Counterparts (album)



Counterparts is the fifteenth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on October 19, 1993. Counterparts is one of Rush's highest charting albums in the U.S., peaking at #2.

The lyrics of Counterparts continue the trends of Roll the Bones with dark and emotional themes being the primary focus. Some songs are heavy-sounding such as "Animate" and "Stick it Out", which topped the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart for four weeks in late 1993, becoming the band's fifth single to do so. "Leave That Thing Alone" earned a Grammy nomination for "Best Instrumental Rock Performance". It has been reissued and remastered twice: once in 2004 as a continuation of "The Rush Remasters" series and again in 2013 as a part of the box set The Studio Albums 1989–2007.

Release and reception
The album earned a gold certification in Canada when it was released in October 1993, and platinum the next year. It peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard album charts and earned a gold certification in the US in December 1993. Rush supported Counterparts with a four-month tour limited to North America. Relations between the members were tense, and they followed the tour with a long break during which Lee planned to spend time with his growing family, and each planned to explore other creative interests, such as a Lifeson solo album. When they returned to the studio in 1996 to record their next album Test for Echo Lifeson took a more assertive production role over Lee.

Track listing
All lyrics written by Neil Peart, except "Between Sun & Moon" co-written by Pye Dubois; all music composed by Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee.

Personnel

 * Geddy Lee – bass guitar, vocals, synthesizers
 * Alex Lifeson – electric and acoustic guitars
 * Neil Peart – drums, percussion
 * Michael Kamen – string arrangements and conducting on "Nobody's Hero"
 * John Webster – additional keyboards