Rush
Clockwork Angels
Track List Band Members
1- Caravan Geddy Lee Vocals, Bass, Keyboards
2- BU2B Alex Lifeson Guitar
3- Clockwork Angels Neal Peart Drums
4- The Anarchist
5- Carnies Produced By: Rush, Nick Raskulinecz
6- Halo Effect
7- Seven Cities Of Gold Official Site
8- The Wreckers www.rush.com
9- Headlong Flight
10- BU2B2 Label: Anthem, Roadrunner
11- Wish Them Well
12- The Gardens
Some of you may be familiar with the first song, Caravan, as it was the first single for the record back in 2010, so it’s appropriate that it opens the album. BU2B was also released previously. Clockwork Angels is a concept album based on a boy or a young man on a journey and his experiences as a watchmaker that looks for precision in everything. I’m personally not a fan of concept albums but surprisingly it all comes together very nicely on this record. I should point out that Keith J. Anderson (a sci-fi author) worked with Neil Peart on the lyrics and will be a Sci-Fi book soon.
This album is reminiscent of old Rush where the sound is a bit more stripped down, compared to what has been released from the band recently. I guess what I like about this album is that it’s pretty heavy for Rush. As usual, the lyrics are clever, Neil’s drums and Alex’s guitar work are fantastic and for the first time in a long time, Geddy’s bass stands out and that seemed to be lacking in the past. Raskulinecz brought them back to their roots and it paid off.
Headlong Flight shows off Alex’s guitar prowess and I love the solo. The Wreckers should be the next single. The chorus is pretty strong and has kind of a Signals type of a sound. Wish Them Well rocks pretty good and displays their talent to get right in and still pull out a rocker like they used too. By far my favorite track on the record, though it is a low track the way it all comes together just is brilliant and I can’t stop listening to it. BU2B2 has some deep lyrics that moves the story along, but how deep is this:
I was brought up to believe, the universe has a plan, we are only human, it’s not ours to understand, the universe has a plan, all is for the best, some will be rewarded and the devil will take the rest.
Now that says something, it makes you wonder about religion and faith. Well, at least I did. The album is full of surprises and is good as anything they have done up to the eighties. Alex’s guitar playing is the highlight for me on this record. I think this album was put together well and is definitely worth listening to. Though this is a concept record, the songs stand on their own. I was pleasantly surprised by it and threw me back to when Rush always put out a good record. You would have thought this had been released right after some of their classics, like Moving Pictures. It seems like they are back on track, one might say just like clockwork.
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