I feel the nexus of science and politics, of war and dreams of peace. Right from the first "Imagine a man.," I get that image of mood of how do we end this war? Then in the second verse, I see the scientists in their lab jackets, exploring the secrets of the universe. lyrically, musically, all fantastic beyond what my words can say. I'm bringing up energy a lot with this album, and I really think this is Rush's most energetic record. Everything about this album is infectious so far, and that doesn't stop with the next song either. A nice tone shift to begin, with that ramping up to bring the song to a close. So it fits quite well in the third slot here. Alex's accented punch of guitars come in just at the right times to give these movements that much more flair.Įven with its dramatic shift in the album, Manhattan Project serves up more energy as it goes along. I appreciate the building of the song to get to the introduction of the strings and bring the movement of the song back to the big bang moment. Everything seems to come together and blend in to a perfect execution of everything intended. It's another one of those things I can't explain. There's something about the delivery of Neil's drumming, Geddy's vocals, and Alex's guitar licks all coming together during " The big bang took and shook the world." that really hits this song home for me. Manhattan Project is a nice dramatic shift for the album. The album really just gets better from here, so they build up to the rest with two great songs. This isn't my favourite follow up to an opener in their discography, but it's still a fun rocker which bounces around and keeps things moving at a nice pace. The energy is still top notch, which is a key to the entire album. It's not the kind of ripping solo we get from Alex elsewhere on the album, but I do appreciate how it continues on underneath the vocals for a bit. I love how the flow of the solo follows Geddy's vocals as he starts singing again. But for me, it's constantly overshadowed by everything else on the album. I always really enjoy listening to Grand Designs.