[Rick and Roll]

Here's the second part of the Rushfest....

Permanent Waves -

Freewill
Jacob's Ladder
Entre Nous
Natural Science

Saw a chemically altered girl dance to Jacob's Ladder when I saw a Rush tribute band some 15 years back. Very strange....

Natural Science has one of the best endings.

Moving Pictures -

Red Barchetta
Witch Hunt
Vital Signs

Skipped the really popular ones....

Signals -

Subdivisions
Chemisrty
Losing It
Countdown

There's a glossy overly keyboard sound that permeates the record, but it's one of my favorites. Subdivisions is a classic (I had a friend drum to that tune once...he's pretty good...Larks Tongues III also!). Losing It features the great Ben Mink (love to see FM at Nearfest). As usual, great lyrics. My 12-year old son (as of tomorrow) really digs Countdown.

Grace Under Pressure -

Distant Early Warning
The Enemy Within
The Body Electric
Between The Wheels

A vibrant, powerful record. Full of energy, it's the last really great Rush record until Test For Echo.

Power Windows -

Territories
Middletown Dreams

This is a record in transition, a hybrid between the prior three and the song-oriented ones to follow. Marathon in particular has a neat middle section, but the choruses repeat too much, a problem I have with the next record.

Hold Your Fire -

Force Ten
Time Stands Still
Mission


I've learned to like this a bit more over time. Mission is a fantastic tune, and Time Stands Still features the great Aimee Mann.

Presto -

The Pass
Presto

Presto features a return of the long-missing acoustic guitar, and The Pass is a sweet tune, another swath of the lyrical brilliance of Neil Peart. Too bad a lot of side two is not up to par.

Roll The Bones -

Dreamline
Face Up
Where's My Thing

The nadir of Rush's output, it's a sketchy record. The title cut, Neurotica, and Ghost of A Chance are also pretty good, but some of the tunes are wimpy. Where's My Thing is the first of three successive records with an instrumental, each excellent.

Counterparts -

Animate
Double Agent
Leave That Thing Alone

A return to form, I personally like this one a lot. Although that's not shared by everyone, there's some real gems on here. Between Sun and Moon has some Who snippets stuck in, and Alien Shore is also a cool tune. You guessed it - Leave that Thing Alone is instrumental # 2. I wish they'd do more of that. They're incredibly fine musicians.

Test For Echo -

Driven
Half The World
Virtuality

What a great record. Had to leave eight tunes off! Even Dog Years, my least favorite cut, has the same riff as Bastille Day. And Time And Motion has a Cygnus riff. Maybe that's a big reason...it harkens back to the glory days. Half the World is simple in lyrics, but spot on - and it's just a nice fucking tune. Driven spotlight's Geddy's grooves, and Virtuality is a dead-on rocker. Limbo is probably the best instrumental they've done since YYZ.

Vapor Trails -

Peaceable Kingdom
Secret Touch

I like this better as I listen to it, but the sound is off. It's muddied and a bit too grungy for a Rush record. I'm not against changing the sound, but as with King's X and "Manic Moonlight", it's too convoluted in the bass/drum sound. All that said, it's a favorite of a lot of others, and given Neil's tragedies after Test For Echo, it's just great to have Rush back.

Enjoy!!!