Rush - Permanent Waves (1979)

A delightfully fast hammer-on/pull-off filled guitar riff, followed by the drums which come in with a crash and quickly move into an off time poly rhythmic cacophony that cascades into a train wreck that soon converges into a slowed down groove that picks right back up and enters into The Spirit Of Radio: Track one off Permanent Waves.

This first track is best described as 'the cure for the monday's'! For me at least...but it's a song I've definitely heard before on the radio and enjoyed it then, but I'm in love with it now!  Even the little reggae breakdown section near the end of the tune.

This whole album hit me somewhat differently than previous albums.  With Permanent Waves, I think Rush have changed up their game a bit, but thankfully they haven't abandoned the thing that makes them great (read: amazing musicianship). Everything is still rife with multi-movement songs and parts that make me say "there's no way in Hell I could ever hope to play that" but there's a lack of the side spanning epic and the song lengths seem to have evened out between the 5-8 minute mark (with the exception of the last song on the album "Natural Science" which clocks in at about 9 1/2 minutes.)

While still heavy on the complex musicianship, I would actually say that this is the most straightforward Rush album I've heard since their first few albums.  It would definitely make a great jumping off point for anyone looking to get into this great Canadian band.

I give Permanent Waves a recommendation of 9/10.  Permanent Waves was recorded in September-October 1979 at Le Studio in Morin Heights, Quebec and was again produced by Rush and Terry Brown and spawned the singles "The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill".



****I find I'm starting to really have a hard time writing review after review of the same band's music, as I find I pretty much have the same thing to say over and over.  The tricky part is that with the idea to review every album from 1974 - present may have been an overly ambitious undertaking along with being in 3 bands, doing a weekly podcast and contributing reviews and occasional articles to my home base website http://www.commaerror.com/ in addition to working a full-time job.  As such, I will be taking an indefinite hiatus from my journey to Rushification, but will be back hopefully before the snow melts with a review of Rush's 8th Studio album 'Moving Pictures', which features the most recognizable Rush tune to date: "Tom Sawyer"

Hope to see you all soon Kiddies!

Rush - Hemispheres (1978)

Wow....just wow!!

Coming off the last album 'A Farewell To Kings', I was a bit embittered, as it was the first album review where I found myself having a bit of trouble coming up with the right words to describe how I felt about the album.  I have found myself having a similar problem describing 'Hemispheres'. Although for vastly different reasons.

'Hemispheres' may very well be my favorite Rush album so far in my journey of rushification!  Although it is only four songs long, each one has it's own personality and vibe, each different from the last. 

From the opening track 'Cygnus X-1 Book 2' (companion piece to the final track of the previous album), this album takes you for a wild ride filled with multiple rhythms/time signatures, amazing bass grooves and intricate guitar work.  There's also a song that could be described as an homage to British satirical humour!  It's crazy!

So now for a track by track breakdown:

Cygnus X-1: Book 2: Another side-spanning epic track!  And a really good one at that.  The standard music tricks are all put to effective use in this song including multiple time signatures, constant groove changes, effects heavy guitar work and slick bass licks. 
Lyrical subjects seem to be heavily influenced by Greek mythology as seen through the sections dedicated to various Greek Gods such as Apollo and Dionysus.  Personally, this epic didn't really strike any major personal chords within me and the lyrics seem to be very open to interpretation and without any clear cut linear story elements (such as those seen in 2112 or the Necromancer from previous albums) but when the musical element is as good as it is on this track, somewhat mundane lyrical work is forgivable. 

Circumstances:  Pretty much the only song that is radio-friendly enough to be a single (the next track was actually a single as well back in the day).  This tune has an awesome groove, awesome lyrics that even have a couple of lines in french, as well as the same line in English "the more that things change, the more they stay the same".  Overall a very strong Rush track, but probably the least interesting on the album....at least to my ears.

The Trees:  Here we have a spectacular piece of music, juxtaposed against possibly the silliest Rush lyrics on any albums so far.  It's basically a song about how oak trees are bigger than maple trees and how maple trees are pissed off and feel oppressed in the shade of their larger counterparts.  Or I suppose it could also be a satirical metaphor for the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, with the former being the oaks and the latter being the maples...either way, there's trouble in the forest.  If you can get past the lyrics it's actually a really great song sonically.  But the lyrics kind of make me chuckle every time I hear the song.  But I suppose it keeps with the theme throughout the albums of divides (read: Hemispheres...)

