Roll the Bones

US only limited numbered edition. Pressed on 24 karat gold! Roll The Bones, Rush's 14th studio album, released in 1991, is a fantastic blend of tempos, ideas, and musical explorations. The album marks further transition from the band's 1980s style to their sound in the 1990s - it still has Rush's dark mystique but it is a more pop-oriented album. There are four popular radio staples, "Bravado," "Ghost Of A Chance," "Roll the Bones" and "Dreamline" with the former reaching #1 on the US Mainstream Rock chart, while "Where's My Thing" was Grammy nominated for Best Rock Instrumental. The band reunited with producer Rupert Hine for his second Rush album and "Roll the Bones" became their first US Top 5 album since 1981 peaking at #3 on the Billboard Top 200. The album also won the Canadian band that country's 1992 Juno Award for best album cover design.

Rush's return to progressive hard rock continued with IRoll the Bones/I, though there's still a bit of synth work (notably on the title track). The music flows like a well-oiled machine, and with Rush, that's an asset, particularly when the material is this good. The songs are mostly up-tempo, with the intellectually oriented themes and musical structure that Rush is famous for. Especially memorable are "Dreamline," "Face Up," "Big Wheel," and "Neurotica," but everything here is good. --IGenevieve Williams/I