Rush – Moving Pictures – CD review –

No band has based their entire career more on one album than Rush.   Not only their best album, Moving Pictures is the only one worth listening to all the way through.  First of all, it’s their best collection of songs, beginning with their crowning achievement, “Tom Sawyer,” a perfect blend of hard rock and the progressive metal they had been tinkering with over their previous albums.  “Red Barchetta” shows off drummer Neil Peart’s lyrcism.

And, “Limelight” ranks as one of the best “playing in a band songs.”  Even though leader Geddy Lee played a great deal of keyboards on the record, it’s still not as dominant a force as it would become on future releases.  And the production here is meaty, the band sounds real for the last time.  With their next album, Signals, and beyond, the band would favor a slick, over-produced sound that made the band feel cold and robotic. Grace Under Pressure, Hold Your Fire, Power Windows, Roll the Bones; these albums are all interchangeable.  There’s no progression or maturing, it’s the same song written over and over.  Yet, because of the success of Moving Pictures, rabid Rush fans bought these and subsequent releases ad nauseum. –Tony Peters