If the music of Rush 's most recent album feels lofty and majestic, it's probably because it was made on a mountaintop high in the Catskills , in surroundings conducive to the creation of the kind of soaring and mighty prog-rock sound this Canadian trio of virtuosos started perfecting back in the mid-'70s.

"Snakes & Arrows” was recorded at the residential Allaire Studios, where drummer Neil Peart , bassist-keyboar...