Presto - Rush (CD 1989)

When this album came out in 1989, a lot of people wrote Rush off as a band full of has-beens. After all, the band had been trying to get back to their "glory days" and had come up short here and there in albums prior to this one. For example, Power Windows is just packed with synthesizers that tend to drown out Alex Lifeson's guitar and Geddy Lee's bass. That was bad as Rush developed a reputation of being an innovative, guitar-based band, rather than one that tossed in as many keyboards as possible.

Indeed, when Presto surfaced, many people thought Rush's best days were behind it. Many accused Rush of putting more emphasis on finding a popular audience and playing with technology over producing outstanding music. I, for one, was thrilled when I learned that Rush had returned to it's early-80's form to a degree with Presto.

Now, I'm not going to argue that this album is great as other ones from the band. However, some of the stuff here reminds me of the type of music the band produced successfully on Permanent Waves, Subdivisions, Moving Pictures and Grace Under Pressure. On those albums, the band stopped putting together complex, intense epics that filled up the entire side of an album. Sure, I love 2112 and such as much as the next Rush fan, but the band proved in the 80's that it could write some "short" songs that were great, packed a punch and were as hard as nails.

Such is the type of thing Rush stuck with on Presto. Sure, the synthesizers are there, but they're pushed in the background and Lee's bass and Lifeson's guitar punch through loud and clear. Neil Peart, of course, supplies some wonderful drumming to the album, and the whole package is pretty darn good. You've got some intelligent, fairly-complex songs here that pack a wallop and showcase a tight band with members that know how to play their instruments. This isn't the best album from the band, but it's pretty darn good in and of itself.

Now, a lot of Rush fans noticed that the band stepped back a bit from the "heavier" music that made it famous on earlier albums. While that may be true, I'd argue that Rush's sense of optimism and lyrical toughness are present here. That makes everything fine in my book.

Musically, you've got the flat-out infectious "Show Don't Tell," which was the "big" single off the disc -- a plea to stop messing about with distorted truths and angles and get to the heart of the matter. That theme is revisited on "War Paint," another fine tune. You've got some vague love songs on here that seem a little out of place, but fit well in the album.

I also appreciate the hell out of Lee's funk-inspired bass lines here, as well as Lifeson's guitar work -- the man adds a lot of texture to a song without tossing in needless noise and other junk. And, of course, Lee's back with his falsetto warble that just screams "THIS IS A RUSH ALBUM!" If Lee doesn't have one of the most distinctive voices in rock n' roll, then I'm a monkey's uncle and a cat-kicker.

Oh, avoid "Scars." Weird technology starts to enter this album and makes it sound almost too electronic to be pleasurable. That's okay -- it's surrounded by great tunes such as "War Paint" and "Presto" that help take some of the "sting" out of that number. "Presto," by the way, is a brilliant and stunning piece of work.

So, to sum it all up, this is a fine outing that marks Rush's return to form. You've got some "shorter" songs here that are well-crafted and wonderful. This is a good one to have in the ol' CD collection.