PRESTO

Let me begin by saying there are some of Rush's most underrated songs here. The songs 'The Pass' and 'Available Light' are two of my all time favourite Rush songs, and are some of the most beautiful pieces they've ever done. There's also some more well-known material here that's great, such as the progressive 'Show Don't Tell' and the arena-rock song 'Superconductor.' What keeps this album from being really great is the fact that it's not really fun to listen to from start to finish. I listened to it about four times in it's entirity before resorting to focus on my preferred songs, while occasionally turning back to the backcatalogue songs... There's no flow to the album, which is a real shame, considering some of the songs are Rush classics.

Alex Lifeson can be heard here in much grander force than on the few albums that came before, such as 'Power Windows' and especially 'Hold Your Fire.' While it's nice to have Alex back at the forefront, I wish he could have simply done more with the role, and done some more lead work here.

While there are great songs here, there are also very forgettable songs. 'Hand Over Fist,' 'Scars,' 'War Paint,' and 'Chain Lightning' are definately nothing special, and definately would not be songs you would want them to play at concerts.

This is more or less a non-essential album, but the two 'underrated' songs (as I've mentioned before, 'The Pass' and 'Available Light') are too amazing to be missed by any Rush fan. If anything, check out those two songs. The rest of 'Presto' is alright, I guess... Money better spent on something else though, perhaps?

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