CLOCKWORK ANGELS

As with most Rush albums this is heavy rock with prog leanings and in terms of Rush albums this at the heavy/guitar oriented end of the spectrum. None the less it amazes me how bands like Rush can always sound like themselves but with most of their albums sounding distinct from one another.

Clockwork Angels is a pretty dense sounding album with lots going on and very little space between the instruments. it's also a concept album with repeated motifs and phrases. The result for me is a consistent sound throughout the album but it also means that unless you are listening closely the songs can blur into each other a little - particularly in the first half of the album.

That said it does have a few stand-out tracks (Halo Effect, The Wreckers, Wish them well and The Garden) and i suspect that other tracks will push themselves forward with repeated listening.

On the whole I found this to be a stronger album than Snakes & Arrows and closer in tone to the likes of Presto.

The only let down for me is the production which seems a little muddy. The songs are dynamic and full of energy and I think they will be awesome played live, but they aren't served well by the mix. I think this is why the slower songs are working better for me at the moment.

Overall though this is a worthy addition to the canon of Rush albums and stands up to comparison against anything they've produced in the last 30 years.