RED

King Crimson is not among my favourite bands and in my opinion they never again did anything that compares with the groundbreaking debut album from 1969, a seminal Prog recording. Red is among the better albums though, but the 12 minute closer, Starless, is the only song here that deserves the masterpiece status that this album has received (and the only song with which King Crimson again reached the high standards set by In The Court Of The Crimson King. The band is now down to a trio with John Wetton and Bill Bruford accompanying the ever present Robert Fripp.

The opening title track is an instrumental primarily based variations on just a single riff. The guitar sound is heavy and quite unique. Fallen Angel and One More Red Nightmare are the more melodic tracks of the album, nice but nothing that blows my mind. Providence is a pointless experimental piece that goes absolutely nowhere. This is the kind of thing that the band (sadly) would do more of on the other Wetton-era albums.

I find Red a bit overrated and it is hardly the masterpiece people say it is. The inclusion of Providence alone guarantees this album a less-than-four-star rating. But with some good songs in the middle and a fantastic ending, this album is still a good one; recommended for the wonderful Starless alone.

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