Power Windows is the twelfth studio album by Rush, released in 1985 through Anthem Records in Canada, Vertigo Records in the UK, and Mercury Records internationally. Released at the height of the "synth era", this album showed Rush going full 80's with digital recording and mixing (which would carry over to subsequent albums), keyboards, synthesizers, sequencers, samplers, etc. The sound was also simplified more, going from progressive rock to a more electronic, arena rock sound.
Regarded by fans and critics alike as one of the band's finest albums, Power Windows contains some of their most popular songs, such as "The Big Money", "Marathon", and "Mystic Rhythms". "The Big Money" and "Mystic Rhythms" also were supported with two music videos that got a lot of airplay on MTV.
Tracklist:
- "The Big Money"
- "Grand Designs"
- "Manhattan Project"
- "Marathon"
- "Territories"
- "Middletown Dreams"
- "Emotion Detector"
- "Mystic Rhythms"
Principal Members:
- Geddy Lee - lead vocals, bass, bass pedals, synthesizer
- Alex Lifeson - guitar
- Neil Peart - drums, percussion
Big Tropes go around the world!
- Animated Music Video: The video for "The Big Money" featured CGI that's primitive by today's standards.
- Darker and Edgier: "Mystic Rhythms".
- Epic Rocking: No song on this album is under 5 minutes. "Marathon" and "Territories" are both over 6 minutes.
- Horrible History Metal: "Manhattan Project" is about the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, from the development of the bomb to the Enola Gay dropping Little Boy onto Hiroshima.
- Lighter and Softer
- Literary Allusion Title: Peart has confirmed that "The Big Money" was named after a novel of the same name in the U.S.A. trilogy by John Dos Passos, of whom he is an admirer. However, he has also remarked that the lyrical content of the song differs somewhat from the thematic ideas presented in Dos Passos' novel. Dos Passos had previously provided the title for "The Camera Eye" on Moving Pictures.
- Lyrical Dissonance: "Manhattan Project" is a very happy, energetic song about the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- Money Song: "The Big Money".
- New Sound Album: Rush's synth-driven sound goes digital.
- One-Word Title: "Marathon" and "Territories".
- Small Town Boredom: "Middletown Dreams".
- Visual Pun: The album cover.