La Villa Strangiato:  Quite possibly my favorite Rush instrumental track to date.  Uses sections of the 1937 Raymond Scott Composition "Powerhouse" which you may recognize from 'Honey I shrunk The Kids' or just imagine a crazy factory scene and I'm sure you'll probably have this tune in the back of your mind.  It should also be noted that at this point in thier career, Rush was still recording all parts in one solid take with no overdubs....so with that in mind, this song is all track long takes (apprently it only took about 40 tries to get it right....I think I would require about 4000 on any of the instruments)

Being that this was the last album released during the 70's, which is thus far my only real exposure to Rush, I have high hopes for the 80's!  My understanding is that the 80's became somewhat of a synth-heavy, new-wave period for the band, followed by them returning to more rock n roll inspired sound sometime in the 90's. 

Hemispheres was recorded during the summer of 1978 at Rockfield Studios in South Wales, UK and was produced by Rush and Terry Brown.  This is the second album the band recorded in the UK and in my opinion, is far more enjoyable than 'A Farewell to Kings'

I give Hemispheres a recommendation of 8 out of 10.

Next up for review:  Permanent Waves (1980)

Rush - A Farewell To Kings (1977)

Rush is back and musically, they're as awesome as ever!  Or rather, MORE awesome than ever....in many ways.  Although not so much in others, unfortunately.

The first thing that jumped out at me about this album is the complexities in the arrangements have improved greatly.  There's a good mix up of grooves, time signature changes, epic tracks and radio friendly ones as well.  Oh... and one really soft love ballad.  The lyrics didn't really stand out to me as much as the last few albums.  In fact, I think I may have burned myself out a bit by being so ambitious as to only spend 1 week with each album.  As such, I've actually taken 3 weeks to fully immerse myself and really get a feel for this album.

The further I delve into this journey of rushification, the more intense the albums become, despite the fact that the more recent albums have fewer 'tracks', the songs get longer.  The arrangements get more complex and the subject matter of the albums becomes less and less relatable and more rooted in fantasy and literature.

I've been listening to A Farewell To Kings for weeks now and while I've pretty much memorized every nuance of the album, I feel no real personal connection to this particular Rush album(and I really tried!).  The arrangements and instrumentation are quite outstanding and I wouldn't have a hope in hell of being able to play along to this album accurately on any instrument (and I'm pretty good at Guitar, Drums and Bass).  But highly technical instrumentation will only get you so far.  I would have to say that as far as songwriting goes, this is the weakest album I have heard from Rush, thus far...

That being said, all the songs on this album are, indeed, quite technically amazing. 'Closer to the heart' is one of Rush's more recognizable tunes and is easily the best song on the album.  It's catchy, up beat rhythm, and the fact that it isn't switching between 7/4 and 6/8 time signatures makes it great for the radio.  Cygnus X-1 is also one of the best Rush epics I've heard so far in the journey.  At the very least it's the best epic on the album. I didn't much care for Xanadu, although the keyboard part towards the end is catchy, but also so high pitched it makes the back of my head feel like it's going to explode in both joy and pain.

This album has taught me a lesson:  amazing musicianship will get you in the door, but you gotta keep up the songwriting skills or you run the risk of growing stale.  I've also decided that as the technicality of Rush's album seems to be progressing, I will be taking 3 weeks to fully listen to and appreciate each album.  This is a journey towards rushification and I just don't want to burn myself out.  I have 15 more albums to get through after all.

I give A Farewell To Kings a recommendation of 5/10 as it just didn't hold my attention as well as previous albums, while the amazing musicianship is there, some element in the songwriting just seems to have been lost.  Here's hoping the next album makes up for it.

Notably, this is Rush's first album recorded outside Canada.  The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales in June of 1977 and was produced by Rush and Terry Brown.

Up next in the Rush catalogue is 1978's Hemispheres.  I'm really hoping I like it better than this album, but I'm very excited as 'La Villa Stangioto' is on it and I've heard nothing but mind blowingly good things about that track.  See you in a few weeks!  Stay Rushified kids!

