About Hold Your Fire
Hold Your Fire is Rush’s 12th studio album, released on September 8, 1987. It was recorded at The Manor Studio in Oxfordshire, Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey, AIR Studios in Montserrat and McClear Place in Toronto, with sessions spread out over a relatively long period of time. Although Hold Your Fire features nearly as much synth/keyboards as its predecessor, Power Windows, Hold Your Fire’s guitar riffs and solos are considerably more prominent on several songs.
During the writing stages for the album, with nine songs written, producer Peter Collins also suggested the band make a tenth track for the album. The song “Force Ten” was written on the last day of pre-production, December 14, 1986. Another track on the album, “Time Stand Still,” was the first track Neil wrote. Aimee Mann briefly sings in each chorus of the song, marking Rush’s first collaboration with another singer.
Credits
Produced by
Peter Collins and Rush
Engineered by
Jimbo (James) Barton
Arrangements by
Rush and Peter Collins
Synthesizer programming assistance
Andy Richards and Jim Burgess
Additional keyboards
Andy Richards
Additional vocals
Aimee Mann
Courtesy of Epic Records
Strings arranged and conducted by
Steven Margoshes, recorded at McClear Place
Mastered by
Bob Ludwig and Brian Lee
Gateway Mastering Studios
Portland, Maine
Management
Ray Danniels
SRO Management Inc.
Toronto
Executive Production
Moon Records
Val Azzoli and Liam Birt
Art Direction
Photography
Glen Wexler
Urban Development
Scott Alexander, Patrick Johnson and Olivia Ramirez
Force Ten
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
Lyrics: Neil Peart and Pye Dubois
Tough times demand tough talk
demand tough hearts demand tough songs
demand —
We can rise and fall like empires
Flow in and out like the tide
Be vain and smart, humble and dumb
We can hit and miss like pride
We can circle around like hurricanes
Dance and dream like lovers
Attack the day like birds of prey
Or scavengers under cover
Look in —
To the eye of the storm
Look out —
For the force without form
Look around —
At the sight and the sound
Look in look out look around —
We can move with savage grace
To the rhythms of the night
Cool and remote like dancing girls
In the heat of the beat and the lights
We can wear the rose of romance
An air of joie de vivre
Too-tender hearts upon our sleeves
Or skin as thick as thieves’
rising falling at force ten
we twist the world and ride the wind
Look in —
look the storm in the eye
Look out —
to the sea and the sky
Look around —
at the sight and the sound
Look in look out look around —