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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Kriss Kross |
| 2. Big Dog |
| 3. Falling Out Of Reach |
| 4. Get Over It |
| 5. Clarion |
| 6. Last Kiss |
| 7. Cockateels |
| 8. Words |
| 9. Standing On The Last Star |
| 10. Don't Look Down |
| 11. Take Me Home |
| 12. Get Over It |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
It can be difficult to know how to condition yourself as a Guillemots fan. First there was Through the Windowpane, a great English pop record full of classy melodrama and widescreen elation, then there were the wilfully eccentric live shows, known to descend into mind-boggling bouts of freeform jazz bombast. And now there is Red, yet another altogether different dragon. You can talk about forcing a square where a circle should be, but this is more like teasing a dodecahedron through a drinking straw. And yet with slick feline agility they somehow wriggle through with little resistance. To get a measure of the differences, penultimate track "Don't Look Down" is one of a few that holds a torch for the first record, leading in with the keyboard twinkles and filmic slow pace, but implodes midway like a fully-laden milk float combusting, and comes out the other side like the Annie cast on helium set to a drum 'n' bass beat. Amazingly, it's as palatable as ever. But that's just for starters. "Kriss Kross" is the hitherto undiscovered melding point between 2Unlimited (of brief 90s techno infamy) and The New Radicals' chiming pop, "Big Dog" is bright lights arena R&B, robotic seduction with a Jacko scream at its heart, "Get over It" is glittery, steroid pumped modern glam and "Last Kiss" is Tubular Bells with distorted bass funnelled into a rave anthem. The whole album's a curveball, but the quality of the songs is undimming and maybe we just got a little closer to discovering what Guillemots quintessentially are. Or maybe not. --James Berry
Review
If there's one thing Guillemots can't be accused of, it's lack of ambition. Whilst contemporaries were busy aping Gang Of Four's art rock, their 2006 debut, Through The Windowpane, featured treated pianos, vaudevillian theatrics and an 11 minute closing track. Still, when your lead singer's called Fyfe Dangerfield, you can hardly be expected to sound like The Fratellis.
Red is no less ambitious than its predecessor, but this time Guillemots have one ear on the mainstream. Lead single Get Over It pulsates with keyboards and an infectious chorus, whilst Cockateels adds heavenly choirs and strings to the template of Annie, Let's Not Wait. Meanwhile Kriss Kross - with its stabbing strings, urgent rhythms and a chorus written for the stadiums - is one of best pop moments of this year.
Guillemots Achilles' heel, however, has always been their desire to be quirky. Too many times Red falls foul of overbearing, cluttered production, which renders Last Kiss and Clarion almost unlistenable. Meanwhile Fyfe's flirtation with r & b on Big Dog is dreadful and - it's fair to say - won't be giving Timberland sleepless nights. For all Red's musical bluster, there's nothing here as genuinely affecting as Redwings from their debut.
Red is a frustrating record; for every moment of brilliance you find yourself tearing your hair out at their deliberate obtuesness. Guillemots could be one of Britain's biggest bands, but until they exercise a little more musical self-control, these sea birds may struggle to fly to the heights they deserve. --Rowan Collinson
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Essentially flawed, but contains some great tracks,
By A. Sweeney "I don't care what you call me" (London, England) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Red (Audio CD)
Guillemots are a very talented bunch, there's no question about that, but finding a direction for their creativity is evidently a problem, because this album is all over the place. While some people may revel in the diversity of this release, I can't help feeling that it lacks coherence as a result. Everything is thrown in here - rock, disco, funk, ballads, drum 'n' bass, obligatory plinky-plonky sounds... they're on their second album and, unfortunately, almost descending into self-made cliché. If I'd have been sequencing the album, I'd have probably left the immense, menacing 'Kriss Kross' until the very last track because, as the opening song, it is so brilliant, everything else on the album pales in comparison.
Although there are quite a few really good tracks on this album (specifically, the rather gorgeous 'Falling Out Of Reach', the infuriatingly catchy 'Get Over It' , the drifting, expansive 'Words' and the lovely last track 'Take Me Home') there are also some very ordinary and unremarkable songs which bring the overall feel of 'Red' down somewhat and, given the ability of the group, you can be forgiven for feeling disappointed that they haven't followed 'Through The Window Pane' with something a little better than this. Indeed, there are still some songs on this album which I'm not sure are good or not - 'Cockateels', for example - and some where the eclectic arrangement destroys the potentially great song, such as 'Don't Look Down', which merely descends into a barely-listenable mess. Fyfe and the group are obviously having fun and producing some fun music, but there were moments on their debut which really took you somewhere different, almost other-worldly, emotionally, and 'Red', as accomplished as it may be, just doesn't do that. I'd say that it is just about worth buying for the handful of the better songs on this album and, especially, 'Kriss Kross'. That particular song has to be heard to be believed. I suppose that I just had higher expectations for this album and have had my hopes dashed a little. Don't worry, I'll get over it. A generous four stars for the album's undeniable highlights.
39 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Guillemots are back with a bang!,
By Eleanor A. H. "music mafioso" (england) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Red (Audio CD)
i was lucky enough to hear a promo copy of this and all i can say is....Wow! It is absolutely stunning. This album is a glittering behemoth of pop gems. They've still kept their eclectic edge - managing to fit in stompy disco beats, gorgeous oriental strings and ridiculously catchy vocals - plus a couple more or those spine-tingling love songs they do so well. 'Red' is feistier, darker and slicker than the first album, but retains those genius musical twists that make them so original. This is going to be one of the most brilliant, inventive pop albums of 2008.
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Red,
By
This review is from: Red (Audio CD)
This is a glorious collection of songs, wonderfully inventive and diverse and moodier than the first album, at times brighter and louder. However, this acts as both a strength and a weakness; with such a variety of songs it's hard to get bored as the album shifts through world/ bollywood style, to dub, and then the 'safer' straight pop-songs. Yet the album lacks cohesion, feeling like a compilation of several different bands rather than just one. It shows a very talented band, but one that doesn't want to be pigeon-holed, to the point where they shy away from the style at which they are best. At times it feels like quality gives way to experimentation, and that's a shame because with the right balance this album would be simply stunning. The better tracks on the album are the ones that are simple and free of too much experimenting.
This album will only sound better with repeated listens. 'Falling Out of Reach' and the funky 'Big Dog' catch straight away, as does 'Words', but the other songs have more depth. Yet it may not be an album that you will want to listen to straight through, instead skipping some of the tracks that aren't as accessible due to their style. If you're just discovering the Guillemots then begin with their first album and then look at this one. It's good, but not as breathtaking as the first nor as epic. 3.5 stars.
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