Rush - 2112 (1976)

Coming off the tour dubbed by the band themselves as the 'Down the Drains Tour', Rush is back in full force with the album that could have been, and almost was, their last.

The previous album 'Caress of Steel' was, at the time of its release, a commercial and critical failure in the eyes of the band's label and even fans. I guess it was just a little too 'out there' for people's tastes at the time and just didn't end up selling very well. Prior to the recording of 2112, Rush was advised to record an album that could be marketed with more ease. Specifically, they were told to include more singles that would work for radio play. 

Given that the self-titled first track clocks in at just over the 20 minute mark (making it the longest Rush track at the time if it's release), it's safe to say that Rush did not give the label what they wanted. What they did give them and the world proved to be an album that would go down in Rock n' Roll history as one of the most influential records of all time.

The album begins with the title track, the first movement of which is subtitled 'The Overture' and fittingly so, as it uses a typical overture pacing/rhythm. The epic track goes on to tell the story that borrows many plot elements from Ayn Rands 'Anthem' (also a track title from Rush's 1975 release 'Fly By Night'). The main plot being set in the distant future, when the world and all knowledge is controlled by the priests of the Temples of Syrinx. The main character makes the miraculous discovery of a musical instrument, (presumably a guitar from the musical accompaniment) and excitedly decides to bring his discovery before the priests in order to share his beautiful music with the world, and then goes on to describe the less than favorable reaction he gets from them and how this affects his outlook on the authorities in place in this future world.

As far as side-spanning epic songs, this one is the second I've heard (the other being Caress of Steel's Fountain of Lamneth) and as far as I'm concerned, it's a definite improvement over the previous one. The story of the song is played out more cohesively with the structure of the movements being pulled together a little bit less clunkily than Fountain of Lamneth. There's more variety sonically and it just held my attention more than the previous side-spanner.

The second half of the album consists of 5 individual songs where the song writing credits get a little bit mixed up. We see both Lifeson and Lee getting their own individually written songs for the first time since Peart's addition to the lineup. The songs 'Lessons' and 'Tears' were penned by Lifeson and Lee (respectively).

The first second-half song is 'Passage to Bangkok' which is a riff-heavy homage to touring overseas (or at least that's what my interpretation is). The main intro guitar line has been stuck in my head for days!

Things get taken down a notch or 2 with the next track 'The Twilight Zone', which has almost a Pink Floyd feel to it. The lyrics describe some strange, strange things that would seemingly occur only in the twilight zone. Ending in a subtle but effective guitar solo outro.

Now we come to the Lifeson penned track 'Lessons'. What sets this track apart from the rest of the album is its straight-forward writing style (just a basic meat n' potatoes 4/4 rock riff) uncommon to the Rush's songs, going back as far as the first album.  The real feature of this song is the amazing guitar work, which makes sense as it was written by the guitarist in a non-collaborative manner.

The Geddy Lee track 'Tears' is yet another that I can see having been surprising to fans at the time the album originally was released. Say what you will, but this is a beautiful song and while also very straightforward and almost predictable in writing style, it shows amazing understanding of melody and harmony and multiple key changes keep it all interesting, as the song is indeed a slow beautiful ballad with minimal percussion. This is also the first Rush song to feature an outside musician (Hugh Syme plays Mellotron on the track).

Last but not least is 'Something for Nothing', a track more reminiscent of the previous album 'Caress of Steel'. The song definitely helps bring some energy to the end of the album and remind you that the last 2 tracks were just to show you what these guys can do individually, but at the end of the day, they are a super tight band who are here to show you a good time, and maybe make you think about a few things.

Going into the album, I had the prior knowledge that this was the first album the band wrote entirely in the studio and not on the road and the songwriting shows a definite turn in style. It's as if the songs on 2112 were written with the listener in mind as opposed to a live audience. There's a heavier use of multiple time signatures within a single song and polyrhythmic patterns. Rush's sheer musicianship continues to impress at every turn to the point where the rare dull moments on the album are almost welcomed between the barrage of heavy riffs.

Overall, I give 2112 an 8/10. I highly recommend checking out this album in it's entirety if you never have. You won't be disappointed!

2112 was recorded at Toronto Sound Studios and produced by Terry Brown.  This was notably Rush's first album to achieve Gold status.  The album went on to sell so well, Rush's label pretty much let them do anything they wanted from here on out.

Again for fun, here's what Rush looked like circa 1976:

Check out those cool outfits!!

Next up for review: A Farewell to Kings.

Rush - Caress of Steel (1975)

Just 7 short months after the release of their second album in February 1975 and the ensuing tour, Rush came back in full force with their 3rd album 'Caress of Steel' and God Damn have they come into their own. The thing for me that stands out about this album that sets it apart from their previous 2 releases is the fact that Rush seems to be taking themselves less seriously on this release and just having a good time. 

The songs get cheekier, the epics get longer and more experimental and the musicianship, again, shows both improvement and strangely enough what seems to be a bit of restraint and focus. 

The opening track 'Bastille Day' starts with a catchy guitar riff accompanied by Neil Peart's fancy drum work, which builds towards and launches into one of the most serious (at least in subject matter) songs I've yet to hear from Rush, with lyrics describing the storming of the Bastille during the French revolution. Oddly, the first song then leads into 'I think I'm going bald' which is probably the LEAST serious song I've heard from Rush, lyrically speaking.  It has a bit of a KISS vibe to it, but in a good way!  And of course, awesome guitar solo!
We then move into the last typically structured song of the album 'Lakeside Park', which is basically a love letter to a park that Neil Peart worked at in his younger days and I would say this song has the catchiest groove of the album, it really gets your head bopping around like a bobble-head (oh...am I the only one who does this shamelessly in public...?)

Now comes the portion of the album where the magic happens.  I'm of course referring to the back to back epics 'The Necromancer' and the side-spanning 'Fountain of Lamneth' (back in the day when records were two-sided affairs, it must have been really odd to find one side filled with one song).

Personally, I enjoyed the 12 minute 'Necromancer' to the 20 minute 'Fountain of Lamneth'.  20 minutes is actually a really long time to commit to one song, even if it is technically an amazing song, it's still just shy of the amount of time a half-hour show runs when you watch it on DVD (which is totally the way to go for watching TV shows...it's advertisement free on DVD!)

In the Necromancer, there are 3 clearly laid out sections, each with an intro voice-over and their own groove and feel (Into the Darkness, Under the Shadow and Return of the Prince) and this was also billed as being 'a short story in 3 parts'.  It section also boasts its own breathtaking guitar solo.  This song is pretty much mind-blowing at every turn.

Fountain of Lamneth, which is itself broken down into 6 parts: In the Valley, Didacts and Narpets (a play on words for teachers and parents, narpets being an anagram of the latter), No One at the Bridge, Panacea, Bacchus Plateau and The Fountain.  Points of interest for me were the 4 minute mark (some amazing drum work in this passage), just past the 8 minute mark there's a slower groove which leads into a steadily building guitar solo which tapers out into the next section 'Panacea' that starts up with some sweet-sounding acoustic guitar just before the 10 minute mark. This seems to be the point where I start to lose interest.  Thankfully, at 13 minutes the 'Bacchus Plateau' section brings the groove back up a notch, but not too much and slowly builds over a few minutes until peaking at the guitar solo section which hits at about 15:30, but then fades out pretty quickly and leads back into the main riff of the song and just as quickly back and forth between the hard and soft main sections of the first section of the song, one last solo from Lifeson and one last verse before slowly fading away.

Throughout the album I was treated to many groove changes and breakdowns and of course a bunch of great Alex Lifeson solos and Neil Peart's amazing drums skills. What impresses me most about the guitar solos throughout the album is the use of off-time rhythms contrasted with the uber-tight rhythms set up by Lee and Peart, who have really solidified themselves as a force to be reckoned with, which is in itself impressive considering this is the second album the band has written with Peart as drummer/lyricist.

With all that said, when addressing the album as a whole, all the ingredients of the album are there, but for some reason the resulting mix just doesn't add up and has a hard time consistently holding my attention like the previous 2 albums.  Don't get me wrong:  This is a really good album and is totally worth giving a couple full listens to, but I highly doubt that this will end up being my favorite Rush album.

I give Caress of Steel  a recommendation of 6.5 out of 10.

Caress of Steel was recorded in June-July of 1975 at Toronto Sound Studios and was released September 1st 1975 on Mercury Records (Anthem Records in Canada) and was produced by Rush and Terry Brown.

