Power Windows is the eleventh studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on October 11, 1985 by Anthem Records. After touring in support of their previous album, Grace Under Pressure (1984), the band took a break and reconvened in early 1985 to begin work on a follow-up. The material continued to display the band's exploration of synthesizer-oriented music, this time with the addition of sampling, electronic drums, a string section, and choir, with power being a running lyrical theme. Power Windows was recorded in Montserrat and England with Peter Collins as co-producer and Andy Richards on additional keyboards.
The album reached No. 2 in Canada, No. 9 in the United Kingdom, and No. 10 in the United States. In January 1986, the album reached platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for one million copies sold in the United States. Rush released two singles from the album, "The Big Money" and "Mystic Rhythms". The band supported the album with their 1985–1986 tour.
Background and writing
In November 1984, the band ended their concert tour in support of their previous album, Grace Under Pressure (1984). After a short respite, the group started work for a follow-up album in early 1985. Guitarist Alex Lifeson looked back at this period, and noted their conscious effort in taking the strongest elements of their previous two records, Signals (1982) and Grace Under Pressure and capitalising on them for Power Windows. To Lifeson, this resulted in a more cohesive and satisfying album.
In February 1985, Rush had relocated to Elora Sound Studios in Elora, Ontario to write and rehearse new songs. Drummer Neil Peart would write a set of lyrics from the studio's farmhouse while Lifeson and frontman Geddy Lee worked on music to fit Peart's words in the adjacent barn which housed a 24-track recording studio. Peart worked on a small desk in his room, "about the right size for a five-year-old". During this time, Peart researched the Manhattan Project to write lyrics for the same-titled song. He also had a head start, having written outline lyrics for "The Big Money", "Mystic Rhythms", and "Marathon" before these sessions had begun. Lee and Lifeson sorted through jams recorded at soundchecks on tour and Lifeson's own tapes of ideas to assemble music for the three tracks, with each song taking up to a week. They then began on "Middletown Dreams", "Marathon" once again, and then "Grand Designs". Having worked out some material, Rush underwent a five-day warm-up tour in Florida in March 1985 to sharpen their performance and to test the new songs on stage prior to recording. Peart continued to work on lyrics in his hotel room in Miami.
Following their warm-up gigs, the band returned to Elora and continued working on their new songs, their break away being a positive impact on their work upon returning. Peart had initially struggled to finish "Territories" and "Manhattan Project", "but now they just fell together". On their first day back at Elora, Peart began work on lyrics for "Emotion Detector" as the group had discussed the possibility of recording a ballad for their new album. Upon presenting his words to Lee and Lifeson, his lyrics fit to the piece of music that his bandmates were working on at the time. This was followed by Rush arranging the music for "Emotion Detector" and "Territories", after which they had assembled a demo tape of seven new songs ready to present to Collins for recording.
Later in 1985, Peart told an interviewer that Rush's sound "is changing from having been progressive to not being progressive". He noted that though the album might "seem simpler", it was just as difficult to compose and perform. Lifeson expressed some resistance to the emphasis on keyboards during this period of their history. He noted the trend began on Signals which pushed his guitar parts too far into the background as a result. However, he thought Rush achieved a much greater balance of the two instruments on Power Windows, which he thought Moving Pictures (1981) successfully had done.