Power Windows
Pitchfork · 2026-07-12
Rush's 1985 album *Power Windows* is hailed as the peak of the prog trio's synth era, blending impressive musicianship with pop grandeur, despite internal tensions. Guitarist Alex Lifeson felt sidelined by the increasing prominence of synthesizers and bassist Geddy Lee's growing influence, believing the busy arrangements left no room for his guitar parts since 1982's *Signals*. Seeking to remedy the muddy production of their 1984 album, *Grace Under Pressure*, the band regrouped to demo new material before enlisting producer Peter Collins. Collins, known for his work with Air Supply, surprised the band with his methods, favoring quick, one-take instrumentals and layering their sound with samples, synthesizers, and even a choir and orchestra, much to the famously guest-averse trio's initial bewilderment.
This "more-is-more" approach resulted in Rush's "gaudiest" album, featuring bright, sparkly keyboards, flamboyant guitar riffs from Lifeson, and Neil Peart’s intricate drumming with a new layer of electronics. *Power Windows* produced some of Rush's most accessible pop songs, weaving verbose lyrical themes—like the atomic bomb in "Manhattan Project" or nationalism in "Territories"—into FM radio-friendly tracks, unified by a theme exploring the wielding of power. Standout tracks include the dazzling "Marathon" and "Mystic Rhythms," one of the first instances of Peart using electronic drums, vital in preventing the album from becoming a limp synth-pop detour. The album's pinnacle is arguably "Emotion Detector," a complex maze of interlocking arpeggios that Push has never performed live. *Power Windows* is considered the last front-to-back great Rush record where all members were firing on all cylinders, marking a period when the band felt free to explore musical possibilities before later feeling pressured to return to a more traditional rock sound.
*The full article also explores the band's later trajectory and their perspective on stylistic evolution in a 2010 documentary.*