Retrospective reviews were resoundingly positive. In theirs, AllMusic declared "Red" to be weaker than its two predecessors, but nonetheless a superlative work: "few intact groups could have gotten an album as good as "Red" together. The fact that it was put together by a band in its death throes makes it all the more impressive an achievement." Robert Christgau also applauded the album, having been generally critical of the group's past work, calling it "Grand, powerful, grating, and surprisingly lyrical" and commenting that "this does for classical-rock fusion what John McLaughlin's "Devotion" did for jazz-rock fusion." "Classic Rock" reviewer considered "Red" "a walk down a lightless corridor and an unhappy and ferocious counterbalance to the frolics of King Crimson's beginnings", and described it as "dark, brooding and laden with heavily distorted sections and a decidedly melancholic vibe".