The ensuing tour was dubbed the 'Down the Drains Tour' by the band as the album did quite poorly in sales in comparison to the previous 2 albums.  The bands label began to demand that they stick to radio format more and that their next album include more marketable singles.  The bands response was not what their label was expecting, but the result of their defiance will go down in rock history.

Join me next week when I review Rush's infamous 4th studio album, '2112'

Rush - Fly By Night (1975)

Within the first few seconds of the opening track, you get hit with what can only be equated to a musical punch in the face and it's obvious that Rush has stepped up their game for their sophomore release. Seriously....holy crap!

Considering that their first album was a solid effort throughout, it's hard to imagine that there was so much room for improvement. And yet they have managed to weather both a line up change with the addition of new drummer Neil Peart (who also took on duties as primary lyricist)as well as their first major headlining tour and the improvement in musicianship is glaringly obvious as well as subtle.

It's an impressive statement to say that all aspects of the band are significantly better on the second album, which is a rare enough thing in the music business. It's a cold fact, in the music industry, that you have your whole life to write awesome songs for your first album, but are then expected to top that with your second release in a much shorter span of time. I can state with confidence that all aspects of Rush were significantly improved on the second release. The drums were better. The bass lines were better. The vocals and lyrics were better and even the guitar work, which was the best feature of the first album for me, shows significant improvement in both precision and style. There's even a bunch of acoustic and classical guitar thrown into the mix (and who doesn't love the sweet sounds of a good ol' nylon sting guitar?)

Let's talk lyrics for a moment. I would say that when I'm listening to music, the lyrics are usually the last thing I'm paying attention to. Therefore, it took me a few listens to this album to appreciate how Rush has grown lyrically from the first album. From the first track 'Anthem', which borrows heavily from the works of Ayn Rand (particularly her novella of the same name) the deepness and themes of the lyrics have shifted from 'Good time party band' to more mature introspective lyrics including songs about: reflections about life on the road, finding your place in the world and even a few tunes with epic fantasy themes! The track 'Rivendell' is about the elven city of the same name from Tolkein lore, as well as a the first Rush song I've heard with minimal instrumentation with only a nylon string guitar and a flute of some kind(NYLON STING GUITARS RULE!!!).

This album also features the first 'epic' track by Rush (By-Tor and the Snow Dog) which is broken up into movements and describes a battle between the character of Prince By-Tor and his nemesis (you guessed it) the Snow Dog which if I was following correctly occurs just after a journey across the river Styx. It is my understanding that Rush gained considerable recognition for their many 'epics' and if this is any indication, I've got plenty to look forward to in coming albums.

Only a few out of this albums 8 tracks that are reminiscent of the previous album's feel. Included among them are 'Best I can', 'Beneath, Between and Beyond' and the closer 'In the End'. And even 'Fly By Night' doesn't deviate too far from the first album, but at the same time is superior in every way imaginable. Seriously. It's a fantastic song!

Overall, the band has definitely come into their own with this surprisingly deep second release and I highly recommend enjoying it on a road trip, or pop it in your headphones and go for a long walk. You might just find by then end of it you'll be questioning the choices you've made in life and your place in the world....but in a good way!

I give Fly By Night a solid 8 out of 10.

Fly By Night was recorded in late 1974 at Toronto Sound Studios and released Feb 15th 1975 on Mercury Records (Anthem Records in Canada) and was the first album produced by Terry Brown, who would serve in this role until 1982's Signals.

Next up for review: Caress of Steel! Join me next week as we pick apart the album that supposedly almost destroyed Rush's career!

Rush - Rush (1974)

"Yeah! OH, YEAH!!"
So rings the opening line of Rush's debut album, as the listener is immediately grabbed by the balls and taken on a musical journey filled with dizzying drum work, screaming guitar solos and comprehensive (if not a little bit duller than I was expecting) basslines. Ladies and gentlemen: Prepare to be RUSHIFIED!


From the opening line, it becomes glaringly obvious why, at the time of this albums release, people were calling into radio stations clamoring to hear the newest single from Led Zeppelin. This album is reminiscent of many popular groups of the time that were an obvious influence on this relatively unknown band out of Toronto. The main one, of course, being the aforementioned Led Zeppelin, but also include The Who, Pink Floyd, Kiss and even a couple riffs that made me think of Ramjam's 'Black Betty'(which as it turns out came 3 years after this album...so I may have the influences backwards!). Either way, it's just a fact of life and music that any new kid on the block is going to be compared to other bands. It's also a fact that everyone is influenced by other artists. That being said, this album is not to be taken as a simple Zeppelin sound-alike.

