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 The album of my dreams (literally) Jun 09, 2009
If you ask me (and you didn't, but I'm going to tell you anyway, so deal with it), this album is among the best and most beautiful material that Rush has ever written. Just to give you an idea of how much I love it, I recently had a dream about this album, in which I clearly remember listening to at least 2 or 3 songs from it. When I awoke, I couldn't get the album out of my head, and just really had to listen to it. You know you're really obsessed with music when you're literally listening to it in your sleep.
Anyway, this album is just perfect. From the incredibly lush guitar and keyboard melodies, to Neil Peart's subtle but impeccable drum work, to Geddy Lee's nimble basslines weaving about his one-of-a-kind vocals, not to mention Aimee Mann's heavenly guest appearance on "Time Stand Still", it is nothing short of pure greatness. Besides the aforementioned "Time Stand Still", my favorites include "Prime Mover", "Mission", and "Tai Shan", but they're all great.
If you're a Rush fan, and for some reason you haven't bought this, do it now. This definitely deserves to be heard. Oh, and just a warning: When you open the CD case, view the photos of the band with extreme caution. Their incredibly goofy hair styles of the time may just cause you to die laughing. Still, this album's more than worth that risk, I swear.
Literate and technical but not a typical Rush album Apr 15, 2009
Rush is a love-'em-or-hate-'em kind of band. During the 80s, even the patience of their faithful was somewhat tried by the band's indulgence in the synthesized soundscapes that colored a lot of that era's music. Rush's transformation from a raw prog-guitar-rock trio into a synth-oriented band came gradually, and while it worked well on Moving Pictures, Signals and even Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows, Rush overdid it a bit on this one. Sandwiched between two of my favorite albums in the history of recorded music (Power Windows and Presto), I often neglect Hold Your Fire and have long viewed it as a lesser effort that perhaps prompted the band to rethink their approach for the recording of Presto. However, after hearing some great recent live versions of some of the material from this album I decided to give it another chance, and liked it quite a bit more than I had remembered.
Other reviewers have rightly pointed out the dichotomy between the lyrics, which are largely an exploration of what it means to find one's place in an increasingly complex world, and the very processed sound. The discourses on passion are somewhat undercut by the sequencers and synth washes, which sound datedly futuristic (like an old sci-fi movie). But underneath all that are some interesting and sometimes transcendent songs. The best tracks, such as "Time Stand Still" and "Mission," display some of Neil Peart's most thoughtful lyrical work and well-written melodies. Some of the lesser-known tracks such as "Turn The Page" are hidden gems that would do well performed with Alex Lifeson's guitar replacing the synth sounds. I almost wish that the band would re-record this material in its current sonic incarnation. This would probably reveal Hold Your Fire to be a far better album than its detractors might claim.
However, Hold Your Fire is IMHO not a good entrypoint for Rush newbies. Not only is it atypical of their sound, but it does bury some of the band's strengths. I think that this is one for the long-time fans, such as myself, who have heard the band's more famous albums a million times and need to dig a little deeper to get the periodic Rush fix that us die-hards sometimes need. For that, it works quite well and is often surprisingly worthwhile.
Rush at their pop music peak Feb 26, 2009
Hold Your Fire is an album that shows Rush at the peak of their mellow, pop-like music that they released during the 1980s. No other Rush album is tamer than this one. This is even more tame than their previous album, Power Windows. This is a good album, but don't expect hard rock from this. The album starts with Force Ten, probably the hardest song on the album, though it isn't nearly as hard as previous hard rock Rush. This album has some of Rush's best lyrics ever. Time Stand Still is the next track, with guest vocalist Aimee Mann. This was a hit that was played on Top 40 radio stations. The next track is Open Secrets. My favorite track on the album. A little on the harder side. The next track is the mellow Second Nature, with its distinctive piano. Prime Mover is next, with a catchy melody. Lock And Key follows, my second favorite song. It is a mixture of hard rock and softer rock. One thing I notice about Rush during the time period between 1985 and 1996 is that a lot of their songs start out hard, then have a middle section that is mellow and tame, then the song will pick up momentum again. I've always felt that Rush does this deliberately, in order to appeal to and satisfy fans of older, hard-rocking Rush, and at the same time to fans of the newer, tamer Rush sound. They want to appeal to and satisfy both groups of fans in the same song. Back to the album...The next song is Mission, a kind of classic amongst fans of this album. The next song is Turn The Page, a regular rock 'n roll song. The next song is Tai Shan, a song with a Far East sound to it. Mellow but interesting. The album closes with one of my favorites, High Water, a song that is a good example of having hard rock and soft rock all in the same song. All in all, this is a good album that I really liked back in 1987 and 1988. It has since moved down in my rankings mainly because Rush went back to their hard rock roots beginning in 1993 with their Counterparts album, which is something I was actually doubting they would do one day, but they did. I prefer harder Rush. I recommend this album to fans of tamer-sounding Rush from the 1980s. The mellow sound aside, the songs are good and the lyrics are interesting. Buy it.
