Added: 3 years ago
From: RollTheFemers
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  • One of my fav RUSH tunes thanks for posting. True musicians these guys.

  • I cried, thanks for uploading this.

  • They live in...they dream in middletown...

  • mustve been hard to sneak one of those 1986 vhs recorders in there

  • nobody does eighties quite like rush.......

  • I love the synth arrangements in this song

  • THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA­T'S NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII­IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII­IIIIIIIICE!!!

  • I love Power Windows, " he'd be climbing on that bus just him and his guitar to blaze across the heavens like a brilliant shooting star".

  • Comment removed

  • I just could never get into this album.

  • This is my favorite Rush song (and PW is my favorite Rush album)!

  • This was a cool bootleg that got around way back when. I have a copy of a copy of a copy on VHS sitting on my shelf next to Dvd's Cd's and vinyl records!! I remember how excited I was to get this, it was so rare and illicit!! How things have changed.

  • WOW, this is 4 blocks from my home!

  • Comparing Power Windows to most music in the eighties makes you realize just how great Rush was. Amazing record, and my favorite studio album by Rush.

  • How can someone dislike Power WIndows?

  • POWER WINDOWS ! Everyday now from sure !

  • prob the best song on Power Windows. Good Ged, this rocks! :)

  • So the fast synth part that starts at about 2:17 - is that a pre recorded sample?

  • what a great sound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. geez..

    

  • Those bass pedals Alex is playing on the chorus are bad ass!

  • i BET going to in ear monitors where a nightmare in the beginning but a blessing when they work/levels are great. Geddy is cupping his ear often, just to be able to hear clearly.

  • I was a fan from the Permant Waves days although I had listened to All the Worlds A Stage. It took me a while to mature into the Signal - Power Windows sound, but by the time Power Windows came out I was hooked on their direction. I did not like when they pulled out of it.

  • @crimsontiderdotcom It's taken me many years to evolve into the music. After Signals I didn't go to shows until 2002? Perhaps the richness of life caught up to their lyrics and it was easier for me to understand their musical changes and those within my life. embracing change was once a hard thing for me to do, now it comes naturally in all aspects of life. Musical evolution is a beautiful thing!

  • Excellent! Great to hear this. Takes me back to San Francisco when this came out and I bought this cd. Listening to this, and other Rush, while painting big canvasses. I still have the paintings, most of them, now on the other side of the Globe. The fascination is still there, yeah, dream on ...

  • One of the top 3 Rush albums ever made right here folks. This entire album should not just be sitting at platinum....but owned by the very same people who own a copy of Moving Pictures. The same can be said for Signals and Grace Under Pressure.

  • I'm not sure if I saw this tour or not but I've seen them on 6 different tours starting back in '77 at the township auditorium in Columbia, South Carolina - and I've loved every show!

  • the only reason i want a wal bas {figure of speech :D wal, bas} anyway, is to play this song.... and a few from hold your fire [or all of the songs geddy plays a fuking wal.]

  • @ACDC123459 Geddy used a Steinberger like he is using right here in this video...not a Wal.

  • Geddy's vocals are absolutely stellar here, this is one of Rush's songs that really show off his vocal ability.

  • @chrisbmets I agree

  • Geddy is singing so well here! His voice now is a little rough. I still prefer it over anything else though.

  • Geddy Lee - Bass, Singing, Keyboards, Pedals and saving the world all at the same damn time!!! Amazing!!

  • The days when Geddy was almost surrounded by keyboards. I miss those days.

  • I LOVE THIS SONG! Power Windows is an EPIC album! I'd love to see them do this entire album as part of the Clockwork Angels Tour! Or the entire Grace Under Pressure album will do as well! ;-)

  • @chrisbmets Much as I despise "Grace Under Pressure", to see them do the whole of "Power Windows" would be an absolute delight.

  • this is great!!!

  • chiggigiggadiggadiggidta

  • Words cannot describe how epic this song is.

  • Met Geddy on this tour and on Grace under pressure tour at the renasaissnce center in Detroit when they used to play at Joe Louis Arena! Saw them 20 + times. Never did they disappoint. Got his autograph on my ticket stub. First time he wrote Rush instead of his name. Second time we told him no one believed us so he wrote his name!!! Too bad a evil person burned them. But memories remain!

