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As I mentioned earlier, it does sound an awful lot like Depeche Mode somewhere in between Black Celebration and Music for the Masses. Luckily Red Flag had the panache and skill to pull off a derivative outfit and make it work. They weren't the only ones in those days -- the late 80s saw the first release (and second, which was still derivative of DM) of Camouflage, Seven Red Seven and Cause and Effect as well, and the beginnings of De/Vision, who are almost scary in their imitation of DMs style at times; all happening at this same time. Luckily, all of those bands, who were all good DM imitators, all developed a sound that was a little more unique, and matured as a band. The CD kicks off with some of the more popular songs right away. "If I Ever" is a fairly driving dance song with a quick tempo, a dark sound and a very polished synth sound -- in other words, it was very typical Red Flag. They didn't go much for variety right away. On this first CD, they found a winning formula and pretty much stuck with it throughout. However, "Pretty in Pity" was a little more original. Not so fast, with some unique sounds to make it sound a bit more ethereal, yet still with the Red Flag dance punch. "Russian Radio" is the first song many Red Flaggers first heard, myself included. It sounds quite a bit like "If I Ever" actually. It has that kind of Cold War imagery in the lyrics that many of the darker new wave bands of the 80s liked to use. I wonder if that has anything to do with the demise of New Wave? No more Cold War, no more inspiration? You decide... "Give Me Your Hand" is one of my favorite songs on the album. Red Flag hadn't quite figured out how to make something lighter and more cheerful than your typical late 80s DM song, but this one is their attempt. It's a bit clumsy at times, as it still sounds like it's trying to be dark and menacing, but it's charming nonetheless. The next song, "All Roads Lead to You," is Red Flag put through a slightly slower wringer. Other than that, it's still pretty standard fare for the album. "Count to Three" also has a slightly different sound -- although that may be more due to the subject matter than the actual sound of the song. It's another one of the better ones, with one of the most danceable beats on the album as well. Some of the remixes on Naive Dance really brought out the differences in this song, making it stand out a bit more. "Save Me Tonight" is Red Flag's first slow song. Sadly, it's really just another Red Flag song that happens to be slower. There's very little about it that screams slow song, except maybe the nice introduction. Red Flag didn't seem to go in for that much, anyway, since dance songs were the rule these days and even DM's Music for the Masses was much more dance oriented than it's predecessor. Red Flag then put it's earliest song, actually, "Broken Heart" which is a good dance song similar to "If I Ever" and "Russian Radio" although not quite so much as those two are to each other. "I Don't Know Why" is another good dance song, not quite as dark as some of their work, yet interesting. And then we get to "Rain." "Rain" isn't necessarily one of my favorite songs here, but it deserves special mention because it doesn't sound like anything else on the album. It's got a nice piano background, it's slow, and it doesn't try so hard to be dark and Depeche Mode-ish. And of course, the instrumental -- really just piano even then -- "Für Michelle" is a beautiful piano song that showed Red Flag had talents on their own. The album is rounded off by four bonus tracks, although all are remixes of previous tracks. There is, for instance, a remix of "If I Ever" and "Russian Radio" both extended, and in the wrong order from the printed sleeve (at least on the original release.) There are also two unmarked tracks, a "Broken Heart" dub by Razormaid and a "lite" version of "Rain" that focuses even more on the piano.
Overall, despite it's derivative nature, Naive Art is a worthy addition to my collection, and I heartily recommend it. Red Flag have a lot of talent, and it takes moving away from their DM influences a little bit to really see how much they had.
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