HOLD YOUR FIRE

"Hold Your Fire" changes focus a bit and looses a bit of steam when compared to Rush's previous two albums. At this point, the band feels like they are less concerned with experimentation, instead concentrating on writing songs that really try to reach people (this being far and away Rush's most political album) or sound nice. Unfortunately, there is very little serious rocking being done here.

With the exception of the first two tracks (which truly are awesome), the band is much more tame and mature, with Geddy's voice sounding mellow and stable and their collective playing coming across as very cool and precise. There aren't any songs here that will leave you breathless (even if you sing along!), and there are actually some you might want to skip ("Tai Shen" and "High Water" anyone?). There are even a few slow ones!

That being said, the songs themselves are much more adult than what we've seen before, with Peart's rhyming sometimes sounding acrobatic-- but always serious. And while "Force Ten" rocks with the best of them, the rest just don't generate the same excitement as before. A good album for fans, but not a one for beginners.

Songwriting: 4 Instrumental Performances: 3 Lyrics/Vocals: 3 Style/Emotion/Replay: 3