It was quite a leap from the simple sixties folk of Simon & Garfunkel to this next album.
Disc 240 is...Presto
Artist: Rush
Year of Release: 1989
What’s Up With The Cover?: It's a magic theme - answering the question 'where do all the rabbits go that a magician makes disappear?' I assume this small hill is in some secluded spot on the UVIC campus - at least until recently. The rabbits at UVIC are now gone, and the hat pictured above is no doubt in that vault where they keep the Ark of the Covenant (and yes, the warehouse is overrun with bunnies).
How I Came To Know It: This was just me being a completionist and buying all of Rush's albums. I bought "Presto" very late - maybe two or three years ago, and I think it was the second to last I purchased (just before "Power Windows").
How It Stacks Up: I have all eighteen studio albums by Rush. "Presto" does not compare favourably with them - I'd say it is 16th or 17th.
Rating: 3 stars.
"Presto" is right at the end of Rush's synth period - or right before their more recent 'return to rock' period. With a couple exceptions, this is not my favourite period in the band's evolution, not so much because of the writing, but that the production is very annoying.
"Presto" has all the annoying qualities of this synth period, but little of the charm of some early albums like "Hold Your Fire". I have to focus just to notice Lifeson's guitar and Neil Peart's drumming is muted and prone to the dreaded drum-machine sound. Droning out Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart isn't easy to do - and maybe that should be a sign that you...um...shouldn't.
The songs aren't my favourite anyway, and this production makes them even less memorable.
That said, there are a couple of standouts on the record. In particular, I like the title track, "Presto" and found myself wishing it was done in a more pure rock style - like you would hear on their "Rush in Rio" concert (thanks for the recent reminder of this, Chris).
The best track on the album, is one of Rush's best songs and keeps this album in positive territory. "The Pass" is a song about taking your own life. With all of Neil Peart's personal tragedies a few years later (losing both wife and daughter) I expect this song is all the more resonant with him than when he wrote it, and I'm glad he took his own advice, and is still with us.
"Presto" and "The Pass" are enough to pull this album up to 3/5 in my books, but only barely. They are offset by truly ridiculous songs like "Anagram" which seems to be more of an excercise for Peart (to make a song filled with anagrams) than anything meaningful or cohesive. Lines like "there is a tic and toc in atomic" are beneath you, Neil.
I would say this album is for Rush completionists only. If you want to have "Presto" and "The Pass" you could hopefully find them on a live compilation, minus the distracting production. There is so much other awesome stuff this band does that is more worth your time, and I'm looking forward to rolling those in future.
Best tracks: The Pass, Presto, War Paint
Disc 240 is...Presto
Artist: RushYear of Release: 1989
What’s Up With The Cover?: It's a magic theme - answering the question 'where do all the rabbits go that a magician makes disappear?' I assume this small hill is in some secluded spot on the UVIC campus - at least until recently. The rabbits at UVIC are now gone, and the hat pictured above is no doubt in that vault where they keep the Ark of the Covenant (and yes, the warehouse is overrun with bunnies).
How I Came To Know It: This was just me being a completionist and buying all of Rush's albums. I bought "Presto" very late - maybe two or three years ago, and I think it was the second to last I purchased (just before "Power Windows").
How It Stacks Up: I have all eighteen studio albums by Rush. "Presto" does not compare favourably with them - I'd say it is 16th or 17th.
Rating: 3 stars.
"Presto" is right at the end of Rush's synth period - or right before their more recent 'return to rock' period. With a couple exceptions, this is not my favourite period in the band's evolution, not so much because of the writing, but that the production is very annoying.
"Presto" has all the annoying qualities of this synth period, but little of the charm of some early albums like "Hold Your Fire". I have to focus just to notice Lifeson's guitar and Neil Peart's drumming is muted and prone to the dreaded drum-machine sound. Droning out Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart isn't easy to do - and maybe that should be a sign that you...um...shouldn't.
The songs aren't my favourite anyway, and this production makes them even less memorable.
That said, there are a couple of standouts on the record. In particular, I like the title track, "Presto" and found myself wishing it was done in a more pure rock style - like you would hear on their "Rush in Rio" concert (thanks for the recent reminder of this, Chris).
The best track on the album, is one of Rush's best songs and keeps this album in positive territory. "The Pass" is a song about taking your own life. With all of Neil Peart's personal tragedies a few years later (losing both wife and daughter) I expect this song is all the more resonant with him than when he wrote it, and I'm glad he took his own advice, and is still with us.
"Presto" and "The Pass" are enough to pull this album up to 3/5 in my books, but only barely. They are offset by truly ridiculous songs like "Anagram" which seems to be more of an excercise for Peart (to make a song filled with anagrams) than anything meaningful or cohesive. Lines like "there is a tic and toc in atomic" are beneath you, Neil.
I would say this album is for Rush completionists only. If you want to have "Presto" and "The Pass" you could hopefully find them on a live compilation, minus the distracting production. There is so much other awesome stuff this band does that is more worth your time, and I'm looking forward to rolling those in future.
Best tracks: The Pass, Presto, War Paint
2 comments:
I'm pretty much in agreement with you on this album - one of my least favourites, and yes, largely because of the production. The version of "The Pass" on Rush in Rio is 10X better, so get that album instead of Presto if you want to have a copy of the song. Don't know what Chris is talking about though, as "Presto" isn't on Rush in Rio.
I just find the sound on Presto so oddly...neutered. I think part of the problem was that this album came out in 1989, which was the absolute nadir of CD mastering techniques. Pretty much any album that came out around that time sounds like crap on CD. The album has been remastered, but I guess they didn't have enough to work with because it still sounds flat and...quiet. It's the quietest Rush album ever - and that is not something a Rush album should be.
There was a scene in the recent Rush documentary where they were interviewing Nick Raskulinecz, the producer for the awesome Snakes and Arrows, and he was saying "what's the deal with this Presto album, man? Rush are a rock band - they're supposed to rock out!" Truer words were never spoken, sir.
One track on this album that I love but no one else does is "Available Light". I think it's a beautiful ballad, and the muted production style actually suits the song. Geddy's vocal delivery is impassioned, and the lyrics are sincere and well-written, tying into the themes of atmospheric phenomena that run through the album. Sadly, Rush has never played the song live, possibly because of the difficult vocals, but more likely because, as I mentioned, no one seems to like it much.
I still have a soft spot for this album. A soft spot which matches the productions values.
I think that this album is very much a product of its time in that it is far too overproduced, with any semblance of a rough edge carefully polished away.
The song-writing however is impeccable. I even like Anagram (and Geddy's vocals on that are particularly good IMO)
Superconductor and Presto are the only songs that tempt me to hit the skip button when this one comes up on rotation.
A re-recording of this album with Snake and Arrows production values would be nothing short of amazing!
"Chase the light around the world, I want to look at life...In the available light"
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