Red

The opening track of Red was composed solely by Fripp. The composer Andrew Keeling called it one of his more muscular pieces. Fripp wrote in an online diary in 2012 that a motif moved over from an unfinished piece called Blue, and that the driving figure and the bass-played middle section were not enough for a complete piece. When it was recorded, Bruford said he did not get it but trusted Fripp, and Wetton had no doubt: they would use it. An unused variation on its middle section later turned up in rehearsals for Three of a Perfect Pair and then in VROOOM VROOOM on Thrak.

Pitchfork's Sam Sodomsky noted its use of the tritone and quoted Bruford's phrase for the band's "thick, intelligent Metal kind of sound". It was one of the few 1970s songs the 1981 lineup kept, and Tony Levin won his place in that band by playing a single chorus of it. The track did not receive a live premiere until 1981. PopMatters ranked it the twentieth best progressive rock song, and Rolling Stone placed it at 87 in its list of the 100 greatest guitar songs.