MOVING PICTURES

Being my favorite band this review may seem a bit one sided or biased. However, it is this bands amazing music that puts them in this position, and this album being likely their best to date deserves a good review. Actually, it deserves all the great reviews it has. The band evolved it sound over the course of the 70s and seemed to be perfect with 1980's "permanent Waves", of course they just had to top it off with this one. Better commercially as well as with the fans.

This album opens with the always amazing Tom Sawyer, which starts off with a nice little bit of synth until the rest of the band explodes in with the sound. This is, in every sense, a perfect song. It's topic is universal as with may other Rush songs, dealing with the "Everyman". This song is everywhere, so if you haven't heard it I think you've been living in a hole.

Next is the calm Red Barchetta, which is a nice little story piece about a boy and his car. Set, I guess, semi-in the future kind of thing, but not as scary as their epic 2112. All in all I don't think this is the high point of the album, but it certainly is a good song and nice to zone out to.

YYZ, the Rush instrumental tribute to the Toronto Airport. (YYZ being the code number for the luggage, I'm proud to say I have a baggage tag with YYZ printed on it.) This is a fast, awesome instrumental, and it honestly doesn't get much better than this. Not even King Crimson could do better than this, in my mind anyways. Every member of the band plays his part to the fullest, showcasing their talents, even though the song doesn't even sound self obsessed! However, I must admit, this song is at it's best live.

One of the band's biggest anthem's, Limelight, is the next song up on the list. The opening riff to this one is again very familiar, as Spirit Of Radio is. This particular song is about the bands feelings towards commercial success, ironically being one of their biggest radio hits. I like this song a lot, but am currently suffering from an overdose from it.

The Camera Eye, the "mini-epic" of the album, and their last longer outing (spare their 80s epic Fear) for a long time. Of course, entering the 80s it starts with a nice little synthesized overture, until it gets into the soothing guitar piece that leads into the main riff and into the song. This song is one of the main focuses of this album, and it deserves it. It may not be 2112, Cygnus X-1 or The Fountain Of Lamneth, but that's only because we're in the 80s now. However, musically, it's just as strong.

The third, but first recorded, part of the eventually 4-song-long epic Fear (spanning from 1981-2002) is the eerie Witch Hunt. This song is basically about how fear and prejudice cause hate, but the lyrics are much deeper than that because Neal Peart is a genius. This song caught on with me really quickly, and stays with me just because it is a great piece of music, and likely the most overlooked of this album. Now that I think of it, most of side 2 is overlooked.

Coda for this album comes in the form of the quirky, almost reggae, beatarific Vital Signs. This is almost a combination of Limelight and Witch Hunt, because it creeps you out but you can dance to it kind of thing. I'm really lost for words on this one, all I can say is that it rocks.

All in all this is an amazing album, and if you don't have it you should go to the store right now and buy it. Even if you're one of those Geddy-voice haters, just the sheer musical geneous of this album should entice you enough to purchase it.

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