Power Windows-Rush

[Jonners]

Anyone who knows me or hangs around places like TNMS or here, will know of my absolute "lust" for this album, so i unashamedly fancy another opportunity to discuss it again!

I didnt get it initially when it first came out. I mean literally, didnt buy it! Not sure why, as I was still quite new to the band, and was a huge fan of everything I had so far. Maybe it just flew under the radar, maybe I was More Metal, but I think it was mainly  because I heard Tommy Vance on the FRS play The Big Money, and I hated it on first listen.

However, I do vividly remember when it clicked for me,  around  early 1987 I reckon, visited my dear departed brother at his Uni (Plymouth) and he had it on in his flat, and for whatever reason it just suddenly worked for me, and immediately went out t find the nearest HMV!

Might discuss the songs individually as people reply and contribute, However, while I think HYF is a fine album, HYF for me is the last truly GREAT Rush album. 8 songs, all of a similar length, 7 of which I think are absolutely magnificent, and only Mystic Rhythms not quite reaching the heights.

I think production wise it is my favourite Rush album. There is a LOT going on in every song, but somehow all the elements have room to breathe. If Signals has been recorded in this way/style, I think it would have been a much more loved album

Lyrically I cant really fault, this was still years before Neil started writing books, so his lyrics are more concise, punchy and relevant, less purple prose. Some really great word play, emotion, cadence and power to the words. Made Geddys job easy

Drumming on this album goes under the radar I reckon, mainly because it all just fits, works and is perfect.

Vocals spot on.

Bass playing is as good as you would expect from a mature and seasoned pro, still with plenty of life left in his fingers

The old school Rush/prog fans would probably want Alex to be higher in the mix, and crunchier, but he isnt, because he is one of 5 instruments in the mix who all deserve a place, and are perfectly put there

And, if you like keyboards, this is the Rush album for you

There are slower songs, faster songs, anthemic choruses, emotional choruses, some great solos, and fantastic examples of how Alex's playing is not just about power chords and solos

I love the cover, the graphics, the sleeve notes, everything

and the snippets of live stuff I have heard from the tour has convinced me that this was the band at the top of their game, not Moving Pictures.

There, I said it

Shoot me down!

[David L]

Definitely Rush's 'Phil Spector' moment. Before the 'power' chords became 'puny' chords 

[pdw1]

Jonners, agree with almost everything you said. A desert island disc for me and their last but one great album.

[Nick]

However, I do vividly remember when it clicked for me,  around  early 1987 I reckon, visited my dear departed brother at his Uni (Plymouth) and he had it on in his flat, and for whatever reason it just suddenly worked for me, and immediately went out t find the nearest HMV!

Small world, I was at Plymouth Uni in 1987 and remember PW being played in HMV on the day of release, I duly bought my copy and agree with all you comments, I love the "stabs" of guitar and synths and the production is excellent considering the complexity of the music. The production definitely took a downward turn on the following albums as did the songwriting in general.

[Matt2112]

99% agreed with the praise above - I'd differ only in saying I think CA is up there with their best work and the best album since HYF; and such a fitting way to bow out.

I'll say more on PoW, though - probably much more...  

[Nickslikk2112]

Jonners, agree with almost everything you said. A desert island disc for me .

And for me. Being rubbed in sand would improve it a lot

[David L]

I've always loved Power Windows. I think it really hit the zeitgeist. I think it's mostly about the strength of the melodies and the perfect blend of guitar and keys. As has been said, the playing is exemplary. Lyrically strong for the most part but I've always thought Marathon was a bit corny. Lowlight is (obviously) Mystic Rhythms but compared to the lowlight on the follow up, it's not such a dog.

