Rush Retrospective: Album 19- Clockwork Angels

Album:  Clockwork Angels

Year Released:    2012

Lineup:  

• Geddy Lee – bass guitar, keyboards, bass pedals, vocals
• Alex Lifeson – guitars, keyboards
• Neil Peart – drums, cymbals, tambourine

Overall Thoughts:

The 19th (and final) original studio album from Rush started after an 18 month break following the Snakes & Arrows Tour.    The group decided on an album centered around a fiction steampunk-based dystopic world.  The results was Clockwork Angels.

This is the only full Rush Concept Album (2112 and Hemispheres both had half the album designed around a concept, but had songs outside the concept filling out the album.)  The theme of Clockwork Angels is not unlike 2112; a world dominated by religious leaders who planned out the fate of everyone, and an individual who lived in the world.  Unlike 2112, the unnamed protagonist isn't trying to change the world; just trying to find their own place in it.  

The music continues to be outstanding; by this time, the band had been together nearly 40 years, and the skill of the playing is shown on every song.  The music is gorgeous, and while the ablum lacks ne song that stands out, it's a continuous string of excellent songs (Caravan, Clockwork Angels, Carnis, Halo Effect, The Wreckers, Headlong Flight, The Garden)

It's a fantastic album for the culmination of Rush's career.

Ranking of Rush Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Presto
2. Moving Pictures
3. Roll the Bones
4. Clockwork Angels
5. 2112
6. Permanent Waves
7. Fly By Night
8. Rush
9. A Farewell to Kings
10. Hemispheres
11. Snakes & Arrows
12. Hold Your Fire
13. Power Windows
14. Counterparts
15. Signals
16. Test for Echo
17. Caress of Steel
18. Vapor Trails
19. Grace Under Pressure

Top 10 Rush Songs (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. "The Pass", Presto
2. "Tom Sawyer", Moving Pictures
3. "Working Man", Rush
4. "Closer to the Heart", A Farewell to Kings
5. "La Villa Strangiato", Hemispheres
6. "Freewill", Permanent Waves
7. "Bravado", Roll the Bones
8. "2112", 2112
9. "Fly By Night", Fly By Night
10. "Caravan", Clockwork Angels

Rush Retrospective: Album 18- Snakes & Arrows

 

Album:  Snakes & Arrows

Year Released:    2007

Lineup:  

• Neil Peart – drums, electronic percussion, tambourine
• Geddy Lee – bass guitar, keyboards, Mellotron, vocals
• Alex Lifeson – 6 and 12-string acoustic and electronic guitars, mandola, mandolin, bouzouki

Overall Thoughts:

After Vapor Trails, Rush released a Live Album (Rush in Rio), and EP album of covers (Feedback), a DVD celebrating their 30 year anniversay (R30), and a repackage of their Retrospective albums (Gold) before going back for their 18th Studio album, Snakes & Arrows.

The group wanted to perform more simple and direct songs, similar to the covers they performed on Feedback.  At the same time, Neil Peart was writing lyrics talking about faith and religion ("Armor & Sword") and fate ("The Larger Bowl").  It's very difficult to come up with an original point about questioning faith & religion in 2007.  There are some lyrics that stand out, like the chorus from "Faithless":

I don't have faith in faith

I don't believe in belief

You can call me faithless

But I still cling to hope

And I believe in love

And that's faith enough for me

The highlight among the song with lyrics is "Bravest Face", which is a song about trying to keep optimism when there is so much darkness around us:

In the sweetest child there's a vicious streak

In the strongest man there's a child so weak

In the whole wide world there's no magic place

So you might as well rise, put on your bravest face

As Snakes & Arrows progresses, the songs get more optimistic, or at least more resolved, ending with "We Hold On".  

There are three instrumentals on the album ("The Main Monkey Business", "Hope", "Malignant Narcissism"), and they are fantastic.  Musically, Snakes & Arrows is outstanding.  

This is a good album that lacks a centerpiece song to turn it into a great album.  

