2112

RUSH do not so much abandon as extend their hard rock personas and try something of a prog rock number here: the title track is not so much an epic as a connected series of songs telling a far-fetched sci-fi story. As usual with RUSH, LIFESON's guitars are understated, creating a 'lite' feel, with the emphasis on rhythm rather than lead guitar. As a consequence I have never really thought of this band as 'hard rock', more 'art rock'. PEART does a competent job, and GEDDY LEE starts to sound a little more like himself and less like ROBERT PLANT.

The major importance of this album is as the first in RUSH's progressive sequence, but in itself it's hardly stellar. The epic title track really is the stuff of bong smoking frat students: coming to RUSH much later, I find little to enthuse me in the music, just a disjointed series of musical vignettes. And the five songs that constitute side two of the album are very lightweight, save the melancholic 'Tears', for me the highlight of the album.

There's no doubt this is above-average fare. However, it came along years too late to give RUSH a place in the top league of 70s progressive acts. They would, of course, go on to carve out just such a place, taking advantage of the decline in standards in the late 70s and early 80s.

Worth a listen, as much for its historical importance as the actual music.

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