King Crimson’s seventh studio album Red arrived in October 1974, just eight months after its predecessor Starless and Bible Black and two weeks after the band's unexpected dissolution. The ensuing seven year hiatus did not mark the definitive end of King Crimson, as many fans at the time no doubt feared, but rather the conclusion of just one chapter in the art rock juggernaut's complex decades-long history.
Fans typically divide King Crimson’s storied career (the band recorded thirteen studio albums between 1969 and 2003) into several distinct periods, each headlined by a new frontman and change in musical direction. March 1973's Larks Tongues In Aspic fell on the eve of one such stylistic reinvention, as it saw founder and guitarist Robert Fripp joined by an entirely new cast of incredible musicians: singing bassist John Wetton, former Yes drummer Bill Bruford, percussionist Jamie Muir, and keyboardist/violinist David Cross.
Recorded at London’s famous Olympic Studios between July and August 1974, Red marks the culmination of the musical journey that began just two years prior with Larks. By this point, both Muir and Cross were no longer part of the band–reducing King Crimson to a ‘power trio’ of just Wetton, Bruford, and Fripp. Red features some of the heaviest music in the band's catalog, characterized by the vicious combination of Fripp’s crunchy electric guitar, Wetton’s growling bass, and Bruford’s ferocious drumming.
The history of King Crimson reissues is almost as convoluted as that of the band itself, given that Robert Fripp’s label DGM have re-released Red and the rest of the catalog in a variety of different physical formats over the years. For the 30th anniversary edition released in 2000, the original stereo mix was remastered by Fripp and Simon Heyworth (that same mastering appears in the new four-disc deluxe edition).
Then, in 2009, King Crimson’s 40th anniversary reissue series began with the release of new CD/DVD-Audio editions of the band’s classic debut album In The Court of the Crimson King (1969), 1970’s Lizard, and Red–all of which featured new 48-khz/24-bit 5.1 surround sound mixes created from the original multitrack tapes by Steven Wilson. Though Wilson had already earned a Grammy nomination for the 5.1 mix of his band Porcupine Tree’s album Fear of a Blank Planet (2007), this marked the first occasion that he’d been asked to create a multichannel mix of vintage material for another artist.
In the liner notes of the 2009 CD/DVD-A edition, Wilson elaborated on his approach to remixing Red in 5.1 surround sound.
“What I hear on Red is the best representation of the 72-74 era line-up in the studio. They seem to have finally realized how to get most of that live energy on tape. In effect this is a power trio record whose sound is just huge. Often it’s just a single guitar but the thing is, the bass almost has the role of second guitar because it’s got so much fuzz on it and it plays in a high register a lot of the time. I moved the drums and the bass a little more out into the room–tending to put Robert more at the back–so you get this idea of standing in the middle of these three musicians.”
Now, to celebrate the album’s 50th anniversary in 2024, Wilson has revisited the original session recordings in order to craft a Dolby Atmos mix. As part of his well-documented spatial mixing process, he’s also created brand-new stereo and 5.1 versions from 96-khz/24-bit digital transfers of the original multitrack tapes. This is the third King Crimson reissue to contain to Dolby Atmos audio, following 2020's The Complete 1969 Recordings box set and last year’s Larks four-disc deluxe edition.
As with the Larks 50th anniversary release, I think the new 2024 5.1 mix of Red marks a significant improvement over the previous edition. Sonically, this has to be the clearest version of the album that I’ve heard to date. There seems to be a lot more headroom–I had to lower the 2009 mix around 5 dB to achieve a rough level match–and the most abrasive passages, like the furious ending to “Starless,” aren’t nearly as fatiguing at higher volume.
The first 5.1 mix often felt a bit like a ‘70s-era quadraphonic presentation, with extreme channel separation and a lot of the lead instruments panned completely behind the listener’s head. The new surround mix–while certainly not shy in its deployment of the rear speakers–might seem a bit less adventurous at first, but I found the updated presentation more cohesive and ultimately more satisfying.
“The King Crimson series was my first attempt at rebuilding classic albums from the analog tape transfers, and I learned a lot from the experience. So for all the Crimson stuff, I’m rebuilding those sessions from scratch with the higher-resolution files, using completely different technology, and perhaps bringing a different more-experienced ear to how I approach them now. One thing I’m doing with Crimson is being more faithful to the original mixes than I was the first time around, taking care of reproducing more of the finer details.”
Steven Wilson, 2024
In the original 1974 mix, Fripp’s heavily-distorted double-tracked guitars throughout songs like “One More Red Nightmare” and the title track were hard-panned on either side of the stereo spectrum. For the 2009 5.1 mix, Wilson essentially turned this arrangement on its side–so one guitar is placed directly in front of the listener (either in the ‘phantom’ front center or the center speaker) and the other is suspended between the rear channels. Similarly, all the sax and horn parts in “Fallen Angel” were placed directly behind the listener.
