Innocence & Instinct follows the theme of inner conflict, of fighting the war that goes on inside all people. The war of right and wrong, good and bad, of making the right decision or following our base nature. The album is deep and intense, flowing between a quiet tension to an aggressive onslaught of sound. Red pulls it off by pairing the hard edges with a background of strings (which you’ll remember from their first album). It works on every level and is a further play on the conflict theme. The album goes through lots of high and lows, building up to an almost raw rage at times and then dropping into moody orchestral melodies. The overall feeling of the album is a desperate intensity.

I’m having a hard time picking a favorite song, I really like them all. But I especially like Ordinary World , a Duran Duran cover. They do a great job with it and their arrangement fits nicely into the emotional feel of the rest of the album. I must confess to being a Duran Duran fan back in the 80’s. I also like Fight Inside and Death of Me. Fight Inside has a bit of a Linkin Park feel to it. Death of Me really showcases their use of the strings in the song.

The album climaxes at the end with Take It All Away

1 Comment

1. Thursday Thoughts | Circle 37 on June 23rd, 2009

   [...] other thoughts, I really can’t get enough of the new Red album! It’s dominated my playlist lately. It’s also a great album to run by. Anyone else like [...]

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