Ranking of Rush Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Presto
2. Moving Pictures
3. Roll the Bones
4. 2112
5. Permanent Waves
6. Fly By Night
7. Rush
8. A Farewell to Kings
9. Hemispheres
10. Snakes & Arrows
11. Hold Your Fire
12. Power Windows
13. Counterparts
14. Signals
15. Test for Echo
16. Caress of Steel
17. Vapor Trails
18. Grace Under Pressure

Top 10 Rush Songs (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. "The Pass", Presto
2. "Tom Sawyer", Moving Pictures
3. "Working Man", Rush
4. "Closer to the Heart", A Farewell to Kings
5. "La Villa Strangiato", Hemispheres
6. "Freewill", Permanent Waves
7. "Bravado", Roll the Bones
8. "2112", 2112
9. "Fly By Night", Fly By Night
10. "Show Don't Tell", Presto

Rush Retrospective: Album 17- Vapor Trails

 

Album:  Vapor Trails

Year Released:    2002

Lineup:  

• Geddy Lee – bass guitar, vocals
• Alex Lifeson – electric and acoustic guitars, mandola
• Neil Peart – drums, cymbals

Overall Thoughts:

After the tour for Test for Echo, tragedy stuck drummer Neil Peart, with the deaths of his daughter (car accident) and wife (cancer).  The band took a hiatus during this time, considering themselves retired as a band.  It wasn't until five years later they were able to heal enough to start working on a new album together.  

The hiatus is noticeable.  The skill is still there- the playing is outstanding.  The music has a 'back to basics' flair to it- no keyboards at all, and the music is played at a frentic pace.  

The skill is there, but the art is off.  None of the musical hooks stay with you- they are well played but you don't fall in love with them.  Same with the lyrics; well-written but nothing memorable.  Nothing is bad but there is nothing here that I fell in love it.  That's probably unfair, given the circumstances.  Just to hear them recording is a good thing.  

The band did not like the original album, thinking the mix was causing it to sound too distorted.  A remixed album was released in 2013, and the band believed the songs sounded better in the remixed version.  It does sound better (to my own ears; to be fair, I'm half-deaf and likely to miss the nuances)

Rush climbed back into the studio after five terrible years.  Vapor Trails was the result; not their best album, but a first step back.  

Ranking of Rush Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Presto
2. Moving Pictures
3. Roll the Bones
4. 2112
5. Permanent Waves
6. Fly By Night
7. Rush
8. A Farewell to Kings
9. Hemispheres
10. Hold Your Fire
11. Power Windows
12. Counterparts
13. Signals
14. Test for Echo
15. Caress of Steel
16. Vapor Trails
17. Grace Under Pressure

Top 10 Rush Songs (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. "The Pass", Presto
2. "Tom Sawyer", Moving Pictures
3. "Working Man", Rush
4. "Closer to the Heart", A Farewell to Kings
5. "La Villa Strangiato", Hemispheres
6. "Freewill", Permanent Waves
7. "Bravado", Roll the Bones
8. "2112", 2112
9. "Fly By Night", Fly By Night
10. "Show Don't Tell", Presto

Rush Retrospective: Album 16- Test for Echo

 

Album:  Test for Echo

Year Released:   1996

Lineup:  

• Geddy Lee – bass guitar, vocals, synthesizers
• Alex Lifeson – electric and acoustic guitars, mandola
• Neil Peart – drums, cymbals, hammer dulcimer

Overall Thoughts:

After the tour for Counterparts, the band took a year long break.  Geddy stayed home with his newborn daughter, Alex Lifeson released a solo album (Victor), and Neil Peart released a Buddy Rich tribute album.  When they came back to the studio, they started working on their 16th album after working together as a group for 20 years. 

The album isn't bad- but it seems aimless.  Much like Counterparts, there doesn't seem to be an overarching theme in the album.  There are some brilliant bits throughout the album, both musically (Lifeson plays a 10 string mandola on 'Half the World' that sounds outstanding, Lee's bass work on 'Driven' is otherworldly, and Peart's drumming remains peerless), but it never comes together in one great song.

