MOVING PICTURES

Picture the scene:

Prog has died,Genesis are stumbling into the 80's like someone's brain-addled grandad,Yes are changing personel more times than Rainbow, and ELP have pomped themselves into an early grave.So what do you do? You reinvent Prog Rock and stick two drumsticks up at the nay-sayers,that's what! Moving Pictures? Moving mountains to Mohammed more like.All over North America the kids were forsaking Prog Rock for Heavy metal, yet Rush managed to bring them all back,with a Top 3 Multi-Platinum best-seller.

Tom Sawyer has been plundered many times for charting Hip-Hop acts,its catchy rhythm section,imaginative lyrics and 7/8 beat giving a two-fingered salute to the Tolkien- esque imagery of yore.Red Barchetta,briefly returns to the SciFi roots of earlier albums, but manages to be both an engaging tale and a musical tour-de-force.Particularly effective is the way the band magically evoke the movements of pistons and air and the beautiful guitar solo.YYZ-wow!Can three human beings really play like this together? Sure it is flash, but is such a show-stealer that dozens of bands have tried and failed to match its magnificence,indeed Jazz Rock never sounded this much fun.Limelight follows, it is another catchy song,poignant lyrics about the problems of fame and an absolutely amazing gutar solo.

Rush's last true epic,The Camera Eye is next up and brings to mind the portentious opening minutes of "Xanadu" fused with the thick guitar brushstrokes of "Jacob's Ladder".Using Dos Passos's epic "USA" as a starting point we meander through modern landscapes,then the piece throbs with the passage of people along city streets. Certainly the most obviously "progressive" track on the album and a testament to the trios ensemble playing.Witch Hunt follows-what a scary song! Alluding to the ever-present bible-bashing fraternity in modern America and back to the McCarthy Witch-Hunt days it is a plee for more tolerance of different ideas.Wonderfully evocative crowd intro and portentious guitar lead into a crushing riff,crashing drums and lush synths.I never grow tired of this track.Final track,Vital Signs is a strange hard rock,white reggae hybrid (ok - The Police!) very catchy and not too serious methinks.

I have no doubts about awarding the full 5 star masterpiece status to this album.Best Album Ever? Maybe....

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