Reviews in Brief: Red, Until We Have Faces

It's taken me a few months to get a handle on Red's third CD, Until We Have Faces. My first take was that it just didn't have the punch of Innocence and Instinct or End of Silence. I finally connected, though, and although I think I was right, it's not as severe as I had at first thought.

There are some really strong songs here -- "Lie to Me," "Let It Burn," and "Who We Are" are the ones that stand out the most in my mind, and the final cut, "Hymn For the Missing," could have been a real killer -- a strong, poignant ballad that always makes me tear up a little.

A lot of these songs could be very political in the right context, and I'm not going to say that wasn't the intent. "Let it Burn" and "Who We Are," in particular, are potentially very political songs. "Lie to Me," on the other hand, is a strong, somewhat bitter breaking up song, at least that's my reading. There are also several that, not surprisingly, fit into the band's Christian rock profile.

The problem is the arrangements. They tend to run a little bit over the top in some cases: "Let It Burn," which is a really tough song, peters off into an extended instrumental section that really adds nothing. "Hymn For the Missing" is even more extreme: the extended instrumental coda goes off in a completely different direction and completely destroys the power of the song. Happily, "Who We Are" (which could very easily become an anthem for the gay civil rights movement), doesn't peter off, although there's a mercifully short screaming session in the middle, just before the too brief reprise.

I don't know whose bright idea it was to print the notes and lyrics in orange on dark red, but it wasn't a good idea at all.

It's desperately flawed, but it's become my replay album of the past couple of weeks, because the songs are basically that tough and that good. Take that for what it's worth.

From Provident Label Group (Sony Music Entertainment).