Let’s get one thing straight here: are there keyboards in this album? You bet your Aunt Sally, there are. But unlike previous albums Hold Your Fire, Power Windows, Grace Under Pressure and to a lesser extent, Signals, they’re more controlled and managed to actually add something to the song and work WITH the rest of the instruments, rather than overshadow everything. The guitars are more prominent and audible in this album than the others in this era, and the hard rock crunch of past glory actually makes a return in a few songs. The cleaner, more atmospheric parts are still very much there, and as a matter of fact, the main focus of the album is probably atmosphere, with light, dreamy keyboards and piano laced within the music, making for a very fascinating and magical ride. The other big difference in this album from the others from this era is that the band plays with a little groove here, which is a nice way to distinguish it a bit. But if I have to compare Presto to another Rush album, it’d probably be 1982’s Signals.

The production is nice and clear, but still has a bit of that 80’s sleekness, but that’s to be expected and it actually works well here. As for the songs themselves, in my humble opinion, Rush’s songs have not sounded so inspired and full of life in quite some time, possibly since 1981’s “Moving Pictures”. The songs here are very infectious and will stay in your head for a long time after listening to it, whether you like it or not. Highlights include the hard rocking “Superconductor”, with its throaty guitar tone and atmospheric keyboard passages; it makes for an interesting and overall fascinating little tune. “Show, Don’t Tell”, the lead-off single for this album, is the best example of what this album is all about. All the elements that make it up all come together here and is the perfect choice for the lead-off single, as it does represent the overall sound of the album well and is possibly the second best song here. As for THE best song here, that honor has to go to “The Pass”. An emotional, catchy and just overall freaking awesome ballad, that words will do no justice for, and you’ll just have to listen to it. This song might actually rival “Natural Science” from 1980’s Permanent Waves album as my favorite Rush song of all time. The title track is also worth noting with it’s dreamy feel, thanks to the atmospheric(there’s that word again) keyboards(there’s THAT word again) and acoustic guitars, topped with the occasional electric guitar.

No, this isn’t the return to the 2112 or Moving Pictures sound, nor is it a real continuation to the new-wavy sound, nor is it even a glimpse of their current stripped down hard rock sound, it actually stands on it’s own. It does have quite a bit of keyboards still, but it is a bit less dependant on them, and there are more guitars this time around,You call tell by hearing this album that their synthesized era was coming to an end. It may not be A Farewell to Kings Part II, but trust me, if you listen, I mean really listen to Presto and take it for what it is, you’ll appreciate it as much as I do.

written by Nick Lane

Playing time: 52.18