Red Medicine

Fugazi | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 12, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Dischord
• ASIN: B000000JPP
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,244 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #11 in Music > Music Deals > $9.99 and Under
  • #39 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > American Alternative
  • #61 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo Fi

Editorial Reviews

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Words cannot describe., September 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Red Medicine (Audio CD)

Fugazi were (are) by far the best band of the 90s. Don't just buy this album- BUY EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEIRS. I can guarantee that their albums will forever become among your favorites. I got hooked in 93, and I still love them.

But do yourself a favour- don't buy them on amazon or in a store. Buy them from the label, www.dischord.com, as their cds are postpaid and much cheaper.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential taste of the real alternative, December 23, 2005

By 

Wheelchair Assassin (The Great Concavity) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Medicine (Audio CD)

Red Medicine occupies a special place in Fugazi's discography--the righteous indignation that fuelled rampaging early classics like Repeater was giving way to a more complex, technically advanced approach, but the polished machine that showed up on the band's swan song The Argument wasn't yet in full effect. Fortunately, this crossroads managed to merge the best of both worlds, resulting in what I consider to Fugazi's most consistently compelling effort. The band still had two talented frontmen in the howling Ian MacKaye and the sneering Guy Picciotto, the musicianship continued its progression in terms of virtuosity and intricacy, and most importantly the songs here are never less than unpredictable and involving. Many bands that hang their hats on anger and aggression suffer from their inability to write a song to save their lives, but Fugazi (along with the similarly dearly departed Refused) knew how to how make you wait for the big payoff, how to ramp up the intensity at just the right moment, how to manipulate noise rather than just bowl listeners over with it. Interestingly enough for a rock album, the guitar often isn't even the lead instrument--check out how many songs are driven by the intricate, mathy, at times even funky rhythms laid down by Brendan Canty and Joe Lally. Odd rhythms, time signatures, and song structures prevail throughout (not much verse/chorus here, and not much 4/4 timing either), and the band hadn't yet incorporated all the melodic elements that popped up on The Argument, making for a challenging and occasionally frustrating listen that offers up more looks than an NFL defense. There's aggressive post-hardcore that sounds like Repeater with a higher IQ (Bed for the Scraping, Back to Base); swirling noise rock (By You); eerie indie rock propelled by whip-smart guitar lines and angular rhythms (Do You Like Me, Target, Latest Disgrace); a freaky-sounding tune that interrupts some intensely rhythmic jamming with Ian's throaty screams (Birthday Pony); even an experimental horn-driven piece that dispenses with the guitars entirely (Version). Of course, its diversity and occasional difficulty are part of what make Red Medicine such a great album, as well as the epitome of Fugazi's approach to music: freed from the constraints of genre boundaries and commercial considerations, they were free to defy perceptions of what rock music could and couldn't be. As much all the brilliant material they produced, that may well end up being their enduring legacy.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your eyes, like crashing jets..., June 1, 2005

By 

S. Colmus "walkn10" (Manchester, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Medicine (Audio CD)

For my money, the best of their albums. Everyone goes on about Repeater, and I'm sure it was revolutionary at the time, but this takes everything Repeater was noteworthy for and turns it up a notch. Its the perfect balance of the old and new Fugazi, with elements of their hardcore past being filtered through their newfound love for noise jams, dub and even occasional rock anthems...a kiss-off to the past before they jumped headlong into the more amorphic jam sessions of End Hits and The Argument. You never really know where each song is gonna go.
This is the perfect introduction to Fugazi, and you can go earlier or later from here because this really sits on the dividing line. (And don't worry if you buy it and hate it the first couple of times - whether they want to admit it or not, most people hate Fugazi on first listen, even the ones who eventually become their biggest fans. They are certainly an acquired taste.)