It was the long awaited return for many fans to a more guitar based sound, shying away from the more pop keyboard oriented sound that we all know and love. Riding on the heels of two stripped down records (Presto and Roll the Bones), the trio moved the more rock oriented sound up another level producing one of the most sophisticated hard rock records of the nineties.
Apparently both Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee were writing the music on guitars rather than keyboards to give it the crunch that would engulf "Counterparts" into a more heavy aesthetic. Opening up with the dark
"Animate" centered around Neil Peart's technical drumming and the tight musical encryptions of Lifeson and Lee, it is made clear to us that this record is going follow the same path throughout. Cuts like the moody epic
"Between the Sun and Moon" (played live for the first time on the Vapor Trails tour last year) and the groove centered
"Cold Fire" brought more technical connotations to the musical structure along with Peart's deep lyrics that again become the encompassing conceptual sphere of the themes that have always graced the content of all
Rush albums (well, not the first
Rush album).
Regardless of the whole Alternative Rock/Grunge genre revolving around the mainstream at the time, this record spawned two major hits, the heavy
"Stick it Out," a return to a more "Permanent Waves" style structure, and the emotional ballad
"Nobody's Hero," which was something that
Rush had done for the first time, complete with orchestration. There is the instrumental opus of
"Leave that Thing Alone" and yet more heavy cuts like
"Cold Fire," "Alien Shore," and the atmospheric
"The Speed of Light" add to this record's metallic stature; But it's the brightest cut that is left to end this record,
"Everyday Glory," like many cuts that end
Rush albums, closes "Counterparts" off with the more upbeat sense, rather than brining the record off to a dead stop, just think of the way cuts like
"Carve away the Stone" ended
"Test for Echo" the phenomenal follow up to this record.
All in all this is one of the last real rock records to have prominence on
AOR rock radio before it dissolved in the late nineties, even when the follow up "Test for Echo" released two years later, Alternative Rock was now dominating the charts, and
AOR/Hard Rock radio was nonexistent in most cites, however
Rush would have the last laugh over this, "Counterparts" (as well as "Test for Echo") would go multiplatinum, and enter high on the Billboard charts, not to mention that successful sold out tours would follow, with very little promotion, showing that
Rush as well as real rock and roll can stand the test of time, trends, and other mainstream crap that is fed to us through the mass media.
Through different styles and decades of being one of the most influential Hard Rock/Metal acts around, as well as being the blueprint for bands such as
Dream Theater and Fates Warning, the Canadian trio has again defined their own style, creating music that only a few have been able to derive the right way.
Written by
Hashman Friday, October 3, 2003
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