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"Pazzamente iper prodotto", così venne definito da Neil Peart, batterista, percussionista e paroliere del power trio canadese Rush, l'undicesimo lavoro intitolato Power Windows. Questo studio album, viene collocato nella terza fase (1982-1988) dell'evoluzione musicale che ha avuto inizio nel 1974, quando questi tre "geniacci" esordirono con l'album omonimo intitolato Rush per l'appunto. Power Windows è caratterizzato, più di qualsiasi altro loro lavoro, da un uso massiccio dei sint e delle tastiere elettriche a discapito degli ottimi riff e assoli della chitarra dell'eclettico Alex Lifeson. Infatti qui la chitarra svolge una funzione più che altro di accompagamento alle tastiere di Geddy Lee (cantante, bassista e tastierista), senza però tralasciare momenti di pathos, soprattutto nello splendido assolo nella parte centrale di "Marathon" la mia preferita dell'album. In "Mistic Rhythms, gli strumenti sono amalgamati in modo perfetto, come del resto in tutto l'album, chitarra, basso e percussioni si fanno ascoltare individualmente molto chiaramente, ma allo stesso tempo si sposano perfettamente insieme, creando un sound corposo e compatto, dalla forte matrice progressiva (marchio inconfondibile del trio di Toronto). Secondo il mio punto di vista, il brano meno convincente è "Grand Designs molto tastieristico più vicino alla new wave in gran voga negli anni 80, "Territories" è un brano molto particolare caratterizzato da una ritmica molto sincopata, opera inconfondibile di Peart uno dei più grandi batteristi in ambito rock ma non solo....Gli storici acuti vocali di Geddy qui sono più ammorbiditi rendendo la sua voce più "accessibile" anche all'orecchio più esigente. il tema principale dei testi di Power Windows è il potere, esercitato da scienziati in canzoni come "Manhattan Project", molto bello il testo che fa riferimento agli scenziati del progetto Manhattan appunto, che stavano sviluppando la bomba atomica con i risultati catastrofici che si riscontreranno alla fine della seconda guerra mondiale e il potere esercitato dalle grandi multi nazionali "The Big Money. Altra perla è "Emotion Detector testo particolare, che descrive un viaggio in bicicletta in cina di Peart, dove descrive le varie situazioni umane e sociali di quei luoghi lontani,visti in sella di una bicicletta fantasticandoci sopra.Per concludere Power Windows è sicuramente un gran bell'album, non un capolavoro ma molto bello e diverso anche in un confronto diretto con Signals il suo predecessore. L'evoluzione musicale di questo fantastico trio continua soprattutto negli anni 80, che io considero il loro periodo d'oro, ben lontano dall' hard rock progressivo degli anni 70 ma sempre caratterizzato da ottima musica.
Elenco tracce testi e samples
01 The Big Money (05:37)
Well, I was only a kid, didn't know enough to be afraid
Playing the game, but not the way the big boys played
Nothing to lose, maybe I had something to trade
The way the big wheel spins
Well, I was only a kid, on a holy crusade
I placed no trust in a faith that was ready-made
Take no chances on paradise delayed
So I do a slow fade
Playing for time
Don't want to wait for heaven
Looking for love
For an angel to forgive my sins
Playing with fire
Chasing something new to believe in
Looking for love
The way the big wheel spins
Well, I was only a kid, cruising around in a trance
Prisoner of fate, victim of circumstance
I was lined up for glory, but the tickets sold out in advance
The way the big wheel spins
Well, I was only a kid, gone without a backward glance
Going for broke, going for another chance
Hoping for heaven, hoping for a fine romance
If I do the right dance
Wheel goes round, landing on a twist of faith
Taking your chances you'll have the right answers
When the final judgment begins
Wheel goes round, landing on a leap of fate
Life redirected in ways unexpected
Sometimes the odd number wins
The way the big wheel spins
03 Manhattan Project (05:07)
Imagine a time when it all began
In the dying days of a war
A weapon that would settle the score
Whoever found it first
Would be sure to do their worst
They always had before...
Imagine a man where it all began
A scientist pacing the floor
In each nation always eager to explore
To build the best big stick
To turn the winning trick
But this was something more...
The big bang took and shook the world
Shot down the rising sun
The end was begun it would hit everyone
When the chain reaction was done
The big shots try to hold it back
Fools try to wish it away
The hopeful depend on a world without end
Whatever the hopeless may say
Imagine a place where it all began
They gathered from across the land
To work in the secrecy of the desert sand
All of the brightest boys
To play with the biggest toys
More than they bargained for...
The big bang took and shook the world
Shot down the rising sun
The hopeful depend on a world without end
Whatever the hopeless may say
Imagine a man when it all began
The pilot of "Enola Gay"
Flying out of the shockwave on that August day
All the powers that be, and the course of history
Would be changed for evermore...
