Snakes & Arrows

Rush | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 1, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic
• ASIN: B000NVIXFK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  DVD Audio  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (529 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,577 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #89 in Music > Rock > Progressive > Progressive Rock

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A return to their former glory days, Snakes and Arrows shows this seminal prog rock band reclaiming some of the sonic territory that they'd lost over the past few years. It's not certain what contributed to this artistic rebirth, but Rush has crafted a historical and emotional odyssey that shows many both where they've been and where they're going--from the baroque soundscapes of "The Main Monkey Business," reminiscent of their earliest work to the seductive almost folkloric urgency of "The Way the Wind Blows," which is as dangerous, anxious, and prophetic as anything that Arcade Fire or Mars Volta is doing currently. Main Lyricist Neil Peart has spent the last decade getting over the death of his wife and daughter, and those tragic events have given his songwriting more depth and gravity as he explores the strengths and limitations of faith in both metaphoric and literal detail. While never didactic or ponderous, this disc is really an instruction manual for how one conducts themselves with grace and hope through unendurable pain and the vagaries of life. Gone is much of the shrillness of their earlier incarnations--Geddy Lee's trademark high pitch shrieks have mellowed considerably and Alex Lifesong's guitar playing has an assurance and freedom that can only come with age. --Jaan Uhelszki

Product Description

Anthem/Atlantic recording group Rush return with its first new collection of original material in nearly five years, entitled "SNAKES & ARROWS." The album was recorded in the fall of 2006 with Gammy Award-winner Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Velvet Revolver) and Rush co-producing. "It's hard to describe," Geddy Lee recently told Revolver re: "SNAKES & ARROWS.""It's big, it's bold, and I think it's some of the best work we've done in years. I'm really pleased with the quality ofthe songs, and there's lots of playing on it. " Rush - Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart - will trumpet the release of "SNAKES & ARROWS" with a full-scale North American tour, the renowned trio's first since 2004's "An Evening with Rush: 30th Anniversary Tour."

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This record is going to be controversial, May 2, 2007

By 

Drums of Manchu (Ohio, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Snakes & Arrows (Audio CD)

To begin with, let me say that the sound of Snakes & Arrows is fantastic. The mastering process seems to have been improved 100% since Vapor Trails in 2002. Generally the sound is thick and crisp. In terms of recording quality I think that it is the best sounding Rush album that there has ever been. Stylistically it is a hard rock album, probably the "hardest" record that Rush has made in a long time. The sound is very textured, thick and layered with lots of interesting sounds.

Musically they seem to want to avoid creating or playing anything that is too obvious or conventional. After 30+ years of making music I can see how the typical rock song would be boring for these master musicians. There is very little on this record that is "catchy" on the first few listens and sometimes a single song doesn't seem to hold itself together well, like the person who wrote the verse was working in a different room from the person who wrote the chorus. The melodies are unusual and will require some effort from casual listeners to appreciate. Some listeners may simply reject this music as non-melodic nonsense or noise, but as a Rush fan, I hope that this record is like a good piece of modern art, the more you examine it, the more fascinating it becomes. There are some great time signature changes in the song "Workin' Them Angels" and I really enjoy some parts of some of the songs.

Lyrically the record is rather dark and sad with themes of determinism and resignation in the face of all the evils of the world. They went from "I will choose freewill" in 1981 to "we can only grow the way the wind blows - we can only bow to the here and now or be broken down blow by blow." This is not a record that I would want to listen to over and over without having some more positive material to listen to on the side. For me this is not a fault of the album, and I appreciate Neil Peart's willingness to honestly express all aspects of life, the good and the bad. Perhaps this change is a function of maturity and a recognition that eventually innocence is lost the real world must be looked squarely in the eyes. In any case these lyrics are more profound and heartfelt than anything recently on the radio or MTV. Even with this lyrical aspect of the record, Neil Peart still avoids the silly "drowning in pools of black despair" stereotype of modern rock music. I get the feeling that he simply wrote down what he was feeling about certain things in this world and I appreciate that honesty. There might be some really positive messages here, but with the serious, heavy and ponderous sound of the album- it just feels sad.

In summary, this record may not appeal to everyone, but if you are interested in progressive rock music and are willing to expend a little effort in listening to this album it might be worth your time. Personally, I haven't made up my mind yet, but I'm trying to like it.

