RED

I will say that I was initially skeptical when a friend presented me with the concept of a three man Crimson. It was he who had introduced me to the music of King Crimson, and I always held the opinion that the variety of musicians in Crimson albums past lent greatly to their unique sound. David Cross' violin and Jamie Muir's wild percussion made 'Larks' Tongues In Aspic' a remarkable album in it's own right. But, from the moment my friend played me "Fallen Angel", I knew 'Red' had plenty to offer.

For the three man lineup, Crimson puts out some tremendous sound. Some of the heaviest guitar I've ever heard from Robert Fripp came courtesy of this album. Bill Bruford does a wonderful job on the drums, and John Wetton will always be my favorite of the Crimson vocalists. Two of my favorite Crimson songs ever come from this album, those being "Fallen Angel" and "Starless". The title track "Red" caught me right off the bat and made me a fan of it, which can be a hard thing for me personally for an instrumental. It is no ordinary instrumental though, as it is the most hard rocking track I've ever heard from King Crimson. "One More Red Nightmare" is similar in that hard rocking theme, but what stands out to me in the song are John Wetton's vocals. There is a power and energy behind them that adds to the lyrics themselves, and makes for another fantastic track.

The one song the band could have used a mulligan on is "Providence", but like other reviewers here, I won't penalize the overall fantastic effort the album puts out due to one mediocre song. And the album just isn't complete without it's masterpiece, "Starless". It represents a true fusion of what Crimson has been, and what it has become by 'Red', and serves as the perfect finale to a phenomenal album. Again, I can't say enough about Wetton's vocals on this track, but those last seven minutes show any prog music fan just what King Crimson is capable of when at their best. Truly a must have.

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