RED

King Crimson´s first real swan song of an album (for some time at least) is Red, one of the best albums of all time and the one that made me give prog a second chance. the album starts with the titular song, "Red" is an instrumental that will give you enough energy to conquer the world at the same time that it will make you scared to leave your bed, the song represents the best of each of the remaining members of the band, while i never saw King Crimson live i Saw Stick Men here in chile 20 November2022 when they stared playing this song i cried like never before. "Fallen Angels" is one of my favorites, the song plays beutifuly between a sad ballad with Wetton´s vocals at the start until a moment of despair that bring the song to a tense middle point until we came back to the ballad section of a brother desperation to save his brother, the way the instruments in the middle part sound so dire reminds me of the song The Letters from Islands, as that song to makes you feel almos overventilated with its instruments. "One More Red Nightmare" is, like the name says, like Red before but with lyrics that together with the vocals makes at atmosphere that is tense, scary and frightning. the song is about the horror of plane travel, not only about turbulence or the chance that the plane crashes but also about how much travel the band was doing at the time of touring. "Providence" is my least favorite song in the album, not only is slow and tense without any payoff, unlike almost every other song in the album that, while tense, it did have more relaxing points or a kind of "release". not only the song is shortened from the original live version (12 minutes to 8 minutes) but there where better improvisations from the era, including my favorite a Voyage to the Center of the Cosmos from the same show. "Starless" is the greatest song ever writen and the best song ever recorded. While the live versions from the era (from USA, Great Deciver box set, etc) are really, really good they don´t came close to how good the album version is. the song starts with a nostalgic feeling tune that transforms in a haunting song full of sorrow when Wetton starts singing, the moment the first 4 minutes of the song ends the best clash of instrument you will ever listen to starts, making you go in a journey from wich you wish never comes back just to go back to the same part that it stated with but with every intrument turn to 11, the bass to 15 with extra saxophone, you couldn´t ask for more. all and all, Red is heavier than the other Wetton-Era King Crimson, inspiring genres of music like grunge and metal, the album is more tense that what came before but not in a bad way, while it may be more difficult that in the court of the crimson king or lark´s toungues in aspic to listen to for some people is a good album to start your King Crimson journey or to give a second chance if you listen to it already and didn´t like it.

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