Red 7 - Red 7

This was always a strange but wonderful record to me. The first two songs are so good, I mean not just good, they were exceptionally good songs. Even though the rest of the album would more often than not generally fall into "meh" territory, my impression of the album was always positive. This was a really good album.

Michael Mann apparently really liked the band too as "Heartbeat" was used in his film "Manhunter" you know the one that featured Brian Cox as Hannibal Lecter, and it was used again in an episode of Miami Vice. The song "Less Than Perfect" was used in the movie Explorers, I saw it (unlike almost everybody else as the movie tanked) but I don't remember the song being there, but it is a pretty good song. Anyway, this is going sideways, I try to get to the point. The year was 1985, and all the cool guys wore trench coats, and by the mid '80s we were right in the middle of the future - short of having flying cars and rocket packs. We were certainly having a lot of fun dressing up like characters from Blade Runner.

Red 7 was produced by Mike Rutherford, who was enjoying the rising tide produced in the wake of the Phil Collins solo tsunami. Genesis was riding high and Mike + The Mechanics would have a decent run. Sort of a weird guilty by association Mike's name for a brief time had a certain cachet and Red 7 were the beneficiaries of this pent up goodwill that was going around. Sure a rising tide lifts all boats, but not everything floats. Mike would play bass on a number of the tracks which certainly didn't hurt. However lest you think that any success the band had was the result of some weird twisted nepotism is more than a little harsh. They were pretty solid, and not quite like a lot of what was coming out in '85.

The band was Gene Stashuk on guitar and lead vocals, Michael Becker on keyboards and backing vocals, and Paul Revelli on drums and backing vocals. As for capturing the '80s in all it's glory Gene's voice was near perfect. The guys were able to catch lightning in a bottle more than once on their debut. I started off by raving about the first two songs, and for good reason. The album opens with "Relentless" and is followed up by "Heatbeat" unleashing a one two gut punch. These songs are so good the rest of the album feels like a bit of a let down in comparison. It's not for a lack of trying. Gene's urgent delivery on "No Sorry" is compelling but the song itself while dripping with '80s cheese always felt a little flat. The guys nearly nail it again with "Less Than Perfect" a song that over the years has grown on me - it really is pretty great.

It's funny, I'd not really sat and quietly listened to this in it's entirety in a long time, and while it may seem like I'm taking the piss, I have to say that I'm actually more than a little surprised at how good this really is. I sort of write a lot of my meanderamblings in relative real time, and I thought I was still familiar enough with this one to pass judgment early and write from a particular bias. My memory is so indelibly stamped with my opinion that this is really just two awesome songs, and a lot of tasty filler that I'm having trouble reconciling how good this really is. "The Way" is closing out the first side, and really other than the somewhat clumsy "No Sorry" I'm having to revisit what I just wrote. This is better than I remember.

It's a conundrum of sorts.

I'm reading the track list for side two and I can't remember any of the songs. In fact, I actually don't remember playing side two very often. May as well dive in and see what I missed.

Okay, I sort of remember this now, "This Dark Hour" starts things off, and it's solid deep cut, and while not likely to have made any of my mix tapes this is good stuff. "Questions and Answers" again is decent but really nothing that special, but isn't horrible either. Ah, here we go "Let Me Use You" is an almost manic rock song - it sets a frenetic pace and part of the fun is hearing Gene trying to get the words out. While not one of my favourites on the album it does have a certain charm, but it doesn't really float my boat. "Shades of Grey" is a really solid song, a mid tempo almost prog sounding tune that is probably my favourite on side two. The album closes out with "Can't Much Anymore" a song that was a bit quirky but also a tad clunky. The second side never felt cohesive, despite a couple of decent tracks. Still as a listening experience it was okay for all that, but I can sort of see why I didn't play it a lot back in the day.

Red 7 was a band that could deliver the goods, and who knows maybe with slightly different sequencing the experience might have been a little different. Having said that sequencing alone can't make the individual songs any better or worse than they actually are but it could have helped level the overall experience. After all, I've said it twice, and I'll say it again those first two songs are exceptional, and there are several decent songs here. It is actually a fairly decent listen - the first side in particular.

This will always be a really good album in my eyes.

The band would get another kick at the can a couple years later when they dropped their follow up When the Sun Goes Down an album I had but never really cared for. Although I may have to go and dig out the CD and refresh my memory. 

Shortly after releasing their second album the Red 7 would lose their record deal, and the band would quietly fade away. 

But man, those first two songs were so good.