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Rating:
Released in 1985, during the peak of synth pop, 'Power Windows' is one of the most discussed albums in Rush's discography: despised by many for the excessive concessions to the polished sound of the era, appreciated by others, who recognized the continuity of the album compared to the works started with 'Signals', without the essence of the band being distorted, remaining receptive to every genre of contemporary music.
It should be noted that the album is quite distant from the works that made Rush famous and beloved in the rock prog scene in the second half of the '70s, although this does not mean that PW represents the qualitative nadir of the Toronto trio. Perhaps the best way to approach the album is to... ignore that it is a Rush work, trying to grasp its intrinsic qualities regardless of the labels and expectations that each of the band's works generates in those who have heard their 70s masterpieces. Let's try to do that now.
The Big Money, placed at the opening of the album, benefits from a gritty guitar riff, whose echoes form the foundation of the song: over these, Geddy Lee's voice stands out, less explosive than in past years and albums, evolving in a manner very similar to Jon Anderson of Yes; the keyboards play a significant role in the pace of the piece, adorning it with sounds that Peter Gabriel from those years would have appreciated. The next Grand Design, introduced by synthesizers, is characterized by a calmer pace and the excellent rhythmic texture of Lifeson and Peart: the chorus is very refined, striving to avoid easy harmonic solutions. Manhattan Project, with references to the atomic and post-atomic nightmare, emphasizes the album's pop inclination more, but does so with a particular class and composure, not trivial, especially in the central part of the piece, where keyboards and guitar echo the iterations of the classic Rush sound.
The emotional peak of the album is represented by Marathon, with particularly profound and introspective lyrics: in purely musical terms, it is a symphonic rock, with orchestral interventions, with a strong melodic impact. The following Territories raises the technical level of the work: the piece is not immediate and revisits, modernizing it, the early Rush prog rock, albeit in a different context and with different instrumentation, with a splendid conclusion left to Geddy Lee's bass and keyboards. Middletown Dreams stands out again for Peart's lyrics, although weighed down by an excessive intervention of the synthesizers that take up too much space from the other instruments, without adding particular creativity to the track. Emotion Detector is, probably, the closest piece to pop made by Rush during their thirty-year career: just compare the verse/chorus alternation, the ease of the melody, and the decorative intervention of the synthesizer.
The album concludes with a true masterpiece, both in lyrics and music, such as Mystic Rythms: a moving song that seeks to explain (and succeeds in doing so) the mystery of music, from its primordial beats to the electronic elaborations of the '80s, a gem of Rush's repertoire from that period. A summary judgment on the work appears, in light of what has been observed, rather difficult: if it is true that all songs are of excellent technical/compositional level, there is a certain regret in noting the regression of the band's sound, especially in the guitar and drum parts, and an excessive adherence to the song form, which had already manifested itself, indeed, in previous albums.
It should also be said that this album grows with successive listenings: when it was gifted to me it deserved a 2, after eleven years I would give it a 4, pretending to ignore the wonders of the '70s (which would merit a vote well above the 5 kindly granted by Debaser).
I hope I'm not being too generous, but for Rush, this and more.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 The Big Money (05:37)
Well, I was only a kid, didn't know enough to be afraid
Playing the game, but not the way the big boys played
Nothing to lose, maybe I had something to trade
The way the big wheel spins
Well, I was only a kid, on a holy crusade
I placed no trust in a faith that was ready-made
Take no chances on paradise delayed
So I do a slow fade
Playing for time
Don't want to wait for heaven
Looking for love
For an angel to forgive my sins
Playing with fire
Chasing something new to believe in
Looking for love
The way the big wheel spins
Well, I was only a kid, cruising around in a trance
Prisoner of fate, victim of circumstance
I was lined up for glory, but the tickets sold out in advance
The way the big wheel spins
Well, I was only a kid, gone without a backward glance
Going for broke, going for another chance
Hoping for heaven, hoping for a fine romance
If I do the right dance
Wheel goes round, landing on a twist of faith
Taking your chances you'll have the right answers
When the final judgment begins
Wheel goes round, landing on a leap of fate
Life redirected in ways unexpected
Sometimes the odd number wins
The way the big wheel spins
03 Manhattan Project (05:07)
Imagine a time when it all began
In the dying days of a war
A weapon that would settle the score
Whoever found it first
Would be sure to do their worst
They always had before...
Imagine a man where it all began
A scientist pacing the floor
In each nation always eager to explore
To build the best big stick
To turn the winning trick
But this was something more...
The big bang took and shook the world
Shot down the rising sun
The end was begun it would hit everyone
When the chain reaction was done
The big shots try to hold it back
Fools try to wish it away
The hopeful depend on a world without end
Whatever the hopeless may say
Imagine a place where it all began
They gathered from across the land
To work in the secrecy of the desert sand
All of the brightest boys
To play with the biggest toys
More than they bargained for...
The big bang took and shook the world
Shot down the rising sun
The hopeful depend on a world without end
Whatever the hopeless may say
Imagine a man when it all began
The pilot of "Enola Gay"
Flying out of the shockwave on that August day
All the powers that be, and the course of history
Would be changed for evermore...
