Power Windows

By 1985’s <i>Power Windows</i>, Rush had fully embraced the glossy production, thumb-slapped grooves and New Wave–schooled schematics that defined the pop music of the day. But that surface smoothness hardly diminished their propensity for probing, thought-provoking commentary. Atop the propulsive, synth-smoothed rhythms and symphonic flourishes of “Manhattan Project”, Geddy Lee provides a brief history of nuclear weaponry for the Cold War generation; “Big Money” is at once an exemplar of slick ’80s arena rock and a cunning critique of the era’s capitalist excesses.