“Robert’s phrase about how playing with Bill and John was having a flying brick wall coming at you really describes how they were”. Jakko Jakszyk describing the sounds of King Crimson’s Red to Sid Smith in issue 150 from PROG Magazine, speaks volume. You have the chemistry that no doubtfully was like waiting for this massive explosion to hit at any second, at the right time, at the right place.
When you go back and listen to their seventh studio album which was originally released on Chris Blackwell’s label Island Records in October of 1974, there’s something special coming back to this album as not only it was the last album to feature the line-up considering Robert Fripp, John Wetton, and Bill Bruford (before he teamed up with Fripp again for the Discipline-era in 1981), it was also the end of an era.
While I never got the chance to see King Crimson live, going back and listening to Red again when I bought this album back when I was in High School in my Junior year at Virgin Megastores in New Orleans, this was like as I’ve mentioned, a cannon blast waiting to explode and put down the so-called Nu Metal scene by giving them, the massive giant middle finger which it badly needed.
That and this 2-CD / 2 Blu-Ray release consists of the new 2024 stereo mixes and Dolby Atmos mix by Steven Wilson who had done a remix of this album back in 2013 when he was still doing the new mixes for the catalog since 2009, followed by elemental mixes done by David Singleton, followed by the blu-ray releases of concerts which also includes the 1975 live album USA, recorded at two venues between June 28th and 30th of 1974 at the Casino Arena in Asbury Park, New Jersey and the Palace Theatre in Providence, Rhode Island.
Going back and re-visiting Red, was like going through an old scrapbook, collecting dust, blowing it off, reflecting the memories of what was in that time frame for me. This wasn’t just a magnificent album; this was futuristic tribal rock at its finest. Why do you think bands and artists like Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, The Mars Volta, and Tool championed this album? Not to mention ‘Starless’ being played in the opening titles of the 2018 horror flick Mandy starring Nicolas Cage?
It’s the heaviness, the sinister forces, the beauty, the ominous terror, and the magnificent brutal awakening that Crimson brings to the table. And if you think they’re going to sing a song about elves and dungeons and dragons, think again. The live recording of ‘Providence’ where Cross lays down his mighty hammer by going into this twisted avant-garde yet futuristic punch with a little nod to the Soft Machine’s Third section in which Fripp and Bruford honour the Canterbury legends.
Insane? Oh, hell yeah, you need to get a little crazy and, in your face, when it comes to, the music that is brought before you. Starting the countdown from Bruford in the elemental mix of the title-track, it’s almost a work-in-progress between the trio creating this metallic powder-keg. Fuzz-tone bass, growling guitar textures, and mind-blowing drum work. Fripp is the mad scientist behind this album, and you to get more creative, more intense, and give the fierce attitude that is needed. Because if you don’t, Fripp will transform himself into this menacing beast, eating shitloads of human flesh, and become, in the words of the late, great George Carlin, a wolverine whose high on angel dust!
Singleton adds in the blended takes for re-imagined version of this piece. You can hear Wetton going bat-shit crazy on his bass, keeping an eye on Robert to see where he wants the duo to come in the crawling section that’s waiting to happen. Followed by cello work that keeps in time for Fripp’s morse code, the band come back into forefront, reigning in the terror that awaits its listener.
There are also the basic takes of the closing track ‘Starless’ which you can hear the Mellotron, Saxophones, Cornet, and a Guitar Solo in five tracks I believe. Singleton really captures the work-in-progress on what was to become a fan favourite among Crimheads. The cornet and guitar solo which is featured on the second disc, is almost like an extended version of the 23-minute epic ‘Lizard’ that brings to mind as if Robert had revisited the piece back in 1970 and bring it to a standstill.
When you hear Mark Charig going into this Miles Davis-like approach on the cornet, you could tell that he’s following Robert in hot pursuit as if he’s in the NASCAR race, going at 800 miles per hour. It is that goddamn good! On ‘One More Red Nightmare’ you can hear someone grunting to the music in the elemental version, which I never heard of, but that caught me off-guard when I heard that. But it’s the alarming section of Fripp’s fretwork after John sings the line “One More Red Nightmare!” like a volcanic eruption, waiting to explode at any second.
Fripp is all over on this track. Playing the riffs, wah-wah improvisation, incredible improvisation before heading back into the main course by bringing it to an end. The laid-back turned deadly arrangements behind ‘Fallen Angel’, makes your skin crawl. Charig goes off into the night playing his cornet in a howling moon as the band lead the path to see the bright white circle in its true glory.
Whether you get King Crimson or you don’t, this was a band that was way ahead of their time, and never backing down without a fight. If you are very new to the world of Crimson’s music, then Red is the introduction to get you on this magic carpet ride that Robert himself has endured listeners, the roller-coaster ride they’ll never forget.
