RED

This album, released in 1974, is nothing short of amazing considering that KC were barely functioning as a band at this point but then again most of their albums were made with an unstable line-up. Red: A great instrumental to start us off. It has a nice driving riff that pre-dates grunge with its sound but that's not a bad thing. It shows how much Fripp likes distortion and experimenting with what his guitar can sound like (Frippertronics). Wetton and Bruford hold up the rhythm section well and they seem to dominate this album mainly. Overall, a fantastic song with some great moments. Fallen Angel: A mellow ballad that starts out soft and grows in intensity as it goes like all great ballads or balladesque songs. Has some good guitar work from Fripp and great vocals from Wetton who I always had a soft spot for. One More Red Nightmare: Interesting lyric on this one but still has energy and drive. Bruford works his famous China cymbal at this point and does his usual excellent job. Providence: A live improvisation made when David Cross was still there. It starts slow and dull but doesn't fully recover. Sometimes it seems the song kinda shows then leaves and doesn't leave much impression Starless: The longest and arguably best song on the album. Great vocals and instrumentation all around. Starts out slow and gets jazz crazy in the middle like Schizoid Man but still does an original fantastic job.

Overall, a great album by KC and the last for awhile but if they ended with this one, I wouldn't be disappointed. 5 Stars. Highlights: Red, One More Red Nightmare and Starless