RED

I've put off this review for a while, for a couple of reasons. I have not owned this album for several years, and I was never crazy about it. It does feature a couple of the best Crimson songs, namely the title track and Starless. Unlike many reviewers I liked Providence just fine, though it is not as good as the other two songs I mentioned and there were far better improvs on the Starless and Bible Black album. But I could never get in to Red Nightmare or Fallen Angel. Perhaps I need to hear them again to reevaluate them, based on what I read here. Not sure about that. I had always found them a bit too "safe" for this version of Crimson, a bit too "normal" perhaps (whatever that is.........I suppose I mean a bit too much like other bands of the period, not as uniquely Crimson as the previous two albums and the other songs on this one). In any case, this album is obviously essential for the Crimson fan, and I would even consider it essential to every prog fan to hear, if not to actually own. For myself, I'm going to go with 3 stars, though 3.5 would probably be more accurate.