well as the standalone releases of their respective concerts. The lyrics went through several iterations, with one early verse later included by Wetton in "Caesar's Palace Blues", a song he would perform with U.K. Since the title "Starless and Bible Black" was already used for an improvisation on the group's previous album, the song's title was shortened to "Starless". On Red, "Starless" is credited to the quartet, as well as lyricist Richard Palmer-James. Packaging During the mixing stage, ideas for the album's title and artwork were discussed. The needles on the VU meters on the studio's mixing desk were observed to be "bouncing and crashing sharply into the red". For Wetton, this symbolised where the direction of the band's music was heading and, for a while, was to influence the front cover of Red. However, EG had the album's marketing potential in mind, and suggested a group photograph was easier to sell, particularly for the American market. EG director Mark Fenwick pitched to hire John Kosh, who subsequently commissioned Gered Mankowitz to produce photographs of the VU meters and the group, but the difficult group relations at the time led to the decision to photograph each member alone and form a composite to appear as if they are standing together. The severe shadowing has drawn comparisons to the front of With the Beatles (1963). Fripp recalled: "I loathed the session and was ill at ease with all of it." The lyrics to the three songs on the album were not originally included as part of the packaging for the album, unlike all previous Crimson studio albums, which had lyrics printed either on the inside of the gatefold covers or on the custom inner sleeves. The first printing of the lyrics would occur 26 years after the album's initial release, on the 30th anniversary edition released in 2000. Release and reception Released in October 1974, Red spent only one week on the British charts, at No. 45, whereas all the band's previous studio albums had reached the top 30. In the United States, it reached No. 66 on the Billboard 200. However, it remained a popular album with fans and critics. At the time of release, Sounds reporter Steve Peacock believed the group's disbanding was merely a marketing ploy to boost album sales. Retrospective reviews were resoundingly positive. In theirs, AllMusic declared Red to be weaker than its two predecessors, but