Rush's Power Windows

I wrote a Pitchfork Sunday Review about my favorite Rush album.

This is not a standard newsletter issue, but just a note to point you to a lengthy review I wrote of a record that’s very near and dear to my heart: Rush’s 1985 LP Power Windows.

Rush is best known as an intellectual prog rock band with songs like “2112” and “Tom Sawyer,” but in the 80s they also became an intellectual pop band with dense synth arrangements and incredible production that connects the dots between their earlier, proto-metal work and the sophisti-pop of artists like Prefab Sprout. Power Windows might as well have been produced by Thomas Dolby, as shiny and dazzling as it is.

This era of Rush is often overlooked as the band’s lost period selling out to MTV trends, but really, their ‘80s albums have some of their best songwriting and most potent melodies. And also, of course, really cheesy videos. Here are some of my favorite ‘80s Rush songs: