This album came out in 1991. Rush has been around a lot longer than that (mid-to-late 70's), but this is one of my favorite CDs by them.
The theme of this album seems to be gambling/taking chances. It doesn't seem like they're specifically endorsing gambling, but rather using it as a metaphor for life. It's kind of interesting, but I don't agree with a lot of the lyrics on the songs.
The Band:
Geddy Lee- Vocals, Bass Guitar, Synth, writing the Music
Alex Lifeson- Backing Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Guitar, writing the Music
Neil Peart- Drums, Cymbals, writing the Lyrics
All of the members of Rush are amazing musicians, (Neil Peart is often considered THE best drummer) and when they play live they stay true to the songs exceptionally well.
The Songs:
Dreamline - This is definitely one of the best songs on this album. It has an awesome guitar part, great lyrics, and you'll probably end up listening to it over and over again. It's a great track to start off the album.
Bravado - It's really light and slow. This makes it kind of boring, and you probably won't keep coming back to it like some of the other songs. It's not bad; it's actually pretty good. In my opinion, though, it doesn't really fit the theme of the album very well.
Roll the Bones - An awesome song. It changes tempo exceptionally well. The bass part is really good, and it often does this really cool thing where the bass "echoes" the guitar. There's a part where a prerecorded track of Geddy Lee's voice is modified. In the video, a skeleton sings (actually, kind of raps) the lyrics. The "skeleton rapping" part isn't as bad as most people say it is. Personally, I hate rap, but I like the "skeleton rapping" part of this song. The one and only downfall of the song is the continuous reptetion of "Why are we here? Because we're here. Roll the Bones. Why does it happen? Because it happens. Roll the Bones." Other than that, it's a great song, and the optimal choice for the title track.
Face Up - This song is very upbeat, like most of the songs on the album. It remains upbeat throughout the song, too. I like it. It's one of my favorites on this album, along with the title track and Dreamline.
Where's My Thing? - Part 4, Gangster of Boats Trilogy - Normally I'm not a big fan of instrumentals, but this is an exception. It flows excellently and sounds awesome. The only problem is the over-the-top, confusing title. The "Trilogy" part of the title is the most confusing part. First of all, how can something be part 4 of a Trilogy? If it means the song itself, how can a single song be a Trilogy? If the Trilogy is talking about "Where's My Thing?" , where are parts 1 through 3?
The Big Wheel - This song seems "already done" (By the other songs on the album) in the lyrics department. It's really catchy and pretty good, but it's not awesome. My main problem is how overly dramatic the first 5-10 seconds of it are.
Heresy - This remains pretty calm, but the lyrics flow very well with the tune. It's definitely not the best song on the album, but I personally think this song is very underrated. The title is misleading- this doesn't have anything to do with Heresy. It's mainly about forgiving the world for wars long past.
Ghost of a Chance - Personally, I find this song kind of boring. The lyrics seem to condradict themselves, and they don't really make sense. It starts off sounding awesome, but it slowly declines.
Neurotica - The lyrics are a bit too weird, (sometimes they're overly wordy, other times, they're as random as "SNAP!") but other than that this is a pretty cool song.
You Bet Your Life - This is a great song. It remains pretty upbeat, but changes tempo well. The weirdest thing about this song is its chorus. Basically, it has a prerecorded track of Geddy Lee naming all these random professions and worldviews in a sort of rythymic way. It sounds like it would be stupid, but it's actually pretty cool.
The Album Art: Shows a picture of a kid (who looks a lot like my cousin) playing kick-the-can with a skull, standing in front of a wall of dice. The word "Rush" is spelled out in black dice, followed by "Roll the Bones."
I think the album art won an award of some sort, but I'm not 100% sure.
The Video: The only song I know of on this album that has a video is "Roll the Bones." The video's kind of weird, but it's one of Rush's best videos in my opinion. You can watch it for free on
http://music.yahoo.com
Overall, 10/10. This is a great album, and it's usually pretty cheap if you can find an un-remastered one. I got mine for 59 cents off Amazon. I can't even tell the difference between the mastered and unmastered ones... (I own the song "Roll the Bones" in the remastered version, and I honestly can't tell which is which.)