Power Windows (album)

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Power Windows

Studio album by Rush
Released	Oct. 29 1985
Recorded	1985
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	44:30
Label	Anthem Records (Canada) Mercury Records
Producer(s)	Peter Collins and Rush
All Music Guide link
Rush chronology
Grace Under Pressure (1984)	Power Windows (1985)	Hold Your Fire (1987)

Rush (1985)

Power Windows is the eleventh studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1985 (see 1985 in music). The album was recorded at The Manor in England, Air Studios in Montserrat and at Sarm East in London.

Power Windows introduced more keyboard synthesizers into the band's sound, and featured very precise drumming and guitar. Generally, short, echoey guitar "bursts" tend to outnumber solos as well as riffs. The result is a very open and dynamic yet somewhat spartan sound. Although some fans consider the album to be too sterile, others view this period as the pinnacle of the group's career. “The Big Money” and “Mystic Rhythms,” arguably the two most popular songs on the album, were each made into music videos featured in MTV's rotation at the time. Many fans will agree that repeated listening is key to the enjoyment of Power Windows. The album also continues the typical style of Geddy Lee’s bass lines.

Power Windows' lyrics are focused primarily on various manifestations of power, be they overt (nuclear weapons) or personal (frustration at one's lack of power). For example, the song "Manhattan Project" explores the origins and consequences of the U.S. military's development of the atomic bomb. "Territories" comments on nationalism around the world. Like "Subdivisions," from the album Signals, "Middletown Dreams" explores suburban monotony and the average person's attempts to escape it temporarily.

As a whole, Power Windows represents the peak of Rush’s “synthesizer period,” although the next release, Hold Your Fire, features a similar amount of synthesizers.

1 Track listing
2 Personnel
3 Album Trivia
4 Remaster Details
5 Charts

[edit] Track listing

"The Big Money" – 5:35
"Grand Designs" – 5:06
"Manhattan Project" – 5:05
"Marathon" – 6:09
"Territories" – 6:19
"Middletown Dreams" – 5:15
"Emotion Detector" – 5:10
"Mystic Rhythms" – 5:53

All music by Lee and Lifeson with lyrics by Peart.

[edit] Personnel

Geddy Lee - bass guitar, synthesizers, vocals
Alex Lifeson - electric and acoustic guitars
Neil Peart - drums, percussion

Andy Richards - additional keyboards
Anne Dudley - strings arrangement
Andrew Jackman - conductor, arrangements

Jim Barton - engineer
Hugh Syme - artwork, cover design

[edit] Album Trivia

The intro to "Mystic Rhythms" was used as the theme music for a news magazine show, "1986" on the NBC network (US) and hosted by Connie Chung.

The video played on MTV for The Big Money used the same types of CGI imagery that Dire Straits made famous with their video for Money for Nothing.

[edit] Remaster Details

Although the original recording had a SPARS Code of DDD and was considered to be of good quality[1], a remaster was issued in 1997. The remaster follows the trend of newer albums, as it is considerably louder.

The tray has a picture of three fingerprints, light blue, pink, and lime green (left to right) with THE RUSH REMASTERS printed in all caps just to the left. All remasters from Moving Pictures through to Hold Your Fire are like this. This is just like the cover art of Retrospective II.
Includes original black border around back cover image plus lyrics, credits.