PRESTO

Presto, Rush's 1989 release is opened by a catchy/groovy "Show Don't Tell". Apart from its hard and deep progressive rock root, Rush's Presto is pretty much light musically and somewhat took a slight distance from its progressive sense and more into the commercial rock scene. Do I like it? In a way, yes I do. This one effort is pretty much fresh to my ears. Is Rush trying to play safe with this effort? I hope these lines don't describe them that way. ".who can you believe?/it's hard to play safe/but apart from a very few good friends/we don't take anything on faith/until later."

Other 'somewhat light' tracks can also be heard during their performances on "Chain Lightning", "War Paint", "Presto", and "Anagram". Not that those tracks are less memorable, but it is hard for one that had an expectation from a band such as Rush when they release a new album. However, "The Pass" penned a beautiful ballad with its lines ".proud swagger out of the courtyard/waiting for the world's applause/rebel without a conscience/martyr without a cause." I always love the lyrics penned by Neil Peart, especially of those on environment and social political issues. Another my favorite lines in this track is ".no hero in your tragedy/no daring in your escape/no salutes for your surrender/nothing noble in your fate/Christ, what have you done?"

"Scars" is a cool track with nice percussion touch. I guess this is one of their effort trying to get very much close with modern/commercial music. While "Superconductor" is a rock n' roll type track penned down by Alex Lifeson's rhythm guitar-driven signature. "Red Tide" for me is a 'skip-able' track. I almost got nothing out of it, while "Hand Over Fist" is slightly better than the previous one. I love these cynical lyrical lines ".you talk as we walk along/you never imagined I could be so wrong/humming your favorite song/you know I've hated that song for so long." the album is closed by a soft and poppy track called "Available Light". I think it is a good choice to do.

Presto was not their best effort up to date. Probably the music scene had affected them at that time or it was simply about creativity. But I salute them for surviving more than two decades in the rock music business. Probably it was for their ability to ".I'll go with the wind/I'll stand in the light." as penned down in their lyrics. Am I satisfied? Yes, I am. Several tracks are memorable to me and I always have the pleasure of having the rights to select any tracks I'd like to play in this cd. Perhaps you should do that too.