Music Appreciation 101: Rush - 'Presto'

For those of you familiar with the band, you know that change is the one constant that marked their continued success in the music business. Just when the critics thought they had the band figured out, they would change again, leaving many of them scratching their heads in either confusion or disbelief.
Their fans simply took it as the mark of a band always looking for something new or different and happily followed them into whatever new area into which they chose to venture.
This very thing happened again when the band released 'Presto' in November of 1989.
The album marked a return to more guitar driven arrangements and less reliance on synthesizers although there are synth textures used sparingly on the album.
Guitarist Alex Lifeson began using his myriad guitar tones and textures in ways that gave an slmost synth-like feel and atmosphere. After the synth heavy songs of the last four albums, it was the band's tentative steps back into guitar oriented arrangements and while the album does lack a certain cohesiveness of the pre-synth era, it was a solid return to what they were best at which was primarily power trio rock with Geddy Lee's soaring voice floating high above it all.
The track list starts with the only #1 hit from the album, 'Show Don't Tell' which showcased what was best about the band at heart. The song starts with Peart introducing an ethereal electronic drum pattern before the band blasts in with the signature lick and Lifeson firmly back at the helm of providing strong rhythm parts combining a sharp distorted tone with light and airy clean guitar that drives the song along well. The keys are heard but are used in much the same way that had been on the albums preceding 'Signals'. They were used for color and not substance in such a large degree heard in the previous albums.
Producer Ruper Hine wanted to make this album reflect what he said was "The best power trio of all time minus all those keyboards." The next track, 'Chain Lightning' has Lifeson playing a fairly dissonant guitar figure that lends itself well to the frenetic opening. The chorus features more of his patented use of effects as he outlines the chord progression with sweeping, lush chording. The solo is particularly noteworthy for the use of backwards guitar  in spots blended with a forward track added to it.
For me, I found so much to like in the songs and my personal standout moments were on 'Superconductor', 'The Pass' and 'Available Light', a song which would come to have a much deeper meaning for me in years to come.
'Superconductor' was a slap in the face of the "commercialism over talent" aspect of the music business. It was a straight ahead rocker with Lifeson once again proving his worth on guitar with playing that shone a white hot light on the song.
'The Pass' was a poignant and sometimes uncomfortable expose' on teen suicide that had Peart writing some of his most descriptive and revealing lyrics ever. Lee's plaintive cry, "Christ, what have you done?" is an emotional moment seldom heard on a Rush song. This was real. This was not some vague reference to something Peart had read, this was personal experience being sung beautifully and without being hidden beneath some secret meaning. It was almost hard to listen to because it was raw and harsh.
Other notable moments are 'Scars' which featured a complex and riveting drum pattern using electronic and acoustic drums that Peart would use parts of for his drum solo in the future.
At the time I first heard the album, I knew 'Available Light' was my favorite for many reasons, most of which were due to Lee's amazing vocal on the song but also because it featured a simple piano line. I thought I understood the lyrics Peart had provided but years later, they would come home so powerfully that they would affect my life.
In 2016, I suffered a stroke that nearly left me blind. I was unable to drive and could barely make my way around my own house because the stroke had hit me in my visual cortex, where vision is processed. For months, I tried to adapt to my new reality of reduced vision. My wife helped me make my world a little easier to deal with by adding more and brighter lights throughout my house. The stroke completely wiped out my peripheral vision and lacking that most basic part of my vision, I was declared legally blind and told I was forbidden from driving unless my brain could manage to wire around the damaged part. I took a visual field test every three months to determine whether the healing as progressing. I went through two tests and was still in the same shape. I became depressed that I might never go back to a "normal life" again. Driving is the most basic freedom of adulthood and I was no longer in that club. 
Deep in the depths of this depression, I was listening to 'Presto' and 'Available Light' came on. It was then that the lyrics finally made sense to me on a much more profound level. I realized that I had two choices - I could either let the depression take me and I would forever sink or I could live my life in the "available light" I still had. I decided to "Chase the light around the world, I want to look at life in the available light."
My brain, being the amazing organ it truly is, manged to finally wire around the damaged portion and restored just enough vision to make me safe to drive. It took nearly eighteen months but I could drive again and that fearful weight was lifted. I had never been so close to the edge before and without that song at just the right moment, I'm not sure I would have recovered as well as I did.
My own personal observations aside, this album was the first, shaky step back to being a power trio and while the writing is good and the playing outstanding, it fell flat in a few basic areas.

Perhaps the drawbacks to the album stemmed from the fact that the band had been away from their core sound for too long and this was the "shakedown cruise" they needed to get back on track. As is always the case with this band, their first step is always a bit wobbly but once they find their footing, they leave other bands in the dust. Their 1993 release, 'Counterparts' (see my review on this blog) would have the band back at full and potent strength with some of the heaviest music since "Moving Pictures".
Geddy himself said that 'Presto' was a reaction of his desire to no longer be so beholden to keyboards and computers and the music reflected it with its rough edges and simplicity of arrangements.
The album worked on almost all levels with a few weak spots but still an admirable entry into their catalog. Like 'Signals' this was a transitional album with exploration of a different kind and it is often left out of "Favorite Rush Album" lists.