  • nothing short of amazing

  • what hidden bottle? Carrell.

    that's what she said. Gervais

  • awesome song....awesome band...god those were good days...one year out of high school....

  • Excellent video. Thanks for posting it.

  • /watch?v=9YdkolAEHj4

    if you like rush, watch this!!!!!!!!!

  • Oh yep, just as I suspected.... posted by a Canadian. God bless Canada :)!!!

  • This is one of Rush's best peices. You can put Tom Sawyer and The Spirit of radio at 1 and 2 but Middletown Dreams is deffinatley in the top 5.

  • its time to bring this one back...

  • at 1:05 Geddy trys to rip the string off the bass. Jesus Christ

  • @SuperMrMalibog god i died laughing after reading your comment and then watching it again

  • @ivitalityyyyyy LOL hes a mad man. Gotta love these guys

  • Saw this tour in portland maine.Was the greatest show ever!

  • RollTheFemurs!  I think I proposed to you last year. I love you man for these amazing videos. It's ok, keep holding out on the "marriage" thing, but keep posting these gems! Such great quality of a great era for Rush. I love you Femurs!

  • Great lyrics, bridge, synth and so bloody well crafted....amazing song by the 3 Kings of music

  • That moment at 1:20 is just magic - the synth, guitar, and vocal together - stellar.

  • Is this you filming?

  • @zmcband No, I wasn't even alive then, haha. :P

  • @RollTheFemers --shit! really?  awesome! i saw this tour. twas awesome, needless to say.

  • This has realy good quaity

  • Vive les Monsieur Geddy Lee!

  • In the new Rush movie Alex says PW was really difficult album for him --trying to find his place among all the keyboards. But imo its some of his best guitar work ever. I mean you can tell how each riff/part is carefully worked out. its so awesome.

  • video cameras were BIG back then

    -hard to hide

    how did you pull this off?

  • Power Windows is absolutely fantastic. If you like this album I highly suggest Presto, Grace Under Pressure and Hold Your Fire.

  • @natural2112science heres the order i think your recommendations should go in...

    1. P/G

    10. Presto

    999999999999. Hold Your Fire

    i think HYF was their corniest album they've ever done. except Force 10, which is so cool. NP bacically said as much in the Rush film. "We went a little too far" i think is what he said. Presto and RTB were sort of their final purging of the keyboard sounds and preparation for their ultimate comeback album, Counterparts.

  • @dwilmer7

    Haha Hold Your Fire is near and dear to me. I love the image of the man Juggling Fire in the alley.  Marathon, Time Stand Still, Prime Mover and Turn the Page are some of my all time favorites. This is one of those albums that should make you think, if nothing else.

  • @dwilmer7 Yeah Hold Your Fire is kinda heavy with keyboards, but Time Stand Still, Open Secrets, Force Ten, and Mission are all fantastic. It wasn't their best, but it's Rush, so it's still great!

  • @Jalreal hold your fire was the first rush album i didnt go out and buy. It was basically when I thought they were done as cutting edge innovators. But i agree force ten is so fantastic.

  • Just listened to Power Windows the other day, and it sounded insane! The production is insane!

  • @bdysrf Amen! Great music, great sound! Props to RUSH, Peter Collins, and Jimbo "James" Barton for making it all happen!

  • @bdysrf power windows is perhaps the best produced of all the Rush albums, absolutely amazing sound, this album captures Rush at one of their peak periods, and there have been many!!!

  • @bdysrf Power Windows is definitely in my top 5 Rush albums. It's simply amazing.

  • @bdysrf True, kudos to Peter Collins. Some Rush fans may hate him but I love his work with Rush of the four albums he produced, especially Power Windows.

  • @bdysrf too bad they didnt have the same production quality with grace or even hyf after, they sound flat in comparison

  • this is my favorite rush song, not just because i live in a town called Middletown

  • Strangely enough, Power Windows is my favorite album for Alex. The solos, the little "conversations" with the lyrics in the verses.... His parts are all just genius.

  • @todaystomsawyer Amen!

  • @todaystomsawyer Interesting point of view man, it deserves all possible thumbs up, not everybody has pointed that aspect of Alex.

