Red Sparowes

This is easily one of my favorite albums of all time. Red Sparowes is a progressive post-rock experience forged as a side project by members of Isis, Halifax Pier, Angel Hair and Pleasure Forever. Their sound can be classified as post-rock (like Explosions In The Sky), because their songs are extremely long and instrumental, starting on the mellow side building and progressing towards a crashing and powerful climax. You have to be patient with this kind of music, it is hard to get used to at first, but once you can appreciate it, it all becomes worth it.

While this album is split into 8 songs, the record is meant to be listened to from start to finish, with no shuffle or interruptions, because each song builds on the last. Despite the fact that "Every Heart Shines Towards A Red Sun" has no lyrics, it is a concept album, and if you read all of the song titles together it is a poem following the story of Mao's "Great Leap Forward" in China. As part of the Great Leap Forward, Mao ordered a mass killing of all of the sparrows in the country (among other things) because they were believed to be destroying the crops. However, with no sparrows, there was a massive increase in the number of locusts because their predators were out of the picture. This massive army of locusts then annihilated China's crops, resulting in a massive famine in which 38 million people died of starvation. Interesting right? This is the kind of information left out of history books, and I wouldn't know any of this if it weren't for this album.

Here is the track listing, just for fun, see if you get it:

1. "The Great Leap Forward Poured Down Upon Us One Day Like a Mighty Storm, Suddenly and Furiously Blinding Our Senses." – 7:00
2. "We Stood Transfixed in Blank Devotion as Our Leader Spoke to Us, Looking Down On Our Mute Faces With a Great, Raging, and Unseeing Eye." – 8:55
3. "Like the Howling Glory of the Darkest Winds, This Voice Was Thunderous and the Words Holy, Tangling Their Way Around Our Hearts and Clutching Our Innocent Awe." – 10:08
4. "A Message of Avarice Rained Down Upon Us and Carried Us Away Into False Dreams of Endless Riches." – 7:11
5. "'Annihilate the Sparrow, That Stealer of Seed, and Our Harvests Will Abound; We Will Watch Our Wealth Flood In.'" – 8:43
6. "And by Our Own Hand Did Every Last Bird Lie Silent in Their Puddles, the Air Barren of Song as the Clouds Drifted Away. For Killing Their Greatest Enemy, the Locusts Noisily Thanked Us and Turned Their Jaws Toward Our Crops, Swallowing Our Greed Whole." – 1:42
7. "Millions Starved and We Became Skinnier and Skinnier, While Our Leaders Became Fatter and Fatter." – 9:55
8. "Finally, as That Blazing Sun Shone Down Upon Us, Did We Know That True Enemy Was the Voice of Blind Idolatry; and Only Then Did We Begin to Think for Ourselves." – 8:03

I could write about this album forever, but just trust me and at least give it one listen, ALL the way through. If you still don't like after giving it an honest shot, then quite frankly, I'm sorry. Oh, and if you get a chance to see them in concert, take it.

Enjoy