RED

I don't know about you guys, but I have my own personal musical "moments", a precise event within a song that really send shivers down my spine every time, even though I've known every single note of it for years. For instance, there's that moment when Viv Stanshall whispers "plus... tubular bells" and the bells kick in. Or the end of the introductory speech when the singer bellows "Mekanïk... Destruktiw... Kommandoh!" and the whole Magma band launches into the number. Or (I bet you don't know that one, check it on YT) the moment the bombard kicks in in Gwendal's "Panxty-Birke". Or again, and to come back to King Crimson, the explosion of sound that marks the start of "Fracture"'s final section.

Well for me there's one of those in "Red", and it's not (although it could do as well) the moment when the sax opens the end section of "Starless". No, it's really the bridge in "Fallen Angel" that makes me want to cry every time. Maybe it's only a personal thing, I don't know.

Well they already told you, "Red" is a masterpiece, the best album by the best KC lineup. It's really hard (and actually pointless) to make a decent comparison, but I rate it significantly above "In the Court of the Crimson King" in Crimson's discography, even if their first release is also a "chef d'oeuvre", and one that opened the way for the whole of prog rock.

Now, "Providence" is often considered the weak link of the album, but I think it's there to remind us, forever, that Fripp, Bruford and Wetton were (and still are!) fabulous musicians who never hesitated to improvise, in the studio but also on stage. Name another rock band of King Crimson's fame who ever did the same!