  • @todaystomsawyer Yeah, Alex complained about this album, but shined through on these songs.

  • @todaystomsawyer I was watching an interview with Alex and Geddy earlier on Q TV - Alex basically said that he had to work 'harder' to write guitar parts after the synths were introduced. I think the fruits of his labour are most evident on Power Windows - a testament to Alex and the band's musical evolution at that point.

  • @todaystomsawyer I LOVE Alex's guitar parts thru the "synth era".

  • @todaystomsawyer yes you are correct. No doubt Alex was kinda forced to do something different because he was kinda being drowned out by 20 synths! ... :P

  • @todaystomsawyer

    Great comment, thanks for putting words to my similar thoughts!!! =)

    PS- My channel has tons of new RUSH and check boarderama com

  • I saw them on this tour in Oklahoma City. Imagine growing up in Oklahoma and hearing this song. Middle Town Dreams indeed.

  • Who the hell disliked this video?! This is my FAVORITE Rush song ever!

  • @mRtReMeLo I agree. This is a great song.

  • @mRtReMeLo I agree. This is a great song.

  • I'm a lifelong RUSH fan but I call shenanigans! Watch Geddy's hand on the keyboards during the choruses.

    PS - Regarding Neil, he may have a flashing light he can watch to stay in the ballpark on the tempo. Most modern metronomes have them so I imagine it's not hard to flash a click from a sequencer.

  • vive le quebec mais ou est neil ????

  • @kombulfrank Je sais, le caméraman ne s'est pas fixé sur Neil autant que Geddy et Alex.

  • Love this song, prolly my fav Rush song

  • My decade... postmodern man

  • Watch Geddy POP that Bass string at 1:05. Killer!!

  • nice hair

  • Geddy always had a great sense of pitch

  • Am I the only one who gets these weird feelings when the chorus of this song arrives? Feelings as if, I want to travel through the Canadian Rockies, or watch the Aurora Borealis?

  • 3:40-4:10 Has a lot of feeling. It's really kind of a sad song to me, but beautiful. The bass playing especially is outstanding ont he outro.

  • HOLY CRAP, When I play this song, I do the same pop that Geddy does at 1:06. Not too remarkable, EXCEPT I"VE NEVER LISTENED TO THE SONG LIVE BEFORE! It's not in the album version, and this, along with other nuances and things I've done before finding out that rush also does them... it's kind of creepy, how similar they and I are.

  • Yeah.....keyboards were used a lot during this time in rock music.....when this album came out along with grace under pressure....I really like the way Rush used keyboards, I never had a problem with any of their music that had keyboards in them.....

  • Power Windows is my fav album from the 80s

  • A lot of the critics did not like this album saying it had too much keyboards.....I always liked this album....All the songs on it had a lot of meaning for me.....

  • @rush2112mn normally id agree with the critics but it fit well with the time it was made when a lot of bands were keyboards...plus the way geddy lee manipulates that keyboard is great. never heard anything like it before

  • @rush2112mn Agreed. I used to play in a band in my younger days, and I played both guitar and keyboards equally well (I couldn't decide if I wanted to be a classical pianist or rock guitarist). When I hear boneheads make comments about keyboards as if they were "sissy" or "not rock n roll," I alternately want to scream, throw up, and punch a bag. They are morons.

  • Always loved this song, and this is a good bootleg, but I wonder if the guy who took this video knows Rush has a drummer??? Pretty good one actually.

  • Enter the days when Lifeson's guitar was practically non-existent. By Hold Your Fire, I'd had it. Not until I saw Rush in Rio on DVD did I become a fan again!

  • This is rare footage and a great example of their sound during that tour...the first time I saw them.

  • Alex just using strats on this tour?

  • Great song from a great band!

  • This is what music lacks today. Period. End of story.

  • Geddy had said in latter years after this tour with the Steinberger bass that he abandoned it because it lack bottom in the low end. It definatley sounds like it here. He did say that he liked the headless neck because when he spins around from keyboards back to bass, the lack of a headstock didn't smack his mic stand anymore.

  • Awesome song, even better live! Thank you so much for posting this.

