Rush Fan Central

Todd wrote: Hold Your Fire  Grace Under Pressure Power Windows Presto Roll the Bones

I'm currently giving PW a serious listen for the first time since it came out. I've spun it 7 or 8 times all the way through in the last week.

When it came out it was the final departure for me for Rush for a while (until 1999 actually). Rush was my first love, and I preferred them heavier. I stuck with them through Signals and GUP (both of which I enjoyed a lot) but PW was a big let down for me.

At the time Priest, Maiden, VH, Metallica and so on were putting out the metal I loved.

And the "mainstream" rock was covered by the Police, U2, Bruce, John Cougar etc etc

New wave an anomaly and while I could find songs I enjoyed, it was never my preferred genre. I didn't expect Rush to have all these keyboards everywhere and it was disconcerting.

that said Manhattan Project I ALWAYS loved...what a gorgeous song.

As I listen now, I can say that it is growing on me. It does sound very dated...very 80s. I have visions of Alex in a button down shirt and skinny tie dancing around playing these wimpy rhythm guitar parts (not that I ever saw him do that or even know if he did, lol).

Or Molly Ringwald and company dancing like this:

breakfast club clip

But that aside, I am finding the textures and nuances to be enjoyable on repeated listens. I read somewhere about it being a "cold" album and I agree wholeheartedly...very electronic, very techno.

To me it will never, ever be close to Moving Pictures (which I consider to be one of the greatest albums of all time, by anyone) but I am slowly enjoying it.

Perhaps I'll move on to HYF in the coming weeks.

It's really cool to uncover old music from a band I've always loved and have the pleasure of discovering it as new

Edited by Crumple - December 17 2013 at 09:08

^ yep I hear you on your love of Presto. that's what makes reviewing music so hard...no one can know the context in which people have bonded to music...

Grace Under Pressure
Presto
Hold Your Fire
Power Windows
Roll the Bones

Granted, its been a while since I've heard PW, so it could move up in the list potentially.  RtB is the only one of the bunch, imo, that's a step down for the band, and it's still a good album.  Presto gets low ratings here but if you're willing to open your mind to a different kind of sound you can really learn to enjoy it.  It's one of Rush's most tasteful and mature albums and one of their best, I think.

Crumple wrote: I'm currently giving PW a serious listen for the first time since it came out. I've spun it 7 or 8 times all the way through in the last week. When it came out it was the final departure for me for Rush for a while (until 1999 actually). Rush was my first love, and I preferred them heavier. I stuck with them through Signals and GUP (both of which I enjoyed a lot) but PW was a big let down for me. At the time Priest, Maiden, VH, Metallica and so on were putting out the metal I loved. And the "mainstream" rock was covered by the Police, U2, Bruce, John Cougar etc etc New wave an anomaly and while I could find songs I enjoyed, it was never my preferred genre. I didn't expect Rush to have all these keyboards everywhere and it was disconcerting. that said Manhattan Project I ALWAYS loved...what a gorgeous song. As I listen now, I can say that it is growing on me. It does sound very dated...very 80s. I have visions of Alex in a button down shirt and skinny tie dancing around playing these wimpy rhythm guitar parts (not that I ever saw him do that or even know if he did, lol). Or Molly Ringwald and company dancing like this: breakfast club clip But that aside, I am finding the textures and nuances to be enjoyable on repeated listens. I read somewhere about it being a "cold" album and I agree wholeheartedly...very electronic, very techno. To me it will never, ever be close to Moving Pictures (which I consider to be one of the greatest albums of all time, by anyone) but I am slowly enjoying it. Perhaps I'll move on to HYF in the coming weeks. It's really cool to uncover old music from a band I've always loved and have the pleasure of discovering it as new

Well it's nice that you are having an open mind to do so and have some appreciation and understanding for PW given the time and popular sound wave boom it was produced in.
Give hold your fire and presto a go as well. Experience the entire 80's saga, then you will really know what you love from them. Enjoy. It's actually my favourite rush era.

Love it, Love it, Love it.

Edited by Horizons - December 17 2013 at 12:40

zumacraig wrote: Crumple wrote: I'm currently giving PW a serious listen for the first time since it came out. I've spun it 7 or 8 times all the way through in the last week. When it came out it was the final departure for me for Rush for a while (until 1999 actually). Rush was my first love, and I preferred them heavier. I stuck with them through Signals and GUP (both of which I enjoyed a lot) but PW was a big let down for me. At the time Priest, Maiden, VH, Metallica and so on were putting out the metal I loved. And the "mainstream" rock was covered by the Police, U2, Bruce, John Cougar etc etc New wave an anomaly and while I could find songs I enjoyed, it was never my preferred genre. I didn't expect Rush to have all these keyboards everywhere and it was disconcerting. that said Manhattan Project I ALWAYS loved...what a gorgeous song. As I listen now, I can say that it is growing on me. It does sound very dated...very 80s. I have visions of Alex in a button down shirt and skinny tie dancing around playing these wimpy rhythm guitar parts (not that I ever saw him do that or even know if he did, lol). Or Molly Ringwald and company dancing like this: breakfast club clip But that aside, I am finding the textures and nuances to be enjoyable on repeated listens. I read somewhere about it being a "cold" album and I agree wholeheartedly...very electronic, very techno. To me it will never, ever be close to Moving Pictures (which I consider to be one of the greatest albums of all time, by anyone) but I am slowly enjoying it. Perhaps I'll move on to HYF in the coming weeks. It's really cool to uncover old music from a band I've always loved and have the pleasure of discovering it as new what's ironic about that album is that it is a good rush album AND if you want to hear what music sounded like in the 80s, you put that album on.  it has everything that was fun and awful in the 80s all rolled in one.

Though personally, I do like Geddy's hairstyle from the 80's, that ponytail with the fluff on top. I thought it suited him quite well.

I think I'm gonna listen to Power Windows tonight. This thread has got me motivated for some more 80's Rush. :)

Crumple wrote: verslibre wrote: T4E is patchy. That song, "Virtuality," isn't aging well. Curious why you say this? I just posted about some other stuff sounding dated (but still enjoyable) but Virtuality sounds current to me. Do you mean lyrically?

It's one of those "stock" songs Rush threw onto some of their albums in the '90s, like "Red Tide" and "You Bet Your Life." It sounds like it was assembled and recorded very quickly. There are other songs from that era I like a lot, lot less than I did when I heard them initially, like "Anagram (For Mongo)," "The Pass," "Neurotica" (dreadful, that) and "Stick It Out" (the only song I skip over on Counterparts, which is otherwise a brilliant album, IMO).

Catcher10 wrote: I am a tad older than you snot nosed kids .....PW is one of my fav Rush albums. Even though I grew up with Hemis, AFTK, 2112....I still spin it often, I still have the original vinyl issue and I think it is one of the best sounding vinyl they have. Grand Designs, Marathon, Mystic Rhythms.....freaking great stuff. And all still play well live

Snotty here. Gotta agree with you. I also feel that Power Windows and Presto are 2 very under appreciated albums in general. I think those 2 albums alone are better than pretty much all the stuff they did in the 90's except for arguably Counterparts, and pretty much all their 21st century stuff except Clockwork Angels.
Just my opinion.