Rush - Presto (1989) [2014 SACD]

Throughout their career, Rush have always been a band that you could count on to push the boundaries of what rock was capable of, and their discography contains a laundry list of ambitious albums that helped to bring prog to a wider audience. Having said that, Presto is not one of those albums. On this return to a more guitar-oriented sound after the synth period that dominated the '80s, the bandmembers emerge from the electronic fog and try to reorient themselves to once again working with their more traditional setup. While none of the songs here are out-and-out terrible, listening to the album definitely gives you the sense that things just aren't quite clicking, as if the band is just a little bit rusty after stepping away from this kind of songwriting for nearly a decade. This makes Presto a perfectly workmanlike album from a band that made a name for itself with its creativity, containing all the ingredients of a Rush album minus the sense of ambition and fun that ran through the veins of the group's earlier work. And though this isn't an album you necessarily need to run from, a brisk walk to their work from the '70s is advisable.

Tracks:

01. Show Don’t Tell 05:01
02. Chain Lightning 04:33
03. The Pass 04:51
04. War Paint 05:24
05. Scars 04:07
06. Presto 05:46
07. Superconductor 04:48
08. Anagram (for Mongo) 04:00
09. Red Tide 04:30
10. Hand Over Fist 04:11
11. Available Light 05:04