In an interview with Guitar.com, King Crimson's Robert Fripp sheds light on the creation of their iconic 1974 album, Red.

Contrary to popular belief, the process was not a seamless endeavor but rather one marked by exposure and discomfort.

Fripp attributes this raw edge to the band's unconventional approach at the time - an open-ended, uncertain style that while difficult, contributed to the album's enduring impact.

'The strength of Red is that the power is in the music,' Fripp asserts.

He further explains that this freedom created tension due to its unpredictability: 'If someone comes in with a well-written piece of music and says, “Let’s play this”, then it's relatively safe and straightforward.

But the problem is, when you know what you’re doing, if you know where you’re going, you might get there, and that’s not an interesting place to be.' Time has softened Fripp's perspective on the backlash Red faced upon release.

He even jokes about choosing a less tumultuous profession: 'I would’ve stayed as an estate agent in Wimborne, Dorset, if I had known the grief that was coming my way.

I would have stayed in real estate!' Fripp encapsulates the album's divisive reception in a way many bands with polarizing records can relate to: 'My approach has been, if you read your press, you read all of it.

And if you read all my press, there have been — by and large — as many people who hated it as who enjoyed it.'