RED

Red Is the culmination of the "Hard" phase of the Band from 72'-74'. While it gets rated the highest, I personally find it the weakest of the three albums in this period. Red is a good album, it just has a very noticeable Achilles heel. Red is probably more accessible then Lark's Tongues and Aspic.

The title track is a rocking instrumental. The highlight of the album for me, this kind of rock is something King Crimson does so very well, mostly due to Robert Fripp's guitar playing. This eventually leads into Fallen Angel. This song is a fine one. It's more relaxed and jazzy then Red, which helps level of your nerves. We wont be returning to Red's hardness. This jazz rock state leads us to Fallen Angel. The more melodic song features a great vocal from John Wetton. On first listen, this will be the track that sticks with you.

Now, here is my problem with Red, because we have been having good tracks so far, the slow moving live improv that is improvidence becomes even more sub par. The track features violin, carried over from the last two albums. The problem is it moves to slow. It's Moonchild all over again. Once we stomach that, we get the big Jazzy piece Starless. This helps cleanup after providence and finishes the record with a bang, albeit not a massive one.

Red is not Crimson's best album. However, Red is still a good album I think all King Crimson fans and general prog fans are probably better of having.