falls flat in comparison to the other four masterpieces on this album. David Cross shows back up to play violin, which adds a delicate and often-unsettling character over Wetton's growling bass. 

As with many of King Crimson's other extended improv jams, "Providence" often hints at something interesting that might happen, but it never really comes to fruition. There's a sinister bit of bass here, and the drums feel like they could lead into something there, but it takes until five-and-a-half minutes in that anything even remotely interesting happens. Even then, it feels like the seed of a good song that still needs to germinate. "Providence" closes on a good jam, but it's not worth the build-up. Yes, some might praise the raw, unfiltered character of this performance, but I (usually) like my studio records to have more solid roots and clearer planning. In many ways, Red is a better album than Larks' Tongues, but the aimless bloat of this song prevents it from grabbing the top spot on my list.

Red closes on "Starless". Its opening moments ? full of Mellotron, mellow guitar, and jazzy bass ? harken back to the sounds of the band's debut record. Both Ian McDonald and Mel Collins show up on this song to provide saxophone. Wetton's vocal performance is as powerful as ever, and there's a strong sense of something swelling up beneath this song's calm surface.

The song shifts to a more stripped-back arrangement for a while, and there is a palpable, growing sense of disquiet. Fripp's simple guitar pattern is slightly off kilter, and Bruford's drumming is fittingly askew. Wetton's bass grows in prominence, and it eventually turns into a massive, blustering storm. After a brief, jittery guitar break, the song dives into a speedy, jazzy sax solo, and Wetton and Bruford again flaunt their impressive technical skills.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2024/04/15/deep-dive-king-crimson/