Rush: Snakes & Arrows

NEW MUSIC ON MY PLAYLIST

Rush: Snakes & Arrows
(AMG Review; 4 out of 5 Stars) -- When Rush issued Vapor Trails in 2002, they revealed that -- even after Neil Peart's personal tragedies in the 1990s had cast the group's future in doubt -- they were back with a vengeance. The sound was hard-hitting, direct, and extremely focused. Lyrically, Peart went right after the subject matter he was dealing with -- and it was in the aftermath of 9/11 as well, which couldn't help but influence his lyric writing. In 2004 the band issued a covers EP that was in one way a toss-off, but in another a riotous act of freewheeling joy that offered a side of the band no one had heard for 30 years. There were a couple of live offerings and a 30th anniversary project as well that kept fans happy perhaps, but broke -- though Rush in Rio was the kind of live album every band hopes to record. Snakes & Arrows represents the band's 18th studio album. Produced by Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Velvet Revolver, Superdrag), the record is another heavy guitar, bass, and drums...drums...and more drums record. The title came -- unconsciously according to Peart -- from a centuries-old Buddhist game of the same name about karma, and also from a play on the words of the children's game Chutes and Ladders. Its subject matter is heavy duty: faith and war. From the opening track (and first single), acoustic and electric guitars, bass hum, and Peart's crash-and-thrum urgency in the almighty riff are all present. When Geddy Lee opens his mouth, you know you are in for a ride: "Pariah dogs and wandering madmen/Barking at strangers and speaking in tongues/The ebb and flow of tidal fortune/Electrical charges are charging up the young/It's a far cry from the world we thought we'd inherit/It's a far cry from the way we thought we'd share it...." At the same time, inside the frame of the refrain, Lee refuses to be conquered in the face of chaos: "One day I feel like I'm ahead of the wheel/And the next it's rolling over me/I can get back on/I can get back on." Alex Lifeson's guitars swell and Peart's crash cymbals ride the riff and push Lee to sing above the wailing fray. Great beginning. Read more.

Amazon Customer Reviews: 4 out of 5 Stars
Anthem/Atlantic recording group Rush return with its first new collection of original material in nearly five years, entitled "SNAKES & ARROWS." The album was recorded in the fall of 2006 with Gammy Award-winner Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Velvet Revolver) and Rush co-producing. "It's hard to describe," Geddy Lee recently told Revolver re: "SNAKES & ARROWS.""It's big, it's bold, and I think it's some of the best work we've done in years. I'm really pleased with the quality ofthe songs, and there's lots of playing on it. " Rush - Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart - will trumpet the release of "SNAKES & ARROWS" with a full-scale North American tour, the renowned trio's first since 2004's "An Evening with Rush: 30th Anniversary Tour."

Buy now from Amazon.com:
Rush: Snakes & Arrows

Download now from iTunes:
Rush: Snakes & Arrows

Tags: music, entertainment, Review, Reviews, iTunes, iPod, download, Rock, Rush
Global Tags: Washington DC, News and Politics, News, Politics, Current Events, Current Affairs, Life, Culture, Buzz, Tension