Red is one of the best albums I’ve heard.

I'd say it's King Crimson's best and most consistent album after 'ITCOTCK', as it has the most straightforward, and clearly structured, songs since then. It actually has the same format as 'ITCOTCK', with 4 straight songs and 1 experimental piece, in the same order- side 1 has three rock songs, side 1 has an experimental piece then another more straight song.

'Red', and in fact the John Wetton period in general, still sounds amazingly fresh and vibrant today, possibly due to the downplaying of keyboards in this era, that whilst I love keyboards, were very much a typically 70s phenomena.

Funny thing, I happen to listen to Red right now and am humming One More Red Nightmare. Rofl.

Larks' Tongues in Aspic / Starless and Bible Black / Red

The three greatest King Crimson albums, and they form a trilogy of sorts...

Larks', my personal favorite of the bunch, is perhaps the "sloppiest" of the albums, showing that the band is still feeling their way through this stunning approach to prog.  The album is bookmarked by the title track instrumental, split in two, and Fripp's manic guitar licks and the overall abrasive sound of the compositions make this a very threatening album.

Starless and Bible Black has the band cleaning up their sound a bit, perfecting their approach to this material.  Although it is TECHNICALLY a better record, it is missing a lot of the menace of its predecessor, and so I think I enjoy it slightly less for that reason.  Still amazing stuff, but we're ranking masterpieces here so there has to be 2nds and 3rds.

Red is the culmination of this amazing period of King Crimson, and has them perfecting the style that they have developed over the course of the last two albums.  It is the most assured from the bunch, the most confident in its vision, and it also recaptures that sense of menace that Larks had.  Some of King Crimson's best is to be found on this album.

I love this band.

Listen to Islands. That is the masterpiece.

After Islands, Larks tongues in aspic, and Red are my favorites.

Only 21 century is exellent on ITCOCK. The rest is average

I've gotta say that i didnt get into king crimson for ages, (for some unknown reason). Then i made one of the best decisions of my life. I bought Larks tongues AND Red AT THE SAME TIME! I wondered what wetton, bruford, cross etc. stuff was like and both have been constantly in every CD player i have and in the car (mainly Red here). Its all i've been playing on guitar and all that i whistle when bored. Say no more.