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Power Windows
Studio album by Rush
Released	October 29, 1985
Recorded	April-June, August 1985 at The Manor Studio, AIR Studios, Angel Studios and Abbey Road Studios
Genre	Hard rock
Length	44:44
Label	Anthem (Canada) Mercury (USA) Vertigo (Europe)
Producer	Peter Collins and Rush
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Rolling Stone (favorable) link
Rush chronology
Grace Under Pressure (1984) Power Windows (1985) Hold Your Fire (1987)

Power Windows is the 11th studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1985 (see 1985 in music). The album was recorded at The Manor in England, Air Studios in Montserrat and at Sarm East in London.

Power Windows introduced more keyboard synthesizers into the band's sound. Generally, short, echoey guitar "bursts" tend to outnumber solos as well as riffs. “The Big Money” and “Mystic Rhythms” were both made into music videos featured in MTV's rotation at the time.

Power Windows' lyrics are focused primarily on various manifestations of power. For example, the song "Manhattan Project" explores the origins and consequences of the U.S. military's development of the atomic bomb, and "Territories" comments on nationalism around the world. Like "Subdivisions," from the album Signals, "Middletown Dreams" explores suburban monotony and the average person's attempts to escape it temporarily.

Background

In February 1985, work started at Elora Sound for three weeks, in the barn with a 24-track studio. Vocalist and bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson were working on songs that fit lyrics drummer Neil Peart wrote at a small desk there, with Peart writing lyrics that fit Lee and Lifeson's music. During his time there, Peart researched the Manhattan Project to prepare to write lyrics for the song of the same name. He also wrote rough outlines for "The Big Money," "Mystic Rhythms" and "Marathon." Lee and Lifeson sorted through jams and Lifeson’s riff tapes to write music for these songs, with each song taking up to a week. They then began on "Middletown Dreams," "Marathon" once again, and then "Grand Designs."

Peart went through tapes to the five new songs in a Miami hotel room in March, getting ready for the warmup tour gig in Lakeland, Florida. At this point, the band met up with engineer James "Jimbo" Barton, recommended by producer Peter Collins. Later at Elora, the songs whose lyrics Peart was formerly struggling with, "Territories" and "Manhattan Project," began to come together. Peart was also working on lyrics to a ballad called "Emotion Detector," which seemed to work perfectly with the music they were jamming on at the time. The music to "Territories" was also arranged, and a tape of seven songs was created. They had trouble with writing the music to "Manhattan Project," but Collins contributed ideas to this and other songs.

In April, at The Manor Studio in England, basic tracks were recorded more quickly than usual, in the span of a few weeks, to capture more spontaneous performances ready for overdubs. Andy Richards was brought in to provide extra keyboard programming and performances. The drum tech was sent to London to pick up African and Indian drums for use on "Mystic Rhythms," and bongos were also used on "Territories."

Lifeson began recording guitar overdubs in May at Air Studios in Montserrat. Next, in June, at Sarm East studios in London, he began on guitar solos, and Lee did vocals. They moved to a townhouse in July for mixing, a decision on the track listing, and the artwork, credits, and photos. Strings were recorded for the album by a 30-piece orchestra in Studio 1 at Abbey Road Studios in August. A 25-piece choir was also recorded at Angel Studios for the ending of "Marathon". In September, Lee oversaw the mastering in New York, and proofs were approved for the album cover.

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Track listing

All lyrics written by Neil Peart, all music composed by Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee.

Personnel

Rush

• Geddy Lee - bass guitar, synthesizers, vocals
• Alex Lifeson - electric and acoustic guitars
• Neil Peart - drums, percussion

Additional Personnel

• Andy Richards - additional keyboards
• Jim Burgess - additional synthesizers
• Anne Dudley - strings arrangement
• Andrew Jackman - conductor, choir arrangements
• The Choir - additional vocals

Production

• Rush, Peter Collins - arrangements and production
• Jim Barton - engineer
• Matt Butler, Stephen Chase, Dave Meegan, Heff Moraes - assistant engineers
• Brian Lee - mastering
• Hugh Syme - artwork, cover design

Remaster details

Although the original recording had a SPARS Code of DDD and was considered to be of good quality[1], a remaster was issued in 1997. The remaster follows the trend of newer albums, as it is considerably louder.

• The tray has a picture of three fingerprints, light blue, pink, and lime green (left to right) with "The Rush Remasters" printed in all capital letters just to the left. All remasters from Moving Pictures to A Show of Hands feature this logo, originally found on the cover art of Retrospective II.
• Includes the original black border around the back cover image, along with lyrics and credits.

Sales Certifications

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Singles

References