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Revisiting Every Rush Album In Order: Hold Your Fire (1987)


Segue Myles
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I pretty much like HYF from start to finish (and yes, Highwater is one of my favorite songs) Alex rips off a few killer solos, and the band has some impressive in-song 'jams'

 

The only drawback for me is the production/mix - it sounds like someone stuffed cotton into my headphones....

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This is the first album I don't love, but it's not bad. I just don't like Second Nature and Tai Shan at all. The synths aren't my favorite either, but some of that is the production...like the sequencer bits on Force Ten sound harsh to me.

 

There's a lot of great stuff on it though. Time Stand Still and Open Secrets are fantastic. Geddy goes hard on the album too...check the bass on Prime Mover. Overall, it's only a slight decline for me, unlike the album that followed it.

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Great stuff Segue! Thanks for doing this.

 

Side 1 is fantastic. As you can see the last 2 songs weigh the album down.

 

If I just listen to the first 8 songs HYF is about my 14-15th favorite. If I include the last 2 songs, it ranks dead last.

 

 

Force Ten 9.5

Time Stand Still 9.5

Open Secrets 9.5

Second Nature 9.75

Prime Mover 9.5

Lock and Key 9.25

Mission 8.5

Turn the Page 8.75

Tai Shan 2

High Water 4

 

Total - 80.25

 

Rating- 8.025

 

9.28125 - Album rating without counting Tai Shan and High Water

Edited by Mithrandir
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4. Second Nature

 

I have said before that for a long time this album was my number one. Four songs in, it may still be my favourite Rush album.

 

Powerful, beautiful songwriting. The synths sound so glorious here and it is just...well...it hits me hard emotionally. I find this album very therapeutic.

 

You could apply these words here to the world at large, or as I do, to how life is for each of us as individuals. We all want to see things in life change. But we can't always, but we can still try.

 

Today is different,

And tomorrow the same

It’s hard to take the world

The way that it came

Too many rapids

Keep us sweeping along

Too many captains

Keep on steering us wrong

It’s hard to take the heat —

It’s hard to lay blame

To fight the fire —

While we’re

Feeding the flames

 

9/10

 

An underrated song.

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6. Lock And Key

 

The albums most infectious and catchy moment. Seriously the chorus here is unbelievably hooky!

 

Don’t want to silence

A desperate voice

For the sake of security

No one wants to make

A terrible choice

On the price of being free

I don’t want to face

The killer instinct —

Face it in you or me

So we keep it under lock and key…

 

Amazing lyrics and yet you can sing along to this and forget it has a deeper message. I could imagine in an alternate universe this song being a big hit. One of the best sounding songs on the while album, Alex is an absolute beast on this track!

 

Beautiful and for the synth era, quite heavy.

 

And six songs in I need to just say that Geddy sounds absolutely wonderful vocally. I love his eighties voice. More restrained and so rich!

 

10/10

 

Easily the worst song - along with Tai-Shan - on that album, IMO. Never could dig this one.

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6. Lock And Key

 

The albums most infectious and catchy moment. Seriously the chorus here is unbelievably hooky!

 

Don’t want to silence

A desperate voice

For the sake of security

No one wants to make

A terrible choice

On the price of being free

I don’t want to face

The killer instinct —

Face it in you or me

So we keep it under lock and key…

 

Amazing lyrics and yet you can sing along to this and forget it has a deeper message. I could imagine in an alternate universe this song being a big hit. One of the best sounding songs on the while album, Alex is an absolute beast on this track!

 

Beautiful and for the synth era, quite heavy.

 

And six songs in I need to just say that Geddy sounds absolutely wonderful vocally. I love his eighties voice. More restrained and so rich!

 

10/10

 

Easily the worst song - along with Tai-Shan - on that album, IMO. Never could dig this one.

 

That's how I see the album. These are my two least favourites.

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Really didn't warm to this album when it came out and don't think it has aged well. Full of expectation after Power Windows, still can't take to the late 80's production and only listen to Force Ten and Mission. The rest is all over the place to me and the lyrical content gets really smaltzy. Can't bear Second Nature, like rocks answer to You Can thank Your Lucky Stars by Dean Friedman. Live versions are/were an improvement.
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I played this to death when it first came out but it did feel a step down from Power Windows in all areas.Now i feel its the album that has aged the worst in their catalogue.I remember Alex commenting in a guitar magazine a couple of years after that album came out that the album and .his guitar sounded stodgy and i agree with him.I dont dislike the album,it is of its time,like Caress of Steel is a mid 70s album.Its the album i play if i dont want the missus to get in a bad mood.She is a Beach Boys/Bee Gees fan and stuff like By Tor or Earthshine get her edgy.So HYF is an easy listening album for delicate ears.(I got told off this morning for blasting through my earbuds Randy Hansen majestic take on Hendrix's Machine Gun on Youtube at 7am.I told her she was lucky i didnt send it through the surround system.Been a big fan of Hansen for decades,the closest you will ever get to Hendrix.)
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I think in terms of pure songwriting - melody, lyrics and structure (over musicianship) Hold Your Fire is probably Rush's finest That's not to say there aren't technical aspects, they surface from time to time, but just don't seem to be the emphasis on this album. It would be great to hear HYF rerecorded or played live - the production is too brittle and cold for the albums warm sentiment.
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6. Lock And Key

 

The albums most infectious and catchy moment. Seriously the chorus here is unbelievably hooky!

 

Don’t want to silence

A desperate voice

For the sake of security

No one wants to make

A terrible choice

On the price of being free

I don’t want to face

The killer instinct —

Face it in you or me

So we keep it under lock and key…

 

Amazing lyrics and yet you can sing along to this and forget it has a deeper message. I could imagine in an alternate universe this song being a big hit. One of the best sounding songs on the while album, Alex is an absolute beast on this track!

 

Beautiful and for the synth era, quite heavy.

 

And six songs in I need to just say that Geddy sounds absolutely wonderful vocally. I love his eighties voice. More restrained and so rich!

 

10/10

 

Easily the worst song - along with Tai-Shan - on that album, IMO. Never could dig this one.

 

Yes I find this one difficult at times, much more than Tai Shan. The fills at the end are great though.

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I didn't like this album when it came out but when I revisited it years later it really grew on me.

 

Great analysis Segue.

 

Definitely not in my top ten though.

 

I often recommend Rush fans to revisit the albums from the synth era that they previously dismissed and like myself they often find themselves appreciating greatness that had been formerly overlooked whilst still hoping for a return to the sort of stuff they put out during the Terry Brown years.

 

I still think that their best stuff was the the stuff produced under Terry Brown, but there are a lot of gems out there afterwards.

 

Another great post by Segue.

 

I love what you're doing here btw in this album by album review.

 

Great stuff.

 

Keeps me coming back here.

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