Studio - 7. Red (album) : 1. Production, 2. Legacy.

Studio - 7. Red (album)

1. Production.

David Cross left King Crimson in 1974, reducing the group to the trio of Robert Fripp, John Wetton and Bill Bruford. The trio recorded Red with the help of Cross and former band-members Ian McDonald and Mel Collins. Fripp disbanded King Crimson on September 24, 1974, and the album was released later that year with no accompanying tour.

While musically similar to its predecessor Starless and Bible Black, Red was produced very differently from previous King Crimson albums, resulting in what band-members felt was a better approximation of their aggressive live sound.^{[citation needed]} For instance, while the acoustic guitar features prominently in previous releases, on Red it is heard only for a few bars in "Fallen Angel". Also, unlike previous King Crimson albums, Red features extensive use of guitar overdubs. Later albums lacked acoustic guitar entirely and reverted to a minimum of overdubs, though by that point the band featured multiple guitarists playing simultaneously.

The album opens with the title track, a driving, hard rock instrumental. It makes extensive use of the whole-tone scale for a dissonant, angular sound, and features multiple time signatures including 3/4, 13/8 and 4/4. It also features a cello section.

The fourth track on the album, "Providence", was recorded live at Palace Theatre, Providence, USA, on June 30, 1974, and is the album's only live recording. Charles Snider refers to the album as a "swansong," and notes that "'Providence' packs just about everything improv-related from the last two albums into its eight short minutes."^[1] A longer, unedited version of the track is available on the live four-CD set The Great Deceiver.

The lyrics and melody for "Starless" were written by John Wetton. He originally intended the song to be the title track of the group's previous album Starless and Bible Black. Fripp and Bruford initially disliked the song and declined to record it for that album. Instead the group chose an instrumental composition as the title track for the Starless and Bible Black album. However, "Starless" was later revived during the Red recording sessions. Fripp then added the instrumental guitar section to the song. As the title "Starless and Bible Black" had already been used, the original title was shortened to "Starless".

2. Legacy.

The record faltered on the British charts. In the United States, it reached #66 on the Billboard Top 200.

However, it remained a popular album with fans and critics. In 2001 Q magazine named Red as one of the "50 Heaviest Albums of All Time,"^[2] and Kurt Cobain has cited the album as a major influence. ^[3][4] Musicologists Eric Tamm and Edward Macan both consider Red, and particularly the track "Starless", to be the highlight of King Crimson's recorded output. Users of Rate Your Music.com have rated it the Number 1 album of 1974, and 49th greatest album of all time.^[5]