listen at high volume with a quality system to truly appreciate Feb 05, 2009
I bought this way back when in cassette. I since lost it, so I purchased it again in CD. I played the CRAP out of this...one of may favorite Rush albums. This is a dreamy album....fantastic music from incredibly talented musicians.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Freeze This Moment Nov 20, 2008
When "Hold Your Fire" was released in 1988, I was what might be considered the penultimate Rush fan. I got into them after "Power Windows," and had subsequently bought their entire back catalog on my Reganomics-era minimum wage capital and the freedom of a 10-speed bicycle. They were THE band. Their oeuvre exhibited a level of musicianship, creativity, intensity, and insight that I found appealing in all of its iterations. However, "Hold Your Fire" challenged me at every turn. Its cryptic, monochromatically crimson cover stood out from the clear symbolism of its predecessors, and its synth-laden soundscape clearly diverged from the aggressive energy that epitomized my conception of "Rush music." For a long time, I was not sure what I thought of it, but as a diligent fan I came to appreciate it.
Today, Twenty (!) years have passed since the release of "Hold Your Fire," and it is difficult to extricate my nostalgic feelings surrounding this recording from its actual importance in Rush's repertoire. Despite this, I still find it to be a masterful album. Although it presents a very unique approach to Rush's sound, "Hold Your Fire" is the culmination of a larger stylistic arc.
"Hold Your Fire" is the pinnacle of what I call Rush's "synth-period." "Signals" revealed Geddy Lee to be a skilled synthesist, and he deftly juggled playing keyboards with his bass and vocal duties for several albums to follow. In order to fully incorporate this texture into Rush's ever-changing soundscape in a live situation, the band began to use sequencers on "Grace Under Pressure" and "Power Windows." "Hold Your Fire," however, pushed sequencing to the forefront. Initially, this was troubling because it challenged the "live-ness" of the band. It became increasingly problematic to reconcile how they could perform songs like "Lock and Key" in a live situation. As a kid who wanted to play their songs in a cover band (and had), this was a bitter pill to swallow.
But, despite its synthetic nature, or perhaps because of it, "Hold Your Fire" revealed a unique aspect of Rush's musical conception. They have never made an album that is more sonically expansive. Lifeson's guitars are generally pushed towards texture, but the BLISTERING solos he performs, as exemplified by songs like "Turn the Page" and "Lock and Key," challenge the idea that has anything less than a unique and definitive voice on the electric guitar. I also think that, for the attuned listener, Neil Peart's percussion is at a creatively high point on this album. On "Hold your Fire," his usual rocking, subdivided style expands to its most orchestral limits on tunes like "Second Nature," "High Water," and "Tai Shan."
I think that if I were to suggest definitive tracks from "Hold Your Fire," would suggest two: "Time Stand Still" and "Mission." Admittedly, in the case of the former, nostalgic feelings about a song about nostalgia obviously may subvert any argument about the song's strength. It seems to me, though, that "Time Stand Still" may be one of the last times that the dedicated Rush fan will hear the band's emotional side until "Counterparts." Additionally, anyone who has seen Rush on recent tours will also admit that "Mission" is a hair-raising composition. It shows all of the various musical paths that Rush has taken: inspired lyrics, texture, riffs, virtuosic musicianship, technology, and a devastating instrumental bridge that, on its own, is as strong a composition as fan favorites "YYZ" and "La Villa Strangiato" - all clocking in at the five minute mark!
The Lowdown: Where to start with Rush? Perhaps not here - of its 80's context, "Hold Your Fire" seems a little odd, and perhaps a little inconsistent. However, it is one of my favorites, and coming back to it recently has made me appreciate its strengths more fully.
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