The Arrows (Canadian band)

Lore & Background

The Arrows were formed in 1981 by vocalist Dean McTaggart. Their first release was the single 'Treat Her Right' b/w 'Come On Up' in 1981, followed by a four-song mini-album titled Misunderstood in 1982, recorded at Grant Avenue Studios and produced by Daniel Lanois. In 1984, the band signed with A&M Records and released their debut album Stand Back, produced by David Tyson, who became McTaggart's frequent writing partner. The album was a national success in Canada, yielding the top 40 single 'Meet Me in the Middle' and earning the band a spot as the opening act on the UK leg of Chris de Burgh's 1984 tour.

After returning home, the band recorded their second album The Lines Are Open, released in October 1985. Singles 'Heart of the City', 'Talk Talk', and 'Chains' all saw success in Canada, but pressures from management for a breakout hit caused internal problems. Following a cross-Canada tour, the group disbanded at the end of 1986. McTaggart continued his songwriting career, writing hits for artists such as Wynonna, Terri Clark, and Amanda Marshall.

Over the years, the band's music was reissued: a CD compilation Talk Talk: The Best of The Arrows appeared on a German import label in 1995, Stand Back was re-issued on CD in 2011, and The Lines Are Open was re-issued in 2013.

Reader's Guide

The Arrows represent a notable but short-lived chapter in Canadian new wave music of the 1980s. Their significance lies primarily in their national chart success and their role as a launching pad for Dean McTaggart's subsequent songwriting career, which produced hits for major country and pop artists. The band's debut album Stand Back, produced by David Tyson, achieved commercial success in Canada and provided them with a high-profile opening slot on Chris de Burgh's UK tour. Their second album The Lines Are Open continued their Canadian chart presence but failed to deliver the breakout hit that management sought, leading to the band's dissolution in 1986. The reissues of their albums in the 2010s and the 1995 compilation on a German import label indicate a modest but enduring interest in their catalog. Their legacy is primarily tied to McTaggart's later songwriting achievements, including co-writing Amanda Marshall's Canadian AC No. 1 hit 'Dark Horse' and Wynonna's 'Heaven Help My Heart'.

Did You Know?

• The Arrows were not to be confused with the British band Arrows.
• Their 1982 mini-album Misunderstood was produced by Daniel Lanois.
• The band opened for Chris de Burgh on the UK leg of his 1984 tour.
• Amanda Marshall's Canadian AC No. 1 hit 'Dark Horse' was written by Amanda Marshall and David Tyson.

The Writing Process & Creative Shift

After wrapping their R30 anniversary tour in late 2004, Rush took a full year off before reconvening in January 2006 to begin new material. This time, rather than gathering in a single studio, the trio split up: Lee and Lifeson jammed in their Toronto home studios on a three-day week, molding ideas into arranged songs guided by a click track, while Peart wrote lyrics from his southern California home, collaborating online and making trips to Toronto and New York. Lifeson credited a casual, relaxed approach and noted they did more pre-production than usual. A chance meeting with David Gilmour in Toronto inspired Lifeson to test tunes on acoustic guitar first—a method so valued that Gilmour received a liner-note thank-you. Peart, meanwhile, drew lyrical fuel from themes of faith, fear, religion intertwined with war, and the religious billboards he'd photographed during his motorcycle cross-country trip documented in his book Roadshow. He also revisited a Robert Frost epitaph and lyrical fragments he'd jotted down fifteen years earlier. Much of the music settled into 3/4 time, and a National Post writer noted the angular chord changes recalled the band's 1978 landmark Hemispheres.

Recording at Allaire Studios

The core tracking sessions stretched across 36 days in November and December 2006 at Allaire Studios, a facility tucked into Glen Tonche on Mount Tonch in New York's Catskill Mountains. Peart, who had previously used the studio for his drum-solo instructional DVD, persuaded his bandmates to record there rather than in Toronto. The original plan was modest—two weeks to capture drums and bass before returning to Lifeson's home studio for guitars—but the estate's surroundings, the available gear, and the momentum of the sessions convinced the group to extend their stay by four weeks and finish the entire album on site. They began around ten in the morning and often worked late into the evening. Co-producer Nick Raskulinecz, a longtime admirer of the band, was praised by all three members for his technique and approach. The finished record features three instrumental tracks, the highest count on any Rush album to date, and the sessions were completed in roughly five weeks of active tracking.

Release, Chart Success & Long-Term Legacy

Snakes & Arrows hit shelves on May 1, 2007, through Anthem Records, in CD format, a limited-edition double LP pressed to just 5,000 copies, and a Music Video Interactive edition of 25,000. The album climbed to number three on both the Canadian and American charts, and by September 2007 it had earned a gold certification in Canada. The track "Malignant Narcissism" earned the band a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Critics continued to champion the record well past its release window: Classic Rock later named it one of the ten essential progressive rock albums of the decade. Two tracks, "Far Cry" and "Workin' Them Angels," were subsequently included on the 2009 compilation Retrospective 3. The album's afterlife in the catalogue has been notable: it was remastered and reissued in 2013 as part of The Studio Albums 1989–2007 box set, and in 2016 received a fresh remaster by Sean Magee at Abbey Road Studios after Rush directly approached the studio to rework their entire back catalogue.

Title, Themes & Visual Identity

The album's name emerged from Peart's research while writing the lyrics to "Armor and Sword." He explored the ancient Indian board game leela—a precursor to the children's game snakes and ladders—and the Shakespearean phrase "slings and arrows" from Hamlet. Peart described the title as a way to frame the "good" kind of faith as protective armor while the "bad" kind becomes a weapon. Rather than checking a record-shop master list as he had in earlier years, he searched online and discovered the leela connection. He then found a hand-painted gameboard by artist Harish Johari, which he brought to Lee and Lifeson; the three agreed it would serve as the front cover, and longtime designer Hugh Syme incorporated it into the sleeve layout. Thematically, Peart called the songs "spiritual," and his lyrics wove together faith, fear, the entanglement of religion and war, hope, and despair. When he first heard Lee sing his words—particularly "Bravest Face" and "The Way the Wind Blows"—he described the experience as a thrill and a sense of affirmation, noting the fresh, unfamiliar sound of the material compared to earlier Rush output.