King Crimson's 'Red - The 50th Anniversary Edition' Coming October 25

DGM and Panegyric are releasing the 50th anniversary edition of King Crimson's classic album Red. The double Blu-ray + double CD edition features completely new Dolby Atmos, 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Surround and stereo mixes by Steven Wilson. 

Red was one of the earliest mixes undertaken by Steven Wilson in 2009, as King Crimson was the first of a number of artists to be mixed by the Porcupine Tree leader. Its appropriate that he return, some 15 years later, to take the album into the Dolby Atmos era.

“What I hear on Red is the best representation of 72-74 era line-up in the studio," Wilson says. "In effect this is a power trio record and their sound is just huge." 

Red - The 50th Anniversary Edition features:

• Four-disc boxed set with 2 x Blu-ray & 2CDs

• Two Blu-rays featuring completely new mixes of the album in Dolby Atmos, 5.1 DTS-HD MA Surround, and Hi-Res stereo by Steven Wilson, New Elemental Mixes in Hi-Res stereo by David Singleton, a number of extra tracks drawn from the existing sessions reels mixed by David Singleton, all three mixes of the live album USA in Hi-Res Stereo, five audio restored bootleg concert recordings from the 1974 US tour making their debut on disc & the audio restored bootleg of the band’s final US show in Central Park NYC on July 1st, 1974

• Two CDs feature new stereo + instrumental mixes by Steven Wilson and new Elemental Mixes & a sequence of studio recordings detailing the making of ‘Starless’ mixed by David Singleton

• Two vinyl replica sleeves in a rigid slipcase with booklet including photos and new sleeve-notes by King Crimson Biographer Sid Smith

• Complete album’s worth of Elemental Mixes by long-time King Crimson producer (and band manager) David Singleton – using the original multi-track recordings to present a very different audio picture of the album, with greater separation of instruments & utilizing many recorded elements recorded for, but not included in, the original mixes.

As King Crimson biographer Sid Smith puts it in his new notes for the album: “David Singleton’s elemental mixes pull the veil aside on the original sessions and act as a kind of alternative account, a ‘Red’ that could have been, revealing the different passes and takes that the band undertook as well as those Collins, Charig and McDonald as they engaged with the material.”

Red was recorded immediately after King Crimson’s final US tour of 1974 and the anniversary edition reflects that by including all three Hi-Res stereo mixes of the live album USA in its full concert versions. Also included are a quintet of audio restored bootlegs being issued on disc for the first time, alongside a bootleg of the band’s final US concert in New York in 1974, which Robert Fripp claimed was “the first gig since the 1969 Crimson where the bottom of my spine registered ‘out of this world’ to the same degree.”

In the decades since its release, Red has gone from being an album that was, upon release, under-promoted – as the band had already split up, to being one of the most lauded albums of its era and (after In The Court of the Crimson King), King Crimson’s biggest selling album. 

By the time King Crimson entered the studio in July 74, the band had spent the best part of two years on the road, recorded two albums along the way (“Larks’ Tongues In Aspic” and “Starless And Bible Black”) and shed two band members en route; percussionist Jamie Muir having quit early 1973, and violin/mellotron player David Cross at the end of the US tour just a week prior to the recording of Red.

Crimson had built a reputation as one of the tightest, most powerful bands on the rock circuit. Recording as a trio in Olympic studios in London, with one improv piece (Providence) drawn from that final US tour and with contributions from former members & friends on saxophones, violin, and oboe, the group produced the last Crimson studio album of the 70s and one of the decade’s masterpieces – Red.

Red emerged as a distillation of everything Crimson had been working towards live and in the studio between 72 and 74. In the half century since its release it has built an enviable, enduring reputation among fans and professional musicians alike – with bands from each succeeding decade citing it as an important influence.

Pre-order Red - The 50th Anniversary Edition Double Double CD/Blu-ray and Double LP

For more information, visit dgmlive.com.