Album Review #20 - King Crimson - "Red" (1974)

 Album Review #20

Artist:  King Crimson

Album:  Red

Year of Release:  1974

Grade:  4.5 / 5

 

Band Members

Robert Fripp – guitars, mellotron, Hohner Pianet

John Wetton – vocals, bass guitar

Bill Bruford – drums, percussion

 

Additional musicians:

David Cross – violin, mellotron

Mel Collins – soprano saxophone

Ian McDonald – alto saxophone

Mark Charig – cornet

Robin Miller – oboe

 

Background

King Crimson was a band formed by Robert Fripp in 1969 with Greg Lake on vocals for their first major album “In The Court Of The Crimson King”.  However, Greg Lake left the band during the recording of the second album.  After two or three other lead singers and changes of other personnel, King Crimson reformed by Fripp with a new rhythm section of John Wetton on bass and vocals (formerly of Family) and Bill Bruford on drums (formerly of Yes) and adding Jamie Muir on percussion (a complete wildman) and David Cross on violin and keyboards.  This core lineup of Fripp, Wetton, and Bruford made 3 albums – “Lark’s Tongue in Aspic”, “Starless and Bible Black”, and “Red” before completely dissolving.  The band never toured to support “Red” so many of these tracks were never performed live by this lineup.

 

During the recording of the “Red” album, the group was down to a trio as Cross and Muir had both left.  Fripp was becoming disenchanted and left most of the work up to Wetton and Bruford.  The result was a fantastic album hard rock album full of great musicianship.

 

King Crimson would form and dissolve numerous times over the years with different styles of music all at the whim of Fripp.  Bruford would join and leave multiple times.  Wetton would not rejoin but considered Crimson to be his favorite band to play in.

 

 

Track Listing

1.      “Red” (Robert Fripp) – instrumental

2.      “Fallen Angel” (Frip, John Wetton, Richard Palmer-James)

3.      “One More Red Nightmare” (Fripp, Wetton)

4.      “Providence” (David Cross, Fripp, Wetton, Bill Bruford)

5.      “Starless” (Cross, Fripp, Wetton, Bruford, Palmer-James)

 

Review

 

The opening track “Red” is a hard edged song but it is an instrumental.  It seems built around a guitar riff.  Even though it is an instrumental track, it has a lot of cohesiveness. All three of the main instruments – guitar, bass, and drums – shine on this track. 

“Fallen Angel” is a tragic tale about the death of a young man at the hands of a gang.  The most obvious standout is Wetton’s vocals.  There are lots of emotion in the singing by Wetton.  It has a most haunting melody.  The additional musicians take off a harder edge to smooth it out so it became less of an angry song.

John Wetton with band District 97:

“One More Red Nightmare” takes the basic riff from “Red” and expands on it. The lyrics itself deal with a person’s view of the modern world in a series of never ending nightmares.  The song has some dark qualities to it but the musicianship is first rate.  Excellent drumming and guitar work with Wetton’s bass layering.  Once again, Wetton’s vocals capture the emotion of the protagonist in the song.  The saxophones add that additional feel that completes the song.

 

“Providence” was actually a live instrumental track recorded in Providence, Rhode Island with the audience sounds removed.  To me, this is my least favorite track on the album.  It changes tempos often and features former King Crimson member David Cross on violin.

 

“Starless” is a 12+ minute opus.  It was originally called “Starless and Bible Black” for their previous album but felt it was not up to standard so Wetton went back to work on it.  Many consider this song the pinnacle of the King Crimson discography.  The interplay between vocals and saxophone is a joy.  The other instrumentation builds from a simple melody to an almost jam session with a much harder sound.

John Wetton with UK: