As most of you who know me are aware of, I am a HUGE Rush fan...have been since the summer or fall of '77.... but I am NOT (and never was) a fan of their 1985 album Power Windows. I thought Rush got too far away from their original hard rock roots on it, with all the high tech 80's synthesizers and keyboards, and Alex Lifeson's increasingly more thin and wimpy and effects laden guitar sound. I hate the cover and the pictures of the band members (with their flashy 80's hairdos and clothing) and with a few exceptions (Marathon and Manhattan Project), I am not too fond of the songs themselves. I understand that bands grow and progress as they go along, but for me, Rush changed a bit TOO much on this album.

So, with 1987's Hold Your Fire, us Rush fans got even more of the same, yet I like it much better. Why? Well, for one (and this may be the least of my reasons), it was the first Rush album NOT to have their pictures on it (that is if you got a vinyl copy of it), so at least I didn't have to see how ridiculous they still looked. Secondly, the over-production and the layers upon layers of keys, synths and string arrangements, etc.. bring back the lushness (is that a word?) of Signals. Thirdly and most importantly, I like the songs a bit better. And, lyrically, they sound a bit more human this time and less like scientific robots. I also think that by this time I had resigned myself to the fact that the Rush I had grown to know and love all these years was really gone and that perhaps I was getting used to this new Rush.

Back on the negative side, like it's predecessor Power Windows, I STILL can't remember how all of the songs go, and this after having the album for over 20 years! It's not as exciting and a bit more laid back than previous Rush albums. And, I still don't think Geddy's vocal lines are all that melodic and/or memorable.

The album gets off to a great start with the upbeat and energetic Force Ten, the second of four collaborations with ex-Max Webster lyricist Pye Dubois. Geddy's bass unusually provides the song's main melody. This song, which was the last to be written for the album, has a rockin' groove that most of the other songs lack.

Time Stand Still is another upbeat song, at least musically, which deals with growing older and seeing time go by so fast and wishing that one could freeze some of the good times. It sports one of Lifeson's more memorable (or ONLY) guitar riffs on the album and has a guest appearance by one of my favorite female singers Aimee Mann. It also brings back memories of one of my more happy years in college in the mid to late 80's.

Open Secrets starts off with a powerful and emotional guitar riff from Alex, but gets a bit dull afterwards. Second Nature, however, with it's lush arrangement, is my kind of ballad, with some terrific singing from Geddy, even though the guitar is very much in the background, as it is on most of the album, sadly enough. Both Prime Mover and Lock and Key have their moments, but for me the album goes downhill from there with Mission and the try-too-hard-to-be-complex Turn The Page, then gets a tad more mellow and forgettable with it's last two numbers, the Oriental-flavored Tai Shan (about Neil Peart's climb to the top of a Chinese mountain) and High Water. I have a tough time remembering what these last two songs sound like, but at least they are nice to fall asleep to.

Rush (especially Geddy, who really had his arms and hands and feet full!) had a difficult time performing these songs live, with all the keyboards and synthesizers and sequencers and samplers and what not, that there was no option, other than hiring a keyboard player, but to strip their sound down, which they would do little by little on later albums.

Despite it's flaws and because of some of it's obvious strengths, Hold Your Fire is one album that Rush fans may want to go back and rediscover.