Ten years ago, the members of Rush declared their collective minds were not for rent to any god or government with the release of the landmark Moving Pictures, the most comprehensive recording in their 18-album history. Since then, the band has taken its first-rate musicianship and ambitious lyrics all over the stylistic map in an attempt to shed the “art metal” tag. Along the way, they often tried too hard, and ended up with bland, passionless (though technically precise) material; songs tended to be unremarkable (much of 1988’s Hold Your Fire).

The light, airy compositions that fill Roll the Bones indicate the band has re-discovered the value of simplicity. “Bravado” is a simple, restrained tribute to unrealized dreams. “Ghost of a Chance” is the notoriously-unsentimental Neil Peart’s most humanistic look at relationships ever; it slips into an elegant chorus that closes with Geddy Lee’s even-tempered delivery of “I believe there’s a ghost of chance / We can find someone to love / and make it last.” Peart, whose drumming is unusually basic, still gets his existentialist rocks off.

The title track couldn’t be a clearer statement of purpose: “Why are we here? / Because we’re here / Roll the bones / Why does it happen? / Because it happens / Roll the bones.” In other words, forget superstition, forget fate and Just Do It. The cut also features a spacey mid-section that is either Rush’s most daring break to date, or an unbelievably lame attempt at rap, depending on your point of view. The soaring instrumental “Where’s My Thing?” (whimsically subtitled as the fourth part of a “trilogy”) may not be as aggressive as Moving Pictures‘ “YYZ,” but it stands out from the pack. And distinctiveness, wherever it is, is rarely a bad thing.