Rush: Hold Your Fire

**JIF** · 12-23-2012

Sorry to compete with the other Rush thread, but here we go. I was at my local Barnes & Noble, and I spotted this Rush title for $5. I have always liked Force Ten, ever since hearing it on Retrospective II. How the f*** did Rush come up with the intro to that song? Time Stand Still is also another favorite. I have loved Aimee's voice ever since hearing that song, but I don't own any music by her or her former band(I have seen her perform on a couple of Late Night talk shows) Til Tuesday. How did the boys snag her? I remember seeing a video for Lock And Key on VH1 Classic a while back and liking that song, too. I looked up Tai Shan on YouTube, and dug that too. How does this compare with Power Windows(those two Rush albums always seem to be mentioned together). I know there was a thread about this album on the old site, so I decided to start one on the new site.

**everythingtoexcess** · 12-23-2012

I love it...it's either my favorite or second favorite Rush album, the other one being Power Windows. I'm not sure if I could decide with a gun to my head. Tunes like Mission, Lock and Key and Turn the Page along with Time Stand Still just NEVER get old to me. There isn't a bad note on the album, although some people will cite Tai Shan and Second Nature as career lows, I think they're both great...just...different. Get it. You'll be glad you did.
And while you're at it, pick up Til Tuesday's greatest hits album. I think it's called Coming Up Close. I totally wrote them off in the 80's, but there are some amazing songs on there. There's a song called J for Jules that musically might be the perfect pop song, but the lyrics are extremely specific to her relationship with Jules Holland.

**SteveSly** · 12-23-2012

I like this one a lot, although I think "Power Windows" is better. I would say for $5 "Hold Your Fire" is certainly worth picking up.

Steve Sly

**Scott Bails** · 12-23-2012

Love Hold Your Fire, however I prefer Power Windows.

This was right around when I was getting into Rush - I had seen them on the Power Windows tour, and Hold Your Fire was the first album of theirs I bought on the day of release.

It's quite different, compared to the rest of their catalog, which is one of its charms, IMO. That said, I'm glad they didn't pursue this direction. The keyboard textures were taking the space that were traditionally occupied by Lifeson's guitars. For one album, that's fine.

Highlights definitely include "Force Ten," "Time Stand Still," and "Mission." And yes, many deride "Second Nature" and "Tai Shan" (heck, even the band doesn't like "Tai Shan" - the song about a mountain), but I think they work fine in the context of the album. One song that doesn't often get a lot of mention is "High Water" - a real gem, IMO.

**Soc Prof** · 12-23-2012

Originally Posted by Scott Bails

It's quite different, compared to the rest of their catalog, which is one of its charms, IMO. That said, I'm glad they didn't pursue this direction. The keyboard textures were taking the space that were traditionally occupied by Lifeson's guitars. For one album, that's fine.

The same thing could be said about Signals. The difference is that Signals featured analog synths (Minimoog, Oberheim OB and OBX, Roland Jupiter 8) while HYF featured digital synths with sounds typical of the period. The latter sounds aren't very good to my ears, so I never got into HYF or Power Windows.

**arabicadabra** · 12-23-2012

My favorite RUSH album - bar none! A refinement of the best of Power Windows and a slamming record. If this is the album where Alex's guitar was pushed out of center stage, well, it's got some of the best guitar tones I've ever heard from anybody.

**TheLongshot** · 12-23-2012

It is also my favorite Rush album, with a lot of great songs.

**Adrian** · 12-24-2012

I think Hold Your Fire was Rush's pinnacle as songwriters. The melodies are strong and memorable, and Peart's lyrics are among the best he ever wrote. I'm not a huge fan of their work after Moving Pictures -- with the exception of this album. IMO, they've never done anything nearly as good since.

You totally cannot go wrong for five bucks.

**JIF** · 12-24-2012

For the above posters that said HYF is your favorite Rush album, you do know that this is a prog site?

**3RDegree_Robert** · 12-24-2012

I too prefer POWER WINDOWS-8 amazing songs. HYF is more spotty but songs 1-3 and "Mission" are some of their best.

