Power Windows (album)
Encyclopedia
Power Windows is the 11th studio album by Canadian
rock
band Rush
, released in 1985
. Power Windows was the first Rush album to be produced by Peter Collins
and the album was recorded at The Manor
in England, Air Studios in Montserrat
and at Sarm East Studios
in London
.
Power Windows introduced more keyboard synthesizers into the band's sound. "The Big Money" and "Mystic Rhythms" were both made into music videos featured in MTV
's rotation at the time.
Power Windows lyrics are focused primarily on various manifestations of power. For example, the song "Manhattan Project" explores the origins and consequences of the U.S. military's development of the atomic bomb, and "Territories" comments on nationalism around the world. Like "Subdivisions," from the album Signals, "Middletown Dreams" explores suburban monotony and the average person's attempts to temporarily escape it.
to prepare to write lyrics for the song of the same name. He also wrote rough outlines for "The Big Money," "Mystic Rhythms" and "Marathon". Lee and Lifeson sorted through jams and Lifeson’s riff tapes to write music for these songs, with each song taking up to a week. They then began on "Middletown Dreams", "Marathon" once again, and then "Grand Designs".
Peart went through tapes to the five new songs in a Miami hotel room in March, getting ready for the warm-up tour gig in Lakeland, Florida
. At this point, the band met up with engineer James "Jimbo" Barton, recommended by producer Peter Collins. Later at Elora, the songs whose lyrics Peart was formerly struggling with, "Territories" and "Manhattan Project", began to come together. Peart was also working on lyrics to a ballad called "Emotion Detector", which seemed to work perfectly with the music they were jamming on at the time. The music to "Territories" was also arranged, and a tape of seven songs was created. They had trouble with writing the music to "Manhattan Project", but Collins contributed ideas to this and other songs.
In April, at The Manor Studio
in England, basic tracks were recorded more quickly than usual, in the span of a few weeks, to capture more spontaneous performances ready for overdubs. Andy Richards was brought in to provide extra keyboard programming and performances. The drum tech was sent to London to pick up African and Indian drums for use on "Mystic Rhythms", and bongos were also used on "Territories".
Lifeson began recording guitar overdubs in May at Air Studios in Montserrat. Next, in June, at Sarm East Studios
in London, he began on guitar solos, and Lee did vocals. They moved to a townhouse in July for mixing, a decision on the track listing, and the artwork, credits, and photos. Strings were recorded for the album by a 30-piece orchestra in Studio 1 at Abbey Road Studios
in August. A 25-piece choir was also recorded at Angel Studios
for the ending of "Marathon". In September, Lee oversaw the mastering in New York, and proofs were approved for the album cover.
of DDD and was considered to be of good quality, a remastered edition was issued in 1997. The remastered edition follows the trend of newer albums
, as it is considerably louder.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
, released in 1985
1985 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1985.-January–March:*January 1 - The newest music video channel, VH-1, debuts on American cable. It is aimed at an older demographic than its sister station, MTV...
. Power Windows was the first Rush album to be produced by Peter Collins
Peter Collins (record producer)
Peter Collins is a record producer, born January 15, 1951, in London.In 1976 Collins was signed to Magnet Records and formed a group called Madison, along with Ziggy, Peter Spooner and Page 3 girl Cherri Gilham, to perform his pop song "Let It Ring"...
and the album was recorded at The Manor
The Manor Studio
The Manor Studio was a recording studio in the manor house at the village of Shipton-on-Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England, north of the city of Oxford. It was the first residential recording studio in the UK...
in England, Air Studios in Montserrat
Montserrat
Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...
and at Sarm East Studios
Sarm East Studios
Sarm East Studios is a recording studio that was located at the southern end of Brick Lane in east London. It is now called The London Recording Studios.- History :...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Power Windows introduced more keyboard synthesizers into the band's sound. "The Big Money" and "Mystic Rhythms" were both made into music videos featured in MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's rotation at the time.
Power Windows lyrics are focused primarily on various manifestations of power. For example, the song "Manhattan Project" explores the origins and consequences of the U.S. military's development of the atomic bomb, and "Territories" comments on nationalism around the world. Like "Subdivisions," from the album Signals, "Middletown Dreams" explores suburban monotony and the average person's attempts to temporarily escape it.
