PRESTO

Ignore what those have said before to some regard; this album, like any pop-influenced album, is more about songs than the album as a whole. There is a continuity here, yes, like there had been in every RUSH album since MOVING PICTURES (if you pick up the excellent coffee table book of theirs that is a compilation of every concert program, NEIL PEART says essentially that every album from MP forward is a concept album to some degree, even if they don't tell stories). However, the main focus is on the songs, and in that regard, they don't come up short. From "The Pass", which is one of their strongest tunes, to the triplet at the end of "Red Tide", "Hand Over Fist", and "Available Light", this album is riddled with songs that are great combinations of pop tonality, progressive rhythms and textures, and smart lyrics. This album begins the four-album period of schmaltz on Rush's part, to be fair, with the next several albums having songs or sections that just feel, well, cheesy, but these are easily avoided. I would say that there is no bad song here, though there are some that I typically skip ("Anagram" and "Chain Lightning", I'm looking at you). Overall, while this doesn't have any songs as great as, say, "Dreamline" or the title track from ROLL THE BONES, the album to which this is most frequently compared, it has more songs that I enjoy, over half, in fact, which makes me feel comfortable with a four-star rating.