As a long time fan of Rush since the seventies I eagerly awaited their new release Snakes & Arrows which arrived in stores today. For the most part I really like their first full length studio album in several years. Musically this album is one of their finest. It has a bit of the feel of "Farewell to Kings" to it but the CD stands totally on its own with a lot more acoustic guitar work mixed in. Snakes & Arrows certainly does not sound tired and is really quite a good effort for a group that released their first album in 1974.<\/p>\n
I was also interested in the new album because previously it was reported that drummer and lyricist Neil Peart was writing on faith.<\/p>\n
The artist tells Billboard.com his lyrics for the as-yet-untitled set were greatly influenced by his motorcycle journeys throughout the United States, chronicled in the new book "Roadshow: Landscape With Drums."<\/p>\n
Peart says he was struck by the ubiquity of religious billboards that have sprung up on America’s highways, which got him thinking about some weighty topics. "Just seeing the power of evangelical Christianity and contrasting that with the power of fundamentalist religion all over the world in its different forms had a big effect on me," he says.<\/p>\n
"You try to put your own way of seeing the world into some kind of congruence with other peoples, and that’s difficult for me," he admits. "I mean, I see the world in what I think to be a perfectly obvious and rational way, but when you go out into it and see the way other people think and behave, and express themselves on church signs, you realize, ‘Well, I’m not really part of this club.’"<\/p>\n
"I looked for the good side of faith," Peart says. "To me it ought to be your armor, something to protect you and something to console you in dark times. But it’s more often being turned into a sword, and that’s one big theme I’m messing with."<\/p>\n
Well I am horrible at interpreting lyrics as to their meanings which for most rock is probably a good thing. Though reading through the lyrics for the new CD it certainly appears that Neil Peart did not find too much on the good side of faith. For example in The Way the Wind Blows.<\/p>\n
Now it’s come to this
\nIt’s like we’re back in the Dark Ages
\nFrom the Middle East to the Middle West
\nIt’s a world of superstition<\/p>\n
Now it’s come to this
\nWide-eyed armies of the faithful
\nFrom the Middle East to the Middle West
\nPray, and pass the ammunition<\/p>\n
…Now it’s come to this
\nHollow speeches of mass deception
\nFrom the Middle East to the Middle West
\nLike crusaders in unholy alliance<\/p>\n
Now it’s come to this
\nLike we’re back in the Dark Ages
\nFrom the Middle East to the Middle West
\nIt’s a plague that resists all science<\/p>\n
I had hoped for better from Neil Peart, oh well. Though it is only the above song and one called "Faithless" whose lyrics are annoying, but there are three instrumentals. The instrumentals have a different feel to instrumentals on previous albums. You can always expect a lot of guitar virtuoso work from Alex Lifeson and the one titled “The Main Monkey Business” is no exception.
\nLyrics aside if you like Rush you will like their latest offering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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