**arabicadabra** · 12-24-2012

Originally Posted by JIF

For the above posters that said HYF is your favorite Rush album, you do know that this is a prog site?

Yes - and you have counted the time signatures in Time Stand Still and Mission?

**iguana** · 12-24-2012

my first RUSH album. does anyone forget one’s first relationship?

happy xmas to all PE cohorts and thanks for some good and enlightening company in 2012!

**Kavus Torabi** · 12-24-2012

The transition from 70's rock Rush to 80's pop Rush always felt natural and uncynical to me.

I still regard Hold Your Fire fondly and think Mission stands out as one of their pinnacles. It always seems to choke me up, which must be the measure of something. While I sometimes find Peart's lyrics a bit clunky and mawkish he really hits the nail on the head with this one.

Time Stands Still is pretty too.

After Presto I started to lose interest but that had as much do with what I wanted from music as it did the quality of Rush's songwriting.

**Wounded Land** · 12-24-2012

Summing up my feelings about HYF:

1. Some really good songs on here, but it would be a lot stronger if they left "Second Nature," "Tai Shan," and "High Water" off the record. It's the first record where Rush is really feeling like they're stretching (a disease they would have- off and on- for the rest of their career).

2. In retrospect, it does sound a little anemic in the production department. Plus, the keyboards are taking over.

3. Although HYF is a good album, Power Windows poops all over it. Better in every way, IMHO. One big difference between the two albums is Alex's guitar. Despite all the keyboards, Alex has consistently amazing parts on Power Windows. It's like the band's increased reliance on synthesizers forced him to think a little out of the box, and he came up with amazing results.

4. Aimee Mann is awesome. Her first solo album, Whatever, is one of the best pop albums I've ever heard.

NP: Swans The Seer

**Wounded Land** · 12-24-2012

Originally Posted by Kavus Torabi

The transition from 70's rock Rush to 80's pop Rush always felt natural and uncynical to me.

I still regard Hold Your Fire fondly and think Mission stands out as one of their pinnacles. It always seems to choke me up, which must be the measure of something.

I agree with everything here.

**ItalProgRules** · 12-24-2012

That's about what I paid for it. Not one of my faves at all. I really got off the train at this point and it hasn't aged any better for me, I'm afraid.

**Garden Dreamer** · 12-24-2012

Originally Posted by Wounded Land

Summing up my feelings about HYF:

1. Some really good songs on here, but it would be a lot stronger if they left "Second Nature," "Tai Shan," and "High Water" off the record. It's the first record where Rush is really feeling like they're stretching (a disease they would have- off and on- for the rest of their career).

2. In retrospect, it does sound a little anemic in the production department. Plus, the keyboards are taking over.

3. Although HYF is a good album, Power Windows poops all over it. Better in every way, IMHO. One big difference between the two albums is Alex's guitar. Despite all the keyboards, Alex has consistently amazing parts on Power Windows. It's like the band's increased reliance on synthesizers forced him to think a little out of the box, and he came up with amazing results.
[/I]

I agree with these points. HYF was Rush's first album to hit the 50-minute length and I could do without the three songs you mentioned. Power Windows has a crackling kinetic energy and is great from front to back, no filler.

Back in the day, I knew I was off the Rush bandwagon when I heard Time Stand Still, although I did buy the Show of Hands live album/VHS and liked the HYF songs better in a live setting. In retrospect, I've come around to this album as it still has more links to Rush's proggier past than the two albums that would come after it (Presto, RTB). Now it's a middle-of-the-pack Rush album for me.

**ajcmixer** · 12-24-2012

Originally Posted by Wounded Land

Summing up my feelings about HYF:

1. Some really good songs on here, but it would be a lot stronger if they left "Second Nature," "Tai Shan," and "High Water" off the record. It's the first record where Rush is really feeling like they're stretching (a disease they would have- off and on- for the rest of their career).[/I]

And as some of us 'round here have stated I, too, love Power Windows from start to finish and HYF was a pretty good follow-up but because of the above point well put by Wounded Land (and I'd have to add Prime Mover to the above list), it does fall short of the bar set by PW.

