September 8, 1987 - Hold Your Fire

The day after my last release and two years since "Power Windows", Rush released their twelfth studio album "Hold Your Fire" on September 8, 1987. After finishing their tour for the last album all three members took time off to spend more time with their families. They came back to record this newest record after their long break and it continues the new 80s style of Rush with heavy use of keyboards. This would be their least successful album commercially for a while but let's give it a listen before we judge!

The album kicks off with "Force Ten" and we hear a choir ohhing in the background as Neil Peart plays an interesting drum intro. It's a bit of a strange opening but they shift into a catchy riff with Geddy Lee unsurprisingly playing some cool bass. Alex Lifeson plays a couple epic guitar notes here and there but it's Geddy who drives this part with his catchy bass as well as his one of a kind vocals. "Tough times demand tough talk, demand tough hearts, demand tough songs, demand". That part I find is really catchy but they move into a full main riff as Lifeson plays some decent guitar and Geddy sings a solid verse. They quiet things right down for the chorus as Geddy plays some light and epic synths in the background and sings a light chorus to match. They repeat the formula with another catchy "tough times" part and another verse, only this verse is spiced up with some pretty crazy keyboards by Geddy! They are really fast and sound pretty cool and after they slow it down for another chorus they move to a "solo" except it's both guitar and keyboards sharing the spotlight. Geddy and Alex play off each other and although it's a short bit, they do a fine job before bringing it back for another "tough times" part. They go direct to a final chorus and then Peart ends the song as it began with another interesting drum part. Not too shabby of an opener, but up next is the big hit single off this album "Time Stand Still" featuring singer Aimee Mann from the band 'Til Tuesday. Lifeson opens the song with a decent guitar riff and Peart gives us a couple great drum fills that bring us to the soft main riff. It's pretty light-hitting but still has some solid stuff from everyone as they jam through the first verse. When Geddy switches to the synths we've reached the very pop-y chorus and he plays an ultra light chorus riff and we hear Mann sing the name of the song. Geddy alternates singing with her and I am not a fan of Aimee Mann. Her voice isn't awful but it certainly isn't the kind of singing I like or listen to and I find it makes this chorus pretty cheesy. When they move into the next verse things sound light but solid again as Geddy sings in a great voice to lead the way. They rest of the song is still some solid Rush but another chorus with Aimee Mann just deflates everything for me. Afterwards they do a brief instrumental interlude instead of a solo, which is not bad but certainly not very exciting either, and then they actually play the chorus without Mann. It still sounds pretty cheesy but not quite as much as they jam out the chorus one last time to end the song. An odd choice for the lead single I thought, and I definitely am not alone as it wasn't an all that successful single. Track 3 is "Open Secrets" and Geddy leads they way with both some cool bass and some synths as Neil plays a catchy drum beat. After they've established this backing riff Lifeson comes in overtop with some cool guitar and Geddy starts to sing a solid verse. They move into a similar chorus that is decent but nothing special and it flows right back into another verse. There is some cool bits of bass, drums and guitar, but it's largely another light rock jam and the synths contribute greatly to that light rock feeling. They quiet things down in a new bridge riff that takes us to a "guitar solo" but I would argue Geddy's bass is even better! Lifeson starts slow but ends up playing some pretty sweet stuff at the end of the solo, but Geddy's bass sounds phenomenal the whole way through! The synths briefly take over, but they don't do a great job in the spotlight as I think it's a poor segue back to the main riff in a rare feat for Rush. They play a final chorus and nicely jam out the last minute of the song as we hear some more great bass and solid snippets of guitar as things slowly fade out. The next song is called "Second Nature" and it opens with some slow, dreamy keyboards by Geddy and he begins to sing a soft verse to match. Peart plays some light drums but it's a pretty sappy verse by Rush's standards. Lifeson finally joins in when they reach the chorus, playing some light guitar that also matches the mood and even though Geddy switches from keyboards to bass for the chorus, it's still not enough to bring this song out of it's dreamy lull. It's not bad, but it's pretty disappointing when it's the great Rush playing this slightly above average music. Peart spices up the drum beat for the second verse, making things a bit more interesting but Geddy continues to lead on keyboards and vocals. After another chorus Geddy plays a keyboard "solo" but it's not all that different from the main riff and I think it's definitely a disappointing solo. It leads right back into another chorus and they play a final verse before unexcitingly playing out the main riff to end it. My my, how the mighty have fallen. Side one wraps up with "Prime Mover" and it has a much better main riff that sounds more like their last album "Power Windows" than the lighter songs so far on this album as Geddy, Alex and Neil all play some cool stuff. The synths blend nicely with the rest of the music and Geddy is pulling triple duty once again, playing synths, some cool bass and also singing a solid verse. Lifeson's catchy guitar riff from the verse is played on bass to begin the chorus and also played on synths as well as the catchy riff gets passed around in an interesting chorus. Geddy plays some nice bass to segue back to the main riff and after another verse and chorus they move to a similar bridge riff that seems to be setting the stage for a solo. But instead this bridge flows right back into a louder version of the verse and the chorus that follows has the same vocals but is dominated by keyboards. It's a very odd transition and it's not that it doesn't flow together, but it just seems like a weird choice as they never really stray away from the main verse and chorus. It still sounds good but it's not worthy of any grander superlatives. After the chorus Geddy repeats the line "anything can happen" several times over and they jam out the decent main riff until the side eventually fades to an end.

