Red-Ristampa

It had been years since I had last played "In the Court of the Crimson King", an early progressive rock album that didn't push the envelope of rock, it ripped through the side of the envelope. I was recently reading several reviews by another Amazon reviewer, Star/Prog, and intrigued by his comments regarding various classic and modern progressive rock groups and albums. He enjoyed quite a number of CDs that I liked and I decided perhaps I might enjoy some of his recommendations that I didn't own, so I tried "Red". I think from now on I'll just use his recommendation list as a shopping list for anything I currently don't own. "Red" is absolutely incredible.The album starts with "Red", an instrumental that has elements similar to some of the elements on "In the Court of Crimson King". The song kicks off with a series of guitar riffs, drums and bass, leading into exploitation of the musical theme. While the lead guitar periodically uses the theme as a launch platform, it returns to the same theme once again to maintain the continuity of thread. At nearly 3 minutes into the piece we get string bass taking the lead in the theme, and the lead guitar falls into the back ground. The string bass provides an ominous feel, a sense of impending something...doom perhaps. Then the lead guitar takes back over, repeating the original theme with variations. The instrumental ends with a series of climbing riffs into a discord that make you start to feel like perhaps there is a positive ending, but the discord ending on a downbeat immediately changes the feeling of the end. Excellent instrumental."Fallen Angel" implies a younger brother dying in a drug deal gone wrong ("Risk a life to make a dime"). The cornet is prominent until about halfway through the song, when the song segues into a bridge. After the bridge the lyrics are repeated from the second verse, until the "Fallen angel" chorus when all the instruments play counterpoint to the fade out. Very sad song."One More Red Nightmare" starts with heavy bass and drums, adding in mellotron, sounding ominous. This song is actually hilarious. The singer is on a plane when the plane starts dropping out of the sky. However, the singer wakes to find that the whole flight was a dream, he's actually on a Greyhound bus. The supporting music is about as whimsical as King Crimson gets on this album, which is to say, only modestly. There is an extended bridge after the first two verses where there is a dream-like feel to the music, leading to the third verse where the singer finds that he is on the bus. After that the music takes on a joyous/relieved feel, celebrating life. The ending is abrupt and...the beginning to "Providence" is as slow as "One More Red Nightmare" was abrupt. Violin leading to small pieces of additional music, in and out. Think "Moonchild", but done better. This instrumental would make a good soundtrack for a horror film. At about 5 minutes in the music begins to accelerate, and the instruments begin a serious counterpoint that seems improvisational, and perhaps is, leading to the string bass that finishes off the instrumental, not abruptly, but not in a fadeout either."Starless" finishes the CD with 12 minutes of song and instrumental. The song kicks off with about 4 minutes of beautiful lyrics and music, that transitions into bass and lead guitar with drums and blocks, slow...building, building, building, almost forever, it seems, but at almost 8 minutes in the lead guitar starts into a fevered pitch, sustaining what came before, until at 8:40 or so you are on the runway, blasting off at just past 9 minutes. The music moves and rocks, the saxophone providing the lead for a while...then mellowing back out, the calm before the raucous, rocking end.The CD is ominous. It is dark. Do not listen to it when you are feeling down. Mellow, okay. Down, no. One small thing: this music is addictive. Once you listen to it, the diode photons may wear the plastic off...

The cd is amazing, but from the pics I thought I was getting the digipac version, instead, it's just a normal jewel case. Still a phenomenal album, very fast shipping. Buy with confidence. A+++

I have heard to King Crimson for decades but had never gotten around to taking a deep dive. I bought this album cold based on hearsay upon hearsay. Honestly, my first listen was a deep disappointment. But, I had faith there was more to it... so I listened again, and again. Epiphany! What an expression of explosive creativity and innovation. One has to put the band in their historical context to fully appreciate them. Little did I know as a fan of UK that two members of that band were in this line up of King Crimson. That was a pleasant surprise. Anyhow. I am hooked. Why I ventured into this nostalgia is because there is no innovative, fresh, bold, and brave music being released anymore. I have been recycling 40 years of 60s-70s-80s classic rock, and some occasional 90s bands... but let's face it- I need something NEW. So, I expanded out into the OLD that is new to me. I love this album and I am going to now take a deep dive into the discography of King Crimson. Ahh. Something new (for me). It's not for everyone. But if you are interested in fresh progressive and raw rock, or the roots of such music, this album is a must have.

