RED

I saw this version of King Crimson during the Starless and Bible Black tour and as much as I like that album, I like this one even more. Red: I always like to hear a barn burner to start an album out and this one didn't let me down. You know this is Crimson from the opening seconds, the use of dissonant chords and intervals screams Fripp and his lead tone is a classic sound that has served him well. This track also has a combination of odd & even meters that shows what a brilliant drummer Bruford really is. There's a nice change of pace at 2:45 that last's for exactly one minute, slowing things down, letting you breathe a little before going back to the opening lick and ending. They are known for doing at least one instrumental per album, and this is the perfect way, IMO, to kick this one off.

Fallen Angel: K.C. were also known for ballad's, but with a twist. Masters of the soft verse and loud, powerful chorus they showed their stuff on this track. In the verse I hear shades of Greg Lake in the vocals with Wetton's voice having more character and his bass having more depth and meat in the tone, no veggie bass sound here people. The song is about a brother lost to a knife fight on the streets, fairly straight forward lyrics here. The dark sound of the chorus helps convey this story line, it reminds me of Lennon's heavy line at the end of "I Want You". During the last verse at 4:00, Fripp weaves a beautiful lead line in and around the vocal that gets me every time I hear it. There is some great cornet playing throughout this song by Marc Charig that fits perfectly.

One More Red Nightmare: More blending of odd/even meters with the even metered sections so syncopated that even they sound odd, more great work from Bill Bruford in this track. I don't even mind his over use of the upside down "china" cymbal, which he used freely throughout this time period. It's a dated sound but the handclaps fit this song nicely also. The lyrics borrow a well used theme with a twist, of course. A bad experience on an airplane or just a dream (nightmare), only to wake up on a Greyhound bus. More ominous guitar from Fripp with Wetton adding to the fray. Great sax playing by McDonald in the middle section brings back a little of some of their earlier sound.

Providence: A typical change of pace track by Crimson, Starts out slow and although it does get going about halfway through, it never really goes anywhere. I don't dislike this song but it's just filler to me and if not for the greatness of the other tracks would bring my rating down to a 4.5.

Starless: This song, IMO, is a true progressive rock masterpiece. After a tasteful mellotron opening, Fripp comes in with a hauntingly beautiful guitar melody line that is the motif for this song. His mellow tone and sustain create a trance like mood as he moves up an octave and repeats this amazing melody before the vocal comes in. Wetton's voice is rich with emotion and fit's perfectly with this darkly colored track. Fripp repeats his stunning guitar line in between verses, this time playing it all on one string, sliding up and down the neck, a nice variation. Around 4:20 we get the change we knew would be coming, because it's King Crimson, and there starts one of the best examples of tension and release in modern music that I've ever heard. This interplay between guitar and bass builds slowly and may be hard for most non-prog fans to listen to, but for those of us that know and love this band, this is what we have come to expect from them. This part builds and builds and finally comes to a climax at 7:52 when we get a series of lead bends that would even make an AC/DC fan sit up and take notice. Ah............. you finally say, the payoff. It dosen't end there though and at 9:08 this whole section get's double timed with the sax taking the lead in a frenzy that reminds us of a certain track that opens their first album. The vocal melody is repeated by the sax before going back to the opening guitar melody, also played by the sax this time. The guitar then does an abbreviated double time version of the tension and release section complete with even wilder bends by Fripp. We finally get a reprise of that beautiful melodic motif from the beginning played full force for a couple of rounds before a grand ending. The bass is especially strong throughout this part and I, for one, could hear this part repeated a couple more times, oh well, I guess 12 minutes is long enough.

There is an interesting inner sleeve with lots of press clippings about the band breaking up (in the cd anyway), which sadly was true. I'm just glad I got to see this band live, even if it was to support the album before this one.