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Roll The Bones is the fourteenth studio album by Rush, released in 1991 through Anthem Records (in conjunction with Atlantic Records outside the band's native Canada). The album was the second of two albums to be produced by 80's pop producer Rupert Hine. The album shows synths going further in the background texture and the guitars are prominent on a lot of the songs. "Dreamline", the title track, and "Ghost of a Chance" were big hits from the album.

It currently remains the last Rush album to receive a platinum certification (sell at least one million copies) in the United States and it charted #3 on the Billboard charts, the highest position since 1981's Moving Pictures, which also charted #3. Fan and critc reception was pretty positive, although once again it was criticized its thin sound on the production end.


Tracklist:

  1. "Dreamline"
  2. "Bravado"
  3. "Roll The Bones"
  4. "Face Up"
  5. "Where's My Thing? (Part IV, "Gangster of Boats" Trilogy)"
  6. "The Big Wheel"
  7. "Heresy"
  8. "Ghost of a Chance"
  9. "Neurotica"
  10. "You Bet Your Life"


Principal Members:

  • Geddy Lee - lead vocals, bass, synthesizer
  • Alex Lifeson - guitar, backing vocals
  • Neil Peart - drums, percussion


Roll The Tropes

  • A Wild Rapper Appears!: Geddy Lee (with his voice altered) did the rap verse on the title track.
  • Broken Record: "You Bet Your Life" has Geddy repeating the title of the song during the chrous.
  • Genre Roulette: This album has Rush experimenting with many genres, such as arena rock, alternative, pop, funk, electronica, and even hip hop!
  • Darker and Edgier: From a lyrical standpoint.
  • Instrumentals: "Where's My Thing? (Part IV, "Gangster of Boats" Trilogy)".
  • Lyrical Dissonance: The music is fun, upbeat, and catchy, but the lyrics talk about the aftermath of the end of the Cold War, poverty, etc.
  • Mood Whiplash: The music for the most part sounds cheery and upbeat, but then it gets dark and somber with "Ghost of a Chance" and "Neurotica" before returning to the happy nature with "You Bet Your Life".
  • Non-Appearing Title: "Dreamline", "Bravado", and "Heresy",
  • One-Word Title: "Dreamline", "Bravado", "Heresy", and "Neurotica".
  • Piss-Take Rap: "Roll the Bones". They wanted John Cleese to record it, but he was unavailable. Geddy did it instead, and they just pitched his voice down to being nearly unrecognizable (drastically raising the pitch in audio editing software reveals that he pretty much just talked normally and called it rapping).
  • Title Track: "Roll The Bones"


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