Rush Into Power Trip
By Tom Harrison, Vancouver Province, May 16, 1986, transcribed by pwrwindows
On his hours off from the routine of being drummer for Rush, Neil Peart gets on his bicycle and becomes, to paraphrase Captain Beefheart, a zig-zag wanderer.
It's a hobby and a recreation ideally suited to Neil's other major contribution to Rush music - the lyrics - and completely in character with a trio of achievers and rock and roll [sic].
One of his bike rides, during a vacation from the band in 1984, took him on a cycling tour of the People's Republic of China. Another became the spark for the song Middletown Dreams from the Power Windows LP.
Middletown Dreams is, in part, Neil's own - that of being a musician - but is bracketed by observations of midwestern America and people whose "dreams transport the ones who need to get out of town."
It is a theme distant from the science fiction of Hemispheres or simplistic political allegory of 2112 derived from Ayn Rand. But then, the Rush that recorded Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows has zig-zag wandered into its own musical hemisphere, influenced by many but derivative of none. Peart's lyrics for Middletown Dreams, The Big Money, Grand Designs, Territories or Marathon are philosophical extensions of Peart's, Geddy Lee's and Alex Lileson's systematic growth as musicians.
"The main theme of Power Windows is anti-extremism," he continues. "Personally, I like the album a lot, dynamically and texturally. It has a certain integrity to it where you can listen to it as a whole.
"Qualitatively, I prefer Power Windows to Grace Under Pressure in every way. But then again, I'm protective of Grace Under Pressure as my misunderstood child. A lot of people perceived it as a cynical LP but it was just the opposite, a reaction to pathos."
Specifically, Grace Under Pressure included a personal recollection of a friend of Neil's who had died before he truly had experienced life. Conversely, in Marathon Neil comes round to the conclusion that you can do a lot in your lifetime; you aren't losing if you're not able to do it all.
It's an interesting resolution for a band such as Rush, which has always pushed itself and seems removed from its heavy metal/prog-rock roots, the Canadian mainstream or any other musical idiom you care to mention.
"We had to put in a tremendous amount of work preparing for this tour. Geddy was busy for weeks assigning keyboard parts, for example. Our previous 15 LPs always were arranged and performed before we recorded them. For this one we just did what we felt was appropriate to the song and let it develop from there, which is why there are strings and a choir on a Rush album."
Rush and opening act Kickaxe are at Pacific Coliseum tomorrow at 7:30 pm.