The guitars centered in front and back makes for an interesting effect, but it’s not quite as impactful as the original side-to-side ‘wall of sound’ approach. Some of Wilson's earlier 5.1 remixes of the Yes catalog have previously hard-panned elements centered as well (like Steve Howe's lead guitar at the beginning of "Yours Is No Disgrace") and it’s similarly jarring, as the wide stereo separation was a hallmark of those old records. The 2024 mixes generally seem to stick more closely to the original template, with all the old panning moves restored.
Some aspects of the two 5.1 mixes are quite similar–for instance, the intro to “Fallen Angel” swirls clockwise around-the-room in both versions–while other passages have been rearranged spatially in a completely different manner. One such example is in “One More Red Nightmare”–the handclaps that were previously blended in upfront with the drum kit have now been separated out into the rear speakers. Similarly, the percussion during the middle section of “Starless” that used to be isolated in the center channel now hovers between the front right and rear right speakers.
Perhaps the biggest difference lies in the way the center channel has been utilized. The 2009 mix featured not only Wetton’s vocals in the center, but a variety of additional sounds including lead guitar, sax, and percussion. In the 2024 mix, it’s used almost exclusively for vocals. Additionally, some elements that were missing entirely from the 2009 mix–like the acoustic guitar part during the verses of “Fallen Angel” and Wetton’s double-tracked vocals in “Starless–have been restored in the 2024 edition.
The most exciting aspect of this new release would have to be the Dolby Atmos mix, which will certainly become my go-to version of this album from now on. The Atmos mix builds upon the strong foundation of the new 5.1, spreading the instrumentation onto an even larger canvas to absolutely stunning effect. The height speakers are active participants throughout the album, spotlighting key musical elements such as Robert Fripp’s guitar, David Cross’ violin, and Ian McDonald’s alto saxophone.
For the title track, Fripp’s double-tracked rhythm guitars have been pulled from the front stage out into the side surrounds. His lead guitar starts in the rear, then jumps up to the rear heights and finally the front heights. Cross’ violin takes the rear, with the staccato guitar part wildly roving around the height array.
John Wetton’s voice protrudes from the center speaker out into the side surrounds for “Fallen Angel,” while Robin Miller’s oboe appears anchored mostly in the side right speaker. Fripp’s acoustic guitar takes up residence in the rear left speaker. When the power cuts in at around the two-minute mark, distorted electric guitars fill up the side channels and Mark Charig’s cornet floats overhead from the front heights.
The double-tracked guitars again blast from the side surrounds in “One More Red Nightmare,” with Bruford’s drums and Wetton’s bass seemingly woven into all seven speakers at ear-level. The handclaps bounce around the height array to very fun effect, while the sax solo at around three minutes in extends from the center speaker up into the front heights. A third higher-pitched guitar part appears centered in the rear surrounds, directly behind the listener’s head.
“Providence,” an extended live improvisation drawn from King Crimson’s final US tour, sees the band at their most avant-garde and experimental. David Cross’ violin takes the rear speakers, with Fripp’s guitar in the center channel and percussion from Bruford in the front heights. As the performance builds in intensity, a second guitar part later appears in the side left speaker.
Mellotron fades in from the rear for “Starless,” with lead guitar mostly in the front height speakers. Ian McDonald’s alto sax appears firmly rooted in the side right speaker, while Wetton’s double-tracked vocals (“starless and…bible black”) emanate from the rear height channels. There's an especially fun moment at around the nine-minute mark, just before the sax solo, where the guitars rapidly swirl all around and above the listener.
Overall, these 50th anniversary King Crimson reissues continue to impress. Arguably the one missing component that keeps the set from being labeled as truly definitive is the 2009 remix, which has been essentially rendered obsolete by the new 2024 version. Plus, the 2009 release did contain three bonus tracks in surround sound–a trio recording of "Fallen Angel" with no overdubs, the full 10-minute uncut version of "Providence," and a live improvisation called "A Voyage to the Centre of the Cosmos"–that aren't included here.
This may be a difficult purchase to justify for fans who already own the 30th and 40th anniversary editions (or 2013's massive The Road to Red box set), but I’d argue that it's the ultimate Red reissue and the only one you need for your collection. It’ll be interesting to how much more of the band's vast discography ends up being revisited by Wilson in Dolby Atmos over the coming years, as it looks like In The Wake Of Poseidon and Lizard are already scheduled to receive similar 2CD/2Blu-Ray “Complete Recordings” 50th anniversary editions with new remixes.
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