Snakes & Arrows

Album Context

Snakes & Arrows is the album where Rush's late-career renaissance truly ignited. After the emotional catharsis of Vapor Trails and the playful nostalgia of the Feedback covers EP (2004), the band entered one of the most creatively fertile periods of their career. Peart called it "without a doubt, the best experience I've had making an album, ever."

The catalyst was producer Nick Raskulinecz, a Grammy winner (Foo Fighters, Deftones) who applied for the job the moment he heard Rush were making a new album. His second concert ever had been Rush on the Moving Pictures tour when he was twelve. Raskulinecz sold the band on a concept of performing with maximum virtuosity while exploring complex rhythms and melodies — everything Rush loved to do. He nicknamed himself "Booujze" due to his habit of making vocal sound effects to illustrate musical points, and his enthusiasm was infectious. He even convinced the band to use bass pedals again.

Alex Lifeson made a pivotal decision to write on acoustic guitar after a conversation with Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, who receives a credit in the liner notes. "We talked a lot about the power of the acoustic in terms of writing," Lifeson explained. Recording took place at Allaire Studios in the remote Catskill Mountains — planned as two weeks, it became six when the band fell in love with the isolated, inspiring location. The album was completed months ahead of schedule. It contains three instrumentals — the most on any Rush album.

Snakes & Arrows peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 and was named one of Classic Rock magazine's ten essential progressive rock albums of the decade. Raskulinecz compared it to Rush's 1970s output. "Malignant Narcissism" earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. The album inaugurated a glorious final era that included the 2009 film I Love You, Man, the 2010 documentary Beyond the Lighted Stage, their 2013 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, and the triumphant Clockwork Angels.