MOVING PICTURES

While not my personal favorite Rush album or one that most of the hardcore Rush fans consider to be their best, this album is nonetheless probably the best place to start for those brand new to the band. I personally prefer Permanent Waves as well as one or two others but this is most certainly the album that solidified Rush's reputation as a band of utmost importance in the hard rock/heavy metal/prog rock genres.

The album starts out with "Tom Sawyer." The band actually wanted to write a song around the then new Oberheim synthesizer and so that synth growl that starts off the disc was created with that in mind. It's a great way to start a song and album. It might even be Rush's most recognizable song. It could very well be their "roundabout."

Up next is "Red Barchetta" which is about a boy who daydreams about the days when he used to ride in his uncle's red sports car before such fast cars were outlawed. This too has been played a lot on mainstream radio and I'm kind of tired of it but it's still a great song.

The third track on the album is an instrumental called "YYZ." This is one of Rush's best instrumental pieces and has a great semi fusion moment towards the end where everything just sort of slows down a little bit and sort of cascades with synthesizer and then Alex's guitar comes chiming in with a somewhat emotional texture. This track was named after the identification code for the Toronto Pearson International Airport.

The last track on side one is "limelight." This song offers a rare glimpse into the personalities and thoughts of the band particularly those of Neil Peart who of course serves as not only the bands drummer/percussionist but since the second album "fly by night," the bands lyricist as well. The song tells of how Neil struggles with his role as a musician adored by fans and his need for personal space and distance from those fans.

Side two starts out with "the camera eye" which is the epic of the album and probably the most typical prog sounding track on the album. As such, combined with the fact that it is one of the lesser known tracks on the album as well as the longest, it is my personal favorite.

Following this track is "witch hunt" which is part of the fear trilogy that Neil started. The shouting that starts the track was recorded outside the studio on a very cold day. They did several takes of the band shouting and banging on a door to give it a mob kind of sound. I'd say it's very effective in capturing the image of a witch hunt.

The final track is "vital signs" and my least favorite on the album. It just doesn't do a whole lot for me even though it does seem to try pretty hard to be innovative(due mostly to the electronic drums that appear in the first minute or so of the track). I will give them some credit for attempting something that is a bit different from the rest of the album and as a result it does seem to be an indication of what we would hear on their next album "signals."

Overall, Moving Pictures by Rush is the perfect introduction to the band and a classic rock album that is essential to all classic rock and hard rock fans although those already into prog rock and Rush will not want to stop here. 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

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