I've always hated the cover, one of their worst, IMHO. Looks like an O Level art job. Reminds me of those terrible Marillion covers. Talking of zeitgeist, those portrait photos! Alex is rocking the Sonny Crockett look. I guess he was still smoking as he was so slim here. Neil was getting his inspiration from that guy from  The Thompson Twins, rat-tail artfully positioned in front of his right shoulder ("this is how long my hair really is!"  ). And Geddy must've been under that dryer for hours. It sure was an improvement over that dreadful Karsch portrait on P/G though!

Probably top five Rush record but I think MP is a more honest representation of what the band was about (certainly for most of their career) as it mostly featured a hard rock power trio (with some bells on, admittedly), whereas it feels like Power Windows was influenced to a huge extent by the producer and therefore the pop music of the time.

 Whatever they tried to achieve, they hit the mark superbly.

[Matt2112]

I heard Propaganda's Duel on the radio the other day, a song from the same year as PoW, of course - another thing they had in common was Andy Richards' synth fingerprints all over them. There's patches unmistakably common to both.

And here's a bit of pop trivia for you - amongst many other famous 80s songs, Andy Richards' keys work can be heard on Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Two Tribes, which was knocked off the no. 1 spot in the U.K. charts by Careless Whisper - on which he also significantly contributed.

What a legend.

[David L]

I heard Propaganda's Duel on the radio the other day, a song from the same year as PoW, of course - another thing they had in common was Andy Richards' synth fingerprints all over them. There's patches unmistakably common to both.

What a legend.

Yes, for that reason I was going to mention that I thought it would have been the first Rush record to feature (so prominently) the input from another musician. Could it be considered a 'collaborative' effort in many senses given, also, the huge mark Peter Collins had on the record's sound?

[Rufus_the_dawg]

PW the album Rush went Cinematic. Top 3 album for me maybe even no.1

[Matt2112]

1985 is very in vogue at the moment...I wonder if, say, Stranger Things had used Middletown Dreams then PoW might get a bit more of the global, cross-generational recognition it undoubtedly deserves.

[Slim]

Easily in the top six Rush albums, certainly a very good one. They were seven years past their creative peak by 1985, but they made the very best of their diminishing powers by channeling them into more accessible, less ambitious works - and by enlisting help in the form of producer Peter Collins, the composer and arranger Anne Dudley, keyboard maestro Andy Richards and even a 30-piece orchestra and 25-piece choir. The result is something considerably more worthy and interesting than they'd have managed on their own at that stage of their creativity trajectory. It's not one of their very best records but it's right up there in the second tier.

The production on this album is for me much more accomplished and sophisticated than anything that had gone before - I remember thinking that it sounded three-dimensional, like some sort of grand sonic cathedral. And of course it builds on Signals and Grace Under Pressure with a modern sound, and an '80s pop sensibility.

I must admit though that it left me absolutely cold the first time I heard it. It was just so far removed from the familiar Rush paradigm, especially in the role of the guitar, that I couldn't process it. It was only after experiencing some of the HYF and Power Windows material live in 1988 that it started to make sense.

Highlights: Mystic Rhythms, Marathon, Manhattan Project. The M songs, apart from Middletown Dreams.

I love the cover artwork as well, witty and evocative. Especially coming as it does straight after Grace Under Pressure which has a terrible cover.

[R6GYY]

I don't have time to input properly at the moment about the album as a whole, but I must give a huge shout out to Middletown Dreams.

This has such a personal resonance with me. At the time of its release, in my early/mid-20's, I was struggling with where I was in my life, and where, if anywhere, I was going. I really was thinking about / trying to do something different and better with my life.

The next few years saw me doing something positive about my situation, and that in turn led to a life-changing event in 1989 which was meeting the woman that was to become my wife a few years later.

Rush really were very important to me in the 1980's. My biggest regret with Rush was not seeing them on the Hold Your Fire tour. It was probably lack of funds but I cannot truly remember. I do remember that it was Sian that insisted I went to see them on the Roll The Bones tour - my first Rush gig (but not my last  ).

Anyhoo, move along now, back to the reviews.