The big bang took and shook the world
Shot down the rising sun
The end was begun it would hit everyone
When the chain reaction was done
The big shots try to hold it back
Fools try to wish it away
The hopeful depend on a world without end
Whatever the hopeless may say
The big bang took and shook the world
Shot down the rising sun
The hopeful depend on a world without end
Whatever the hopeless may say
04 Marathon (06:09)
It's not how fast you can go
The force goes into the flow
If you pick up the beat
You can forget about the heat
More than just survival
More than just a flash
More than just a dotted line
More than just a dash
It's a test of ultimate will
The heartbreak climb uphill
Got to pick up the pace
If you want to stay in the race
More than just blind ambition
More than just simple greed
More than just a finish line
Must feed this burning need -
In the long run...
From first to last
The peak is never passed
Something always fires the light
That gets in your eyes
One moment's high
And glory rolls on by
Like a streak of lightening
That flashes and fades
In the summer sky
Your meters may overload
You can rest at the side of the road
You can miss a stride
But nobody gets a free ride
More than high performance
More than just a spark
More than just the bottom line
Or a lucky shot in the dark -
In the long run...
You can do a lot in a lifetime
If you don't burn out too fast
You can make the most of the distance
First you need endurance -
First you've got to last...
05 Territories (06:20)
I see the middle kingdom
Between Heaven and Earth
Like the Chinese call
The country of their birth.
We all figure that our homes
Our homes are set above
Other people than the ones
The ones we know and love.
In every place with a name
They play the same territorial game
Hiding behind the lines
Sending up warning signs.
The whole wide world
An endless universe
Yet we keep looking through
The eyeglass in reverse.
Don't feed the people
But we feed the machines
Can't really feel what
International means.
In different circles
We keep holding our ground
Indifferent circles
We keep spinning
Round and round.
We see so many tribes
Overrun and undermined
While their invaders dream
Of lands they've left behind.
Better people, better food
And better beer
Why move around the world
When Eden was so near?
The bosses get talking so tough
And if that wasn't evil enough
We get the drunken and passionate pride
Of citizens along for the ride.
The whole wide world
An endless universe
Yet we keep looking through
The eyeglass in reverse.
Don't feed the people
But we feed the machines
Can't really feel what
International means.
In different circles
We keep holding our ground
Indifferent circles we keep
Spinning round and round and..
They shoot without shame
In the name of a piece of dirt
For a change of accent
Or the color of your shirt.
Better the pride that resides
In a citizen of the world
Than the pride that divides
When a colorful rag is unfurled.
The whole wide world
An endless universe
Yet we keep looking through
The eyeglass in reverse.
Don't feed the people
But we feed the machines
Can't really feel what
International mean.
In different circles
We keep holding our ground
Indifferent circles we keep
Spinning round and round and round..
07 Emotion Detector (05:11)
When we lift the covers from our feelings
We expose our insecure spots
Trust is just as rare as devotion
Forgive us our cynical thoughts.
If we need too much attention
Not content with being cool
We must throw ourselves wide open
And start acting like a fool
If we need too much approval
Then the cuts can seem too cruel.
Right to the heart of the matter
Right to the beautiful part
Illusions are painfully shattered
Right where discovery starts
In the secret wells of emotion
Buried deep in our hearts.
It's true that love can change us
Never quite enough
Sometimes we are too tender
Sometimes we're too tough
If we get too much attention
It gets hard to overrule
So often fragile power turns
To scorn and ridicule
Sometimes our big splashes
Are just ripples in the pool.
Right to the heart of the matter
Right to the beautiful part
Illusions, illusions are painfully shattered
Right where discovery starts
In the secret wells of emotion
Buried deep in our hearts.
Right to the heart of the matter
Right to the beautiful part
Illusions are painfully shattered
Right where discovery starts
In the secret wells of emotion
Buried deep in our hearts
Feelings run high.
Illusion, illusions are painfully shattered
Right where discovery starts
Feelings run high
Feelings run high.
08 Mystic Rhythms (05:53)
So many things I think about
When I look far away
Things I know - things I wonder
Things I'd like to say
The more we think we know about
The greater the unknown
We suspend our disbelief
And we are not alone -
Mystic rhythms - capture my thoughts
And carry them away
Mysteries of night
Escape the light of day
Mystic rhythms - under northern lights
Or the African Sun
Primitive things stir
The hearts of everyone
We sometimes catch a window
A glimpse of what's beyond
Was it just imagination
Stringing us along?
More things than are dreamed about
Unseen and unexplained
We suspend our disbelief
And we are entertained
Mystic rhythms - capture my thoughts
And carry them away
Nature seems to spin
A supernatural way
Mystic rhythms - under city lights
Or a canopy of stars
We feel the powers
And we wonder what they are
We feel the push and pull
Of restless rhythms from afar
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di vellutogrigio
Forse il miglior modo per avvicinarsi all’album è quello di ignorare che si tratti di un lavoro dei Rush, cercando di coglierne le qualità intrinseche a prescindere dalle etichette.
La conclusione dell’album è affidata, invece, ad un vero capolavoro... Mystic Rhythms: una canzone commovente che cerca di spiegare il mistero della musica.
Di splinter
Non è per niente facile creare un disco sicuramente orecchiabile come questo senza compromettere il gusto per le cose fatte bene e ben curate.
I Rush ci hanno sempre abituato a rinnovarsi continuamente senza mai sbagliare il colpo.