Same with the lyrics.  Peart writes some beautiful lines, such as this stance from 'Resist':

I can learn to resist

Anything but temptation

I can learn to co-exist

With anything but pain

But it's not cohesive.  The sum isn't as great as the individual parts.

Ranking of Rush Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Presto
2. Moving Pictures
3. Roll the Bones
4. 2112
5. Permanent Waves
6. Fly By Night
7. Rush
8. A Farewell to Kings
9. Hemispheres
10. Hold Your Fire
11. Power Windows
12. Counterparts
13. Signals
14. Test for Echo
15. Caress of Steel
16. Grace Under Pressure

Top 10 Rush Songs (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. "The Pass", Presto
2. "Tom Sawyer", Moving Pictures
3. "Working Man", Rush
4. "Closer to the Heart", A Farewell to Kings
5. "La Villa Strangiato", Hemispheres
6. "Freewill", Permanent Waves
7. "Bravado", Roll the Bones
8. "2112", 2112
9. "Fly By Night", Fly By Night
10. "Show Don't Tell", Presto

Rush Retrospective: Album 15- Counterparts

Album:  Counterparts

Year Released:   1993

Lineup:  

• Geddy Lee – bass, vocals, synthesizer
• Neil Peart – drums, cymbals, electronic percussion
• Alex Lifeson – electric and acoustic guitars

Overall Thoughts:

In some ways, Counterparts is a throwback album.  There isn't a theme that runs through the songs in Counterparts like in many of their previous albums.  It's not a progressive album, or one that is heavily based in synthesizers or pop sound.  In many ways, it reminds me of their first two albums- a rock album, first and foremost.

It's a scattershot album.  There are some excellent songs ("Nobody's Hero" is the standout for me), but other songs that fall flat ("Double Agent").  There are far more songs about women and relationships ("Cold Fire", "Alien Shore") than is typical for a Rush album.  

Rupert Hines was the producer for their previous two albums- but with Counterparts, Peter Collins returned.  Correlation is not causation, but Hines produced two of my favorite albums, while Collins' track record is not as potent.

Counterparts is not a bad album.  But it is an uneven letdown after a pair of powerhouses.

Ranking of Rush Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Presto
2. Moving Pictures
3. Roll the Bones
4. 2112
5. Permanent Waves
6. Fly By Night
7. Rush
8. A Farewell to Kings
9. Hemispheres
10. Hold Your Fire
11. Power Windows
12. Counterparts
13. Signals
14. Caress of Steel
15. Grace Under Pressure

Top 10 Rush Songs (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. "The Pass", Presto
2. "Tom Sawyer", Moving Pictures
3. "Working Man", Rush
4. "Closer to the Heart", A Farewell to Kings
5. "La Villa Strangiato", Hemispheres
6. "Freewill", Permanent Waves
7. "Bravado", Roll the Bones
8. "2112", 2112
9. "Fly By Night", Fly By Night
10. "Show Don't Tell", Presto

Rush Retrospective: Album 14- Roll the Bones

 

Album:  Roll the Bones

Year Released:   1991

Lineup:  

• Alex Lifeson – electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals
• Neil Peart – drums, cymbals
• Geddy Lee – bass guitar, vocals, synthesizers

Overall Thoughts:

I wasn't expecting to like this album as much as I did.

I thought it was a good album, with some excellent songs ("Bravado" and "Ghost of a Chance" really stand out).  But I wasn't expecting Roll the Bones to be a top tier Rush album- not when I was listening to it in the 1990s.

But in the 1990s I was a young man in my 20s.  Listening to it thirty years later gives a whole new perspective.  This is an album for the middle-aged.

The songs, throughout the album, are from the perspective of someone who has scars from life.  It's not an angry album, or a sad one.  Mainly, the songs are from someone who is just weary of the struggle of life.  Everything else has failed- why not try being kind to each other?"

