2112

"2112"is the album where all the pieces came together, where the band realised its capabilities and created something to match. "2112" sees the band adopting strong space rock influences and themes (more themes) and the album has a strong sci-fi story. The concept behind the title track is of a galaxy-wide war which was brought about by the union of all planets under the rule of the Red Star of the Solar Federation in 2062. The empire is controlled by the priests of the Temples of Syrinx. This whole concept reminds me of the recent "Dune" series in which computers are dominating.

In the song "2112" the main character finds a guitar hidden in a cave behind a waterfall and is fascinated by it. In the quiet section following "The Priests of the Temples of Syrinx" there can be heard the flowing of water, signifying the waterfall. Then there is the sound of a guitar being played, at first it sounds out of tune but it soon develops into more coherent music. He takes the guitar to the priests, who he believes would be amazed by the discovery, they aren't. The rest of the concept I'll leave to you to discover, don't want to spoil the story! The instrumentation throughout this entire song is amazing, as in all Rush songs. "2112" has many very quite sections in which there is only subtle chord progressions, tunes and lyrics sung by Geddy Lee. The loud sections are made even more effective by the overall quietness of the song. The use of the mini-moog synthesizer gives the song a real sci-fi feel. At the very end of the song there is a voice that says: "Attention all planets of the Solar Federation, Attention all planets of the Solar Federation, we have assumed control.

"A Passage to Bangkok" follows "2112". It has a very distinctive melody which begins immediately and lasts throughout the entire the song. The lyrics are masterful to say the least here, and they depict the journey through the middle-east to Asia. The instrumentation matches the lyrics in terms of brilliance. It is just an amazing song.

"Twilight Zone" really contrasts in sound and is less heavy than the previous songs but still retains a genuine driving intensity. The quiet sections are very guitar orientated with many parts and bass supporting. The song ends with the good old fashion guitar solo, the song really seems to ends way too quickly.

Next is "Lessons." The song begins with some acoustic guitar chords before being overplayed by electric guitar, bass and drums. Once again the lyrics are fantastic and carry a very Robert Plant quality. It's not just the music but also the guitar is very reminiscent of Led Zeppelin. I guess this can be said about many Rush songs though. That said the track has Rush's distinctive song structure that douses all thoughts the song being a Zeppelin-clone.

"Tears" is the mellowest song of the album and it is mainly focused around Alex Lifeson's classical guitar and acoustic chords. The vocals from Geddy Lee are very soothing and the song features guest on mellotron. There is also a flute on the album, though it may be synthesized but it sounds pretty real to me. "Tears" is really different from the rest of the album, save maybe the quiet sections in "2112." It is none the less a fantastic song.

Last of all is "Something For Nothing" which is perhaps the easiest song to recall on the album due to its very catchy chorus. The song begins with arpeggio chords played on more than one guitar as well as the bass backing. The song seems to get more and more intense as the song progresses and some of the guitar-work from Lifeson is fantastic and he has more than one solo here.

"2112" is the second highest selling Rush album behind 1981's 'Moving Pictures' which reached the status of quadruple-platinum in the US (4 million sales), while "2112" reached 3xPlatnium in the US (3 million sales) and remains an icon of progressive rock music. Funny though, the album only charted at number 62 initially yet still achieved platinum statutes all but one Rush studio album have gone gold (500,000 sales.) The band is fourth in overall Gold albums which is an amazing feat!

1. 2112: (5/5) 2. A passage to Bangkok (5/5) 3. The twilight zone (4/5) 4. Lessons (3.5/5) 5. Tears (4.5/5) 6. Something for nothing (5/5) Total = 27 divided by 6 = 4.5 = 5 stars

Essential: A Masterpeice of Progressive Music

"2112" is really a fantastic album and gets a 5 from me. "2112 has the perfect set up for me, and what's more a fantastic concept. I'd recommend this album to Rush fans, it's a real must have and secondly to all of you who like a good Art Rock album with Sci-fi themes.