Rush – Snakes and Arrows
Atlantic – May 1, 2007
by Tom Strutton
I’ll be honest –
Rush is my favourite band and this review is going to be heavily biased. If you are reading this review you are probably a
Rush fan too, in which case you might forgive my subjective approach to ‘Canada’s Greatest Export’s’ latest release
Snakes and Arrows.
Rush, in my critical opinion, have produced the greatest, most consistent, most varied output of any band over the last 30 years. This latest addition marks the first original material since 2002’s
Vapour Trails, an album that was heavily criticised for its harsh, lo-fi production value.
Snakes and Arrows suffers from no such problems, and probably ranks up with
Power Windows as having the most accomplished production value of all
Rush albums. Despite losing many fans over the years (‘fans’ unwilling to appreciate new directions the band pursued),
Rush have maintained a loyal following of extremely dedicated fans. To those who ‘get’
Rush, of whom I am proud to be one such person, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart and Geddy Lee can do little wrong. The question is never
‘is the new album going to be good or bad’, but
‘is the new album going to be excellent or merely great’. Many critics and casual listeners harbor reservations about the ability of a band, allegedly past their prime, to deliver anything of any worth. Pity them - we hardcore
Rush fans know that a below average
Rush album is still better than 95% of other albums released that year. And
Snakes and Arrows is no different. In fact, it’s fantastic - an incredible personal and professional achievement for the lads.
A little background….
Every
Rush fan will cite a different album as the band’s last ‘great’ album, the one before a perceived gradual decline in quality over successive years. Fans of the 70’s prog-rock era often lament the induction of the synthesizer era c.1982-1987, whilst many feel that the synth-heavy 80s period was superior to the 90s. Others still feel that the 90s, for
Rush, was an improvement over the synth-heavy 80s albums. Personally, I consider the 80s period to be
Rush’s creative peak, climaxing with the genius of
Power Windows. For me, this album easily surpasses such masterpieces as
Hemispheres and
Moving Pictures, although many
Rush fans profess a distaste for
Power Windows and its equally magnificent (yet similarly maligned) successor
Hold your Fire. During the 90s,
Rush directed their sound towards an alt-rock aesthetic, most prevalent on the 1993 release
Counterparts. Many critics and fans believe
Counterparts to contain
Rush’s best work of the 90s, although I will tell you it is a low point in the band’s career. 1996’s
Test For Echo, whilst containing a great opening combo of tracks, also fell short of the heights of the 70s and 80s era. 2002’s Vapor Trails was a slight return to form, rocking hard, and proving that Rush could still out-play and out-compose their younger rivals with anthemic numbers like ‘Earthshine’.
Rush debuted in 1974. 33 years and 18 studio albums later, with umpteen world tours and live albums behind them,
Rush now return to reward their devoted followers with the best album they could possibly have made at this stage in their career. Hats off gentlemen.
'Far Cry', the official first single, has been available to stream from
Rush’s official website for some time prior to the album's release. Many fans have already made a big deal about how the opening 20 seconds of this album opener sounds like
Hemispheres, although when it kicks off properly it has more in common with material from
Vapor Trails.
'Far Cry' is a good track, but it is definitely NOT representative of the album as a whole, which contains much stronger material. Where
'Far Cry' sounds a little familiar, the rest of the album frequently sounds incredibly fresh; almost as if
Rush have discovered a new sound that could lay the ground for another 5 albums in the future. I seriously doubt that this will be the case, but the potential is there and that is all that matters.
Snakes and Arrows, my friends, is not the sound of a band fresh out of ideas, rather one that is making music like they have just discovered it. Don’t mistake me when I say that Alex, Neil and Geddy each turn in career defining performances, especially Alex, who’s acoustic guitar work here is easily the best to be found on any
Rush record.
If I were pressed to express the essence of
Snakes and Arrows in simple terms I would describe it as the album that
Vapor Trails could have been, although it is infinitely superior to that album. The songwriting is first-rate, probably the best since (insert your last favourite
Rush album here) ;p The overall tone of the album is serious, yet at the same time mystical and dreamlike, recalling the ambience of
Roll the Bones,
Presto,
Hold your Fire and
Power Windows. As for lyrics, this time around Neil has aimed his critical gaze at religion and it’s impact on the world stage, although, in typical Neil fashion, the message is subtle and open to investigation.
I won’t give you a track by track run down as I have rambled on far too long already. All you need to know is that there are three instrumentals on this album and all of them are highly impressive, whilst the tracks with vocals are equally exceptional. After two spins, and careful scrutiny, I honestly find it hard to pick a favourite, although I instantly fell in love with
‘Good News First’(a track that will be doing some serious time on my iPod over the next few weeks).
Rush fans should pick up
Snakes and Arrows immediately. As someone familiar with all of
Rush’s (exceptional) studio albums I am shocked that they have produced something of such spectacular quality so late into their career. I hoped it would be good, but didn’t expect it to be this good.
Best of 2007? …possibly
Official Rush Website
Official Atlantic Website
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...i payed 90 for em...
