COUNTERPARTS

Though this album's music sounds quite market-oriented, "Counterparts" stands still as one of the great albums of Rush for me. Songs burst with excellent musicianship, good songs and feeling of power. The CD's volume level is very high, which underlines its energetic qualities. The dynamic opener "Animate" has quite straight rhythm in it, but Neil can get a good kicks out of such beats too. The melodic lines and harmonies are also very pleasant. "Cut to The Chase" has some hard-rock elements, but surprisingly I have found myself liking this quite much. Really good chefs can make a good dish even from the ingredients one isn't so much fond of. "Alien Shore" is also a wonderful track, having good twists in the rhythm section. "Double Agent" is a bit more adventurous song, having parts with spoken lyrics and mysterious feeling. "Leave That Thing Alone" continues the series of instrumental songs started in their previous album, and "Cold Fire" a nice song with even hit-potential. The fans of the early Rush aren't maybe very pleased of this album, but I would recommend it. I think that this is one of those albums which you and your non-prog listening friends can listen together.