ALLIED FORCES

I just don't get people who balk at the comparisons to Rush. This album broke the same time as Rush's Moving Pictures, and there's a startling similarity between "Fight the Good Fight" and Rush tracks like "Freewill" and "Limelight." I mean that in the best possible sense.

Just as many thought Red Rider's song "Lunatic Fringe" was a new Floyd song and sounded like something from The Wall, I well remember my friends at the time thought "Fight the Good Fight" was the newest Rush song - and let's face it, that track is probably better than some of the Side B songs on Moving Pictures. (That statement's sure to rankle Rush fans, haha.) The song "Magic Power" got a lot of airplay on US radios as well, and it's not a great leap to imagine Geddy Lee singing this one either.

It's not the closest Rush impression I've heard - that would belong to the Christian rock band The Daniel Band (also from Toronto, Canada), whose albums On Rock (1982), Straight Ahead (1983), and Run from the Darkness (1984) are recommended, if you can take the Christian lyrics (they're all on Spotify, I believe; check out their song "You're All I Need," which slots right in with Rush and Triumph's "Fight the Good Fight"). If you're a Rush fan you'll want this in your collection, especially for the two tracks mentioned above.

Until we can do half-ratings: 2.5, rounded up to 3. Two killer tracks, but the rest I've never felt the need to re-visit.