The first 3 tracks hold a steady fast-paced bluesy rock-n-roll flavour that keeps my head bopping and my feet tapping. What stands out most for me are Geddy Lee's Robert Plant-esque vocal work and Alex Lifeson's ripping solos, which are featured in every track on the album (some tracks have multiple solos). I learned from 'Beyond the Lighted Stage' that Lifeson dropped out of grade 12 as a result of only ever wanting to play guitar and doing so in most of his free time. Let this be a lesson to the parents out there who discourage their children from similar pursuits: sometimes it pays off!

After the opening few songs, there is a deliberate shift in pace and tone as we get to track 4 'Here again'. The first thought that struck me was 'Hey! This sounds less like Zeppelin and more like Pink Floyd!' And truth be told, this song could very well be a Floyd tune. And a good one at that! Clocking in at 7 minutes 35 seconds, this is the longest track on the 8 song album, and stands out from the others with it's slower pace, but not to worry, ripping solos and fantastic drums are ever present. It's a nice mid-album break from the faster paced rock numbers.

The shift in pace is short lived however, as we move right into the upbeat 'What you're doing', which for me is the most forgettable tune on the album. Chock it up to the mid-album lull. Thankfully, it's still got a great guitar solo and a solid drum beat topped off by a uber-tight rock n' roll ending. And the last few tracks make up for it.

Next we move onto 'In the Mood' which instantly inspires thoughts of Kiss in my mind (...in a good way). It also satisfies my fever....the only prescription for which is: MORE COWBELL! (Naturally)

Next, we move onto the aptly named 'Before and After' which begins with a catchy, ballad-like intro, slow building up to another up-tempo rock n' roll riff with enough use of the word 'yeah' to make Rob Zombie bust a nut! And of course 2 solo's ( at least in my opinion) are rarely a bad thing and this tune is no exception. You get solid guitar solo's all over the place!

At this point I'm going to remind you that these guys were all between 19-21 when this album was recorded.

Another thing I found myself thinking about throughout this album was "But wait....I thought Rush was were known for having really good lyrics with literary references and stuff like that. So what gives? This is a whole lot of 'Oh yeah' and things of that sort..." As it turns out, Neil Peart also took on duties as their primary lyricist, so I guess I'll have to wait to hear that later on.

Did I mention that awesome guitar solo's you'd want to pack a snack for are one of my favorite things about 1970's rock? Well they are.

And finally, we move on to what is easily my favorite song on the album, and another of the more long-winded, clocking in at just over 7 minutes. I'm of course talking about 'Working Man'. This final track features more fantastic guitar riffs and solos, Keith Moon-esque drums and in my opinion, the best lyrical work on the album. The theme of working all the time and having no time to do the things you want is one that I think most people can get on board with (Unless of course you're already living the life you want...in which case, good for you.......)

Overall, I would say this is a solid first album and I'm not at all bitter to have spent my heard earned money to obtain it legitimately. Which is more than I can say for a lot of current music that comes out these days.
Also, it's important to note that while the drumming on this albums is quite phenomenal, it is taken care of by the groups first drummer John Rutsey, who parted ways with the band shortly before their first major US tour due to health concerns. Auditions were held to find a suitable replacement and after a few prospective drummers came and went, a lanky kid from Hamilton came along in his Mom's beaten up car with his drums stored in trash cans that would change the path this band was setting out on. I'm of course referring to......... Neil Peart. Let it be known that I can't wait to hear the next album, the first to feature Mr. Peart on drums.

Rush's Self-titled, self-produced debut was released March 1, 1974 on Moon Records and later re-mixed and re-released July 1, 1974 on Mercury Records. I purchased the album for $7.99 on the itunes store.


Bottom line, if you're looking for a great 70's rock n' roll album, picking up Rush's debut album would be a great start. I give this album a 7 out of 10.

Up next for review: 1975's sophomore release 'Fly By Night'

And just for fun, here's a picture of Rush circa 1974: These are the kids making all this noise.