After the Hold Your Fire (1987) tour ended in 1988, the group members reconvened in December to decide their next step and agreed to take six months off before starting on a new album.

Presto marked another change in Rush's sound, with guitar taking a more dominant role in the writing, a reduction in synthesizers and a return towards more guitar-driven arrangements.

Presto reached gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling 500,000 copies.

[7] The group then decided not to renew contracts with international distributor Mercury Records; Lifeson said they departed because the relationship had become stale by this point.

[8] In December 1988, the group gathered at Peart's house to discuss the next step and agreed to start a new studio album after the break.

[8][9] Work on Presto began with Rush renting a studio in the country to write and rehearse new material.

Peart wrote: "At the end of the day I might wander into the studio, ice cubes clinking, and listen to what they'd been up to, and if I'd been lucky, show them something new.

[8] Presto marks the beginning of Rush's return to a more guitar-driven sound from what's known to many as the band's "synthesizer period" of the previous four releases.

When Lifeson and Lee discussed what musical direction to take, they agreed that the core of the band's sound, emotion, and energy had come from the guitar, something that they wanted to return to for Presto.

[10] Lee explained that Rush wanted Presto to be "more of a singer's album, and I think you'll notice that the arrangements musically support the vocal.

Though Rush felt confident enough to undertake production duties themselves, they still wanted someone they could trust and to provide an objective point of view to their ideas.

[8] Among the various candidates was English producer, songwriter, and keyboardist Rupert Hine, whose experience with a variety of artists attracted the group.

[7] "The Pass" concerns a friend of Peart's who joined him on a cycle ride and once discussed juvenile suicide, which inspired the lyrics for the song.

[12] The song became a group favorite; Peart cited the track as the reason they would re-record the Presto album, if they could.

[16] All lyrics are written by Neil Peart; all music is composed by Geddy Lee and Alex LifesonCredits taken from the album's CD liner notes.