Presto
Brought to you by the letter “D”.
Released Atlantic/Anthem, 21 November, 1989.
- Show Don’t Tell (5:02)
- Chain Lightning (4:33)
- The Pass (4:51)
- War Paint (5:24)
- Scars (4:07)
- Presto (5:45)
- Superconductor (4:47)
- Anagram (for Mongo) (4:00)
- Red Tide (4:29)
- Hand Over Fist (4:11)
- Available Light (5:03)
Produced by Rupert Hine And Rush.
In the words of Spike Milligan, “What are we going to do now?”
Competent enough, ‘Presto’ is an album delivered from a band in transition. There’s some good songs here, some good sounds as well, but the band is girding its loins to go to another place – or places – and it shows. Looking on the bright side, the power trio is unmistakeably back: right from the outset, drums, guitar and bass are all that can be heard. “This album was a real reaction against technology in a sense,” said Geddy. Rupert Hine’s production brings a level of clarity and resharpens the edge that had been wearing off over the past couple of albums. By the second song, ‘Chain Lightning’, the synthesizers are back, but only to support everything else.
The musical evolution from this album’s predecessors is more obvious than any significant change of lyrical style, as the band seeks to distance itself from the sharply dressed, synth pop era and re-establish its rock band credentials. There are some standard rockers which one feels Rush could have written in its sleep, such as ‘War Paint’ but the majority of songs are more accomplished compositions – not least ‘The Pass’, ‘Scars’ and ‘Available Light’, all of which see the three players balancing their skills to support an earnest, heartfelt lyric. Not everything quite works – ‘Presto’ doesn’t quite get there for example, more heat than light indeed.
Not that the band isn’t drawing on outside influences – but there is a broader pond to be dipped. The Peart-patented musical sponge takes inspiration once again from his travels, this time adding a West African pop beat to ‘Superconductor’. Like ‘Limelight’ before it, ‘Superconductor’ is a comment on the nature of fame. “I’ve been involved, of course, in that world for a long time, and watching other people affected by the nature of fame and the nature of that kind of deification,” said Neil. “And it really isn’t healthy for them either, so I started thinking, ‘Well maybe this idea of modern, 20th century western world heroism really isn’t so good’.”
Based on the kids game ‘Scissors, Paper, Stone’, the innocuous ‘Hand Over Fist’ is suggestive of continuity and repetition and not just in the lyrics – the music for the chorus would work well as a round. ‘Presto’ is a perfectly competent album of songs, and it is just a shame that they don’t all quite gel together. For all that it was treading water, the album served its purpose – it kept both the record company and the fans at bay, and offered a precursor for what was to come.