It's some of Neil Peart's strongest lyrics.  Look at "Bravado":

And if the music stops

There's only the sound of the rain

All the hope and glory

All the sacrifice in vain

And if love remains

Though everything is lost

We will pay the price

But we will not count the cost

Or from "Ghost of a Chance":

I don't believe in destiny

Or the guiding hand of fate

I don't believe in forever

Or love as a mystical state

I don't believe in the stars or the planets

Or angels watching from above

But I believe there's a ghost of a chance

We can find someone to love

And make it last

The man who wrote "2112" was trying to take on the World.  Twenty years later, that same person is looking back on their life- not with regret, but exhaustion.  As someone who is 52, this album speaks to me.

Musically, Roll the Bones is outstanding.  Like Presto, they've merged the synthesizers so they play Robin to the guitars and drum.  By this point, they've been playing together for two decades, and that experience shows.

It's a great album.  It's also an album that grows as the listener ages.

Ranking of Rush Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Presto
2. Moving Pictures
3. Roll the Bones
4. 2112
5. Permanent Waves
6. Fly By Night
7. Rush
8. A Farewell to Kings
9. Hemispheres
10. Hold Your Fire
11. Power Windows
12. Signals
13. Caress of Steel
14. Grace Under Pressure

Top 10 Rush Songs (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. "The Pass", Presto
2. "Tom Sawyer", Moving Pictures
3. "Working Man", Rush
4. "Closer to the Heart", A Farewell to Kings
5. "La Villa Strangiato", Hemispheres
6. "Freewill", Permanent Waves
7. "Bravado", Roll the Bones
8. "2112", 2112
9. "Fly By Night", Fly By Night
10. "Show Don't Tell", Presto

Rush Retrospective: Album 13- Presto

 

Album:  Presto

Year Released:   1989

Lineup:  

• Geddy Lee – bass guitar, vocals, synthesizers
• Alex Lifeson – electric and acoustic guitars
• Neil Peart – drums, electronic percussion

Overall Thoughts:

In between Hold Your Fire and Presto, Rush changed record companies (from Mercury to Atlantic Records), changed their prodcuer (from Peter Collins to Rupert Hine) and changed their sound.  The previous four albums put a large emphasis on the synthesisers; starting with Presto, the synthesisers were reduced and the guitar work took a stronger role in the music.

The previous albums had expanded their musical repetoire, adding ska, reggae, and asian influences to their sound.  Presto is more "back to basics" in their sound.  The songs are less thematic and more introspective and personal.

Neil Peart's lyrics continue to shine.  From "Show Don't Tell":

You can twist perceptions
Reality won't budge
You can raise objections
I will be the judge (and the jury)

And from "The Pass":

All of us get lost in the darkness
Dreamers learn to steer by the stars
All of us do time in the gutter
Dreamers turn to look at the cars
Turn around and turn around and turn around
Turn around and walk the razor's edge
Don't turn your back and slam the door on me

In addition to the great lyrics, drums, and outstanding guitar work, the singing really works.  I think this is Rush's best album in terms of Geddy's voice

On a peronal note:  This is my favorite album, partly because it's when I first started listening to Rush (at age 17; I was a late bloomer), and partly because "The Pass" is my single favorite song by the group.  

Ranking of Rush Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Presto
2. Moving Pictures
3. 2112
4. Permanent Waves
5. Fly By Night
6. Rush
7. A Farewell to Kings
8. Hemispheres
9. Hold Your Fire
10. Power Windows
11. Signals
12. Caress of Steel
13. Grace Under Pressure

Top 10 Rush Songs (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. "The Pass", Presto
2. "Tom Sawyer", Moving Pictures
3. "Working Man", Rush
4. "Closer to the Heart", A Farewell to Kings
5. "La Villa Strangiato", Hemispheres
6. "Freewill", Permanent Waves
7. "2112", 2112
8. "Fly By Night", Fly By Night
9. "Show Don't Tell", Presto
10. "YYZ", Moving Pictures

Rush Retrospective: Album 12- Hold Your Fire

 

Album:  Hold Your Fire

Year Released:   1987

Lineup:  

• Geddy Lee – bass guitar, synthesizer, vocals
• Alex Lifeson – electric and acoustic guitar
• Neil Peart – drums, percussion

Overall Thoughts:

The twelfth album, Hold Your Fire, Rush continues expanding their musical styles.  It's the first album that is designed for CDs rather than records (at over 50 minutes, it was too long for a LP), and the first album with a guest singer (Aimee Mann on "Time Stands Still" and also performed backing vocals on other songs).  