That being said, HYF is not without its share of great songs: The 1st Side opening trio of Force Ten, Time Stand Still and Open Secrets are all terrific as is the 2nd side opening trio of Lock and Key, Mission and Turn the Page and I don't believe that it is a coincidence that the four weaker songs IMHO are sequenced onto the end of each side.

Slightly off-topic, my first tour seen/heard was the PW tour and got me onto the live bandwagon big-time but I did notice on the HYF tour (saw it four times) that Geddy seemed to struggle with his singing the HYF material live and don't know if it was a by-product of having gone beyond his range in the studio and not being to replicate them in a live setting and/or due to the difficulty of having to both sing and play the increased keyboard parts that the HYF material bought with it.

Peace,
Alex

**polmico** · 12-24-2012

Originally Posted by iguana

my first RUSH album. does anyone forget one’s first relationship?

Good point. Mine was Test for Echo, and I still consider half that album to be some of the best material Rush ever did. The other half is . . . um . . .

**Progatron** · 12-24-2012

Originally Posted by ajcmixer

I did notice on the HYF tour (saw it four times) that Geddy seemed to struggle with his singing the HYF material live and don't know if it was a by-product of having gone beyond his range in the studio and not being to replicate them in a live setting and/or due to the difficulty of having to both sing and play the increased keyboard parts that the HYF material bought with it.

Geddy has said it was his most difficult and least-fun tour to do, largely because of the increased workload he had on stage each night coupled with the fact that he was physically ill for a portion of the tour. I'm not sure about the vocal strain aspect but I wouldn't be surprised if that was also a part of it. They had talked about adding a fourth member for live shows for a few tours, but came closest on this one before deciding they didn't want to alter the dynamic and just sucked up the extra workload themselves. I think Alex played more keyboards on this tour than on any other in their history. Stuff like "Turn The Page" was very challenging to play live but I think the tension added a certain something to the performance. A Show Of Hands is an excellent live document IMO (I'm a lifelong Rush fan who loves every album and every era, but the Signals-thru-HYF period is my favourite).

Interesting also to note Geddy's comments from Beyond The Lighted Stage where he mentions they may have gone too far into 'the middle' of what they do, with kind of a 'jazz tonal' thing. I do think the album contains some of Neil's best lyrics though, and "Time Stand Still" is one that continues to resonate with me, I just love that song. "Force Ten" is an interesting one too, in that they wrote it very quickly at the end of the sessions under a lot of pressure to deliver one more track for the record. It was the first track I ever saw them play live, on the following Presto tour in '90. Thankfully Geddy had lost the coonskin cap hair look.

**progfan915** · 12-25-2012

Originally Posted by arabicadabra

My favorite RUSH album - bar none! A refinement of the best of Power Windows and a slamming record. If this is the album where Alex's guitar was pushed out of center stage, well, it's got some of the best guitar tones I've ever heard from anybody.

Thank you!! I never understood those who complain that Alex's guitars take a backseat on HYF. Compare this to any of VT, S&A or CA and I hear so many more tasty solos on HYF - more than all 3 combined, I dare say!

**progfan915** · 12-25-2012

Originally Posted by Wounded Land

Summing up my feelings about HYF:

1. Some really good songs on here, but it would be a lot stronger if they left "Second Nature," "Tai Shan," and "High Water" off the record. It's the first record where Rush is really feeling like they're stretching (a disease they would have- off and on- for the rest of their career)

Really? I would rate Second Nature as one of my faves on the album! Would love to hear it live.

**everythingtoexcess** · 12-25-2012

Originally Posted by progfan915

Compare this to any of VT, S&A or CA and I hear so many more tasty solos on HYF - more than all 3 combined, I dare say!

agree 100%. I also think that the rhythm guitar parts are SO much more creative than anything he's done recently. all those ringing open notes and weird voicings of chords totally made me re-think rhythm guitar.