MOVING PICTURES

Every once in a while I feel like reviewing a classic album, and while many would say "I really have nothing more to add" I say "so what" and write it anyway. Now I am not a Rush fan by any means, I had heard 2112 and could not get into it at all. So when my friend said "oh, you like prog, you need to hear Moving Pictures" I was a little sceptical. Long story short I bought it anyway (used) and have loved it.

The music on this album is great, although far from perfect and is probably one of the best recordings for prog noobs. Evry moment is hard hitting, every riff is memorable and evry melody is catchy. Honestly for me this is the perfect blend of traditional prog and hard rock.

Now for the review.

Tom Sawyer: Great opening, great riff any one can see why this has become the hard rock staple that it is. This song can ither be enjoyed as prog or listened to as hard rock and its perfect both ways. The keys in this song work great with the guitars and are never overbearing. The guitar solo is great and has a good blend of jazzy blues elements and straight rock n' roll. I cant see any rock collection being complete without this song, and a prog collection even more so, its just that good.

Red Barchetta: Mellow synth opening with fun rythmic timbre, and the guitars come in perfectly with interesting harmonics. Then the real song starts with melodic guitars and cool drum fills. The riffage is good and has a verry 80's sound but they make the 80's riff sound good, somthing few other bands can do for me. The soring rifs in this song and the great high pich vocals make me shiver. The solo in this song is great and highlights the perfect use of harmonics. The song ends with the same synth sound it started with and finishes off perfectly.

YYZ: This is the song that sells Rush for me. Opening with innocent tinging noise and then going straight for the juggular with an odd rythm and killer guitar. And then another odd rythim with killerer guitar. Then another somewhat less odd rythm with great guitar. Followed quickly by a jazzy sounding drum partand amazing guitar. The breaks with the bass in this song are some of the best bass work around. The way the insturments interplay reminds me of jazz, the guitar solo really reminds me of jazz, but of course with plenty of hard hitting rock. This is a great drum song, any drummer would love to be able to play like thi

Limelight: The most straitfoward song on the disc, but great none the less, a good old fasioned rock ballad about the danger of fame and fortune. Great lyrics and a verry fun listen, nothing spectacular but nothing bad. A good solo, what you would expect from Rush and one of the best vocal preformances, but in the end it just sounds like a warm up for...

The Camera Eye: The epic, oh yea. starts slowly with a synth part, and then it starts. Great proggy synth and guitar melody, the drums give a bit of a marching feel to it and it builds up into a rocker. Then it goes into another synth lead and guitar bit, only to pick up again stronger than before with a catchy riff and spectacular drumming. The riff changes and the singing begins "they chase through the sreats of Manhattan" its just so beautiful. Eventually you get into a slower part with more insturment interplay and less catchyness, and then back to the synth lead and incredible drumming. When we get to the solo it is incredible and verry jazz oriented. This song has so many possible radio hits inside of it, if the sections wern't connected Rush would have had two or three more hits on their hands, but I'm glad they whent for the epic instead because its so much better for me and my progness.

Witch Hunt: Creepy song, really dark. Starts with the sound of the hunt starting out and the people are marching into the forest. Rush creates a dark sonic texture. Then the music starts, with a dark riff. The song continues to grow in an epic way. I could really see this song played by more metal bands, as good as it is I think Rush plays to light and airy to bring this song to its full potential, great anyway.

Vital Signs: By far the worst here, it has a reggae sound that really isn't flattering, and is way poppy and just not hard hitting at all, It just fails to strike a chord. Bad way to end an album, that's all I got to say.

Not a perfect album by any means, but it's a masterpiece anyway. I feel this is Rush's best, and I think Rush is the best hard prog band, and so this is the essential hard prog record: 5 stars