Me, I have an obsession with this band. I actually love all their albums (yes including the fantastic, yet hated, Islands and ConstruKction of Light). In this album, they became a three-piece band.... with past players still present..... whatever. Now just what type of music will you find in this album? Their heaviest rock of that era. The album hits you hard with RED, an instrumental track doing everything it can to be loud, but satisfying. In the middle is my favourite part of the song, a cello solo with the guitar making simple noise with a swirl effect in your speakers. FALLEN ANGEL features beautiful vocal work by Wetton and nice instrumental work by the band. ONE MORE RED NIGHTMARE features a slight remixed section of RED popping up in a few spots, but it is definitely it's own song. It has the band doing a well written jam session. PROVIDENCE is a lengthy improvised instrumental. The only problem I have with the song, and it's only a minuscule gripe, is that it has some really quiet sections that are difficult to hear sometimes. Which, sadly, happens a bit in their earlier discography. Anyway, back to the song. It's weird, it's spooky, and it's crazy fun as Wetton and Fripp completely blow your mind with wonderful noise. Great violin work by David Cross, who is the reason this sounds spooky. And finally, the really epic song STARLESS It start out with a smooth jazz feel accompanied by great vocals. It then transitions to a very hypnotic movement with Fripp playing only a few notes repeatedly. Along with sound effects, and other instruments popping in eventually, the music slowly reaches intensity until it switches to a heavy jazz section. Followed by more heavy hypnotic guitar, and then an intense, but beautiful reprise of the opening section. It's a busy song, yes, but it a great song to lose yourself into, as you feel hypnotized and nervous.To sum it up... A VERY good record to blast on your stereo and just listen. I still get shivers from this album.

Uno de los mejores discos en la historia del prog. No le pongo 5 estrellas porque la caja del CD venía rota :/

Bob Fripp was nothing if not adventurous and boldly went where many feared to tread.With RED he brought in two of the finest musicians he has ever worked with in John Wetton and Bill Bruford. Ian McDonald, David Cross and Mel Collins also make an appearance.The sum of all this is one King Crimson's most loved albums but also one that causes the greatest debate.This is the 30th anniversary edition but sadly no bonus material.Some interesting sleeve notes appears courtesy of music magazines. The chart shows RED entering at #18 but glancing at other entries shows some mighty competition. There's also an amusing ad which reads "Drmmr, exp wth tp-flight bnds, jb wntd" Obviously Mr Bruford was short on cash and took out the smallest most abbreviated ad possible.

Sin duda alguna, uno de los mejores trabajos de King Crimson. Este trabajo se siente muy adelantado a su época y sin duda sentó las bases para lo que sería el Metal Progresivo de hoy en día. Estamos ante un álbum que parece no envejecer y que todos deberían escuchar para comprender el porque King Crimson es una de las mejores agrupaciones de todos los tiempos.

Llegó a tiempo y en buenas condiciones.

I've always been meaning to get a King Crimson album, but, for some reason, have never gotten round to it. When my guitar teacher told me at the end of one of my lessons 'We'll do King Crimson : Red,' next week, I was surprised and finally relieved to have no excuse NOT to buy their albums! I checked out the title track online, loved it, and ordered this album straight away, and here it is!This is very much a guitar driven album, but a very unusual one at that. Robert Fripp is undeniably a true master of the guitar - as is showcased in the excellent instrumental title track that gets this album going. Very proggy : unusual time signatures, Diminished Scales and weird chords provide for a very unusual, different and refreshing listen - but for the guitarists out there - it's actually surprisingly easy to play!The overall sound is very much 70's prog rock, but also with a few elements of would then be labelled 'Metal' - the harsh, buzz-saw main riff of the title track for example, but pigeon-holes, genres and comparisons are ultimately useless here, and there is a lot of different styles of music covered here.Whilst fleeting and seemingly second to the instruments there ARE vocals here, which, if you haven't heard them before, sound a little like post-Syd Barrett Pink Floyd e.g. 'Fallen Angel.'This album is not for dumbed down pop fans, King Crimson are way too intelligent musically for anyone thinking Lil Wayne or Taylor Swift is a musical genius! But if you love music, especially of the guitar-driven variety, this is an essential purchase. Don't expect to 'get it' straight away - it may take a few listens. Personally, I found it to be a much needed breath of fresh air and has reinvigorated my love for the guitar.