Hold Your Fire [Remaster] - Rush (CD 1997)

(Disclaimer: Those looking for a brief description of the album will find what their looking for in the "Review Body" section. The section titled "Track Reviews" is meant only for those who want to read detailed descriptions of the songs, and they do not constitute the essence of this review. Lastly and most importantly, this review is not necessarily written by the point of view of a Rush fan.)

Overall Score: 2/5 (strong)
Best song: Time Stands Still
Worst song: High Water

Review Body:

Rush is on autopilot, and who wants to listen to an album that was made on autopilot? I sure don't! So, I'm just not going to listen to this album.

OK, too late. I already listened to it. Even though the last time I listened to it was a few minutes ago, I can't seem to remember that much about it. Yes, it's one of those albums. I won't pretend that listening to it was a particularly terrible experience. It's just that these songs all exist on a frustrating plane of mediocrity. There's nothing here that's offensive to my ears, but the lack of inspiration throughout this whole disc makes listening to it very pointless. I shrug my shoulders at you, Rush.

If you've been following their discography in order (or at least you get a glance at the year this was made ... 1987) you probably already know how this album sounds like. Yup. Synthesizers and lotsa reverb. Rush fans might have hoped that their level of exciting instrumental playing and knack for creating unique textures would still be intact with this release. But nah. They were sleeping in the studio. Oh well.

This review is going to be short, because all of these songs sound alike. I have a limited vocabulary when describing bland '80s songs with a lot of reverb. Force Ten is the opening number, and it's a bland '80s pop song with a lot of reverb. The second track, Time Stands Still is a similarly toned song except I actually find the melody to be catchy! Having a catchy melody is certainly a step in the right direction for them! Unfortunately, that's the only one. Already by the third track, Open Secrets, the formula starts to get on my nerves. If you look at my track reviews, you'll notice that I gave out mostly C's. Plain scores for a plain album.

I also noticed that many, if not most, of these songs end as a fade-out. Sometimes fade-outs work, but every time it happens here, it seems like a cop-out. Sometimes all you need to do is listen to how songs end to figure out how much the artists cared about them. Oh well.

Track Reviews:

Force Ten B-
This is not a bad opener, if you're one to enjoy bland '80s pop music. The synthesizers can be dated directly back to the late '80s, and it's quite bland sounding. If you're impressed with reverb, you'll probably like it. Otherwise, the instrumentation doesn't do much for me ... and this used to be a band which was usually consistently entertaining in that respect. The melody isn't catchy. But as I said, it's not bad. You can sit through it and not feel too awful about the experience.

Time Stands Still B+
More distinctive this time. It's a very standard pop song that could easily have been recorded by Pat Benatar. (Except Benatar's vocal performance would have been punchier than Geddy Lee's. The melody is good, though. There are a few hooks here. It's nothing too bracing, but I do appreciate a decent melody. My only real complaint is it's about a minute too long.

Open Secrets C-
Another song that lasts far too long, and this wasn't so great to begin with. The fact that it's bland isn't its worst quality.... this one actually starts to get on your nerves. I long for some creativity every once in awhile! But this is just a standard pop song without an interesting melody. There are synthesizers all over the place giving the song a very bland sound. Peart's drumming isn't nearly as vibrant as it once was. It's just a huge hunk of plastic with very little reason to hear it. Meh.

Second Nature C+
Almost a keyboard pop ballad with those electric pianos that can be directly dated to the late '80s. The melody does very little for me, which is no surprise. They try to give the instrumentation a synth-epic feel to it at times, which prompted me to up the rating a little bit. I guess if you're going to make a synth-heavy album, you'd might as well make it seem epic! But even then, it's clear these guys are just coasting through these albums. I've heard worse than this, for sure. But what's the point of listening?

Prime Mover C
Another song that wallows in the sort of purgatory Rush was in during the late '80s. It's another bland pop song without much that's memorable about it. At least Geddy Lee decides to bring in a groovy bass guitar and Alex Lifeson brings back the crunchy guitars! Despite that, this song seems to be a blur from beginning to end. It's not a distressing blur, but I'm really waiting for something here that's worth keeping in my memory.

Lock and Key B-
This one's not that bad. I'm giving this a B- even though I think it's about two minutes too long. (The final two minutes offers nothing new, and those repetitive ideas grow thin by then.) Despite that, this song is well-executed. The chord progression has an interesting drive to it, and Peart finally seemed to briefly come out of that coma. Cool.

Mission C
More business as usual. I will give Rush credit for at least making these songs sound passable. Their lack of inspiration is a little bit trying on my patience... but it's all quite listenable. I wish I had something to add about this song. It's really just like all the others. Very '80s. A lot of reverb. Nothing too interesting.
Turn the Page C+
This is OK. At least it has an involved bass line that I'm enjoying listening to. It's also worth noting that this is one of the few songs here that doesn't have a wimpy fade-out ending. Albeit, it's just a synthesizer chord. But those fade-outs were getting tiresome.

Tai Shan C
Well, here's a slight change. Instead of a prog/pop inspired synth-fest, here's a prog/Asian inspired synth-fest. That minimal amount of variety was nice to hear at least! But don't get your hopes up. This song's sluggish pace and so-so instrumentation levels keeps it from getting too interesting.

High Water C-
Shower head? ... Somehow Rush finds a way to end the album with its weakest song. Or maybe this is just as good as the others, and I'm just ready for it to end. It offers little new to the experience. Lifeson delivers a guitar solo, but even that's ho-hum. Eh.

Concluding Remarks:

Rush knows how to put on a show, but there's scant inspiration throughout this.