October 6, 1974 - Red

Less than 7 months after "Starless And Bible Black", King Crimson released their seventh album (and second of the year) "Red" on October 6, 1974. A lot happened in that time as Robert Fripp, John Wetton and Bill Bruford decided to kick David Cross out of the band after their tour for the previous album finished. This left the band officially as a 3-piece, but they also brought back several musicians that had worked with King Crimson in the past. This included oboe and cornet session players as well as saxophone from original member Ian McDonald! Cross still features on 2 of the album's tracks, but this line-up recorded the rest of the album in the summer. After they completed the album, despite protests by Wetton and Bruford, Fripp disbanded the group in September and so the music from "Red" was not performed live. It is certainly sad to hear that this will be their final album, but this line-up is sure to go out with a bang. Let's dive in!

The album starts with the title track "Red", an instrumental song led by a catchy guitar riff by Fripp. Wetton and Bruford keep a solid rhythm section and this song has a very epic feel. The middle section has trippy guitar in the background as bass and some guest cello make a dark-sounding riff that sounds pretty good. Then it ends as it began with the cool opening riff. Track 2 is titled "Fallen Angel" and this song has guest oboe, cornet and cello as King Crimson harken back to their earlier days. Wetton's singing is nice and fits the mood well and Fripp plays some cool guitar in addition to his Mellotron. The chorus has a slow guitar riff and some great horns! We hear an extended instrumental bit that sounds great with all these instruments, especially the cornet, which is like a trumpet. The great horns continue through to the end of this pretty cool song. The side is ending already with the closer, "One More Red Nightmare". Guitar and bass sync up for a basic, but catchy riff while Bruford plays some excellent drums. Great stuff Bill! He just keeps playing these fantastic fills and really shows his talents and ability to keep it fresh. Wetton's singing in the verse sounds pretty good and we hear McDonald on saxophone in the background. Wetton starts a new part with a cool bass riff and Fripp plays wandering guitar overtop. McDonald really goes off for a sax solo and man is it good to have him back! He plays some great stuff to spice up this cool middle section before they do one more verse with more amazing drumming by Bruford. Then it's back to another McDonald sax solo that sounds phenomenal! Words don't do justice! Some fantastic jazzy jamming that comes to an abrupt halt to end the side.

Both songs on this side still feature David Cross, starting with "Providence", an improvised song performed in Providence, Rhode Island, as this quartet did a lot of last album. Cross starts it off with a slow violin solo, Wetton adds some trippy bass and Bruford slowly comes in with bits of percussion. Fripp plays trippy guitar as well as the first half of this song is very psychedelic. Bruford starts up a drum beat that leads to a new, heavier part with some fantastic bass by Wetton. Fripp begins to solo a bit on guitar and things are really rocking now! The bass sounds amazing as Crimson successfully pull another great song out of nowhere! The album ends with "Starless", which was originally meant for their previous album, but didn't make it. They re-worked it, but they had already used the full name as the title track for their last album, so they shortened this one to "Starless". It begins with some nice violin in a soft beat and is led by a cool Mellotron riff by Fripp. I think Wetton's singing sounds really good and so does the saxophone we hear from former member Mel Collins. It's cool to have him back as well as he plays some really good slow, jazzy stuff. I love Wetton's yelling of "Bible Black" and this song definitely has a nice aura to it. Around the 4:30 mark, it gets quiet and Fripp starts us off in a new direction with a simple, but nice-sounding guitar riff. Wetton adds some cool bass and Bruford plays some percussion as the guitar slowly ascends while the bass slowly descends in a great part. Bruford goes full kit, and by this point Wetton's bass sounds so low, so heavy! Fripp is all the way at the other end of the fretboard, playing the same slow riff at a piercing level and it sounds fantastic! Bruford is going crazy by the end of this wonderful middle section, then they segue nicely into a new part led by some more amazing saxophone from McDonald. Wetton's backing bass sounds cool, but McDonald steals the show once again with some really fantastic stuff. Now it's Fripp's turn to play a blistering guitar solo, and boy does that sound freaking phenomenal! So many amazing parts in this song as they seamlessly bring it back to the opening riff that started it all, but with a much heavier feel this time. It finally, sadly comes to a close and it's a damn shame that these guys never toured or followed up on this wonderful album.

That is the end of "Red" and I thought it was a fantastic album. "Starless" steals the show, but not only are there no bad songs on this record, the other 4 are all top notch as well. This main trio just continues to make wonderful music, and bringing back all these old musicians, especially Ian McDonald, really gave this album that extra bit of awesomeness. But how does it compare to their previous albums? Just earlier this year I thought King Crimson released their best album yet, and I think this offering is even more complete than the last one. It has all the right ingredients, and amounts to, in my opinion, their best album. So sad that we won't be hearing anymore, but what a fantastic note to end on.