POWER WINDOWS

3.5 stars. Once again there are some baseball references in the liner notes as the band thanks a lot of people including those"On the mound" as well as those "At home plate". This is such a polished record with 8 songs all 5 to 6 plus minutes in length.

"The Big Money" has been a favourite of mine for a long time. Geddy's vocals are outstanding in this one that opens with lots of synths and drums followed by bass, guitar and vocals.There are some really good bass lines on this one although each member of the band gets to show their chops. "Grand Designs" features some higher pitched synths that really annoy me and the vocal melody before the 4 minute mark is disappointing. So this song is a letdown for me.

Things get a lot better with "Manhattan Project", I like the way it speeds up with Alex's guitar melodies as Neil is pounding away on the skins. "Marathon" has a good chorus and a nice guitar solo as well. "Territories" features uptempo synths and guitar that come and go. The song ends with a bass solo. "Middletown Dreams" features short guitar outbreaks with lots of keys and steady drums until the chorus where synths and vocals are the focus. Another good guitar solo 3 minutes in. "Emotional Detector" features this long, emotional guitar solo from Alex that is by far the highlight of this song. "Mystic Rhythms" opens with...surprise, rhythmic drums as well as some good vocals in this contemplative song.

There is a lot here to like and it's well worth checking out.