Red is one of the best albums I’ve heard.

lunaticviolist wrote: It's my favorite Crimso album.  There's not a weak track. Orbert wrote: Someone said there's a live track on Red; I'm assuming they meant "Providence", but I always thought "Providence" was live in the studio, which isn't quite the same as live before an audience. Providence was recorded in the studio (in Providence as a matter of fact).

I'm listening to the Great Deceiver, the 4CD live box set and on CD1, a concert in Providence 30 June 1974, there is the track "Providence" that seems to be a longer version of what appears on Red, its almost note for note except I suspect some of David Cross' violin has been removed or else faded down in the "Red" mix, and maybe some mellotron was added. I haven't read the comprehensive booklet with the set that may tell me this - anyone know?

Crimson did similar on "Starless and Bible Black" where songs from an Amsterdam concert were then overdubbed in the studio. The original (and IMHO better) versions appear on "The Night Watch".

I think Crimson live was a different, better beast than the studio version. My favourite Crimson studio album remains Larks Tongues but the production is I think poor, whereas Red manages better to capture some of the energy they showed on stage.

I did see Crimson live in their 1981 "Discipline" incarnation, but sadly was too young for the Larks Tongues - Red period.

It took me many years to get into what I still feels is a severely overated album... Lark's Toungue  is the my all time favorite and definitive Crimson album....

 

Charles

Please don't shoot me, but I have yet to listen to the album Red! I really want it, but I just havn't gotten to buying it yet.

RED is great, perhaps the best of the Fripp-Wetton-Bruford-Cross period. LTIA is also an excellent album, but in my opinion somewhat marred by Wetton's tentative vocals (he wasn't used to singing lead yet, and it shows). On the other hand, he sings very well on RED, and the musicianship is amazing throughout. However, my favourite KC album remains their '69 groundbreaking debut.

maidenrulez wrote: It is a really weak album without any special moments....The mars volta shows King crimson how it should be done on  Frances the mute

Incredible that somebody would really write this.

Yes, Red is truly incredible.  I almost cried the first time I heard Starless

This must be one of the greatest albums of all time. Some one mentioned Lark's Tongue in Aspic being better than this one, and i just have to say i don't get Lark's Tongue in Aspic, as an album, as a group of songs, as a song, or as a jingle. I have it on vinyl and CD, and when I listen to it I only get strange noises, a guitar that barely appears, and Wetton's awful voice. I cannot get the flow of the album either.

I've gotta say that i didnt get into king crimson for ages, (for some unknown reason). Then i made one of the best decisions of my life. I bought Larks tongues AND Red AT THE SAME TIME! I wondered what wetton, bruford, cross etc. stuff was like and both have been constantly in every CD player i have and in the car (mainly Red here). Its all i've been playing on guitar and all that i whistle when bored. Say no more.

Listen to Islands. That is the masterpiece.

After Islands, Larks tongues in aspic, and Red are my favorites.

Only 21 century is exellent on ITCOCK. The rest is average

Larks' Tongues in Aspic / Starless and Bible Black / Red

The three greatest King Crimson albums, and they form a trilogy of sorts...

Larks', my personal favorite of the bunch, is perhaps the "sloppiest" of the albums, showing that the band is still feeling their way through this stunning approach to prog.  The album is bookmarked by the title track instrumental, split in two, and Fripp's manic guitar licks and the overall abrasive sound of the compositions make this a very threatening album.

Starless and Bible Black has the band cleaning up their sound a bit, perfecting their approach to this material.  Although it is TECHNICALLY a better record, it is missing a lot of the menace of its predecessor, and so I think I enjoy it slightly less for that reason.  Still amazing stuff, but we're ranking masterpieces here so there has to be 2nds and 3rds.

Red is the culmination of this amazing period of King Crimson, and has them perfecting the style that they have developed over the course of the last two albums.  It is the most assured from the bunch, the most confident in its vision, and it also recaptures that sense of menace that Larks had.  Some of King Crimson's best is to be found on this album.

I love this band.

Funny thing, I happen to listen to Red right now and am humming One More Red Nightmare. Rofl.