King Crimson – Red (1974)
Red is a 1974 album by progressive rock group King Crimson. It was their last studio recording of the 1970s and the last before the lead member Robert Fripp temporarily disbanded the group.
Red proved to be one of the strongest and most consistent King Crimson albums to date. It has been described as “an impressive achievement” for a group about to disband, with “intensely dynamic” musical chemistry between the band members. Opening with the harsh, tritone-based instrumental that gave the album its name, the album also featured two relatively short and punchy Wetton-led songs, and a last look back at the period with David Cross via the live improvisation “Providence”, which was recorded on the preceding tour. The album finale was the majestic twelve-minute “Starless”, which acted, in effect, as a potted musical history of the band, travelling from Mellotron-driven ballad grandeur via intense improvisation to savagely structured metallic attack and back again.
In 2001 Q magazine named Red as one of the “50 Heaviest Albums of All Time”, and Kurt Cobain has cited the album as a major influence
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