Essential Records' two time GRAMMY-nominated hard rock outfit RED packs a potent sonic punch on its third project, Until We Have Faces, a record that leaps out of the speakers with a ferocity and complexity reflecting the band's growth and intensity.
From the opening seconds of "Feed The Machine" through the final, contemplative moments of "Hymn For The Missing," the four-man unit of vocalist Michael Barnes, guitarist Anthony Armstrong, bassist Randy Armstrong and drummer Joe Rickard shows both maturity and abandon can coexist within the various dimensions of rock RED inhabits.
The new album's overarching theme is a search for true identity, inspired by a number of sources, including author C.S. Lewis' book of similar title, Till We Have Faces. The band itself is working through its own new identity - as a four-piece with the addition of drummer Rickard.
Until We Have Faces takes listeners down the path of recognizing the hollowness of life until finding their true identity (revealed on "Faceless"), the idea of creative destruction unveiled in the midst of new life (found on "Let It Burn"), and simultaneously presenting the positive energy found even "in a world so cold" (explored on the infectious, melodic ballad "Not Alone").
Paired again with award-winning producer Rob Graves, Until We Have Faces features RED in its most musically intense place to date - "a combination of our first two records, but on steroids," Michael Barnes notes - daring both RED and its fans to catapult into new rock territories.
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Until We Have Faces| Posted February 04, 2011
"Until We Have Faces" is a fantastic third album from the band "RED." That being said, it's the weakest of the three. It has plenty of hard rock songs and "Hymn for the Missing" keeps with their trend of making the last song on the album a slower one, but the album as a whole doesn't provide the "umph" factor that I&I and EoS do. It's still a fantastic album, but not as good as it could've been.
My Face is RED| Posted February 04, 2011
Red's third CD,"Until We Have Faces" came out this week.I have heard it 3 times amd love it !!
It has a great mix of solid rock as well as good
ballads."Feed the Machine" is a great song to open up the Cd.My favorite songs are "Lie to Me",
"Let it Burn","Buried Beneath" and "Watch You Crawl"."Not Alone" and "Best is Yet to Come"
are excellent ballads.This isby far Red's best CD
to date.This CD should establish Red as one of the best Christian rock bands out there today.
PS I look forward to hearing Red during the Super Bowl this Sunday on NRT.
R3D: Untill WE Have Faces. Cannot wait to get it!!!! =D| Posted February 04, 2011
I loved it!! I cannot wait to get it!! Very cool!! I really enjoyed it!!! R3D did a wonderful job!!!!
BTW R3D is going to musical guest on Conan F3B: 8th @ 11:00 PM. =)
Good job| Posted February 03, 2011
I heard the album preview. The songs are nice. I think its little fast for me. I generally like to hear slow beats. Though this is fast I think RED has done a good job in this album.
Red Doesn't Need Faces; They're Already Excellent| Posted February 03, 2011
The wait is over at last. One of the most anticipated albums I've seen in a while is here. And it's already #1 on the iTunes charts. This obviously means you're looking at a band who's going to be popular for a Christian band, up there with the likes of P.O.D., Switchfoot, and Flyleaf.
So Red has released their third album, and we didn't even have to wait *that* long for it (although I'll bet it felt differently to all the Redheads out there like myself). And this is the question: What do you get when you combine Red's first two albums, but "on steroids," as the band itself put it? Well, the answer is probably not what you think.
If you combine Red's first two albums together, you'd probably think a bunch of crushing hard rock, with a few ballads, although no more than the amount in Innocence & Instinct. You'd be surprised. There's more ballads on here than Innocence & Instinct, which could easily scare one that they're going soft just like other hard rock bands.
But there's an air of heaviness on here as well. The opener, "Feed the Machine," is very aggressive and easily the heaviest thing they've ever done. "Faceless" continues this energy, although it's less heavier. This could certainly be a major hit for some people, even if it's not my favorite.
"Lie to Me (Denial)" continues the energy on (as well as having great lyrics), although it introduces a new feel to the album: it's epic. This remains through much of the rest of this album, and goes right onto into the first ballad (and possibly my favorite track), "Let It Burn." The female voice adds to the power that this song has. "Buried Beneath" and "Not Alone" continue the trend of ballads. The former is the only track that doesn't work very well on this album, and even then it's not a "skip button" track. The latter is another favorite for me, with it being epic, and having more great lyrics.
"Watch You Crawl" returns to the energy of the first three songs with an excellent guitar intro, but other than that guitar, it's surprisingly slow. "The Outside" and "Who We Are" are ones that truly return to the heaviness of the first three tracks. The former is probably the 2nd heaviest song, and while the chorus is slightly mellow, that is made up for by the insane guitar riffs and the excellent growly bridge. The former works as another great anthem akin to that of "Faceless" and "Not Alone," thus making it another likely favorite for many.
The next to last track, "Best Is Yet to Come," certainly has that epic feel to it, and while it remains a minor highlight, it's certainly got some excellent lyrics. "Hymn for the Missing" is an excellent closer, having more power than almost any other track on the album. The female voice heard on "Let It Burn" returns for this close. It's not really a song to return to over and over again like "Feed the Machine," "Let It Burn," or "The Outside," but it works brilliantly as a closer.
