2112

This is the album that kept Rush alive as professional musicians and gave them a larger audience. It didn't quite give them mainstream success (that would happen soon enough though and probably with "Permanent waves") but it is the album that saved their career and is possibly one of the biggest cult albums of all time.

This might not be the best place for someone totally new to Rush to start with (for that I would say either "permanent waves" or "moving pictures") but it's not bad either and if you are a moderate fan or even sort of like Rush you should definitely hear the is album. It will make you a believer.

The vinyl version consists of the 2112 suite on side one and five shorter songs on side two. The cd plays consistently with no bonus tracks in the same order. The 2112 suite consists of 7 separate sections that make up the entire piece(and side). Overture starts with an eerie synthesizer played by Hugh Syme that soon kicks into high gear for an instrumental hard rock tour de force of a track. At the end Geddy Lee sings "and the meek shal inherit the earth" which suddenly segues into another monster guitar riff that starts off "the temple of syrinx." "Discovery" starts with the sounds of water and a mellow electric guitar telling the story of the protaganist and his battle with the priests who don't understand his discovery. The rest of the sections on the 2112 suite seem to alternate between mellow parts and heavier moments often with melodies that are repeated from earlier sections. The 2112 title track ends with a distorted voice with the words "attention all planets of the solar federation" repeated a few times. The voice concludes with the line "we have assumed control" which is repeated a few times. This adds to the eeriness and somewhat dark nature of the track and is one of the most intense and goosebump inducing moments in rock that I have heard.

Side two starts with "A passage to bangkok" which is a mid tempo rocker about touring areas that specialize in a certain natural substance that many musicians know all too well. This was a good track to start off side two. "Twilight Zone" is the band's tribute to the old black and white fantasy tv series narrated by Rod Serling. The next track "lessons" starts off with strumming acoustic guitar before kicking into high gear. A decent enough track but probably the weakest on the album. "Tears" is the most mellow track on the album and probably the closest so far the band has come to having a traditional symphonic sound due mainly to the use of mellotron(played by Hugh Syme). "Something for Nothing" is the final track on the album and is the hardest hitting and most powerful on side two. Lyrically it tells us to not take our lives for granted and that we need to be in control of our own destiny. This song sums up the frame of mind the members must have been to the extent that 2112 was a make or break album for the band and they needed to take control like the mysterious voice that ends side one.

The side long title suite on side one is worthy of five stars. The second side is good but not mind blowing like the first side so three stars. So, therefore I give it an over all rating of four stars. An obvious choice for anyone wanting to further explore Rush after hearing their radio songs or "moving pictures" and or "permanent waves."

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