Rush - Power Windows
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Free Music Notes for Power Windows
Free Music Review: Vastly underrated Rush album from 1985
Hit: 5 Stars
Power Windows is one of the most overlooked and villified Rush albums in their entire catalog. Perhaps that's due to it's heavy keyboard presence, beefing it up even more than 1984's Grace Under Pressure. I'll admit I wasn't a huge fan of this album or Hold Your Fire when I first bought them, but after listening to this album after a long absence, I realized what a damn good album it is. Just about EVERY song on here is first rate, musically and lyrically. Big Money is the "hit" from this album, the one everyone knows, and it's a great song. But there are lots of amazing gems on here just waiting to be discovered by you. Grand Designs, Manhattan Project and Marathon (two of my all time favorites), Territories, and the awesome Mystic Rhythms (Rush revived this when I saw them live in 2004 and when they started it and it was just getting dark at the outside venue...magic!). Emotion Detector and Middletown Dreams are slightly weaker, but still really good. Do yourself a favor and ditch your preconceived notions (if you have any) about what Rush should sound like and discover this album...you'll be richly rewarded.Free Music Review: Perfect, just PERFECT! RUSH 'nailed it' with this release!
Hit: 5 Stars
PW is a prog-rock MASTERPIECE and high point! This release is RUSH at their very best, creatively and musically. You can tell, they were INSPIRED to come up with this one! The songs have lots of melody, texture, and lyrical introspection that really complement the music to say the least. They sound both serious and and even playful (case in point...'The Big Money' just grooves and boogies like heck, especially if you pay attention to the rubbery and playful, fun bass lines), and the maestro demigod Alex Lifeson beautifully and craftfully 'paints sweeping sonic landscapes' with his guitar work, rather than just playing the instrument. Neil seems to be looser on this release as well, with all kinds of masterful, well placed fills and nuances that only Neil could come up with. All of this makes the music more complex in a good way, yet very accessible and memorable. Out of about 1,450 CD's my wife and I own, this would be one of my top 10 'desert island discs' I would bring with me to my musical sunny paradise, if I could only choose 10. It would actually be in my 'top 5'. Long live RUSH!!Free Music Review: Right behind "Moving Pictures" on my list of Rush's best
Hit: 5 Stars
Like U2, Rush both gets high praise and bitter scorn whenever they shift gears musically. The net result for both is that they're still very much in demand 20+ years into their respective careers (30 years in Rush's case), and they have a very expanisve and diverse body of work that keeps fans intrigued with each new release. "Power Windows" almost seemed designed as one big kiss off to all those fans who thought they went way overboard with the synthesizers on "Grace Under Pressure" the previous year. It's even more awash in keyboards and sequencers, with guitarist Alex Lifeson's presence still being an integral part, but much more buried in the mix. Guitars chime more than crunch, and everything has a hollow echo sound that gives the album its cold feel. However, it is in my opinion Rush's most diverse album for these reasons. And Neil Peart's drumming is exceptional as always.
Rush would make one more synth-heavy disc, "Hold Your Fire" before wiping the slate clean and going back to more organic sounds on "Presto" and future releases.
Free Music Review: Flawless
Hit: 5 Stars
After Grace Under Pressure took Rush into new imaginative territory, the band upped the ante with Power Windows. The sound of the record is a logical extension of GUP's modern textural approach. By the time Power Windows came along, MIDI was a reality that took the band's fascination with synthesizers in a new direction. Since MIDI allowed them the freedom of sequencing keyboard lines, Geddy Lee's bass playing became more active alongside moving keyboard lines. Before MIDI and sequencing, bass and keyboards were largely an either/or proposition. True, moog pedals could be used to provide a synth wash under the live band interplay, but the advent of MIDI sequencing freed the band up to make their music busier and more animated. It also allowed Alex Lifeson to expand his understanding of the textural possibilities of the electric guitar. Producer Peter Collins got all of this on tape in a sparking three-dimensional manner. This is by far the biggest and deepest sounding record Rush had made up to this time.Free Music Review: Listen to it for the guitar!
Hit: 5 Stars
I agree with some of the respondents who have actually said this album presents some of the finest guitar in RUSH's extensive collection. Whoever said this album is all keyboards has little ear for the music. Much of what you think are keyboards are actually guitar and you can tell when you listen to it closely and imagine Lifeson pumping a series of pedal effects. These are some of the best solos Lifeson has done... period. The solo on Emotion Detector I rank in with Chemistry as a true experiment in spastic note hunting. This solo screams with notes that are seemingly plotted with ramdom computer feedback. Yet, taken together, it is an eloquent statement on how powerful guitar effects truly can be. Ditto with Middletown Dreams, the contorted guitar jabs are orchestrated with the precision of a surgical needle. Open your ears, Lifeson is one of the pioneers of guitar effects and, unfortunately, sometimes he is so good and so subtle, that the untrained ear cannot distinguish them.