Rush: Snakes and Arrows: B+

Music: 8/10 Vocals: 3/5 Lyrics: 4/5 Production: 4/5
Total: 19 of 25: B+

Rush releases Snakes and Arrows 5 years after the much derided Vapor Trails. Interviews with the band leading up to the release, they stated that it would be much stronger and heavier musically and very dark lyrically. Though Rush has never been an uplifting band, they certainly weren't "dark". This raised several eyebrows as to what that meant.

First, the lyrics are very dark. Dealing with themes such as "your best isn't good enough" are throughout the album. Right off their first track, "Far Cry", the lyrics deal with a world that isn't perfect and we fail but keep trying. The title track has the lyrics, "Sometimes the fortress is too strong or the love is too weak." It is so dark that Alex breaks out an acoustic 12 string number called "Hope". This is definitely an album for those harder moments in your life.

Musically this is a very strong album. "Snakes and Arrows" itself is one of their strongest pieces in 15 years. It weaves through thundering rhythms to plodding acoustics to airy choruses. I find it to be a masterpiece of music. There are plenty of other musical standouts on the album including "Faithless", "Far Cry", and "We Hold On".

The true standouts are the three instrumental songs. Alex has his solo acoustic "Hope" which is beautiful. But the "Main Monkey Business" is a tremendous instrumental weaving through several styles and themes. Musically it is amazing. It's no "Xanadu", but then what is. Finally, their jam session, literally, "Malignant Narcissism" is a great funky piece of work.

Given that Rush is made of three of the best musicians in history, no one truly stands out individually. Instead they play off of each other well weaving rhythms and layering textures. It is a mature album that couldn't possibly be created by people 20 years their junior.

Vocally, Geddy puts in a very good performance. He keeps well within his range. But more importantly he stays away from sing-songy choruses that have ruined a few songs in songs in recent memory. Geddy is no pop singer. He stays true to his abilities which is not a master course in singing, but defines Rush very well.

The album is not without flaws. One is its pacing. It starts strong, fades quickly, and slowly works its way back at the end. The 3rd song, "Working Them Angels" is a terrible piece of musical and lyrical work. "Spindrift" should be cool song but it never really takes off. "The Way the Wind Blows" is a horrible hodgepodge of music including a blues riff, straight rock, and acoustic uplifting moments. The wind does blow. Oh, and the phrase "elemental war" should never be used in music unless you're doing Tolkienesque prog rock or death metal. Rush is neither.

Another knock on the album is Alex's pretty much lack of solos. There are a couple of minimal ones but mostly he sticks to strong rhythms and layered guitars that play off each other. I do miss his amazing solos that he is capable of.

Production is light years ahead of its predecessor, Vapor Trails. The tonality is balanced. It's not over compressed. It's not a jumble of noise. You can actually hear what's going on. It's a thick recording with multiple layers which is very hard to produce. I think S&A did a nice job of it.

Overall, the CD delivers pretty well. Cutting out 3 or 4 songs would have greatly improved itself musically and its pacing. I give it a B+ for another excellent piece of work from the longest lasting trio in music history.