Rush - Power Windows
Rush
Power Windows
Mercury Polygram
1985
Produced by Peter Collins & Rush
Personnel:
Geddy Lee - Bass, Bass Pedals, Synths, Voclas
Alex Lifeson - Guitars (electric and Acoustic)
Neil Peart - Drums, percussion (electronic and acoustic)
Additional keyboards by Andy Richards
Synth programming by Jim Burgess and Andy Richards
String arrangements by Anne Dudley
Choir arranged by Andrew Jackman
Rush is one of those bands that people either love or hate (usually due to recollections of vocalist Lee's banshee wail during their entire 1970s catalogue of releases), and from a critical standpoint, they have been mostly castigated by the music press as a kind of mainstream pariah. I have generally felt that while the bulk of their early material is well below par, by the time the 80s rolled around, the band had shifted into a full fledged power trio that found out how to mix a slick cocktail of above average cerebral wordplay, precise arrangements, and Geddy apparently reached puberty and started singing in a register that wouldn't confuse any sonar-using mammals in the area (it's ok to come out now Flipper, the bad man from Canada won't hit those high notes anymore).
Power Windows was probably the apex of their 80s efforts. It was a hard rock core welded to a progressive (almost jazz-fusion) frame and shelled with a super polished song-oriented exterior. Peart -the band's main lyricist- had fully shifted from obtuse space and fastasy themes to more grounded narratives about society and the people that occupy it. Lifeson came into his own as a more in-your-face version of Andy Summers, with heaping portions of strange chord structures and short bursts of angular solos and textural work thatseemed to hold endless possibilities musically. He basically found the magic middle between the use of space like the Edge with the super clean soloing of a Kazumi Watanabe or Robert Fripp. Lee, to his credit, did really sing and entire album in a listenable register, and his basslines in this album are all some of his very best ever (the fact that he could sing and play the ridiculously convoluted bassline to the opening track, The Big Money is a testament to how good of a player and performer that he is). Peart uses an ample amount of strange percussion noises on The Big Money (Geddy can't have all the fun), and his use of sampled ethnic percusion on Territories and the stunning tribal Mystic Rhythms catches the ear immediately. He also shows he can use electronic drums in an innovative way, rather than just as an ornament. He is the only highly visible drummer during the 80s to do so, with the exception of Bill Bruford, who was the vanguard. Of course, he was the modern descendant of Keith Moon, so he could overplay like a bastard and still seem to fit in, a style now carried even further by players like Carter Beuford (Dave matthews) and Danny Carey (Tool).
The album lacks no technical punch, as every track is approachable by the general rock enthusiast, but note-monkeys who like intricate instrumental passages will not be dissappointed. And therein lies the charm. It is accessible. Not in a watered-down way, but in a well-crafted and produced complete album. There isn't a bum track on it. They managed to expand their palette a bit with some more keyboards -which thankfully do not sound too dated these days- and strings (courtesy of Ms. Anne Dudley, who some may know from soundtracks, but was also a member of the Art of Noise, and performed on albums by the Pet Shop Boys, and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour.) The songs are fully formed and have a real emphasis on standing on their own instead of being a concept album, with the unrecognized gem being Middletown Dreams, which I would place as one of the best songs of their entire 3 decade career. It was never really played after the 1986 tour that followed this album release, and never given much play since. It is a melancholic anthem to diffuse aspects of middle-class life.
You might like this if you like:
The Police - Syncronicity
Genesis - Duke
Peter Gabriel - So
U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
King Crimson - Three of a Perfect Pair
Power Windows
Mercury Polygram
1985
Produced by Peter Collins & Rush
Personnel:
Geddy Lee - Bass, Bass Pedals, Synths, Voclas
Alex Lifeson - Guitars (electric and Acoustic)
Neil Peart - Drums, percussion (electronic and acoustic)
Additional keyboards by Andy Richards
Synth programming by Jim Burgess and Andy Richards
String arrangements by Anne Dudley
Choir arranged by Andrew Jackman
Rush is one of those bands that people either love or hate (usually due to recollections of vocalist Lee's banshee wail during their entire 1970s catalogue of releases), and from a critical standpoint, they have been mostly castigated by the music press as a kind of mainstream pariah. I have generally felt that while the bulk of their early material is well below par, by the time the 80s rolled around, the band had shifted into a full fledged power trio that found out how to mix a slick cocktail of above average cerebral wordplay, precise arrangements, and Geddy apparently reached puberty and started singing in a register that wouldn't confuse any sonar-using mammals in the area (it's ok to come out now Flipper, the bad man from Canada won't hit those high notes anymore).
Power Windows was probably the apex of their 80s efforts. It was a hard rock core welded to a progressive (almost jazz-fusion) frame and shelled with a super polished song-oriented exterior. Peart -the band's main lyricist- had fully shifted from obtuse space and fastasy themes to more grounded narratives about society and the people that occupy it. Lifeson came into his own as a more in-your-face version of Andy Summers, with heaping portions of strange chord structures and short bursts of angular solos and textural work thatseemed to hold endless possibilities musically. He basically found the magic middle between the use of space like the Edge with the super clean soloing of a Kazumi Watanabe or Robert Fripp. Lee, to his credit, did really sing and entire album in a listenable register, and his basslines in this album are all some of his very best ever (the fact that he could sing and play the ridiculously convoluted bassline to the opening track, The Big Money is a testament to how good of a player and performer that he is). Peart uses an ample amount of strange percussion noises on The Big Money (Geddy can't have all the fun), and his use of sampled ethnic percusion on Territories and the stunning tribal Mystic Rhythms catches the ear immediately. He also shows he can use electronic drums in an innovative way, rather than just as an ornament. He is the only highly visible drummer during the 80s to do so, with the exception of Bill Bruford, who was the vanguard. Of course, he was the modern descendant of Keith Moon, so he could overplay like a bastard and still seem to fit in, a style now carried even further by players like Carter Beuford (Dave matthews) and Danny Carey (Tool).
The album lacks no technical punch, as every track is approachable by the general rock enthusiast, but note-monkeys who like intricate instrumental passages will not be dissappointed. And therein lies the charm. It is accessible. Not in a watered-down way, but in a well-crafted and produced complete album. There isn't a bum track on it. They managed to expand their palette a bit with some more keyboards -which thankfully do not sound too dated these days- and strings (courtesy of Ms. Anne Dudley, who some may know from soundtracks, but was also a member of the Art of Noise, and performed on albums by the Pet Shop Boys, and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour.) The songs are fully formed and have a real emphasis on standing on their own instead of being a concept album, with the unrecognized gem being Middletown Dreams, which I would place as one of the best songs of their entire 3 decade career. It was never really played after the 1986 tour that followed this album release, and never given much play since. It is a melancholic anthem to diffuse aspects of middle-class life.
You might like this if you like:
The Police - Syncronicity
Genesis - Duke
Peter Gabriel - So
U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
King Crimson - Three of a Perfect Pair
posted by theloniusfunk at 5:28 AM
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