Close To The Edge or Red?

Dellinger wrote: mister nobody wrote: Chozal wrote: Although I prefer KC's sound especially around the Red era, CTTE has not a single weak moment, one of the very few albums that shines through every moment.Red has Providence. I like Providence better than any track on Close to the Edge. And I love Close to the Edge (not as the others do, but I appreciate it). I dislike Providence more than anything on either album. And the only song from Red I like more than the song I like the least from CttE is Starless (though I would be hard pressed to say which I like best, CttE, And You And I, or Starless itself). However, in the end I vote CttE, indeed it's great from beginning to end.

Oh, my god. Who hates what and takes what over what. I won't remember this much information.

Edited by Dayvenkirq - December 12 2012 at 20:27

Close To The Edge

Close to the Edge, though Red is very close. 

Red is one of the best Crimson's albums. CTTE is one of the best albums at all.

Live versions of CttE would beat Red. But otherwise I prefer Red. Yes is just to sterile in the studio.

Close to the Edge is the only album I know of where I would not change a thing if I could. The only track on Red that reaches the same level of perennial awesomeness is "Starless". There are other good tracks on it, but I always found it a bit inconsistent.

thellama73 wrote: Mr. Maestro wrote: I feel like a weirdo.  Am I the only person in the world who thinks "Providence" is brilliant? m I the only one who thinks One More Red Nightmare is brillliant? People always talk about the title track and Starless (which is admittedly amazing) but I never hear much talk about that one. It's one of my all time favorite Crimson tracks.

Not one of my favorite Crimson tracks, but I do think it's great. The lyrics are pretty awkward though.

Sumdeus wrote: still, i think it is simply ridiculous to say "composition>improvisation". imo the best compositions usually involve improvisation to a certain degree, and I also like a lot of music that is composed through improvisation itself...

I agree that it's an over-generalization to say that composition is always better than improvisation, but especially in the case of King Crimson I usually find their completely improvised pieces much less interesting than the ones that involve some kind of composition. I'd go as far as saying that "We'll Let You Know" and "Starless and Bible Black" kinda stink ("Providence" is better). On the other hand, LTIA1 is one of my favorite King Crimson tracks, even though it involves a large amount of improvisation. But what sets it apart is that this is planned improvisation. It revolves around a set of pre-composed themes and it's clearly structured.

Yes - Close to the Edge; can't see Red in the same equation

There's no disputing the brilliance of CTTE but I probably enjoy Red a little more.

KC

thellama73 wrote: Mr. Maestro wrote: I feel like a weirdo.  Am I the only person in the world who thinks "Providence" is brilliant? m I the only one who thinks One More Red Nightmare is brillliant? People always talk about the title track and Starless (which is admittedly amazing) but I never hear much talk about that one. It's one of my all time favorite Crimson tracks.

Mine too.  Maybe if there was no title track, I'd still take Red over CTTE for this one.  Incredible work from both Bruford and McDonald, especially.