I really can't pick a favorite Fugazi album... ironically, the only two not in my running for a favorite are the first two (which everyone else seems to love)... For me, Fugazi is a band that has gotten better and better with age, so basically starting from Steady Diet on, it's all classic in my opinion.

This album, Red Medicine, is so good, though. Target could very well be my favorite song... ever. For that reason, this record will always be special to me. There are just amazingly creative moments here, you can't miss it. I mean, you have almost like classical melodies on "Forensic Scene", pop-sensibility and dissonance at the same time on "Latest Disgrace"... a straightforward punk song with this interesting high-pitched riff thrown in on "Bed for the Scraping" and then just noise on "Birthday Pony"... like each song has it's own identity and showacases the best of Fugazi. I'll always love it.

If you've never heard a fugazi album, this is a great one to start with.
Why some people rate it 1 star, then talk about how it is a 3 and a half star is beyond me. This album is great!
Tons of energy, each song is a real driver.
Fugazi's brilliance comes from the complexity of music that comes from indenpendant simplicity.
Don't get it? Check this one out and you will...

Red Medicine occupies a special place in Fugazi's discography--the righteous indignation that fuelled rampaging early classics like Repeater was giving way to a more complex, technically advanced approach, but the polished machine that showed up on the band's swan song The Argument wasn't yet in full effect. Fortunately, this crossroads managed to merge the best of both worlds, resulting in what I consider to Fugazi's most consistently compelling effort. The band still had two talented frontmen in the howling Ian MacKaye and the sneering Guy Picciotto, the musicianship continued its progression in terms of virtuosity and intricacy, and most importantly the songs here are never less than unpredictable and involving. Many bands that hang their hats on anger and aggression suffer from their inability to write a song to save their lives, but Fugazi (along with the similarly dearly departed Refused) knew how to how make you wait for the big payoff, how to ramp up the intensity at just the right moment, how to manipulate noise rather than just bowl listeners over with it. Interestingly enough for a rock album, the guitar often isn't even the lead instrument--check out how many songs are driven by the intricate, mathy, at times even funky rhythms laid down by Brendan Canty and Joe Lally. Odd rhythms, time signatures, and song structures prevail throughout (not much verse/chorus here, and not much 4/4 timing either), and the band hadn't yet incorporated all the melodic elements that popped up on The Argument, making for a challenging and occasionally frustrating listen that offers up more looks than an NFL defense. There's aggressive post-hardcore that sounds like Repeater with a higher IQ (Bed for the Scraping, Back to Base); swirling noise rock (By You); eerie indie rock propelled by whip-smart guitar lines and angular rhythms (Do You Like Me, Target, Latest Disgrace); a freaky-sounding tune that interrupts some intensely rhythmic jamming with Ian's throaty screams (Birthday Pony); even an experimental horn-driven piece that dispenses with the guitars entirely (Version). Of course, its diversity and occasional difficulty are part of what make Red Medicine such a great album, as well as the epitome of Fugazi's approach to music: freed from the constraints of genre boundaries and commercial considerations, they were free to defy perceptions of what rock music could and couldn't be. As much all the brilliant material they produced, that may well end up being their enduring legacy.

I do not think this record is as experimental and as much of a shift as some have considered it (not here persay but in general). I think since the previous record (In on the Kill Takers) was the most thrashing of all the Fugazi records this one appears like they totally changed when in reality I do not think it is so. Red Medicine is certainly different, but so are all their records, yet none sound drastically different, in that they still retain distinctive Fugazi elements. Certain elements are explored further and touched upon more on each record. This is part of what makes Fugazi so good. They have stayed true to their sound and what they're doing while never becoming stagnant and boring. The people that disagree with this do so because they only like the most aggresive and abrasive elements without appreciating others that were always there but not as prominent. This record seems to do more exploration than their previous records and have pushed the boundaries a little more and in that regard has more variance but yet has still acquired a particular feel to it that is distinctive and that I enjoy immensely. I would say that of all the Fugazi records, this and Repeater are the most important ones, but they are all fantastic which is an amazing feat.

For my money, the best of their albums. Everyone goes on about Repeater, and I'm sure it was revolutionary at the time, but this takes everything Repeater was noteworthy for and turns it up a notch. Its the perfect balance of the old and new Fugazi, with elements of their hardcore past being filtered through their newfound love for noise jams, dub and even occasional rock anthems...a kiss-off to the past before they jumped headlong into the more amorphic jam sessions of End Hits and The Argument. You never really know where each song is gonna go.
This is the perfect introduction to Fugazi, and you can go earlier or later from here because this really sits on the dividing line. (And don't worry if you buy it and hate it the first couple of times - whether they want to admit it or not, most people hate Fugazi on first listen, even the ones who eventually become their biggest fans. They are certainly an acquired taste.)