Recording
In February 1985, work started at Elora Sound in Canada for three weeks, in a barn with a 24-track studio. Vocalist and bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson were working on songs that could fit the lyrics drummer Neil Peart wrote at a small desk there, with Peart at the same time trying to write lyrics adaptable to Lee and Lifeson's music. During his time there, Peart researched the Manhattan ProjectManhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
to prepare to write lyrics for the song of the same name. He also wrote rough outlines for "The Big Money," "Mystic Rhythms" and "Marathon". Lee and Lifeson sorted through jams and Lifeson’s riff tapes to write music for these songs, with each song taking up to a week. They then began on "Middletown Dreams", "Marathon" once again, and then "Grand Designs".
Peart went through tapes to the five new songs in a Miami hotel room in March, getting ready for the warm-up tour gig in Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States, located approximately midway between Tampa and Orlando along Interstate 4. According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city had a population of 94,406...
. At this point, the band met up with engineer James "Jimbo" Barton, recommended by producer Peter Collins. Later at Elora, the songs whose lyrics Peart was formerly struggling with, "Territories" and "Manhattan Project", began to come together. Peart was also working on lyrics to a ballad called "Emotion Detector", which seemed to work perfectly with the music they were jamming on at the time. The music to "Territories" was also arranged, and a tape of seven songs was created. They had trouble with writing the music to "Manhattan Project", but Collins contributed ideas to this and other songs.
In April, at The Manor Studio
The Manor Studio
The Manor Studio was a recording studio in the manor house at the village of Shipton-on-Cherwell in Oxfordshire, England, north of the city of Oxford. It was the first residential recording studio in the UK...
in England, basic tracks were recorded more quickly than usual, in the span of a few weeks, to capture more spontaneous performances ready for overdubs. Andy Richards was brought in to provide extra keyboard programming and performances. The drum tech was sent to London to pick up African and Indian drums for use on "Mystic Rhythms", and bongos were also used on "Territories".
Lifeson began recording guitar overdubs in May at Air Studios in Montserrat. Next, in June, at Sarm East Studios
Sarm East Studios
Sarm East Studios is a recording studio that was located at the southern end of Brick Lane in east London. It is now called The London Recording Studios.- History :...
in London, he began on guitar solos, and Lee did vocals. They moved to a townhouse in July for mixing, a decision on the track listing, and the artwork, credits, and photos. Strings were recorded for the album by a 30-piece orchestra in Studio 1 at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
in August. A 25-piece choir was also recorded at Angel Studios
Angel Studios
Angel Studios is a commercial recording studio located on the corner of Upper Street and Gaskin Street Islington, London, England.The three-studio complex is in The Angel, a renovated United Reform Church. Some internal features of the church remain in the studio, such as the original Victorian...
for the ending of "Marathon". In September, Lee oversaw the mastering in New York, and proofs were approved for the album cover.
Track listing
Rush
- Geddy LeeGeddy LeeGary Lee Weinrib, OC, better known as Geddy Lee , is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush...
- bass guitar, synthesizers, vocals - Alex LifesonAlex LifesonAleksandar Živojinović, OC, better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a second generation Serbian-Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In the summer of 1968, Lifeson founded the band that would become Rush with friend, drummer John Rutsey...
- electric and acoustic guitars - Neil PeartNeil PeartNeil Ellwood Peart , OC, is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer for the rock band Rush.Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario . During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band in pursuit of a career as a full-time drummer...
- drums, percussion
Additional Personnel
- Andy Richards - additional keyboards
- Jim Burgess - additional synthesizers
- Anne DudleyAnne DudleyAnne Dudley is an English composer and pop musician, and was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in both the classical and pop genres. She is perhaps best known, however, as one of the core members of the synthpop band Art of Noise and also as a film...
- string arrangement - Andrew JackmanAndrew JackmanAndrew Pryce Jackman was a keyboard player and arranger. He was in The Syn with bassist Chris Squire . Jackman subsequently worked on Squire's solo album Fish Out of Water, on The Steve Howe Album and on the Yes album Tormato.-History:In the mid-1960s, Jackman was the keyboard player in The Selfs...
- conductor, choir arrangements - The ChoirChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
- additional vocals
Production
- Rush and Peter CollinsPeter Collins (record producer)Peter Collins is a record producer, born January 15, 1951, in London.In 1976 Collins was signed to Magnet Records and formed a group called Madison, along with Ziggy, Peter Spooner and Page 3 girl Cherri Gilham, to perform his pop song "Let It Ring"...
