Music Appreciation: Rush: "Counterparts"

There is a lot to like about the 1993 release of “Counterparts” and it’s eventual peak at #2 on the Billboard chart in the US, one of two highest ranked releases, not to mention the single “Stick It Out” staying at the #1 spot for four weeks is testament to that.
At a time when many critics and some fans were beginning to wonder if the Rush phenomenon had finally run its course, the band roared back to life with their heaviest album since “Moving Pictures in 1981.
The band had spent the latter part of the 80’s and the early 90’s quite literally buried under the omnipresent sound of synthesizers and slaves to a digital master known as a sequencer.
From the opening track, a straight ahead rock monster called “Animate”, it was clear that Alex Lifeson was once again firmly in the driver’s seat for the bulk of the upper end of the melodic spectrum. The song starts with Peart counting the band in and then proceeding to lay down a fairly straight groove that was still undeniably Peart. The song features keyboard textures but they’re used more as punctuation than form and the band weaves seamlessly through the verses to the chorus with all the fire and flash of the Rush we had all heard come blasting out of our speakers when “Tom Sawyer” dominated the airwaves.
The intervening years between then and “Counterparts” had been filled with albums that bordered on ‘synth-pop’ and had left a great many fans both perplexed and disappointed with the new direction the band had taken.
The first single released from “Counterparts” was the song “Stick It Out”, an anthem reminding us all never to accept failure or dismissal as a natural conclusion. The opening riff was the heaviest thing I had personally heard from Rush since the opening strains of ‘YYZ’. It featured Alex’ guitar tuned down to a drop D tuning. It was a very simple riff but the net effect was enormous in the context of the time. Using copious amounts of feedback and sonic dissonance as transitional elements, Lifeson was making a statement that Rush was first and foremost a guitar band. He was back and he was going to stake his claim for once and for all.
So went the rest of the album, song after song of driving guitar parts and Lee and Peart providing a solid bottom end as the foundation to the growl of Lifeson’s guitar.
One of the highlights for me was the guitar solo in ‘Cut To The Chase’, a virtual tour of Alex at his slippery best, sliding along the fret board, reminding everyone why he was one of the best guitarists of his generation.
I felt like this album was the equivalent of the Jews wandering the desert for 40 years and finally crossing the river Jordan. This was the promised land I had been waiting for. I had been patient and trusting during the synth years and there was a lot to like about that period but I’m a guitarist and my heart ached at the loss of Alex as the main voice.
Now he was back and things were going to change. And change they did, in more ways than even the band would realize.
The album was produced by Peter Collins, who had produced the “Hold Your Fire” album but he brought with him, Kevin “Caveman” Shirley to engineer.
“The Caveman” as he was called, was a no nonsense engineer who had cut his teeth at the desk for harder rock bands than what Rush had just transitioned from and he made his presence known by insisting that Alex and Geddy both use old amps cranked up loud with no effects whatsoever, a pronouncement that Lifeson balked at initially but The Caveman was adamant, finally winning the day.
The album is a testament to the impact of both Collins and Shirley in the booth because it is without a doubt the heaviest Rush album in years. The band was at it’s best on Animate and another gem featuring Peart’s always ethereal lyrics, ‘Alien Shore’
One of the sleeper hits for me is ‘Double Agent’. Peart draws a rhythmic straight line through the song as Geddy and Alex slash their way through it.
They also paid tribute to their penchant for writing instrumentals with the song ‘Leave That Thing Alone’ but unlike the instrumentals of the past this one was not a prog paen to odd time signatures and blazing virtuosity. Instead it featured a fairly normal song formula interspersed with a beautiful melody by Lifeson.
This was the album I had waited for. It was a much more basic approach to writing and performing and a stripped down sound that relied on Lee and Lifeson playing their instruments as they had in the old days.
The album rolled through with Peart’s lyrics and Lee and Lifeson’s fierce playing ruling the day.
Welcome back, boys. I've missed you.