I have always been a huge fan of this record. I know many people don't view it as a classic, but I certainly do! The thing I have always felt set it apart from their other records is Geddy Lee's vocals. I think it has his best vocals he ever recorded. As far as the songs go, they're not weak in that department either! My enduring favorite from Power Windows is "Grand Designs",as I feel it accomplished everything they were going after at the time (balance of guitars, keys, melody and power). What do you guys think? Can you believe it's 25 years old? WOW
Power Windows kind of ended my interest in Rush with a thud. I had pretty much moved on by the time it came out and none of the songs did a lot for me (never bought it, but heard it through friends). I did catch the tour, though. I'll bet I haven't heard the album since shortly after its release. Probably due for a reassessment since I've started to listen to Rush again a little bit after a 20 year break
Get the 25.8P version (or 32.8P which has the same mastering) from Japan, it sounds fabulous! Even the original Mercury atomic version is pretty darn good
You should curbach, you may enjoy it more now in retrospect than you did back then, a quarter century ago!
You could definitely hear elements of U2's the Edge creeping into Alex's playing style as the Andy Summers was starting to wear off. Anyone else hear or notice these influences on Alex's 80's playing style?
I never owned this album, but 25 years on, I still think that "Power Windows" is the closest Rush ever got to "Shark Sandwich", album-title wise.
Crazy as this may sound, I was immediately turned off by the album art and subsequently lost all interest in Rush save for the back catalog to that point. I was in high school in 1985 and so many of the albums released in the 80's included really great cover art... and often times I'd purchase (cassette tapes at the time) based solely on the cover. Stupid, I know, but it was a big deal to me when I was 17 years old.
Not too happy about the typical 80's production values, but there are some good songs here (Hey!... It's Rush!). Geddy's bass acrobatics on The Big Money are truly jaw-dropping (Hey!... It's Rush!). Power Windows on the whole pales compared to their next album, Hold Your Fire, though.
Wow, 25 years ago this came out??? I feel kinda old! I remember buying this the day it came out & I saw them twice on the "Power Windows" tour...
SOB! I can't believe it's been 25 years. It was a "Big Deal" when I was in high school. Along with GUP, PowerW, and HYF Rush changed from what I like about them to this new "style", although I'd not be completely through with them until Roll The Bones. So in retrospect the PowerW era was not nearly as bad as what would come later. I realize many like the later era's but for me Rush is strictly 1976-1982. During those years they produced 2 or 3 of my all time favorite albums by any rock artist. I recently picked up the WG Atomic of Power Windows. Never owned it on CD before sounds really nice, but the album is just not good enough material-wise to me to look for any other edition or even be bothered comparing if I did.
I really loved this album when it was released. My feelings now are sort of mixed. I still love "Territories", "Mystic Rhythms", and "Manhattan Project". I like "Marathon" more than I did then. "The Big Money" is kind of obvious for Rush, both musically and lyrically. I don't find it that compelling anymore. The great thing about the album is that it flows very nicely. No song really seems out of place.
Power Windows is one of my favorite 80's Rush albums. I think the production is superb on it, the balance of keys , bass, guitar and drums is great. The drum sound is great also. Peter Collins production was excellent on this album.
Not to get too far off topic, but an amusing story related to the Power Windows tour: As was my custom back in the day, I bought the official tour jersey at the show. It had a picture of the kid from the album cover looking through binoculars (that image may have been part of the "Big Money" video if IIRC). The shirt was so poorly made that I got to wear it exactly once. The first time I washed it, it shrunk down to an unwearable size. I saved the shirt as I did all my concert shirts, and just last week (interesting timing considering this thread) I remembered I had it and how small it was, so I got it out for my son to try on. It fits him very well. He's 8 years old. So there you go--an extra large concert jersey intended for a high school kid gets washed once and winds up fitting nicely on an 8 year old. (As a side note to this side note: my son asked who Rush was, so I gave him my Moving Pictures cd and now he's all into "Tom Sawyer" and likes to wear the shirt. My wife is appalled.)
Always liked it, although after only ever hearing cd, just bought the vinyl this week - welcome back bass!
The cheesy mid 80s production is a turn off but there are a few gems to be found like "Marathon" and "Mystic Rhythms".
I always thought it would be fascinating to hear an acoustic version of this album. When you strip away all the keyboards and effects, there is some amazing melodic songwriting on there. Certain tracks, like The Big Money and Grand Designs, absolutely need all the sonic treatments (they are no less great, but they function best as tapestries of sound), whereas tracks like Middletown Dreams, Territories, Emotion Detector, Marathon, Mystic Rhythms, heck, even Manhattan Project would sound great "naked". Some of the best SONG writing they've ever done, as far as I'm concerned. And they played every song but Emotion Detector on the subsequent tour. I believe this was the last time they played ALMOST every song from their latest record live. After PW, there was always at least 3 tracks not attempted live (although to be fair, they're albums got longer in the CD age).
Better people, Better food, Better Beer! Great album thru and thru. The "weakest link" I believe is the leadoff track, The Big Money. I would love to see them bring some of these songs back on tour. Bob
For me this was a transition album. It marked the end of Rush's golden period. The album isn't terrible, but there is very little on here that I listen to on a regular basis. Mark