  • This song is the story of my life and it males me weep.

  • Best song ever!

  • I would love to see this on the next tour.

  • Its amazing that some people totally knock Geddy's voice...meanwhile I think its amazing and I envy his singing abilities

  • there's so much emotion in this song. just awesome. you hit it on the head, his voice is totally underrated

  • No one will ever march Geddy's sound or ability! He is truly one of the best musicians of all time, but never gets the credit he deserves.

  • You all are freaking out JUST LIKE ME 14 shows Live and counting This is a GREAT POST Great TOUR NEVER FORGET IT!!! Thanks AGAIN!!!!! Keep it up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rush 4everrrrrrrrrrrr

  • I've never heard this live , so this is quite a find.

    As usual from Rush, a flawless performance.

  • BRING THIS SONG BACK!!!! I wasn't even born you guys played this...I wanna see it live.

  • This song just brought tears to my eyes, that was so epic.

  • Indeed.

  • I. don't. BELIEVE IT!!! MIDDLETOWN DREAMS LIVE?!? This is one of my all-time favorite songs, which unfortunately they only played on the Power Windows Tour...this bootleg is incredible; just listen to the stereo separation, and the Moog foot-pedals are just rumbling the base...Outstanding. This is getting downloaded from FF or Opera tonight and coverted for my cellphone!!

  • temaso!!!!

  • It's understood by every single person who'd be elsewhere if they could. So far, so good, and life's not unpleasant in their little neighborhood....

  • Songs in this vein of creativity were so far ahead of their time. The lyrics so intelligent, insightful, meaningful, inspiring. I so love their music from this era. Do you hear anything like this on the radio anymore?. . . . .an endless ocean of shallow, flavorless, bland, numbing music for the masses. . .tragic. Rush - The three wizards Gandalf, Radagast, and Saruman

  • another day as drab as today. . is more than a man can endure. ... . . .dreams flow across the heartland. . .feeding on the fires. .....

  • AND CAN YOU BELIEEEEEEEVE I think it was BLENDER magazine voted Neil Peart one of the WORST rock LYRICISTS of ALL TIME ??? freaking ignorant MORONS.

  • Worry not, for in the end, more people will remember the name Peart than the name of some obscure magazine that noone suscribes to.

  • REALLY?????? that's messed up.

  • lol lord of the rings... yeah I get what you're saying. WTF is a Lady Gaga?

  • God where in the hell did this come from? Superb sound quality, they absolutely nailed it.

  • Unreal sound quality! Awesome seeing them performing this song! Thx for upload dude!

  • I saw them in Lakeland Fl. in 1980..

    Unreal sound for 3 guys just letting it go..

    This song is such an inspiration...Neil can write some thought evolking lyrics..this and Subdivisions and the unreal Manhatten Project..they do Canada proud.

  • This has always been one of the coolest Rush songs ever to me.

  • I remember having Power Windows on tape, in the late 90s, when I was like 8 trying to sing along with this one. Wore that tape out! Whew. I get chills thinkin about it.

  • Fucking awesome!

  • Ahhh...The sweet sounds of the 80's. I love it at 2:16 With the keyboard.

    I hope this song will be on their next tour!

  • Ged knew how to use a sequencer for sure!!!

  • i'm pretty sure he uses a wal bass on the album version

  • By far the best RUSH show I ever was at: drove up from Santa Cruz to see 'em in Sacaramento, CA..sometime during May'86. I was 16 and real skinny but superstoked....they played the amphitheater there, it was like 80 degrees and the packed crowd was ROWDY and hardcore. The Fabulous Thunderbirds opened!! ha ha. Was right under Alex Lifeson when they opened with Limlight...and I almost got squashed completely. Their sound was incredible and the band obviously had a great time.

  • My dad recalls going to one of the 86 concerts with his brother and seein them with the Thunderbirds! Its hard to leave a Rush show unimpressed, but I liked the setlist on this tour...

  • Excellent, great song, great video.

  • geds steinberger is unbelievable. These videos make my face melt. The steinberger... one word... ungodly

  • WHAT! you kidding me

  • 2:16 owns.... I love it.

  • Love this song!Great Bass!