Reception to this album could easily get a bit mixed. Fans of End of Silence could feel cheated when they hear "Feed the Machine" and yet only "Faceless," "The Outside," and a couple others really rock like heck. Yet people who listen to pop or basic rock more often may find more stuff to like about this band than they did before. Other people (like myself) who are able to leave room for some change will have this one in their ears for months.
I admit that when I first heard Innocence & Instinct, I was kind of surprised by the amount of ballads, and I didn't think it was good as End of Silence. But eventually it grew on me, and I found it better than EOS. I still hoped they wouldn't go soft, and I still do. But after hearing this album I realize that no matter what Red does, they'll still be awesome. It seems like these guys can do absolutely no wrong. Apart from the acoustic counterpart from "Already Over," I have never heard a song from this band that I disliked. True, some aren't as good as others, but they are still worth listening to.
This album and the band itself is truly one of, if not the best Christian hard rock band currently playing. And they are still a force to be reckoned with in all genres in my opinion. This is the best CD from Red to date, and I doubt that it could not go down in a hopefully long career for them as one of their best CDs.
Another smashing album by RED!| Posted February 03, 2011
I have loved Red's first two albums tremendously because of their catchy, gut-wrenching, deep sound. Until We have Faces is no different, better in fact. Their lyrics are intense and deal with things everyone struggles with, yet also offer hope.
I absolutely love the way Michael sings; his voice is so captivating.
I also love the way they can mix hard rock with soft violins and piano, giving it a classical/rock mix.
This is simply another smashing album by a great band that know how to make music.
Red's "Until We Have Faces"| Posted February 02, 2011
With each release, Red has always delivered a unique, strong sounding album which always qualifies for fist-pumping, heart-pounding, and thought-provoking behavior. Until We Have Faces is no different. Focused on bringing a deeper and heavier album to the table, Red does so without a question. This is most clearly seen in their tracks "Feed The Machine" and "Faceless", their first two singles from this album.
But not only does Red bring adrenaline pumping tracks to the table, but the soft, intimate and slightly eerie "Hymn for the Missing" brings back the strings/piano sound similar to "Take it all Away" on their last album, Innocence and Instinct.
My only issue with the album is I feel like I haven't had enough by the time it ends, which honestly, isn't really an issue at all... just proof of my obvious addiction to this CD.
This album is a MUST buy as it not only shows how far Red has come as a band since their debut album, but that they have much more to offer in the years to come.
Excellent Album!| Posted February 02, 2011
I pre-ordered Until We Have Faces, and I am not in the least bit disappointed with my purchase.
The album is a little bit shorter than I expected, but what it lacks in quantity, it definitely makes up for in quality.
While not as heavy as I was initially expecting, I would say that this is their heaviest album to date.
The lyrics are incredibly power packed, not just words chosen because they help the verses rhyme.
Overall, RED definitely continues to excel in their musical abilities. I would highly recommend this album (and both their previous ones too!).
5/5
5/5| Posted February 02, 2011
Red returns with a new album that shows off how much they have grown musically since their debut 5 years ago. As always, this album has a concept just like the other ones. This time they tackle the theme of finding identity. Using the motif of faces, the band tells us through 11 tracks that we do not need to conform to what the world tells us to do, and you should just live life to the fullest your own way. It's this great message, as well as the other messages in their previous albums, that makes Red one of my favorite bands. Musically, it's Red. Epic strings mixed with brutal guitars and drums. The band seemed to find their groove on their last album and have tweaked it ever so slightly for this album to make it sound amazing. There are so many great anthem songs to be found on here like "Faceless" and "Who We Are." The ballads also feel genuinely special and really serve to emphasize the overall message that the band is talking about. Until We Have Faces is a great album through and through and is already an early front-runner for album of the year.
SIDENOTE: The cover art kind of reminds me of Pink Floyd's The Wall.
Back in RED.| Posted February 02, 2011
So, I am very excited to be writing a review for RED's new album as I was just a couple days ago listening to their last album wondering when they would be putting a new album out, and Vua-la! Here it is, so without further-adu, here's my review.
Listening through for the first time, I have disapointments, and excitements. My disapointment comes from my own personal musicianship, meaning nothing seems to stand out as overly talented, or extremely different from their last album. Most of the intros to the songs sound the same as on Innocence and instinct; werbly sound effects, electric drum beats, crashing into heavy guitar driven grooves, (sadly most of the songs start that way).
My excitement comes from hearing how Mr. Micheal Barnes used some unique and interesting vocal melodies on the tracks and coupled them with good harmonies, as well as the variety between the songs, which range from heavy rock, to slow ballad type songs. As always, Barnes conveys much emotion through his voice which helps the listener to connect with the music. I was also happy to hear RED utilizing new elements to their music, from simple "OH oh"s, to overlapping vocal parts, to female vocal improve, they seem to have stepped up the elements within the music.
I have a near bittersweet feeling about the album, in that I was hoping for some faster tunes that can get your heart thumping, and while they did have a couple slightly faster tempo tunes, they were not fast or near fast. They were still rather straight heavy rock. For me it was a disapointement, however for heavy rock-go-ers, it may be just the ticket.
I have not focused very much on the lyrics this time through, but from what I have caught they are rather connective to how I imagine most people feel at times, and may be just what people need to hear to know they aren't alone in feeling that way, I imagine there is more meat to them than that, but that's what I picked up from one run through of the album. :] Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this review and that it helps you decide about whether to purchase this alubm or not.
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