I'd love to read what fans at the time thought.
Among the fans, it seemed like there was an implicit sigh of relief when "Big Money" led with that big guitar riff... A good friend of mine who has seen Rush on every tour since 1982 said that the Power Windows tour was the best. Wouldn't disagree with that assessment either (but I wasn't nearly as hardcore of a fan).
Always thought that Rush listened to a bunch of Siouxsie records before recording this. Probably not, but "Manhattan Project" (especially that break/bridge in the middle) and "Mystic Rhythms" sure remind me of the Banshees.
Would have voted "Manhattan Project"
― Reality Check Cashing Services (Elvis Telecom), Monday, 30 April 2012 00:13 (1 year ago) Permalink
fabulous turnout!
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 30 April 2012 00:18 (1 year ago) Permalink
Ha, I was going to ask if it's crazy that this reminds me of the Cure. I never listened to the whole album before. It's much better than I expected. I might rank it higher than Signals and Grace Under Pressure (but not above the classic material obv). Some of those breaks are pretty dazzling. I wonder if this might represent a peak of sorts for them in terms of sheer chops, including vocals.
xpost
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 30 April 2012 00:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
I thought these guys were listening to a lot of new wave in the 80s? Plus, they're from Toronto: that shit often seemed unavoidable when I lived there in 2002-2005 and it was more so in the 80s/90s from what I've heard. I wouldn't be surprised if they were listening to the Cure and Banshees. Although this album might actually predate the Cure albums I'm thinking of so maybe the Cure was listening to Rush? (I always assumed they were listening to Pink Floyd in the Disintegration/Wish period.)
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 30 April 2012 00:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
ome of those breaks are pretty dazzling. I wonder if this might represent a peak of sorts for them in terms of sheer chop
my thought exactly when I heard how well they integrated the programming.
how does this compare to Grace Under Pressure?
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 30 April 2012 00:42 (1 year ago) Permalink
maybe letting it run longer than four days would've helped
― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 30 April 2012 00:57 (1 year ago) Permalink
yep -- date confusion.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 30 April 2012 01:03 (1 year ago) Permalink
For me, Power Windows represents a peak in terms of production and the warmth of Peart's lyrics. I voted "Territories" in part bc I love how it fuses (then) cutting edge technology, Peart's percussion and Edge-style one world guitar heroism (Bono wasn't the only one with a messiah complex in U2) to add texture and detail to the subject of the song. The result is actually a far denser production than it seems -- prog with a decidedly pop veneer. But honestly, you could say similar things about "Mystic Rhythms," "Manhattan Project," "Marathon" or anything else on it, really.
Great album.
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 30 April 2012 01:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
I still prefer Grace Under Pressure, probably because it's "darker", but this doesn't fall too far behind for me.
― Moodles, Monday, 30 April 2012 01:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
Lifeson's solos in "Territories" and "Emotion Detector" put the lie to the suspicion that the synths "overwhelmed" him.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 30 April 2012 01:46 (1 year ago) Permalink
That, and just about everything else he does over the entire album. It is really a great guitar album overall (and bass and drums and synths...)
― Moodles, Monday, 30 April 2012 01:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
Argh, I can't believe I missed this poll. I would have voted for 'Marathon'.
― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Monday, 30 April 2012 23:53 (1 year ago) Permalink