Randoming on July 28, 2026 🪟🪨🥵🔌🎦

Random thoughts too long for a Mastodon post, but not long enough for a full-blown post. 🪟 Once again, Pitchfork raided my tape collection from the 1980s for one of its retrospective reviews. This time, the site re-examines one of my least favorite Rush albums: Power Windows, from 1985. Unlike the last review I discussed, this writer gets most of Rush’s history correct. Still, both reviewers suffer from sticking headlong to a story that omits details that would otherwise change the narrative. The author is a fan of Rush’s synth-era from the 80s, which, okay, but claims this album in particular is a "peak of the prog trio’s synth era, home to both impressive musicianship and pop grandeur.” Citation needed! What rubbed me the wrong way was the casual dismissal of what came afterwards, largely because the band chose to de-emphasize keyboards in the 90s and beyond. For me, Power Windows, as opposed to what the author says, has some of drummer Neil Peart’s clumsiest and coldest lyrics that…