Today, however, we'll look back at the masterpiece from Rush: their 11th studio album, "Power Windows"!
The band had just finished a grueling tour in support of the 10th album, "Grace Under Pressure", they were back in the rehearsal hall in February of '85 working on new material. As always, drummer Neil Peart was working on lyrics while guitarist Alex Lifeson an bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee were working next door on music by both going through recordings of ideas & sound-check jams and jamming in their rehearsal space.
Within weeks, they had outlines for several songs and decided to do a five day "warmup tour" to try out the new material. Following that, many of the songs came together, and by April they were recording.
The recording process took them across five different studios, but was complete by August. The album hit stores in October of the same year and the concert tour was underway by December. An absolutely insane pace to get everything accomplished!
The album was met with positive reviews, charted in 7 countries (including top 10 in Canada, UK, and the US), sold platinum status in two countries, and was listed in Hard Rock Magazine as one of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Let's look at each song!
side one:
1) The Big Money
The album kicks of BIG with this techno rocker (the song peaked at #45 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the rock charts in the US) with giant drums and keys and big AC/DC style chords in the chorus, all of which breaks down to tight & funky almost reggae style guitar in the verses. The transitions are filled with glorious synth swells and the lyrics kick the literary theme (in a word, power) for the entire album.
Definitely opening with a bang!
2) Grand Designs
Almost a dark version of the opening song in that it has lots of BIG instrumentation. Geddy's vocals are fabulous, emotion-filled and technically perfect as he sings what are some of Neil's most "poetic" and visually intensive lyrics.
"....against the run of the mill, static as it seems, we break the surface tension with our wild kinetic dreams...."
Beautifully written lyrics about the development of the first "atom bomb" during WW2, Neil take sus from the large and general in the first verse (general concept of the ultimate weapon by men) to the specific by the final verse (the actual pilot of the Enola Gay, who dropped the first nuclear bomb in August of 1945 on Hiroshima, Japan).
The drums and bass seem (intentionally) overly mechanical, while Alex's guitar is somehow simultaneously cold and tense, launching the song into the choruses.
"....big bang, took and shook the world, shot down the rising sun...."
Though never released as a single, the song nevertheless peaked at #10 on the rock charts in the US!
4) Marathon
Lyrically, Neil uses the race (a marathon is 26+ miles) as a metaphor for one's life. Geddy's bass really stands out with the riff sections, which are accentuated periodically by Alex's guitar, which also has an amazing solo.
"Marathon" features several fantastic key changes that add to the emotional impact that every writer should study.
A live version from a few years later hit #6 on the rock charts.
side two
5) Territories
This cut kicks off in exotic fashion and then jumps into a quiet and clean guitar riff. As Geddy's vocal lays down the verse, the drums begin to build, and finally the guitar explodes into the same riff but this time loud and distorted. The keyboards later take up a variation on this theme in an almost "hot potato the theme" as we await the bass to run the ball next.
Outstanding word play with lines like "....In different circles we keep holding our ground, Indifferent circles, we keep spinning 'round and 'round and 'round...."
6) Middletown Dreams
"Middletown Dreams" picks up the lyrical theme Neil first explored in the song "Subdivisions" (from the 1982 album "Signals"), but with a more personal and desperate tone, with several very individual stories. Musically, its classic Rush with nods to what was, at the time, very contemporary musical approaches, all topped off with swimming key changes and a searing guitar solo from Alex.
All that and a stunning vocal performance.
7) Emotion Detector
The only track on the album that Rush never actually performed live, this track moves through very distinct sonic sections with typical 80s Rush multi-layered flair, including a beautiful modulation into the chorus.
"....Illusions are painfully shattered, right where discovery starts...."
8) Mystic Rhythms
Released as the second and final single from "Power Windows", "Mystic Rhythms" peaked at #21 on the rock charts in the US and became a fan and peer favorite immediately, was included on the 1989 live album "Show of Hands", and also appeared on the 2005 concert DVD "R30", where it leads us into Neil's live drum solo.
The song starts, of course, with Neil's drums taking center stage...building by adding a tiny extra each pass until its constant ricochet of percussion notes, over which Geddy's bass & keys and Alex's sweeping guitars build a fantastic cathedral of sound.
Geddy delivers what is possibly the best vocal performance on the record (no small feat) and the whole song simply carries us away to a magic land of Rush's creation.
Primitive things stir the hearts of everyone...."
Amazing album and definitely on my list of "100 albums to hear before you die"!
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