Moving Pictures (1981)
Yes, I'm still writing these reviews. Just a lot more slowly than I was. Since I have half an hour to kill before I get off work for the weekend, I figured another review would help move the time along. You know how sometimes a band will have one particular album that everyone ends up owning? Like Peter Frampton and “Frampton Comes Alive!”, “Moving Pictures” is the album that a casual music lover would have if they only had one Rush album. Is it the best Rush album? Well, that is really up to the listener, but the fact that nearly everyone can at least mumble the lyrics “Modern day warrior mean mean stride, today's Tom Sawyer mean mean pride” does say something about the album's quality. Especially since they were still considered prog and it was the 80's and people were pretty much over prog at that time. It hit number 3 in the US and has gone quadruple platinum, so if you haven't heard it then you should probably get on that...
I would be surprised if anyone reading this never heard “Tom Sawyer”. It still gets played quite a bit on the radio and has made its way onto several movie soundtracks. It is one of those songs where once you hear it you know you've heard it before, just not by who. This song is a phenomenal opener. Just listen to that opening snyth part. Never has something sounded so 80's yet so timeless all at the same time. Rush was the sneakiest band ever when it came to throwing in synth to a guitar based band. “Moving Pictures” has ever so slightly more synth than “Permanent Waves”. A few albums down the road, all the sudden you are thinking, “Didn't they have guitars before? WTF happened?” The awesomeness continues with “Red Barchetta” and one of the best instrumental ever written, “YYZ”. YYZ is the airport code for Toronto Pearson International Airport, and they play the letters in morse code at the beginning of the song. The rest is just deadly. There is some drum and guitar virtuosity going on in the song, but Geddy really steals the show with the bass in that one. “Limelight” was another huge radio hit, “Witch Hunt” would go on to have several sequels on other albums, and “Vital Signs” is an excellent closer. “The Camera Eye” is Rush's final foray into longer songs. Never again will they play a song over 10 minutes. It's a good thing they pull off another classic with this one, then. “The Camera Eye” is another long song that doesn't feel long at all. Somehow, Rush is able to keep the whole thing interesting the entire time.
The overall sound, though slightly beefed up in the synth department, is very similar to the sound they achieved on “Permanent Waves”. In my mind, that and “Moving Pictures” seem like they go together as if they are part 1 and part 2. “A Farewell to Kings” may be my favorite Rush album, but those two albums are the two albums that say better than any other “We are Rush...here is what we can do”. The bass has never been more versatile while still being so driving, the guitars use very smooth open chords while somehow keeping a hard rock feel, and as always not much needs to be said about Neil's drumming. After this album, it starts to become very very apparent Rush want to mess with synths. I'm just glad they held off this long and were able to give us this masterpiece.
What else would I give this album besides a
10/10? There is a reason Rush is going to be playing this album in it entirety on the next tour. Which I will be gladly attending.
Yes, I'm purposefully not posting Tom Sawyer on here. If you really haven't heard that song, look it up.