FLY BY NIGHT

'Fly by Night' is the first of two albums released by Rush in 1975, and much like the debut from the previous year, it is essentially a hard rock album with a few episodes of experimentations. An important album that is the debut of Neal Peart (replacing original drummer John Rutsy) with the band, who introduced some fantastical themes and took over as the primary lyricist of the band. And while there might not be much separating 'Fly by Night' from its predecessor stylistically, this album exhibits a better sense of composition, with each member becoming more comfortable and "researching" their role in the band more thoroughly. Lee's playing might not be as masterful and intricate as on future releases, and Lifeson's riffs not as menacing, but there is a promise in this record, which above all, contains some fine tracks, 'Anthem' and 'By-Tor and the Snow Dog' being two of them, within which you can hear some sort of drive, power and vision. The second side, however, is a let-down, full of forgettable tunes that might have some moments of instrumental brilliance spread around. The vocals can feel a little irritative at times (pointing at the title track) and there might not be too much versatility around here, but 'Fly by Night' is a fine early effort from Rush.