140 of 165 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Textured, diverse and exciting., May 1, 2007

By 

Michael Stack (North Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Snakes & Arrows (Audio CD)

Coming about five years after their last studio record (2002's "Vapor Trails") and three since their last studio offering ('60s covers EP "Feedback"), Rush's 18th studio effort, "Snakes & Arrows", has been highly anticipated amongst the fan community, if nothing else due to producer Nick Raskulinecz's comments of this record being a return to the band's '70s sounds. I've found over the years there's a desire among fan bases to see band's recreate their old favorites rather than moving on-- witness the recent popularity of recreation of classic albums live, reunion tours, bands returning to their "classic sounds", etc. As someone who's all for progress and has always loved Rush primarily for their willingness to keep looking forward and finding new sounds, I can safely say I was a bit nervous. While their restlessness has produces its share of bunts over the years (1996's "Test For Echo" being the most recent), it's produced a number of great records that could only have existed with the bravery of changing sounds. I mean, we're talking about a band that redefined progressive metal ("2112", "A Farewell to Kings"), found commercial success ("Permanent Waves", "Moving Pictures") and abandoned it time and again to embrace everything from new wave ("Signals"), synth-driven rock ("Grace Under Pressure"), alternative (my personal favorite Rush record, "Counterparts") and a noisy, almost punk sound ("Vapor Trails"). Thankfully, upon listening, Raskulinecz wasn't quite correct.

What I suspect he was aluding to wasn't so much a return to a sound but rather to a way of working-- to complexity and layering, to many of the things that made those '70s Rush records so interesting but without regressing to create a "A Farewell to Kings" Part II. "Snakes & Arrows" finds its textures primarily in guitars and guitar-like instruments, indeed Alex Lifeson is credited in the liner notes as playing "six and twelve-string electric and acoustic guitars, mandola, mandolin, bouzouki", and all of these are pretty clearly evident-- doubled, tripled on a given piece, providing a swirling platform under which Geddy Lee's growling bass and Neil Peart's typically fantastic drumming can reside. There's also some limited keyboards on this record, Lee is credited solely with the melotron, but I'm wondering if there's not some modern key snuck in there. They're used in a decorative capacity largely, similar to how they were used on the band's early '90s records. But it really is the acoustic guitars that stand out, they're all over the place, and not just as introductions but instead informed throughout.

This textured sound is readily apparent from the start-- opener "Far Cry" starts off with a churning introduction before settling into a bouncing riff that wouldn't've been out of place on "Roll the Bones", a great crisp bassline and a catchy chorus. Likewise, similar layered textures can be seen on the largely acoustic "The Larger Bowl", Lifeson's acoustic is countered by Lee's growling bass and a staggeringly confident vocal that almost makes you wonder where it came from, or on completely intriguing "The Way the Wind Blows". Opening with a brief blues-rock passage that could have come off of a Cream record (or "Feedback" for that matter) before settling into a throbbing rhythm with just a superb vocal from Lee, maybe his best. Along the way, there's also standout alternative-tinged "Spindrift", tension-driven "Faithless", downright affecting 12-string acoustic guitar solo "Hope" (which beautifully captures its title) and a brilliant, brief and totally self-indulgent (but in a good way) instrumental in "Malignant Narcissism".

There's a few tracks I don't really care for-- "Armor and Sword", clocking in at over six and a half minutes, drags a bit, "The Main Monkey Business" ends up being a neat but not "wow" instrumental, and a few of the tracks aren't terribly memorable, particularly towards the end of the record ("Bravest Face", "Good News First", but also "Workin' Them Angels" early in the disc, saved but superb lyrics). But by and large, it's an awfully good effort. Not quite on the band's masterpieces, but certainly it's a piece worth listening to. Recommended.

42 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Forward Movement Needed, January 2, 2008

By 

RHR3 "Music Lover/Book Fan" (Rockford, IL USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Snakes & Arrows (Audio CD)

There are many positives about this recording. As always, the playing is great. Rush is a band of creative, skilled musicians; something we need more of these days. I also appreciate the variety of textures in each song. With only three band members, it can be easy to have the same sound all the time. This is clearly not the case with this recording. Geddy's singing, while it is not the reason people buy Rush CDs, is pretty good as well.

I was always a fan of "the good old days" of 2112, Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures, but I have always been open to what creative direction the group takes. There are a couple of issues I have with this recording, however, which were even more evident on the previous CD, Vapor Trails. The problem is that the music lacks direction. The songs are just "there" and don't seem to take the listener anywhere. In my analysis, there are two causes of this. First, the chords are not normally progressing chords that facilitate the tension and release that push music forward. Therefore, to establish the key they are in, they seem to return too often to the chord of the key they are in. The main chord in a key is always heard as a point of arrival. Since there are too many arrivals, there are too many places where any phrase could have ended, so the musical phrases seem to go on and on like a run-on sentence.

The other factor that contributes to the lack of direction in the music is the fact that there are virtually no silences in the songs. The volume and intensity level rarely breathe. It's like there is a constant underlying drone of sound in every song. Silences are needed to better set up accents and hits. Think of how well such silences are used in songs like the Overture on 2112, or Freewill (think of the phrase "I will choose freewill"), or "Show, Don't Tell," or "Xanadu," or "Limelight." Think of the changes of intensity in songs like "Cut to the Chase," "Territories," or "Virtuality." These are important ingredients in pushing music forward. A lot of fine musicians forget that silence is sometimes just as important as notes in music. So, as much as I want to like the recording, I can only give it 3 stars.