Power Windows
Released Mercury, 29 October, 1985
- The Big Money (5:36)
- Grand Designs (5:05)
- Manhattan Project (5:05)
- Marathon (6:09)
- Territories (6:19)
- Middletown Dreams (5:15)
- Emotion Detector (5:10)
- Mystic Rhythms (5:54)
Additional Musicians: Jim Burgess - Synthesizer Programming. Andy Richards - Keyboards/Synthesizer Programming. Aimee Mann - Vocals (Track 2).
Produced by Peter Collins and Rush. Engineered by Jimbo Barton.
Lyrics by Peart, except lyrics to ‘Force 10’ by Peart/Dubois.
About power perhaps, but ‘Power Windows’ maintains what have become staple themes in the band’s repertoire – people and places, and the relationships they share. We have the power of big business in ‘The Big Money’, inspired once again by the writings of US author John Dos Passos – in this case, “the J.P. Morgan loans and the economic causes of World War I”. Despite best intentions Neil found it hard to talk in absolutes, as he grudgingly recognised the good works bequeathed by foundations of the rich. Even when he turned his attentions to the first atomic bomb with ‘Manhattan Project’, steeping himself in the histories of the time, he was forced to acknowledge that the scientists were ordinary people too. “They weren’t heartless crazy monsters, just regular, patriotic people caught up in the momentum of events,” he conceded.
Musically, and far more than the two previous albums, it is clear that a level of negotiated agreement has been achieved between the performers. Nowhere is this more obvious than with ‘Marathon’. This running song seems to establish a rhythmic groove more than a rut, with Peter Collins’ production hooks bringing each instrument to the fore as and when it is needed. This continues through both ‘Territories’ and ‘Middletown Dreams’, travellers’ tales which are based respectively on Neil’s experiences cycling through China and through towns closer to home. “I was looking at these places and kind of looking at the people in them – fantasizing, perhaps romanticizing, a little about their lives,” he said. The characters were a composite of people like writer Sherwood Anderson3, artist Paul Gaugin, and no small amount of Neil. “They dropped out of their jobs in insurance and banking, deserted their families, and took off to pursue a dream.” Or perhaps, they gave up a job at a farm equipment reseller.
Power plays between people are rife on the album. ‘Grand Designs’ suggests a return to Ayn Rand in the shape of the sociopathic architect Howard Roark, or perhaps the latter’s own inspiration, Frank Lloyd Wright. Power plays in relationships are briefly explored in ‘Emotion Detector’, before the album’s grand finale – ‘Mystic Rhythms’. This is Neil’s song – this time as a drummer, more than a lyricist, building layers of tempo around a solid back beat and drawing on samples from every size and style of drum he could find. Alex’s contributions add texture, Geddy’s bass punctuates the vocal message – that there are powers we can only glimpse, which are bigger than all of us. Far from rendering our existence pointless, it stimulates and excites us – “We suspend our disbelief, and we are entertained.”
So, perhaps, we do, and we are.