The lyrics continue to be outstanding, growing more introspective over the years.  A couple of examples- first, from "Open Secrets":

I find no absolution
In my rational point of view
Maybe some things are instinctive
But there's one thing you would do
You could try to understand me
I could try to understand you
You could try to understand me
I could try to understand you

Or from "Time Stands Still":

I let my skin get too thin

I'd like to pause,

No matter what I pretend

Like some pilgrim

Who learns to transcend

Learns to live

As if each step was the end

Most of the songs are excellent ("Tai Shan" is an exception- an attempt to add in Asian influence to their music.  It doesn't work).  

After every four albums, Rush released a live album and then would go in a different directiona musically.  Hold Your Fire is the last album of this direction; while there were stumbles along the path, it took them in a different direction (less rock and more pop with more synthesisiers; less progressive with shorter, more introspective songs).  By Hold Your Fire, they had completed this leg of their musical journey.

Ranking of Rush Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Moving Pictures
2. 2112
3. Permanent Waves
4. Fly By Night
5. Rush
6. A Farewell to Kings
7. Hemispheres
8. Hold Your Fire
9. Power Windows
10. Signals
11. Caress of Steel
12. Grace Under Pressure

Top 10 Rush Songs (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. "Tom Sawyer", Moving Pictures
2. "Working Man", Rush
3. "Closer to the Heart", A Farewell to Kings
4. "La Villa Strangiato", Hemispheres
5. "Freewill", Permanent Waves
6. "2112", 2112
7. "Fly By Night", Fly By Night
8. "YYZ", Moving Pictures
9. "Red Barchettta", Moving Pictures
10. "Making Memories", Fly By Night

Rush Retrospective: Album 11- Power Windows

 

Album:  Power Windows

Year Released:   1985

Lineup:  

• Geddy Lee – vocals, bass guitar, bass pedals, synthesizers, production, arrangements
• Alex Lifeson – electric and acoustic guitars, production, arrangements
• Neil Peart – drums, percussion, electric percussion, production, arrangements

Overall Thoughts:

The eleventh album, Power Windows, continues the journey they started with Signals.  They brought in a new co-producer, Peter Collins, for the album.  The songs remain shorter, and are heavily influenced by the early 1980's musical styles.  But with Power Windows, Rush does a better job merging both their newer synthesiser based sounds with the older guitar and drum styles.

The theme of the album is power, in various forms.  With songs such as "Big Money" (financial), "Manhattan Project" (weapons), "Territories" (Nationalism), Rush explores deep ideas in their songs.  Neil Peart continues to be outstanding at writing thoughtful lyrics within the framework of a song.  

There are no bad songs here- it's their strongest album since "Moving Pictures".  It has very good songs ("Mystic Rhythms" is excellent).  Of this era of Rush, it's my favorite album.

Ranking of Rush Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Moving Pictures
2. 2112
3. Permanent Waves
4. Fly By Night
5. Rush
6. A Farewell to Kings
7. Hemispheres
8. Power Windows
9. Signals
10. Caress of Steel
11. Grace Under Pressure

Top 10 Rush Songs (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. "Tom Sawyer", Moving Pictures
2. "Working Man", Rush
3. "Closer to the Heart", A Farewell to Kings
4. "La Villa Strangiato", Hemispheres
5. "Freewill", Permanent Waves
6. "2112", 2112
7. "Fly By Night", Fly By Night
8. "YYZ", Moving Pictures
9. "Red Barchettta", Moving Pictures
10. "Making Memories", Fly By Night