Search - Christopher Cross :: Red Room

Topnotch music

06/02/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A splendid album from Christopher Cross with a wide range of material beautifully performed with intriguing arrangements. Cross is still suffering from the sin of making one of the most honored debut albums in history but has sailed on through the years turning out excellent album after excellent album. He's lyrical, musical, intelligent and an original. Each new album is a great surprise and he never varies from top quality. This album originally appeared as part of the double-C.D. set "Walking in Avalon.""

A wonderful, well-written, mature effort

Michael A. Clem | Tulsa, OK | 05/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, Red Room is really a re-release of the first disc of Walking in Avalon. These are all the new studio songs, while the second disc was a collection of live recordings (it, too, was rereleased separately). So don't get this if you already have Walking In Avalon. Or, as good as it is, maybe you should.



After his big debut, each subsequent album seemed to do worse than before, commercially-speaking. But Chris was still growing and developing as a songwriter. With Walking in Avalon, he finally got some more airplay with "When She Smiles", an intelligent, well-written, upbeat love song. Throw in the track "Walking In Avalon", and you've got the essence of upbeat, feel-good pop music well-covered. But this album has more variety than that.



"In a Red Room", the opening track, and "Hunger" will throw you for a loop as they both have a very minimal, intense quality to them, along with Chris singing in a lower range than you usually expect. It won't take long for them to grow on you, though, and you'll wonder why Chris didn't do more like them earlier in his career.



"It's Always Something", "Dream Too Loud", and "Curled Around the World" are just gorgeous. Chris' mastery of lyrics, atmosphere, and production techniques really come to the fore with these. "It's Always Something" tackles the stresses of modern life ("My AOL went down again") and yet passes on a timeless message of making a life worth living. "Dream Too Loud" and "Curled Around The World" are more laid-back, but no less visionary or exquisite in their sounds or message.



"I Know You Well" is another well-written song, but harkens back to earlier Cross love songs, as does "Kind Of I Love You", with Chris once again exploring the love song from another angle. "Kind Of I Love You" seems to me to be the weakest song on the album, an attempt at another up-tempo song that just seems a little too awkward, although that may be what makes it memorable. But it's still a decent, listenable song.



And finally, "Rainy Day In Vancouver" closes out the album wonderfully. I would call it an instrumental, but it has vocal sounds on it, but no lyrics or words. Again, the production and mix really shines, mixing strings and acoustic guitars to create a lush, atmospheric rhythm that brings chills to the listener. After the buildup, (and nobody seems to use strings quite so powerfully and dynamically as Chris does) the song changes gears and rolls out with an extended acoustic guitar solo that leaves you wishing it would never end.



All in all, call it Red Room or the first disc of Walking In Avalon, I think this is the best collection of studio songs Christopher has ever released, even better than his debut album. Fans can only hope that he will release another new album, and if so, that he can match the incredible quality of this album.



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