  • What a find this video is. I LOVE this song...."Dreams transport desires

    Drive you when you're down" Yep out of the vault it should come next tour. Ahhh fantastic dreams come true!!!!

  • Very much I love this song, it was pleasant to me in 85 year, I from Russia

  • i think the head phones house a metronome.

    watch the weapon from the p/g tour. it has some funky beat that would require one IMO

  • it is a metro

  • They NEED to take this one out of the vault, along with "Presto" and a few others. It would be F-ing miraculous to see how they arrange these songs now. What ever songs they choose to play you can be assured that your head will explode from the awesomeness, like the guy from "Scanners."

  • I really want to know how neil kept the tempo identical each for the sequencer that comes in at 2:18, im pretty sure they werent playing to a click, neil used to wear headphones for the ones that needed a click, and he doesnt appear to have them here

  • Yeah, I can't figure it out, either! He wears headphones for sure on Red Sector A. But on tracks like Force Ten, he doesn't. Even just any songs where Geddy triggers vocal harmonies have to be played at the right tempo or else it will be out of sync. I just don't know how he does it.

  • this was an amazing tour! Band was so tight. lights and sound awesome! went two nights in a row. philly 86. wish they would re hire the sound man. you can hear every thing so clearly. The soundman of recent tours could learn a lot! thank you so much for posting these videos!

  • Yes, you're right this was one of their best tour ever! Song, sound and lighting...

  • he has a litle metronome on his kit that blinks the tempo before each song. just a couple blinks and then they're off. they've all been at it for so long that its just ingrained into them. sometimes he'll have a sequence or sample put into his in-ear monitors but they are usually on their own. its insane

  • No - if you look, they all use Sennheisser in-ear monitors and Neil's drum tech pipes in the tempos through that...

  • Actually Neil wasn't using in ear monitors until several tours after Geddy and Alex started using them. In fact as late as the Hold Your Fire tour Neil wasn't using them. He was still using the big headphones for Red Sector A. He didn't think he'd like them so it took the other guys a few tours to talk him into trying them. I also read an article that they were one of the few bands who did not have to have tempos or clicks fed into the monitors to know when to trigger the effects.

  • No, no, no. Neil didn't use IEMs until Test for Echo. The only time NP has ever had tempos "piped" in is when he used a click track for Time Stand Sill and Red Sector A (see songs where he wears headphones)

  • @RollTheFemers Great song. These guys have played this song and other material sooo much and they are such amazing musicians that they can probably play so close to the tempo for the sequence that NP doesnt need headphones. i dont know though, just a guess. no matter what way you cut it, these guys are musical gods.

  • this band is genius!

  • this would have been like the best rush tour to see....for me...or maybe 2112. but still this tour is a little better the show of hands tour....i like power windows a little more than hold ur fire. still are both amazing very strong albums

  • This song is so high energy, and it has about 6 different parts that blend together seamlessly. God, I love Rush.

  • this is one of my favorite Rush songs and the sound quality of this video is really awesome. keep in mind that this is 1986!!!

  • favorite Power windows song

    one of Neil's best lyrics

    the chorus is simply heavenly

  • I wish Geddy would've kept all 4 keyboards. now his keyboards are like 1.5 but he's still kicking ass with the keys!

  • Well, he doesnt need 4 keyboards anymore. Now all the brains have been taken out of synths and put onto hard drives - all you need now is one controller connected to a MIDI interface connected USB or firewire to the PC OR MAC - Computer Hard Drives can store endless libraries of sounds - the days of 4, 5, 6 keyboards will soon be obsolete. PEACE

  • No doubt, I have an m-audio 88-es, and it's not the most AMAZING keyboard in the world, but I can simulate pretty much anything.

  • Thank You! This was my favorite tour.This brings back a lot of memories.Saw them at the Summit in Houston, Texas in 1986. Sidenote: Geddy switched to the Wal bass guitar for Power Windows. Did'nt know he played a Stienberger on that tour.

  • He should never had switched to that Wal. I love his steinberger.

  • He's so cool with his Steinberger L2 bass! He should bring it back on a next tour...

  • That would have been awesome. But i like his jazzbass to.

  • i sometimes think geddy s vocals dont fit the track, but bang on here , G U P my fave album though ,