Red Medicine

Red Medicine
Studio album by Fugazi
Released	June 12, 1995
Recorded	January–February 1995 at Inner Ear Studios, Arlington, Virginia, Guilford House, Guilford, Connecticut
Genre	Post-hardcore, experimental rock, art punk, noise punk
Length	43:48
Label	Dischord
Producer	Fugazi
Fugazi chronology
In on the Kill Taker (1993) Red Medicine (1995) End Hits (1998)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]
Piero Scaruffi	[3]

Red Medicine is the fourth full-length studio album by American post-hardcore band Fugazi, released on June 12, 1995 through Dischord Records.

Background

On Red Medicine, Fugazi began to move into more experimental venues of music, including noise punk, psychedelia ("By You") and dub ("Version").^[4]

Writing and recording

The group began work on Red Medicine in 1994, after touring in support of In on the Kill Taker. The writing of the album consisted of several months of jam sessions and recording at Guilford House, a secluded country estate located in Guilford, Connecticut.

The album's recording sessions took place from January to February 1995 at Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, VA. The band worked with engineer Don Zientara, but did not choose to work with producer Ted Niceley again. Fugazi opted to retreat from the in-your-face production values of In on the Kill Taker and instead worked to create an ambient sound which would display greater depth. To achieve this, the band handled production duties themselves, and in doing so, became more confident with in-studio experimentation.^[5] This is evident in the incorporation of short, sampled segues, ("Do You Like Me", "Birthday Pony"), instruments such as clarinet, (as heard on "Version"), and alternate tunings used on songs such as "Latest Disgrace" and "By You".^[4] Footage of the band both writing and recording the album can be seen in the film Instrument.

Release and reception

The album entered the Billboard 200 charts and sold over 160,000 copies in its first week of release.^{[citation needed]} It was also a critical success: Steve Huey of AllMusic gave the album 4 1/2 out of 5 stars and stated, "With more drive and playful goings-on, the arrangements sound much looser than on Kill Taker, while remaining just as gut-kicking and brainy."^[6] Mark Kemp of Rolling Stone gave the album 4 stars and called Red Medicine "rock solid."^[4] Pitchfork put this album at number 42 in its Top 100 Albums of the 90s.^[7]

Tour

Fugazi embarked on an extensive worldwide tour in support of the album, performing a total of 172 dates between March 1995 and November 1996.^[8]

Track listing

All songs by Guy Picciotto, Ian MacKaye, Joe Lally, and Brendan Canty (Lead vocals in parentheses)

1. "Do You Like Me" – 3:16 (Picciotto)
2. "Bed for the Scraping" – 2:50 (MacKaye)
3. "Latest Disgrace" – 3:34 (Picciotto)
4. "Birthday Pony" – 3:08 (MacKaye)
5. "Forensic Scene" – 3:05 (Picciotto)
6. "Combination Lock" – 3:06
7. "Fell, Destroyed" – 3:46 (Picciotto)
8. "By You" – 5:11 (Lally)
9. "Version" – 3:20
10. "Target" – 3:32 (Picciotto)
11. "Back to Base" – 1:45 (MacKaye)
12. "Downed City" – 2:53 (Picciotto)
13. "Long Distance Runner" – 4:17 (MacKaye)

Chart positions

Album

References

1. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "allmusic ((( Red Medicine > Review )))". Allmusic. Retrieved March 17, 2010. 
2. ↑ Brackett, Nathan. "Fugazi". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. November 2004. pg. 315, cited March 17, 2010
3. ↑ Scaruffi, Piero. "Fugazi". pieroscaruffi.com (Italian). Retrieved on March 17, 2010.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Red Medicine : Fugazi : Review : Rolling Stone". www.rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2009-03-03. 
5. ↑ "Interview with Guy Picciotto of Fugazi (2001)". Morphizm. Morphizm. Retrieved 2009-03-19. 
6. ↑ "Red Medicine : Fugazi : Review : AllMusic". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved 2009-03-03. 
7. ↑ "STAFF LISTS: Top 100 Albums of the 1990s". http://pitchfork.com/. Retrieved 2012-06-06. 
8. ↑ ^ a b c d Perlah, Jeff. "The Independent". Guitar World. March 2002.