Clockwork Angels

Hard to believe how fresh these guys are able to sound 38 years after their first album.
I had not great expectations about this one. Based on the two previous studio albums, I just awaited another "Rush by numbers" work. I mean: powerful, hard hitting and masterfully executed, but not especially inspired.. I liked Snakes and Arrows a bit more than Vapor Trails, but somehow the spirit of old Rush' golden era (let's say the one that flew over A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures) seemed to be forever gone.

A digression here : Vapor Trails, especially, is a quite tiresome album to me. It stays a bit to much in the low frequency sonic spectre: too much bass guitar, to much bass drum, and too much guitar power chords, not properly equilibrated by other sonic and musical ingredients, which makes it a hard task to listen to it, from beginning to end, without taking a break. Snakes and Arrows, while walking the same sonic territory as V.T., was more varied and dynamic, and I found it more enjoyable. Not bad albums to my taste, but not exciting enough.

Clockwork Angels, however, is gifted with a different nature. It is tremendously fresh, vital and captivating, and makes me recall the best years of the band. Yes, Rush look younger than yesterday, playing with enthusiasm a set of convincing songs. Nothing to do with (like someone could fear), a tired old group. There are no fillers in this album. It is a concept album equipped with its proper organic quality. From the beginnig, the listener is propelled by an exciting, dynamic music, feeling the need to know how the story goes.

Theme:
As I said it is a concept album, based on a sci-fi story. There is a "perfectly organized" world where people are instilled to not to think by themselves and to be content with their destiny ( Planet Earth, year whatever, I guess) . The album tells the adventures and reflections of an inconformist young man during his quest for truth.

Sound:
Compared to previous albums, I find that Neil Peart's drums playing is a bit more restrained, and that the drums are not so loud in the mix . Just a matter of nuances; don't worry, Neil Peart is still there and you can hear and enjoy his playing .
Geddy Lee's voice is in good form, and maturity has made him gain expresiveness. The bass sounds hugely powerful but very defined and clear too.
Lifeson `s guitar makes also a quite restrained job (at least not prodigal in solos), but the instrument has a killer full tone, and the playing is very expressive and piercing when strictly necessary.
The whole album sounds clear and well defined even at a low volume (a quality that was not shared by Vapor Trails and Snakes and Arrows).

The songs:

1. Caravan - Is Rush in pure and best form. Intricate rhythms, guitar riffs, catchy chorus (" I can't stop thinking big ") A
statement of purposes. It ends with a beautiful reflective passage a la Pink Floyd, where acoustic and electric guitar
with tremolo effect take command.
2. Bu2B - Another classic Rush tour the force rocker propelled by mighty drums. "We were taught that we lived in the best of
all possible worlds".
3. Clockwork angels - Rush trademark intricate, fierce ternary tempo. Wonderful guitar solo.
The pedlar 1 - Short instrumental integrated at the end of Clockwork angels. Old (and all) time Rush.
4. The anarchist - Another powerful rocker, where the rebel anarchist character is introduced. Strings and guitar solo with
a northern africa/arab flavour (a la Page&Plant).
5. Carnies - The rock goes on. The young man's fate changes since his encounter with the anarchist.
6. Halo effect - A nice ballad about following false illusions. Beautifuly sung by Lee. Short enough (3:14) so the
trepidant pace of the album is not left for too long.
7. Seven cities of gold - Another uptempo heavy rocker with catchy chorus. High pitched Lee's vocals recalling older works.
8. The wreckers - It begins with an openly pop a la Byrds intro, rapidly changing into a minor key melody. This could be a
rather "radio friendly"song, despite its serious, sour matter: "All I know is that sometimes the truth is
contrary/everything in life you thought you knew". All along the song there is a constant contrast between the a-la Byrds
and dramatic character passages, so the result is melodically varied and appealing.
9. Headlong Flight - A killer epic, vaguely reminiscent of Iron Maiden. Our hero declares he would not change anything he did
("I learned to fight, to love, to feel")
10. Bu2B2 - Short mature bittersweet reflections by Lee & strings only.
11. Wish them well - This is the most pop oriented song in the album, almost in a Paul McCartney's style (no joke) , except
for another piercing solo by Lifeson. It makes sense considering the positive message: the benefit of not keeping anger
and grudges in our hearts
12. The garden - Masterful slow tempo with another positive, mature declaration of principles: "The measure of a life is a
measure of love and respect / ... / A garden to nurture and protect". Strings intro, acoustic guitars, and, from the
4:30, a beautiful, emotive crescendo that soars high for a perfect album's end.

Highly recommended.

As a Rush fan since 1979, I can honestly say they are fully back on track. Passion, precision and speed abound in the music. The production is fine, don't listen to the whiners! Rip to at least 320kbps or just listen to the CD! I think this release is the best since 1981. Modern, layered, dynamic and I can't wait for May 2013 when they hit the UK. A must have release.

The Garden will blow you away.

Every album Rush have produced since the heady days of Moving Pictures has had at least 2 or 3 good tracks on it and while I was really pleased with Vapor Trails I found Snakes and Arrows a bit more of a mixed bag.
Clockwork Angels is the best of the three post hiatus albums by a margin and while it is too early to tell for sure I think there is an argument for this being the best album since Power Windows.

The album starts with the two pre-released tracks Caravan and BU2B which is a pity on first listen as the rest of the album is fresher and it detracted from that initial buzz of listening to an album for the first few times. That said, this is a loose concept album and there is a story going on around the songs so it makes sense to place them where they are.

There are twelve tracks on the album (11 if you discount the reprise of BU2B) and they are all of good quality with a handful of early standouts to grab the attention and pull you in to the album as a whole. The mid-section of The Anarchist, Carnies and Halo Effect is a superb run of potential classics with The Wreckers providing another 'hit'. The total standout is the superb closer The Garden. Genuinely up there with the best songs they have ever produced. It has everything - heart and soul combined with excellent lyrics and great instrumentation.

My only criticism of the album is the production. I bought the 'fan pack' so have the CD but my first listen was on a lower spec PC and the mix sounded very muddy; like there was great gig on inside the stadium but I was on the outside.
Since then I've listened through a few more times on better equipment and the mix is very bassy - which is great if you have the kit to do it justice but something to watch for if your main listening is with in-ear phones on a mobile device.
Even on a half decent system I had to take the bass down a notch to hear the melody properly.

I'd also point any fans in the direction of the CD booklet. This is the first time in ages that I've taken the time to read the sleeve notes etc and it did enhance the pleasure of the music. The short paragraphs that introduce each song help place it in the overall narrative and make the lyrics more accessible. It's a loose concept at best but works reasonably well.

Overall I'd say this is a 4 star album - it's not the best Rush have ever produced but it is damned good and suspect that it will grow better with repeated listening, with better production it would probably have sneaked a 5.