COUNTERPARTS

A strange and inconsistant album, Counterparts is not without its rewards. It's difficult to define the sound of the album, because it begins with 3 songs that have a decidedly heavier than usual sound, with Alex Lifeson's guitars having a deeper tone to them (that happen to sound great on these songs, by the way), with Neil Peart and Geddy Lee providing an energizing and lively, pummelling and kinda metally rhythm section, ("Animate" and "Cut to the Chase" in particular are both very memorable and entertaining), then diverting to a mellow mooded yet mid-tempo ballad in "Nobody's Hero", a very deep song with an unusual melody that is likely to get stuck in your head for hours/days. The album then reverts back to the sound of the previous two albums for most of the remaining time, with the exception of a great instrumental, which would be fine, except that the songwriting quality of those of songs is a lot closer to Presto than that of Roll the Bones, having interesting moments, but just as many uninteresting ones resulting in a pretty mediocre feel overall. Neil Peart's lyrics this time around take on a scientific approach to romantic relationships, and that results in some witty, original lines, some that don't translate as well from ideas or statements into effectively sung lines, plenty of headscratchers that would probably make sense if we knew Neil Peart personally, and a fair share of profound revelations. The lyrics that I'm most moved by are in the songs "Nobody's Hero" and "Everyday Glory." I think some of the songs have potential that could have been developed more lyrically and musically. So the album starts out promisingly but soon turns into a slight dissapointment that's nevertheless illuminated by "Leave That Thing Alone", which improves on the already good style of "Where's My Thing?", with a great funky bass line, with atmospheric keyboards and guitars, and I have to say the song would stand out even among better songs. Not the best place to start with Rush, but still recommended to those who have already aquired the bulk of their discography, since the good stuff is not to be overlooked.