- arrangements and production - Jim Barton - engineer
- Matt Butler, Stephen Chase, Dave MeeganDave MeeganDave Meegan is a record producer. He trained under Trevor Horn and is best known for his work with the band Marillion. He is also heavily associated with the band U2 and worked with the band as an engineer during the sessions for The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum.With Marillion he notably produced...
, Heff Moraes - assistant engineers - Bob LudwigBob LudwigBob Ludwig is an American mastering engineer.He is a well known and respected figure within the music industry. His name is credited on the covers of albums released across the world, and he has won numerous awards....
and Brian Lee - mastering - Hugh SymeHugh SymeHugh Syme is a Canadian Juno Award-winning graphic artist who is best known for his artwork and cover concepts for rock and metal bands. He is also a musician and has appeared in some Rush songs as a keyboard player. Syme is notably responsible for all of Rush's album cover art since 1975's Caress...
- artwork, cover design
Charts
Album| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... (North America) |
10 |
| 1985 | RPM100 Albums (Canada) | 9 |
| 1985 | UK Album Chart | 9 |
| 1985 | Swedish Album Chart | 26 |
| 1985 | GfK GfK The GfK Group, established in 1934 as Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung is Germany's largest market research institute, and the fourth largest market research organisation in the world, after Nielsen Company, Kantar Group, and IMS Health... Dutch Album Chart |
44 |
Singles
| Information |
|---|
| "The Big Money The Big Money "The Big Money" is a song by progressive rock group Rush from their album Power Windows. It charted at #45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on album-oriented rock charts, and has been featured on many "Best-Of" compilations, such as Retrospective II and The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits... "
|
| "Territories"
Peter Collins (record producer) Peter Collins is a record producer, born January 15, 1951, in London.In 1976 Collins was signed to Magnet Records and formed a group called Madison, along with Ziggy, Peter Spooner and Page 3 girl Cherri Gilham, to perform his pop song "Let It Ring"... and Rush |
| "Mystic Rhythms Mystic Rhythms "Mystic Rhythms" is a single featured on the Rush album Power Windows. The single charted at #21 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart. The song was featured on several compilation albums and has been played on several live tours.... " Peter Collins (record producer) Peter Collins is a record producer, born January 15, 1951, in London.In 1976 Collins was signed to Magnet Records and formed a group called Madison, along with Ziggy, Peter Spooner and Page 3 girl Cherri Gilham, to perform his pop song "Let It Ring"... and Rush |
| "Manhattan Project Manhattan Project (song) "Manhattan Project" is a 1985 song by Canadian progressive rock band Rush named for the WWII project that created the first atomic bomb. Lyricist Neil Peart read ten books about the Manhattan Project before writing the lyrics so that he had a proper understanding of what the project was really... " Peter Collins (record producer) Peter Collins is a record producer, born January 15, 1951, in London.In 1976 Collins was signed to Magnet Records and formed a group called Madison, along with Ziggy, Peter Spooner and Page 3 girl Cherri Gilham, to perform his pop song "Let It Ring"... and Rush |
| "Marathon"
Peter Collins (record producer) Peter Collins is a record producer, born January 15, 1951, in London.In 1976 Collins was signed to Magnet Records and formed a group called Madison, along with Ziggy, Peter Spooner and Page 3 girl Cherri Gilham, to perform his pop song "Let It Ring"... and Rush |
Sales Certifications
| Country | Organization | Sales |
| U.S. | RIAA | Platinum (1,000,000) |
| Canada | CRIA Music Canada Music Canada was a Canadian music television miniseries which aired approximately monthly on CBC Television from 1966 to 1967.-Premise:This series featured various special productions of music and dance, from classical to modern styles.-Scheduling:... |
Platinum (80,000) |
| UK | BPI British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
Silver (60,000) |
Remastered edition details
Although the original recording had a SPARS CodeSPARS Code
SPARS is an acronym for the Society of Professional Audio Recording Services. The SPARS code is a three-letter code that appears on some Compact Disc recordings telling the consumer whether analog or digital equipment was used in producing the recording...
of DDD and was considered to be of good quality, a remastered edition was issued in 1997. The remastered edition follows the trend of newer albums
Loudness war
The loudness war or loudness race is a pejorative term for the apparent competition to digitally master and release recordings with increasing loudness.The phenomenon was first reported with respect to mastering practices for 7" singles...
, 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 IIRetrospective IIRetrospective II: 1981 to 1987 is a compilation album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1997 . The album is essentially a collection of their best songs from the second decade of the band....
. - Includes the original grey border around the back cover image, along with lyrics and credits.