CLOCKWORK ANGELS

This is part of the review I have written. I have an individual review for each song on the album. I also have a series of reviews for Clockwork Angels: The Novel for which I received an advance reading copy. Please visit TheLoftyOaks.com for more Rush reviews.

RUSH ' CLOCKWORK ANGELS (2012)

A concept album, A concept album?, oh yes let me repeat that a CONCEPT album! When I heard that 'Clockwork Angels' was going to be a concept album I felt a small shiver wiggle up spine. I was excited at the good news. Concept albums are right smack in the wheelhouse of this band and its progressive heritage. Neil writes terrific stories and the boys set them to inspiring and demonstrative musical compositions. To be honest all Rush does is concept work. Lately they have been individual concept songs rather than full cohesive concept albums. All Rush songs are based on a particular concept and then endeavors to make that concept come to life. Now we have news of the twentieth Rush studio album being a concept album. The prospects were very promising given the bands new-found progressive roots strategy coupled with the extreme level of musical proficiency they have developed over their forty-year career and now we toss in a classic Neil Peart penned concept. This is one recipe for potential glorious amazement.

The trick to a concept album is to make your concept real and visible throughout all the songs but not to the point where the individual songs can not stand on their own. 'Clockwork Angels' is the closest to perfection on this point I have ever heard. Each one of the songs on this album is a self-contained chapter but still contributes to the larger story in a structured way. We follow our protagonist from the point he leaves the family farm on his adventure through carnivals, quests for lost cities, run ins with pirates and shadowy Anarchists figures all the way to the point in his life where he reflects back over his life's trials and tribulations. We learn about the protagonists point of view, thoughts, fears and feelings about life, himself and how to treat others. The concept story is rich and full of adventure, wonder and personal revelations. There are just enough facts and key phrases to form a framework of a story within your head but then there is enough room to let your imagination run free to fill in the gaps to make your own personal adventure, setting and characters. This is exactly what a good novel does however Rush accomplish this feat with a very few select words and phrases and then adds the musical elements which help to spur the imagery within your own imagination.

Neil draws on a number of literary and personal influences to help shape his story. 'The Wreckers' is based on a story by Alfred Hitchcock's favorite author Daphne Du Maurier. The overall concept plot and more directly the song 'The Garden' is influenced by Candide, a novel by Voltaire, where a Garden is used as an analogy for life. Freddie Gruber, the famed jazz drummer and teacher who recently passed inspired the lines and themes in 'Headlong Flight', 'I wish I could do it all again.' These are just but a few of the literary influences woven into the fabric of this concept. Neil fits these famous and well storied works of literature into the world of the modern science fiction genre of 'Steampunk'. The best way for me to help you visualize what Steampunk is all about is to have you watch the recent Sherlock Holmes movies. The ones with Robert Downey Jr. playing Holmes. The world is Victorian in style but with modern twists. Brass, leather and glass coupled with complex yet archaic gears power the Rube Goldberg style contraptions. It's an interesting genre and one that Rush have chosen to use as a backdrop for this story. Neil expertly melds the future world driven by the rigid Watchmaker along with these literary tales set to the dystopian world of Steampunk and still reveals useful life lessons along the way. Coupled with uber-virtuoso musical performances and you now have a 2012 version of a Rush concept album that is mature, provocative and weighty.

The stories, the concepts, the life lessons and the literature inspired the lyrics are all just gravy on the cupcakes. It's that signature music of Rush that makes a Rush album a RUSH album. After a healthy forty-year career these boys are masters of their individual instruments, that is a given, but to still be inspired to create like its your first album is what amazes me. Fresh melodies, interesting compositions, cool tones and some flat-out jaw dropping technical fireworks litter this album from start to finish. One characteristic of a Rush song or album is that it takes more than one listen to fully understand and appreciate the song. The music needs to breathe and age like a fine wine. It gets better with time. The more often you listen to a song the more you discover within that song. Subtle variations in rhythm, melody and/or arrangements of song sections continues to amaze and inspire. I enjoy focusing on one instrument during a particular listen of a song and try to follow that instruments journey from start to finish. Then compare that to the other instruments. It is a lot like three (or four counting synths and keys) instruments telling their own individual stories through variations in melody and rhythm but then all coming together in one intertwined amalgamation of sound that fits together in perfect lock step to achieve a singular purpose.

I am not really that keen on ranking songs. I can never get the list right with a Rush album because songs shift in levels of enjoyment based my own perspectives, moods or the particular outlook of the day. I have however been able to group the songs on 'Clockwork Angels' into four groups. My individual groupings as of now are as follows: (Songs in no particular order)

Top Group: Caravan, Carnies and Headlong Flight. Second Group: BU2B, The Wreckers and The Garden. Third Group: Clockwork Angels, The Anarchist, Seven Cities of Gold and Wish Them Well. Fourth Group: Halo Effect, BU2B2.

The music of Rush is complex yet simple, deep yet accessible. It can be dark and it can be light. Emotions, feelings, scenarios, tastes, sights and smells are all present in the works. It is a modern symphony of three. In my opinion this album has all the elements I have described previously. It is a complete package of lyrics, music and concept spanning a variety of highs, lows, darks and lights. It is a complete story with a beginning, character development, an adventurous middle, a climax and a reflective ending. All told with amazing musical performances. In my opinion this is the best Rush album yet to be produced. Is it 'Moving Pictures' or 'Hemispheres'? No it is not. Those are similarly fantastic works of art but 'Clockwork Angels' has something one step farther. The maturity of band members who have 55 plus years of life and 40 plus years of musical maturity under their collective belts. To me those experiences and maturities are crucial elements in the depth and fabric of this album. I felt those elements were present and growing in the past few albums but it has now come together with full force. The progressive roots music, the high quality concept and the knowledgeable direction of a true fan as a producer has elevated the overall atmosphere of this album.

'Clockwork Angels' is the perfection (as in 'highest degree of excellence') of the fifth and most complete incarnation (as in 'being or form') of Rush.

TheLoftyOaks.com