The big bang took and shook the world
Shot down the rising sun
The end was begun it would hit everyone
When the chain reaction was done
The big shots try to hold it back
Fools try to wish it away
The hopeful depend on a world without end
Whatever the hopeless may say
The big bang took and shook the world
Shot down the rising sun
The hopeful depend on a world without end
Whatever the hopeless may say
04 Marathon (06:09)
It's not how fast you can go
The force goes into the flow
If you pick up the beat
You can forget about the heat
More than just survival
More than just a flash
More than just a dotted line
More than just a dash
It's a test of ultimate will
The heartbreak climb uphill
Got to pick up the pace
If you want to stay in the race
More than just blind ambition
More than just simple greed
More than just a finish line
Must feed this burning need -
In the long run...
From first to last
The peak is never passed
Something always fires the light
That gets in your eyes
One moment's high
And glory rolls on by
Like a streak of lightening
That flashes and fades
In the summer sky
Your meters may overload
You can rest at the side of the road
You can miss a stride
But nobody gets a free ride
More than high performance
More than just a spark
More than just the bottom line
Or a lucky shot in the dark -
In the long run...
You can do a lot in a lifetime
If you don't burn out too fast
You can make the most of the distance
First you need endurance -
First you've got to last...
05 Territories (06:20)
I see the middle kingdom
Between Heaven and Earth
Like the Chinese call
The country of their birth.
We all figure that our homes
Our homes are set above
Other people than the ones
The ones we know and love.
In every place with a name
They play the same territorial game
Hiding behind the lines
Sending up warning signs.
The whole wide world
An endless universe
Yet we keep looking through
The eyeglass in reverse.
Don't feed the people
But we feed the machines
Can't really feel what
International means.
In different circles
We keep holding our ground
Indifferent circles
We keep spinning
Round and round.
We see so many tribes
Overrun and undermined
While their invaders dream
Of lands they've left behind.
Better people, better food
And better beer
Why move around the world
When Eden was so near?
The bosses get talking so tough
And if that wasn't evil enough
We get the drunken and passionate pride
Of citizens along for the ride.
The whole wide world
An endless universe
Yet we keep looking through
The eyeglass in reverse.
Don't feed the people
But we feed the machines
Can't really feel what
International means.
In different circles
We keep holding our ground
Indifferent circles we keep
Spinning round and round and..
They shoot without shame
In the name of a piece of dirt
For a change of accent
Or the color of your shirt.
Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colorful rag is unfurled.
The whole wide world
An endless universe
Yet we keep looking through
The eyeglass in reverse.
Don't feed the people
But we feed the machines
Can't really feel what
International mean.
In different circles
We keep holding our ground
Indifferent circles we keep
Spinning round and round and round..
07 Emotion Detector (05:11)
When we lift the covers from our feelings
We expose our insecure spots
Trust is just as rare as devotion
Forgive us our cynical thoughts.
If we need too much attention
Not content with being cool
We must throw ourselves wide open
And start acting like a fool
If we need too much approval
Then the cuts can seem too cruel.
Right to the heart of the matter
Right to the beautiful part
Illusions are painfully shattered
Right where discovery starts
In the secret wells of emotion
Buried deep in our hearts.
It's true that love can change us
Never quite enough
Sometimes we are too tender
Sometimes we're too tough
If we get too much attention
It gets hard to overrule
So often fragile power turns
To scorn and ridicule
Sometimes our big splashes
Are just ripples in the pool.
Right to the heart of the matter
Right to the beautiful part
Illusions, illusions are painfully shattered
Right where discovery starts
In the secret wells of emotion
Buried deep in our hearts.
Right to the heart of the matter
Right to the beautiful part
Illusions are painfully shattered
Right where discovery starts
In the secret wells of emotion
Buried deep in our hearts
Feelings run high.
Illusion, illusions are painfully shattered
Right where discovery starts
Feelings run high
Feelings run high.
08 Mystic Rhythms (05:53)
So many things I think about
When I look far away
Things I know - things I wonder
Things I'd like to say
The more we think we know about
The greater the unknown
We suspend our disbelief
And we are not alone -
Mystic rhythms - capture my thoughts
And carry them away
Mysteries of night
Escape the light of day
Mystic rhythms - under northern lights
Or the African Sun
Primitive things stir
The hearts of everyone
We sometimes catch a window
A glimpse of what's beyond
Was it just imagination
Stringing us along?
More things than are dreamed about
Unseen and unexplained
We suspend our disbelief
And we are entertained
Mystic rhythms - capture my thoughts
And carry them away
Nature seems to spin
A supernatural way
Mystic rhythms - under city lights
Or a canopy of stars
We feel the powers
And we wonder what they are
We feel the push and pull
Of restless rhythms from afar
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Other reviews
By splinter
It is amazing how the '80s period, a terrain not very fertile for originality, is not an obstacle to the group’s personality.
Rush handle it excellently; it is amazing how the '80s period... is not an obstacle to the group’s personality.
By rasna
"Madly over-produced," that's how Neil Peart described the album Power Windows.
"Power Windows is certainly a great album, not a masterpiece but very good and different even when compared directly to its predecessor, Signals."
