Modern Day Warrior, Mean, Mean Pride5 Out of 5 Stars
Rush were one of those rare animals in rock and roll; a Prog-Rock band dressed in power-trio drag. They'd long been toying with epic album themes, like "2112" and "Hemispheres," were welding new wave keyboards into their music by "Permanent Waves," and on "Moving Pictures," everything gelled completely. It's hard for me to argue that any other Rush album was ever better.
Back in the old side one and side two days, you could play the first side over and over and never get tired of it. It remains an absolutely flawless sequence of four songs, including two of the songs most associated with the band. The Synth/Guitar punch in the eye of "Tom Sawyer's" opening notes digs right into your psyche. Who doesn't want to be "today's Tom Sawyer" with a mean, mean stride? The kids of "2112" discover the joy of speed racing in the sci-fi epic of "Red Barchetta," along with a spike of 'beat the man' adrenaline embedded in the tale. The instrumental "YYZ" proved what every Rush fan always knew; these three men are virtuoso musicians. Finally, there was one of the rare 'life of a rock star' songs that didn't suck, "Limelight." For a band that has only ever crept into the Top 40 once, both "Tom Sawyer" and "Limelight" missed that critical mark by a hair. Not that it mattered, as both those songs and "Red Barchetta" have become deserved classic rock staples.
The second side was not as immediately accessible, but holds its rewards closer to its chest. For eleven minutes, "The Camera Eye" bobs and weaves instrumentally, while both the cautionary tale of "Witch Hunt" and "Vital Signs" call to arms ("everybody got to deviate from the norm") all ingrain themselves with repeated listens. It makes "Moving Pictures" a classic album in the truest sense of the word, wherein every song fits into the whole.
No comments:
Post a Comment