CLOCKWORK ANGELS

It would take Rush five more years to release their next (and final) studio album, Clockwork Angels. (The single "Caravan" b/w "BU2B" was released in 2010, though.) Clockwork Angels sees the band returning to a consistently heavy sound, as well as featuring some of their most complex and progressive songwriting in decades. Complementing this is the fact that Clockwork Angels is a concept album.

"Caravan" opens up the album and sets the tone well. It's full of big riffs, and Geddy's bass tone is especially aggressive. "BU2B" (short for "Brought Up to Believe") features metallic guitar tones and sudden shifts in dynamics and rhythm. The title track is a multi-parted mini-suite that hearkens back the band's best output of the late 1970s.

Other highlights include the driving, infectious "The Anarchist"?featuring a string arrangement that lends a distinct Middle Eastern atmosphere?"Seven Cities of Gold", and "Headlong Flight", my personal favorite track on the album.

Like most later Rush albums, though, there is some bloat. This 66-minute album could have been trimmed down by shaving off some time from some of the less essential songs, like "Carnies", "Halo Effect", and the disappointing closer, "The Garden".

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2020/04/27/deep-dive-rush/