Force Ten (song)

"Force Ten"

"Force Ten" cover
Promotional single by Rush from the album Hold Your Fire
Released 1987
Format Vinyl
Recorded 1987
Genre Progressive rock
Length 4:33
Label Mercury Records
Writer Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart, Pye Dubois
Producer Peter Collins

"Force Ten" is a song written, produced and performed by Canadian rock band Rush, released as a promotional single from their album Hold Your Fire.[1] It was the last song written for the album. The song has been critically positively received, and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Writing and composition

"Force Ten" was written in three hours on December 14, 1986, the last day of pre-production for Hold Your Fire.[2][3] With nine songs already written, producer Peter Collins felt it was important to have one more song for the album.[3] Pye Dubois, who previously worked with Rush on their song "Tom Sawyer", had sent Neil Peart some lyrics for the song, and Peart would add more verses to it.[3] Lyrically, the song describes the "storms of life," making a reference to a very high level of the Beaufort scale ("force ten" being near the scale's maximum of 12) as an analogy, according to the book Rush and Philosophy: Heart and Mind United.[4]

Musically, "Force Ten" is composed in a A minor key, with changes into a major scale also occurring in the song. The song is set in common time at a fast rock tempo.[5] Peart has said that Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were "trying to explore some musical areas that we hadn't covered yet," when writing the music for the song.[6] The opening is very atmospheric before the bass guitar starts playing, which Sputnikmusic said that it "picks up the pace."[7] Lee performed bass chords in the song, inspired to do so by his friend Jeff Berlin.[8] The song was described by The Cavalier Daily as "intense".[9]

Release and reception

"Force Ten" was released in the United States by Mercury Records as a 12" vinyl one-track promotional single in 1987.[1] It is the opening track of Rush's studio album Hold Your Fire, and the song later appear on compilation albums such as Rush, Retrospective II, The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987, Gold, Icon, and Sector 3.[10] It was also performed live on the band's Hold Your Fire tour.[11] The song received a favorable critical reception, with Allmusic calling it "the band's [Rush] most immediate number in years," rating the song an AMG pick track,[12] while a Sputnikmusic reviewer named Chris K. described the song as "brilliantly paced and constructed, both technically and melodically interesting," and said it was "surely one of Rush's best songs ever."[7] The song would make it on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, peaking #3.[13]

Charts

Chart Peak
position
US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard)[13] 3

References

  1. 1 2 Rush - Force Ten (Vinyl). Discogs.com. Accessed from June 21, 2013.
  2. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2004). Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years of Rush at Home and Away. ECW Press. p. 134. ISBN 1770901418.
  3. 1 2 3 Banasiewicz, Bill (1997). Rush Visions. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0711911622. Info from book adapted by the Rush Vault. Accessed from June 24. 2013.
  4. ↑ Jim Berti, Durrell Bowman (2011). Rush and Philosophy: Heart and Mind United. Open Court Publishing. p. 185. ISBN 0812697162.
  5. ↑ Force Ten Sheet Music. onlinesheetmusic.com. Accessed from June 21, 2013.
  6. ↑ Peart, Neil. Firework: The Making of "Hold Your Fire". 2112.net. Accessed from June 22, 2013.
  7. 1 2 Rush - Hold Your Fire (album review 2). Sputnikmusic. December 28, 2005. Accessed from June 23, 2013.
  8. ↑ Tolleson, Robin (November/December 1988). Geddy Lee: Bass Is Still The Key. Bass Player. Accessed from June 24, 2013.
  9. ↑ Arnold, Dave (October 8, 1987). Lost urgency, strained vocals mark latest Rush LP. The Cavalier Daily. Accessed from June 18, 2013.
  10. ↑ Force Ten - Rush. Allmusic. Accessed from June 24, 2013.
  11. ↑ Rush Tour Dates and Setlists. 2112.net. Accessed from June 19, 2013.
  12. ↑ Rivadavia, Eduardo. Hold Your Fire - Rush. Allmusic. Accessed from June 21, 2013.
  13. 1 2 Rush - Chart History: Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Accessed from June 21, 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, January 10, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.