MOVING PICTURES

Sorry if this review will provoke some shock for fellow Prog fans, but I still don't get how this is Rush's most acclaimed effort on the Prog realms. A Farewell to Kings was for me Rush's peak on the creative side of music as well as instrumentally, showing very well-constructed compositions and a fantastic bunch of musicians playing Heavy Prog in the truest sense, while Moving Pictures just seems Rush moving towards a softer sound, somewhat AOR-ish, and by no means progressive.

Don't get me wrong, Moving Pictures is by no means a bad album, it's production is top-notch and the songs, while not Prog, are clever and addictive semi-hard rock tunes with some synths here and there adding that 80's vibe we all know about, on the contrary of how they have been doing some records before, which they used the synths for a proggier sound. There is one notable exception, this is the well-known instrumental YYZ, with Alex's now well-defined guitar tone shining everywhere in a quite complex composition I must admit, also having Neil and Geddy doing a tremendous job. Definitely a song that inspired future Prog Metal classics. But really that's the only song I can found that Rush is still on it's peak like they were in A Farewell to Kings. Okay The Camera Eye does go through ''Prog borders'' but the verses are un-deniably cheesy and AOR-like, that you, well at least I, can't possibly consider it a Prog song, neither really a good rock song even if it does feature a good musicianship.

On the other hand Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, Witch Hunt and Limelight are also pretty well-known tunes from Rush, these are very simple on composition and in musicianship, but simple is not really bad, but I do find bad when they mix hard rock stuff with soft and cheesy 80's stuff. This is definitely not the case of Tom Sawyer nor Witch Hunt, these 2 are definitely great rockers with a effective use of synths, something Moving Pictures is lacking. But the other two even if being heavy every now and then, just like The Camera Eye, the every now and then cheesy vocal melodies and soft guitar notes are just un-bearable for a supposedly hard rock tune.

In conclusion not truly a hard rock album neither a prog one, yet it's catchy melodies and grandiose production can make it a enjoyable 80's rock album. However it's Rush we're talking about here, a heavy rock band that plays heavy rock(duh!), when they used to play hard rock in the 70's they really rocked, with this album and Permanent Waves they just lost that hard edge I liked so much about them, the constant change of riffs, the unstoppable drumming and Geddy's powerful vocals were what made Rush to be up there with the likes of Sabbath, Zeppelin and Deep Purple, not the catchy soft-hard rock they made here.

Really can't say anything else, 2 stars, if you are looking where to start with this highly acclaimed rock band go for 2112, that'll blow up your ears unlike this one.

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Posted 12:02:54 AM EST, 6/21/2009