Presto by Rush

Presto, Rush's thirteenth studio album, came out on Anthem in 1989, their first to go out internationally through Atlantic after the split with Mercury, and it's the sound of the trio pulling the plug on the synthesizers. After the Hold Your Fire tour wound down in 1988, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart met that December, agreed to take six months off, then regrouped with Rupert Hine producing and a leaner plan: fewer keyboards, more guitar, arrangements that finally let Lifeson's playing breathe again.

"Show Don't Tell" led the charge and went all the way to number one on the US Album Rock Tracks chart, with "The Pass" and "Superconductor" following as singles. The album reached No. 7 at home and No. 16 in the States, went gold, and kept the band on the road from February to June 1990. Sean Magee later remastered it at Abbey Road for a 2015 reissue.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.