MOVING PICTURES

Progarchives seems to be home to a large amount of Rush fans, and I can see why- Rush utilizes a unique blend of hard rock and progressive rock that is sure to appeal to many fans of said genres. However, I am not the biggest fan of Rush, and this album, Rush's highest-rated, is not exactly a personal favorite.

It starts with Rush's best known song, Tom Sawyer, which is charmingly rebellious and enjoyable listen. Then comes Red Barchetta, an energetic song that continues in a similar vein to the previous song- also a fun listen, though six minutes may be ever so slightly too long. After that is YYZ, an awesome display of Rush's formidable talents- it is somewhat unique in that it (in my mind) conjures an eighties feel, but not a cheesy, outdated one. Then comes another one of Rush's better-known songs, Limelight- another song along the lines of Tom Sawyer and Red Barchetta, though it is somewhat slower and more focused on the lyrics, which deal with fame and its pressures. Then is The Camera Eye, a relatively long (eleven minute) song, not too much different from what we've heard before, but that's not a bad thing- it contains the the great instrumentation (especially the infectious guitar riffs, which seem to be a Rush specialty), nice vocals, and feel of freedom that make Rush fun to listen to. Then is Witch Hunt, an ominous, creepy song, concerning how fear can make people ignorant and mindless killers- this song can get somewhat close to traditional metal. The album closes with Vital Signs, another energetic song, though it's somewhat less dense than the previous ones. The reason I give this album 3 stars- rounded down from approximately 3.5- is that the first half of the album seems to lack variety, making it somewhat tiring to listen to, the Camera Eye does not appeal to me much, and though the last two tracks are pretty great, they never made much of an impact on me- so, the two stars deducted are because of the fact that the music does not connect all to well with this humble reviewer. In conclusion, this is a solid album, recommended to fans of the Heavy Prog subgenre.