The Red And The Black

How good is The Red and the Black on a scale of 1-10?


  • Total voters
    21
Other than the fact that Harris wrote it on his own, do we know anything about it? Is it based loosely on the book? (I haven't had time to read all the articles/reviews/interviews.)
 
Other than the fact that Harris wrote it on his own, do we know anything about it? Is it based loosely on the book? (I haven't had time to read all the articles/reviews/interviews.)

  • What we know so far is the rhythm is similar to ROTAM (it has also been described as similar to POTO, DOD and WTWWB so......
  • It opens & closes with a bass solo
  • The lyrics are about luck/destiny with "Red and Black" Referring to the colors of playing cards/roulette.
  • The majority of the song is instrumental
 
Personally speaking there is a chance this is Steve's best song since FOTD.
 
  • What we know so far is the rhythm is similar to ROTAM (it has also been described as similar to POTO, DOD and WTWWB so......
  • It opens & closes with a bass solo
  • The lyrics are about luck/destiny with "Red and Black" Referring to the colors of playing cards/roulette.
  • The majority of the song is instrumental
Very sad. I read that it technically ends at around 7:30. Does it have any more 1+ minute gaps?
 
This song has some good stuff going, especially some parts with Bruce on it. The one I like the most is a part with heavy chords and bassdrums, with cool vocals. Heavy part, kinda Priestish. The instrumental part is long, and imo it repeats certain parts too often. I really was waiting for Bruce to return. Not because I can't stand lengthy instrumental music, more because I thought it wasn't that captivating. And when he returned, it was only for a short moment. Unlike in Rime, which has Bruce picking up the song and finishing it in style. Still, don't get me wrong, before the instrumental part starts, there's a lot of Bruce. Parts which also can be called repetitive but for some reason, they got me more on the edge of my seat.

There are whoo hooo ho hooo parts which sound a little too much like the ones from The Wicker Man, also the chord progression underneath. All in all, one of the 3 or 4 least good songs on the album.

But don't worry, Brig liked the instrumental part and so did others. Someone even said "why didn't they make an instrumental song out of this one?". I didn't make notes during disc 1 and I forgot who did the solos.
 
Last edited:
Damn, that's disappointing to hear Foro, I had expected this to be a highlight of the album :( Well, can still be....a lot of reviewers gave it more praise than you, for sure.
 
This song has some good stuff going, especially some parts with Bruce on it. The one I like the most is a part with heavy chords and bassdrums, with cool vocals. Heavy part, kinda Priestish. The instrumental part is long, and imo it repeats certain parts too often. I really was waiting for Bruce to return. Not because I can't stand lengthy instrumental music, more because I thought it wasn't that captivating. And when he returned, it was only for a short moment. Unlike in Rime, which has Bruce picking up the song and finishing it in style. Still, don't get me wrong, before the instrumental part starts, there's a lot of Bruce. Parts which also can be called repetitive but for some reason, they got me more on the edge of my seat.

There are whoo hooo ho hooo parts which sound a little too much like the ones from The Wicker Man, also the chord progression underneath. All in all, one of the 3 or 4 least good songs on the album.

But don't worry, Brig liked the instrumental part and so did others. Someone even said "why didn't they make an instrumental song out of this one?". I didn't make notes during disc 1 and I forgot who did the solos.


We almost had opposite opinions of this one!
The instrumental is long, but what I found a touch underwhelming was the chorus. There's definitely a nod to Rime in the earlier part of this song, but to me, the chorus was comparatively tame. It's a song that goes off at quite a few tangents, in my opinion, and I'm not convinced I took it all in. Awaiting the second listening...
 
Damn, that's disappointing to hear Foro, I had expected this to be a highlight of the album :( Well, can still be....a lot of reviewers gave it more praise than you, for sure.
Why? It looks pretty much the same as in the other reviews: Good song but too much instrumentation.
 
We almost had opposite opinions of this one!
The instrumental is long, but what I found a touch underwhelming was the chorus. There's definitely a nod to Rime in the earlier part of this song, but to me, the chorus was comparatively tame. It's a song that goes off at quite a few tangents, in my opinion, and I'm not convinced I took it all in. Awaiting the second listening...
Indeed! I'm not sure what the chorus was but I remember you preferred the instrumental parts over the non-instrumental parts, right?
 
I think it was a case of 'less impressed with the chorus and main vocal section of the song than the instrumental part'! Yes, I know, that sounds negative. It might grow on me yet.
 
But that vocal melody in the opening verses is top notch! It takes you completely by surprise, not at all what you'd expect, and it's so badass.

It's good stuff, sure, but I feel like the vocals take away from the music. Honestly, the thing as a whole comes off as a rushed, scatterbrained attempt at writing another Rime musically with lyrics more akin to TAatG. There's a lot of good stuff going on here, but it hasn't clicked for me at all. My first impression was literally the phrase, "Steve Harris: The Song."

In comparison to IESF, TBoS and the entirety of Disc 2, this song felt like a chore to go through, despite its intensity. But who knows? Might click with more listens.
 
Back
Top