King Crimson "Red" - Progressive Rock Music Forum

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hellogoodbye View Drop Down

Forum Senior Member

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Joined: August 29 2011
Location: Troy
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Posted: August 25 2016 at 15:10

I Love Red. It's the perfect conclusion to a chapter of KC life .

miamiscot

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Location: Ohio
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Posted: August 25 2016 at 16:39

Larks' Tongues In Aspic

Starless And Bible Black

Red

All three are perfect.

Terrapin Station View Drop Down

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Location: NYC
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Posted: August 25 2016 at 20:06

Red gets a 10/10 in my book.

There's only one Crimson album that doesn't get a 10/10 from me, though---the debut. I'd probably give the debut an 8/10.

CapnBearbossa View Drop Down

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Posted: August 26 2016 at 06:48

Jeffro wrote:

CapnBearbossa wrote:

How many groups attain massive commercial success and still find the freedom to pursue their artistic craft with this kind of freedom? I can't think of one.
After you've grappled with a ravenous critical press and huge fan-base pinning down who-you-are and what-you-do, you become labelled, codified, and then imprisoned by mass expectations.

I guess it depends on how you are defining <i style="line-height: 18.2px;">massive <span style="line-height: 18.2px;">commercial success. Rush is a band that attained a high level of commercial success with Moving Pictures and then turned around and went in another direction. Same thing with 2112. They've always done what they wanted to do, regardless of critical press and large fan base. </span>

I'll give Rush the benefit of the doubt here because they are indeed mega-rockstars and I see no sign of them being hemmed in by their popularity. But to paraphrase Bruford, you put on a King Crimson record when you want to see where music is going (which was true up until the mid 90s), and I dont see Rush as being that kind of prime mover. Not to slight them of course, they are brilliant and original in their way. But KC couldn't afford to enter that zone where the industry guides their actions. They would simply cease to be what they are.

Edited by CapnBearbossa - August 26 2016 at 06:51

Will higher mighty force redeem
the one who dropped the moral compass,
failed to fulfill the dream?
-Ian Anderson

grantman

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Posted: August 26 2016 at 08:58

It has starless, fallen angel Im just not sure about the title track, as long as there is a great singer (john wetton) the need for instrumental passages is just unnecessary red the track dazzled me at 14 now that im 52 it seems for me, at least a showcase for musicianship for the people involved ,not a complete throwaway in a modern setting like 2016 it could be edited down to 3 or 4 minutes .Anyone else feels this way ?

akaBona

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Posted: August 26 2016 at 16:19

miamiscot wrote:

Larks' Tongues In Aspic

Starless And Bible Black

Red

All three are perfect.

Exactly this!

Scorpius

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Points: 281

Posted: September 02 2016 at 16:09

I love Red, its got to be one of my favourites by KC. While, LTIA is badass and epic, I always found Red to be much more emotionally gripping. To me, Larks shows no emotion; it just blasts your balls into infinity for 50 minutes straight. Thats one of the main reasons I love Larks, but I like Red more because it goes to the same ball-blasting extent (try saying that 5 times fast), but it takes the time to express itself and lay down a cohesive concept. Dont get me wrong, Larks is great, and in my top 4 favorite KC albums, but compared to Red, I find it slightly weaker. Plus, I feel John Wettons vocals are a lot more developed on Red then Larks, and Starless is one of the best vocal performances ive ever heard.