Hold Your Fire
	Produced by Peter Collins and Rush
	Released on September 1987
	US CHART POSITION #13 . . . GOLD RECORD (11/9/87) . . . UK CHART POSITION #10
	Find it at GEMM
832 464-2 Q-1 cover [high resolution scan]

I ’m not certain Hold Your Fire is a concept album, but here’s my take on things. Using the four elements (fire, water, earth, air) as imagery, Rush tells the story of a pilgrim who searches to find the calm and understanding human being trapped beneath the surface storm of negative emotions. The “story” (as it were) alternates between the present journey and past recollections, finally achieving peace on “Tai Shan” and returning to the water of our origin on “High Water.” Maybe that’s stretching things a bit, but the good news is even without a uniting concept the songs on Hold Your Fire hold their own. In fact, the opening combination of “Force Ten” and “Time Stands Still” is probably their best stage entrance since Moving Pictures. Add great standalone songs like “Prime Mover” and “Turn The Page” (which appear at well-placed intervals to shake the listener from potential apathy), and the sum total may edge out Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows. Purists will note that Rush still leans heavily on synthetic sounds, which diminishes the effect of their technical brilliance, but it’s unfair to expect the trio to discard a style that they’ve obviously embraced and made work for them. I’d stop short of calling this a great album, since too many critics have championed any one of their post-Pictures albums as the Dauphin in the discography, but I can see where folks would warm up to this more than their last two efforts.

832 464-2 Q-1 picture sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. FORCE TEN    (music by Geddy Lee/Alex Lifeson, lyrics by Neil Peart/Dubois)    4:28
2. TIME STAND STILL    5:07
3. OPEN SECRETS    5:37
4. SECOND NATURE    4:35
5. PRIME MOVER    5:19
6. LOCK AND KEY    5:08
7. MISSION    5:15
8. TURN THE PAGE    4:53
9. TAI SHAN    4:14
10. HIGH WATER    5:32
    
    Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, lyrics by Neal Peart unless noted. Arrangements by Rush and Peter Collins.
    

CREDITS

GEDDY LEE -- bass guitar, synthesizers, bass pedals, vocals
ALEX LIFESON -- electric and acoustic guitars
NEIL PEART -- drums, percussion, and electronic percussion
The William Faerey Engineering Brass Band --
Andrew Jackman -- brass arrangements, conductor
Aimee Mann -- additional vocals
Steven Margoshes -- string arrangements, conductor
Andy Richards -- additional keyboards, synthesizer programming
Jimbo (James) Barton -- engineer
Jim Burgess -- synthesizer programming
Jon Erickson -- preproduction engineer
Hugh Syme -- art direction
Deborah Samuel -- portraits

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