Red - Until We Have Faces (Review)

I've decided to start doing music reviews. Only for Christian rock though. For now at least. I might venture into other genres eventually, but I won't review secular music because I don't listen to it. If there are any albums you'd like me to review, let me know and I'll look into it.

My first review will be for the new album by RED, "Until We Have Faces". I don't really listen to Red previous to their latest album, but I like this album, so I'm going to review it.

Red is a Christian hard rock/metal band.

(For each song I'm giving a link to a youtube video so you can listen to the song. Note: the videos that contain lyrics may not have 100% accurate lyrics.)

Track #1 "Feed The Machine". As I first started listening to the song, I found myself a bit disturbed. The lyrics seemed to be a call to give in to sin and just "give up, give up and feed the machine". I was at the point of wondering why on earth a Christian band would release such a song when at the end, the lyrics changed from "give up, give up and feed the machine" to "wake up, wake up and kill the machine".

So, I think in the end, "Feed The Machine" was not about giving in to sin, but about how easy it is to give in to sin, but you need to still fight it.

Musically, "Feed The Machine" was very hard, probably the hardest on the album. Heavy guitar and drums and a good deal of screaming, but it fades at the end into something with softer music, something like you might expect to hear after the climax in a movie, so "Feed The Machine" had a somewhat dramatic affect.

Track #2. "Faceless". Not nearly as hard or dramatic as "Feed The Machine" but still pretty hard, and it had a good message, about how we we are nothing without God. A very solid song, and it's the one that got me interested in the album in the first place.

Track #3 is "Lie To Me (Denial)". This song is about as hard as "Faceless", but without any screaming. "Lie To Me" seems to be one of those songs that's meaning is best left to be interpreted by the listener. For me personally it hit a place rather close to home.

Track #4, "Let it Burn". Not as hard as "Lie To Me", but still a good solid rock song. The music is almost sad, but that goes with the lyrics.

"(How long) Can you stand the pain?
(How long) How long will you hide your face?
(How long) How long will you be afraid?
Are you afraid?"

Track #5, "Buried Beneath". The song seems to be taken from the perspective of someone who has been running from God for a long time and is now calling out for God to save him before he is "buried beneath". It's a good rock song, and pretty decent lyrics.

Track #6, "Not Alone" is the first slower song on the album. It builds nicely, and sounds kinda pretty. The song is taken from the perspective of God calling out to one of His children who is hurting inside and letting them know that they're never alone, He's always there.

Track #7, "Watch You Crawl". This song sounds good musically, nice hard rock, although the scream in the bridge gets on my nerves... It mostly sounds good though. My problem with this song is the lyrics. They can be interpreted in more ways than one, but the most glaring interpretation is very hateful and vengeful. And considering that Red is a Christian band, I was having a hard time believing that they'd write and release such a song. So I've analyzed the lyrics. One person said that they thought this song was taking the perspective of God getting His revenge on Satan or something, but that doesn't make much sense to me, as the lyrics seem to involve rising above someone or something oppressive and watching them/it "crawl". Finally, I came to a conclusion on what the song probably means. I think it might be about rising above your old sinful self and killing it. I don't know for sure though... I'd love the chance to ask Red themselves.

"The Outside" is track #8. This song like "Watch You Crawl" is pretty open to interpretation. To me, the song seems a bit angry. My interpretation of the lyrics depicts someone who has been used by another and is now basically saying "no more!". A pretty hard song, fairly good sound, I just wish it wasn't as angry sounding.

Track #9 "Who We Are". Another harder song. This one has some pretty prominent percussion. The percussion paired with the lyrics make this a song to really get pumped to. "Who We Are" seems to be about being ourselves and stepping out for God.

Track #10 "The Best is Yet to Come". Finally another softer song, but this one isn't exactly a ballad. The music is good and the lyrics optimistic. And having optimistic lyrics is nice, because most of the rest of the album seems a tad dark.

Track #11 "Hymn For The Missing". The final song on the album and this one really is a ballad, with piano being the most prominent instrument in the song. As the title leads you to believe, this is a sad and mysterious song. In spite of the sadness, it is oddly rather pretty.

Conclusion: Red has never been, and probably never will be one of my favorite bands, but they managed to release a pretty solid album this time. Vocals have improved for "Until We Have Faces", where they seemed to be lacking a bit in previous albums. The musical style is very good. I do however think that the lyrics for this album could have been better. I'd give "Until We Have Faces" a good three and a half stars. An album perhaps worth owning, but not the best out there.

Personal favorites: "Lie To Me (Denial)", "Let it Burn", "Best is Yet to Come", "Not Alone" and "Faceless".