Side two begins with "Lock And Key" and it has a synth-dominated opening that is not my favourite before they settle into another light main riff. Lifeson plays some simple and quiet guitar as Geddy sings the verse and his synths and bass sync up in yet another verse that, if it were played by any other band would be considered pretty good, but since this is Rush we're talking about it's pretty light-hitting and not very progressive and complex at all. The synth-y opening turns out to be the chorus riff and while Geddy's singing is solid, the music could just be so much better than this light rock style they seem to have adapted on this album. Once again Peart spices up the second verse with a cool drum beat and Geddy's bass is much better as well! However Lifeson's guitar is still relegated to the background until after another chorus. It finally gets the spotlight as Lifeson delivers a rare solo and while it's probably not one of his better solos, it sounds really great here, probably because we seem to be deprived of his excellent solos recently. The solo leads into a couple goes through the chorus and after a final short verse they jam out the main riff and Peart goes off on a drum solo! He plays some excellent stuff as you would expect and his short drum solo leads nicely into a new upbeat riff, but just as things are kicking into gear they decide to start fading out and we only hear a little snippet. A strange way to end the song I thought. Track 7 is titled "Mission" and Geddy opens it with some simple and sappy synths before they shift into the more standard main riff with guitar, bass and drums all sounding solid. Geddy sings a solid verse and his bass in the verse is pretty good, but the synths take over once again as the opening turns out to be the chorus. It's not awful, but it's extremely tame and light and overall a pretty disappointing chorus. The cool bass returns as they play another verse and after another light chorus Geddy sets the stage nicely for a brief guitar solo. Lifeson delivers a solid solo and it leads into a cool part where the bass syncs up with some of Peart's percussion very nicely. It's a pretty sweet little part but it ends with some more sappy synths as they shift back to a final chorus and Lifeson plays out the song with another short but solid guitar solo. Take out the chorus, and this song was pretty good! Up next is "Turn The Page" and Lifeson starts it off with a nice guitar riff before Geddy and Neil join in to make a formidable rhythm section that drives the main riff. The synths take over once we reach the chorus, but they don't sound sappy this time and I don't mind this riff at all; in fact it sounds good. Lifeson's guitar takes over for the second half of this decent chorus, then it's back to the main riff driven by some more wicked bass by Geddy. After another verse and chorus they quiet things down and replay the opening riff and this sets the stage for Lifeson's solo. He plays a pretty great solo with lots of cool stuff and Peart finishes it off with a few epic drum fills before the synths nicely bring it back to the chorus, which they jam out several times in a slightly long wind-down. Track 9 is called "Tai Shan", named after a mountain in China, and we hear some traditional l-sounding Chinese music that definitely does not sound like anything Rush have done before. Geddy plays this Chinese music on keyboards of some sort and it sounds pretty lame honestly. He begins a light verse to match this weird mood and Peart plays some light percussion in perhaps the strangest Rush song yet! Geddy eventually plays some decent bass and Lifeson adds some guitar to the next verse, but the Chinese keyboards are just a really weird addition. They happily play several verses and choruses, never really straying from the light main riff and this song sums up the whole album pretty nicely: it's not bad rock, but it's certainly disappointing coming from these three uber-talented guys. The final song on the album is "High Water" and Peart plays a catchy and pretty cool drum beat to lead the way. Geddy starts with some light synths in the background and then the bass and guitar join in to complete a solid main riff. Geddy sings a light verse overtop and he switches to a more standard, louder voice for the chorus which is also basically the same thing but louder. After another verse and chorus it's solo time as Lifeson gets a decent amount of time to show off. He doesn't fully capitalize I think, it's a decent solo but only that and it flows right back into the main riff for a final verse and chorus to finish things off.

That is the end of "Hold Your Fire" and I thought it was a largely disappointing and pretty average album. It had some cool stuff in it for sure and Rush's average is still way better than most people's best, but I thought this was a letdown after a pretty solid last couple albums. I previously had "Signals" as their least good album but this new one easily takes that spot. Rush have certainly fallen from grave a bit but hopefully this was just a one-off and they'll be back to top form next time? Hopefully.