Red – Until We Have Faces (2011)
I must admit, I have had mixed feelings about the band Red over the years. I did like the band’s debut, End of Silence, but I was not very fond of their follow up effort, Innocence and Instinct. I didn’t have any expectations for their latest opus, Until We Have Faces, but I was hoping it would be better then their last disc.
Red often gets lumped into every music genre you can think of including: Christian Rock, hard rock, alternative, metal and more. The music on Until We Have Faces is a marriage of all of those styles, and because of that, Red has turned in a pretty diverse album.
If you are looking for a super heavy album, Until We Have Faces is not going to be your cup of tea. There are some heavy numbers on the CD, including “Feed The Machine”, and “Faceless” but there just isn’t enough of them. “Feed The Machine”, the album’s opening song, took me by surprise. This is one of the heaviest songs Red has recorded, and easily one of the coolest.
The place where Red truly excels on this CD are with the mid tempo rockers. The songs, “Lie To Me (Denial), “Watch You Crawl”, “The Outside”, and “Who We Are” are easily my favorites on the album. “Watch You Crawl”and has a strong modern vibe with some cool Disturbed like moments in the music. “The Outside” may have the biggest potential for radio airplay on rock radio stations.
In my opinion, there are far too many slower numbers on Until We Have Faces. I think this album could have been much better with some additional harder tunes. Red has never been the hardest band in the world, so the balance will definitely please a lot of their fans.
Until We Have Faces ends with a very melancholy sounding ballad, “Hymm For the Missing”. While I enjoyed this song, it thought this CD would have been stronger if it closed with a rocking number.
While Red’s sound may not be completely original, Michael Barnes always delivers with a great vocal performance, and it is his voice that will keep bringing me back to this CD. Until We Have Faces isn’t perfect, but I have enjoyed most of it. I think Red has delivered another solid album that their fans are certainly going to enjoy.
Rating: 
Out of 10
Track Listing:
1. Feed The Machine
2. Faceless
3. Lie To Me (Denial)
4. Let It Burn
5. Buried Beneath
6. Not Alone
7. Watch You Crawl
8. The Outside
9. Who We Are
10. Best Is Yet To Come
11. Hymn For The Missing
Red is:
Michael Barnes – lead vocals
Anthony Armstrong – lead guitar, backing vocals
Randy Armstrong – bass, piano, backing vocals
Joe Rickard – drums, percussion
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I’m thinking you need to let HRHchick borrow this 🙂