Power Windows: More than high performance
I was listening to the Rush classic, Power Windows.
This album is generally considered by Rush aficionados to be the peak of their "synthesizer period". It is also Rush at the peak of their formidable skills - musically, vocally, and, importantly, lyrically. Lyricist Neil Peart makes his points aesthetically, and effectively, whether he is talking about the Manhattan Project:
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
or waxing philosophical in Marathon - which is really about pacing yourself in general:
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...
or even talking about dreams having the power (!) to keep us going:
But he's still heading down those tracks
Any day now for sure
Another day as drab as today
Is more than a man can endure
Enough for now - I could quote the lyrics of this album entirely, and they wouldn't begin to convey the impact that they have on me - this is a classic.
The whole album seems....spare, somehow. The lyrics, the musicianship (the guitar being used in bursts, staccato drum runs, and so on) - a marvelous economy of effort that somehow comes across as a lush, beautifully-engineered whole. Two of the songs were made into videos, also somewhat experimental: Big Money and Mystic Rhythms.
Very highly recommended, for those who haven't come across it yet.
This album is generally considered by Rush aficionados to be the peak of their "synthesizer period". It is also Rush at the peak of their formidable skills - musically, vocally, and, importantly, lyrically. Lyricist Neil Peart makes his points aesthetically, and effectively, whether he is talking about the Manhattan Project:
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
or waxing philosophical in Marathon - which is really about pacing yourself in general:
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...
or even talking about dreams having the power (!) to keep us going:
But he's still heading down those tracks
Any day now for sure
Another day as drab as today
Is more than a man can endure
Enough for now - I could quote the lyrics of this album entirely, and they wouldn't begin to convey the impact that they have on me - this is a classic.
The whole album seems....spare, somehow. The lyrics, the musicianship (the guitar being used in bursts, staccato drum runs, and so on) - a marvelous economy of effort that somehow comes across as a lush, beautifully-engineered whole. Two of the songs were made into videos, also somewhat experimental: Big Money and Mystic Rhythms.
Very highly recommended, for those who haven't come across it yet.