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Presto: Rush's most awkward era


fraroc
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Remember how shock I was to see that the keyboards were almost gone in Presto and that the songs were more on the pop side, But i have learned to enjoy this album. I think that this is a pretty consistent album with not a weak track, Not the best Rush, but I prefer this to CA, SA and T4E.
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Geddy looked his best at that last Molson concert before Neil's tragedy, and he didn't look too shabby when he and Alex were donning their miami vice jackets in the mid-80s. Neil looked his best during the GUP tour. After that, his face changed and he developed that "Neil look" he carried until the day he departed. I often wondered what happened to him to harden him so after that tour.

 

 

I always thought Alex wore the 80s style pretty well. My girlfriend is from Europe and knows zero about Rush but she agrees.

I was showing her some photos and she really liked this one below.

For a few years, he was handsome.

 

guitar-school-05.1990-2.jpg

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Geddy looked his best at that last Molson concert before Neil's tragedy, and he didn't look too shabby when he and Alex were donning their miami vice jackets in the mid-80s. Neil looked his best during the GUP tour. After that, his face changed and he developed that "Neil look" he carried until the day he departed. I often wondered what happened to him to harden him so after that tour.

 

 

I always thought Alex wore the 80s style pretty well. My girlfriend is from Europe and knows zero about Rush but she agrees.

I was showing her some photos and she really liked this one below.

For a few years, he was handsome.

 

guitar-school-05.1990-2.jpg

That he was! He looked his best during that tour. Geddy didn't look too shabby either. :)

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Presto is a solid effort. However Power Windows and Hold Your Fire were on a completely different level production wise. The contrast of styles is stark. Personally Hemispheres-HYF is unmatched in terms of Rush. The grand finale of the side long epic albums through the pinnacle of their synth era. The growth, the production value, the playing, arrangements, lyrics...all of it is the pinnacle of Rush.

 

With Presto we are getting a much lighter side of Rush. They really went contemporary but without all the gloss and production value of Hold Your Fire. I felt like there were some very awkward moments on that album (Anagram, and Super Conductor are by far the weakest tracks of that record). Also I felt some of the lyrics did not fit the musical arrangements smoothly.

 

Many strong points though on the record to talk about. The opening track Show Don't Tell is a powerhouse of a song that still rings today. The Pass is a fantastic song. The title track has aged incredibly well and was a thrill to hear live on the Time Machine tour. Available Light was always one of my favorite Rush tracks ever since the first time I heard it. That song is so unique for them. Such a shame we never saw it performed live.

 

Presto is a transitional album indeed. I feel like the album itself has 9 tracks that really stood out and still sounds great today, with two duds (mentioned above).

 

The interesting thing for me though is the follow up in Roll The Bones is not as consistent as Presto, but the great tracks are truly classics IMO.

 

Dreamline

Bravado

Roll The Bones

Where's My Thing

Ghost Of A Chance

 

Just fantastic Rush songs. If I could put an album together of those two it would go like this:

 

 

Show Don't Tell

Dreamline

Bravado

Roll The Bones

The Pass

Where's My Thing

Chain Lighting

Ghost Of A Chance

Presto

Available Light

The Pass should be the closer and remove Available Light
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It was clear that they were heading in another direction... I remember what Rupert Hine said about them being a "power trio" but being awash in keyboards... and yet the records he made with them aren't terribly "powerful"... nuanced, classy, but not powerful!

 

 

Definitely a transitional phase.

 

Nothing wrong with being "awash in keyboards". Power trio is a term bestowed upon them by others. Even if they are a power trio, who's to say they can't use keyboards. The usual "artists should never change" nonsense.

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Nothing wrong with being "awash in keyboards". Power trio is a term bestowed upon them by others. Even if they are a power trio, who's to say they can't use keyboards. The usual "artists should never change" nonsense.

 

It's when artists DON'T change that I lose interest.

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Nothing wrong with being "awash in keyboards". Power trio is a term bestowed upon them by others. Even if they are a power trio, who's to say they can't use keyboards. The usual "artists should never change" nonsense.

 

It's when artists DON'T change that I lose interest.

 

Exactly. Couldn't have said it better myself.

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The interesting thing about Presto is it was the first album for quite a while to feature acoustic guitar. I think since Permanent Waves.

 

I think Grace Under Pressure is the only 80s album where Alex is not listed as playing acoustic guitars?

 

 

Edited by Lurkst
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The interesting thing about Presto is it was the first album for quite a while to feature acoustic guitar. I think since Permanent Waves.

 

I think Grace Under Pressure is the only 80s album where Alex is not listed as playing acoustic guitars?

Correct, it is the only Rush album with no acoustic

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I've recently been watching the Presto tour on YT live from Auburn Hills, Michigan.

 

I remember being annoyed at the time how different they sounded thanks to the Roland synths and Signature guitars, but now I love it as a change of pace. I love watching Neil pound that drum set.

 

I am also a real weirdo that really enjoys Superconductor.

Edited by shabadoo25
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I am also a real weirdo that really enjoys Superconductor.

 

It's not a bad little rocker, with a very cynical lyric. I'm not sold on Rupert's vocals but even they are a nice deviation from the Rush norm.

 

It should never EVER have been spliced with Xanadu live though!

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I am also a real weirdo that really enjoys Superconductor.

 

It's not a bad little rocker, with a very cynical lyric. I'm not sold on Rupert's vocals but even they are a nice deviation from the Rush norm.

 

It should never EVER have been spliced with Xanadu live though!

 

I've envisioned it over the years as the backing track to sports highlights from favorite players.

 

Agreed.

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I can't think of any songs on Signals with acoustic guitar either

Losing It, in the chorus

 

And I enjoy Superconductor just fine.

Edited by goose
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I can't think of any songs on Signals with acoustic guitar either

 

Losing It, in the chorus

 

I may have been hearing things but I'd always thought there was an acoustic strumming frenetically in the background towards the end of Subdivisions...

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