Counterparts by Rush
Nobody's Hero...Indeed
The production on Counterparts is a bit too smooth, which means that the
passion that normally infuses Rushs music (and prevents it from being too
coldly intellectual) is weakened. The songs themselves are good, including
the singles Animate, Nobodys Hero, and Stick It Out. Other standouts are
Cut to the Chase and Cold Fire. Though Rushs brand of slick,
sophisticated progressive rock isnt exactly trendy, it is what they do best,
and theyve wisely stuck to it. Therefore, although Counterparts isnt on a
par with Moving Pictures or Permanent Waves, its still a strong effort. --
Genevieve Williams
Personal Review: Counterparts by Rush
I'm afraid I'm in a bit of a minority here when it comes to many fans,
according to my browsing of Rush related discussion boards, but I love
Counterparts. Even those who also enjoy the album will probably agree
that I love it more than it's worth, but that's ok too. The interesting thing is
that when I list out all the greatest Rush songs ever, few would come from
this album. And yet, it remains to me one of Rush's most consistent and
wholly satisfying collection of songs as a group; a no-name assortment of
vagabonds that get little individual attention, yet still deliver.
Counterparts made a statement to me, although I wasn't in-the-moment to
appreciate that change back in 1993. Still, even looking back now it's
difficult not to hear a return to attitude and get a sense of the band re-
focusing and simplifying itself, stripping away a lot of the layers and getting
back to more of a straight-forward three-piece sound. Gone were the
textures of Power Windows and Hold Your Fire; fading was the softer lush
of Presto and Roll The Bones. Counterparts found the band approaching a
new album with louder guitars, more riffs, and a dryer, more upfront sound.
To be blunt, it was refreshingly in-your-face.
Another area where I seem to stand in contrast to many Rush fans is that I
think it's one of Rush's strongest lyrical albums. Some folks seem to prefer
that Neil write about anything but love...that that's not his strong suit, but
this album about relationships I find to be incredibly concise and poignant.
Not every allusion works. For instance, in the song Alien Shore there's
some awkwardness. The "we elect each other President" line is weak and
really doesn't mean anything to me. But in most cases he strikes to the
core of some really personal issues and does it with style and pointed
grace. Cold Fire and Nobody's Hero are great examples of this. The former
is arguably one of Peart's finest lyrics ever, adopting a stance from each
side of relationship with profound lyrical clarity. Also kudos to Peart for
seamlessly using "phosphorescent" in a song. Hero often gets guffaws and
immature ridicule for its metrosexual exclamation in the song's opening
lines, yet the tune has a wonderful message about both acceptance and
what type of person comprises the backbone of society; the song easily
outclassing its criticism.
Musically speaking Counterparts is a fun ride. The songs are clearly
heavier this time around. Some of the more cynical fans have dismissed
the guitars as generic metal-alternative riffola, but at least Lifeson is
playing more than just shimmering accents to keyboard riffs again for the
first time on nearly a full record since perhaps Moving Pictures twelve
years earlier. On Counterparts Alex steps to the plate as something more
than the third member of Rush. Songs like Animate chug along at wrist-
snapping pace and the cheeky Stick It Out belts your mouth with some fine
axe work, as does the rumble and purr of Cut To The Chase. Double
Agent is the idiosyncratic song, with its oddly-whispered center lyric over
Lifeson's frantic riffing and Peart's persistently growling toms.
That's not to imply that recent Rush is gone from the picture, though.
Everyday Glory settles right into what Rush had been doing over the past
four years quite nicely with its triumphant and bombastic chorus and
anthemic sound. Like with Roll The Bones, Rush takes a stab at another
instrumental as well, this time rendering their previous record's effort utterly
forgettable in its wake. Leave That Thing Alone is well-seated in the
pantheon of the great Rush instrumentals, focusing less on keyboards and
getting back to a funky bass-driven sound that marks their best vocal-less
effort between 1981 and 2007.
I don't have too much negative to say about this record, which in some
ways is unfortunate because reviews are often best when they're scathing
and sarcastic. Sadly I don't have much of that on tap for Counterparts. The
album's not perfect. Not every song is a ten and in fact, few, if any , are as
it turns out. But they're all a solid group of 8-to-8.5s or higher in my
estimation, and that goes back to why I value this recording so much; it's
keenly consistent. Songs like Alien Shore and The Speed Of Love are
often the subject of ridicule and while they might technically be on the
more blasé side of Counterparts than some of the other songs, they're far
and above their...wait for it...counterparts on the most recent previous
albums, rising well above the likes of Hand Over Fist and Face Up. In other
words, I find none of the songs here even remotely qualify as bad. On
Counterparts I don't just tolerate the worst songs, I actually like them.
Tonally speaking I love this record. It marks the return of Peter Collins after
a six-year absence, but he's less evident here than on the audio tapestries
of Power Windows or Hold Your Fire. With Counterparts you get more of a
sense of engineer Kevin Shirley's input and I like the results. I got to know
his later production work with Iron Maiden and Journey before enjoying
Counterparts after-the-fact, so I was already familiar with Shirley's dry and
upfront mixes. I'm not an audiophile and more attuned people than I can go
on about his work, their disdain over his compression, etc. but I wish the
band had kept Shirley around for a few more albums.
In every understated way, Counterparts is a keeper and their Cadillac of
the 1990s. While it will never carry the weight of mighty prog gargantuans
like Hemispheres or 2112, nor did it ever even touch the godlike feet of
Moving Pictures in terms of popularity and impact, Counterparts remains
Rush's sleeping giant.
Nobody's hero indeed.
COUNTERPARTS: 5 stars of 5 (-)
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