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Rush Retrospective Part 14: Roll the Bones (1991)

Immortal for A Limited Time A new decade, and a new chance for Rush to prove themselves in the music landscape. The year is 1991, a massive year for hard rock and metal bands, both new and old. Given the massive flux of successful and influences releases that were released in 1991, Rush were put in the unenviable position of having to at least match up to the new titans of the music industry. Would Rush be able to deliver their signature high quality of songwriting and musicianship into this new alt rock scene? After two consecutive weak releases at the end of the eighties, one might not be blamed for going into “Roll The Bones” with skepticism. F urthermore, Reading forums and Youtube videos about the album only compound matters for new listeners, with some saying this is one of the worst albums the trio unleashed in their lengthy career. In reality, a lot of that vitriolic attitude is both earned and unearned on "Roll The Bones." Opening off with “Dreamlin

Rush Retrospective Part 13: Presto (1989)

Rush hit a tiny speed bump in their career, it was only a matter of time. Luckily, this creative misfire wasn’t even close to stopping Rush’s creative output and in 1989, as the eighties were nearing their conclusion, the band released their final record in the decade that showcased them at their most prolific and creative. With a switch to a new record label, the legendary Atlantic Records, and a new producer at the helm, Rupert Hine, the band was ready to close out the decade in a strong fashion. The big question though was if the trio was going to learn from the mistakes that plagued “Hold Your ”? The answer:...kind of… The album opens with “Show Don’t Tell”, and it kicks off with Alex Lifeson delivering a nice crunchy riff, and it shows the band kind of returning to stronger guitar presence, or at least one that isn’t as clean as what was exhibited on previous releases. There are still keyboards on this track, and on the album as a whole, but they seem to be scaled bac

Rush Retrospective Part 12: Hold Your Fire (1987)

Facing the Killing Instinct Similar to “Caress of Steel”, 1987’s “Hold Your Fire” is another entry in the Rush catalog that hardcore Rush nerds looks on with...at best, suspicious glances and at worst vile contempt. I f the past three records were flirting with and eventually diving head first into the realms of synth and new-wave, this release is just drenched in that sound, even more than “Power Windows”. This was the album that broke the audience's patience with this synth heavy direction, with “Hold Your Fire” routinely regarded as one of the very few “bad” (by Rush’s lofty standards) albums the three have released in their career. At the very least the idea that the band presented was at least , this more chilled out experience than what was presented on previous releases. There are various jazz fusion influences such as Allan Holdsworth or Chick Corea’s Return to Forever, more focused on atmosphere than direct impact or aggression. In terms of standout tracks, the

Rush Retrospective Part Eleven: Power Windows (1985)

Different Degrees “Grace Under Pressure” was an emotionally heavy experience, the darkest, borderline nihilistic the trio had gotten. As the calendar revolved into 1985, Rush released “Power Windows”, a record that showed the band still entrenched in keyboards and new wave influences, while dialing back on the heavy topics that were expressed on the previous release. However, the band has not given up expressing topics and concerns that were occurring around this time period, in this case the album’s topics cover the theme of power. “Power Windows' ' feels more exploratory, more like the band is looking down and observing the happenings of the world, while giving their commentary on these issues. This project showcases Rush at their most socially and politically conscious up to that point. “Power Windows' ' sees the band's greatest exploration of the synthesizer direction. The project’s focus on synths is greater than ever, becoming a driving force

Rush Retrospective Part Ten: Grace Under Pressure (1984)

Synthetic Dread With “Signals”, the power trio dipped their toes into new sonic directions, a direction that took advantage of the emerging technology that was being implemented by bands around the early eighties. Rush were always about advancing their own unique brand of rock music, and they were aware that they had to adapt to the changes of the music industry in order to stay relevant. This direction was one that had diehard fans a bit taken aback but they were still willing to see where the band would go with this new focus. If “Signals” was the album where the band were toying with the ideas of synthesizers, 1984's “Grace Under Pressure” exhibited the band diving head first into this realm. Compared to “Signals”, Rush’s tenth studio outing is a much more focused release, one that takes greater advantage of the new direction that the band was toying with and in addition, Rush tackle greater, more emotionally heavy concepts. The opening track, “Distant Ear

Rush Retrospective Part 9: Signals (1982)

A Sleek New Form Rush were now in the unenviable position of having to capitalize the mammoth success that was “Moving Pictures”. Whatever direction the band was going to explore, inevitably fans were going to compare it to “Moving Pictures”, whether they liked it or not. Luckily, the band did not fall into the trap of resting on their laurels and in 1982, “Signals” was released. This record marks the beginning of a new era of the band, one in which the trio heavily implemented synthesizers into their music, an era that fans have dubbed the "Synth Era". Now synthesizers were an already established ingredient of Rush's music, since the late seventies in fact, but this is the release where the synths started to become a more dominant part of the song making process. “Signals” is a very bold, daring record in many respects helping to push the band's sound further, luckily not resting on the success of their previous output. The record opens with a from