Power Windows is the eleventh studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on October 11, 1985 in Canada by Anthem Records and on October 21, 1985 in the United States on Mercury Records. After touring in support of their previous album, Grace Under Pressure (1984), the band took a break and reconvened in early 1985 to begin work on a follow-up. The material continued to display the band's exploration of synthesizer-oriented music, this time with the addition of sampling, electronic drums, a string section, and choir, with power being a running lyrical theme. Power Windows was recorded in Montserrat and England with Peter Collins as co-producer and Andy Richards on additional keyboards.
The album reached No. 5 in Canada, No. 9 in the United Kingdom, and No. 10 in the United States. In January 1986, the album reached platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for one million copies sold in the United States. Rush released two singles from the album, "The Big Money" and "Mystic Rhythms". The band supported the album with their 1985–1986 tour.
Background and writing
In November 1984, the band ended their concert tour in support of their previous album, Grace Under Pressure (1984). After a short respite, the group started work for a follow-up album in early 1985. Guitarist Alex Lifeson looked back at this period, and noted their conscious effort in taking the strongest elements of their previous two records, Signals (1982) and Grace Under Pressure and capitalizing on them for Power Windows. To Lifeson, this resulted in a more cohesive and satisfying album.
In February 1985, Rush had relocated to Elora Sound Studios in Elora, Ontario to write and rehearse new songs. Drummer Neil Peart would write a set of lyrics from the studio's farmhouse while Lifeson and frontman Geddy Lee worked on music to fit Peart's words in the adjacent barn which housed a 24-track recording studio. Peart worked on a small desk in his room, "about the right size for a five-year-old". During this time, Peart researched the Manhattan Project to write lyrics for the same-titled song. He also had a head start, having written outline lyrics for "The Big Money", "Mystic Rhythms", and "Marathon" before these sessions had begun. He noted that though the album might "seem simpler", it was just as difficult to compose and perform.
thumb|right|Rush relocated to AIR Studios in Montserrat, the ruins of which are pictured here in 2013, to record guitar overdubs.
Recording began at The Manor Studios in Oxfordshire, England, where the basic rhythm tracks and keyboards were recorded more quickly than usual, in the span of five weeks, to capture more spontaneous performances ready for overdubs. This way, they could focus more on getting the track down on one piece of tape and punch in when needed, no longer needing to record multiple song passes to edit the best parts from. Power Windows lyrics are focused primarily on various manifestations of power. For example, "Territories" comments on nationalism around the world. Like "Subdivisions" from Signals, "Middletown Dreams" explores suburban monotony and the average person's attempts to temporarily escape it. "Grand Designs" was partly written to criticise mainstream music which the group believed was too superficial. The song also echoes individualistic themes such as non-conformism.
Songs
"The Big Money" features the sampling of Peart's voice using an AMS sampler and triggered through his Simmons drum kit. Lifeson considered the song to be close to Peart as he had taken up cycling during days off on the Grace Under Pressure tour, riding 100 miles each time.
Critical reception
Power Windows has been met with mostly positive reviews from music critics. AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia retrospectively described the album as Rush's coldest album, citing the sparse, horn-like guitar playing of Lifeson, the prominent synthesizer of Lee and Peart's crisp, clinical percussion and stark lyrical themes. However, he also described the album as one that rewards patience and repeated listens. Rolling Stone magazine, in a positive review of the album, highlighted a number of bands that seemingly influenced Power Windows, such as The Police, U2, Genesis, and Siouxsie and the Banshees. The review concludes that Power Windows may be the missing link between Yes and the Sex Pistols. It was also in the top ten of a 2014 Rolling Stone website reader poll of best Rush albums.
Power Windows introduced more synthesizers into the band's sound. During the period when the album was produced, the band were expanding into new directions from their progressive rock base, having "tightened up their sidelong suites and rhythmic abstractions into balled-up song fists, art-pop blasts of angular, slashing guitar, spatial keyboards and hyperpercussion, all resolved with forthright melodic sense".
Reissues
Although the original recording had a SPARS code of DDD and was considered to be of good quality, a remastered edition was issued in 1997. The remastered edition follows the industry's more recent trend of the loudness war, as it is considerably louder.
- The tray has a picture of three fingerprints, light blue, pink, and lime green (left to right) with "The Rush Remasters" printed in all capital letters just to the left. All remasters from Moving Pictures to A Show of Hands feature this logo, originally found on the cover art of Retrospective II.
- Includes the original grey border around the back cover image, along with lyrics and credits.
Power Windows was remastered again in 2011 by Andy VanDette for the "Sector" box sets, which re-released all of Rush's Mercury-era albums. Power Windows is included in the Sector 3 set.
Power Windows was remastered for vinyl by Sean Magee in 2015 at Abbey Road Studios as a part of the official "12 Months of Rush" promotion.
Track listing
Personnel
Rush
- Geddy Lee – vocals, bass guitar, bass pedals, synthesizers, production, arrangements
- Alex Lifeson – electric and acoustic guitars, production, arrangements
- Neil Peart – drums, percussion, electric percussion, production, arrangements
Additional personnel
- Andy Richards – additional keyboards, synthesizer programming
- Jim Burgess – synthesizer programming
- Anne Dudley – string arrangement, conductor
- Andrew Jackman – conductor, choir arrangements
- The Choir – additional vocals
Production
- Peter Collins – production, arrangements
- Jim Barton – engineer
- Matt Butler – assistant engineer
- Stephen Chase – assistant engineer
- Dave Meegan – assistant engineer
- Heff Moraes – assistant engineer
- Bob Ludwig – mastering
- Brian Lee – mastering
- Hugh Syme – art direction, graphics, cover design, and painting
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1985)
!Peak<br />position
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|European Albums (European Top 100 Albums)
| 57
|-
!scope="row"|Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)
|16
|-
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|US AOR Albums (Radio & Records)
| 3
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (2026)
!Peak<br />position
|-
! scope="row"| Greek Albums (IFPI)
| 29
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1985)
!Position
|-
|-
!scope="row"|US AOR (Radio & Records)
|67
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
!Chart (1986)
!Position
|-
!scope="row"|US (Billboard 200)
|77
|}