COUNTERPARTS

Rush really knows how to renew themselves. From prog on 2112 to synth rock at Signal to becoming a guitar driven power trio at Counterparts. All this with the same members. I find that really impressive. For me, that is why I so admire these three guys. I wish I could be as vital as these three guys are.

It has been some years since I have been listening to this album before I dusted off this CD at the weekend and put it in the CD player for some spins. My memories of this album, which for me is one of their most obscure albums, was a bit hazy so a refresher was needed.

Animate and Stick It Out is well known from the live albums. Nobody's Hero is one of my alltime least favorite Rush songs. I fully sympathise with the lyrics. But the melody is sickening sugar sweet and the change from singing about him to singing about her midway in the song does not sound smart to me. Yes, AIDS does hit both gays and lesbians. But I think we would had got the message loud and clear if we had stucked to him without repeating the same song with "her" replacing "him" halfway through. Not a great move, Mr Peart. I use fast forward on my CD player and bypasses this sugar sweet overload song altogether.

The rest of the album, with the exception of the instrumental Leave That Thing Alone is something I have forgotten since I last listened to this album. A refreshing of my memories was needed and that many times over.

What hits me most about this album is how fresh and vital it sounds. Alex guitars is really the backbone of the album here and I cannot remember I have heard him better than on this album. There are some not so great songs on this album. But I have to admit I find this a surprisingly great album. An album I will listen to a lot more in the future.

This album is a rather obscure Rush album, yes. But it is still a great Rush album. It has risen very considerably in my estimations this weekend.

4 stars

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