FLY BY NIGHT

RUSH made the leap from just a hard rock band to the progressive rock band that would conquer the world with their 2nd album FLY BY NIGHT. The talented Neil Peart took over not only drumming duties but also became the lyricist leading the band into the fantasy world for inspiration. Also prevalent is the influence of the philosophy of Ayn Rand.

This album starts out really strong with the feisty rocker "Anthem," but although the complexity of RUSH's prog side had taken bloom, clearly their songwriting skills were not quite yet honed to the point where their longer pieces were interesting. I have always loved the shorter songs on here like the title track but tracks like "By-Tor And The Snow Dog" and even "Rivendell" just sound goofy and struggling to find their proper expression but fail miserably in the attempt.

Having said all that, not a bad introduction to the new RUSH that would remain the lineup up to the current day producing countless albums including masterpieces and duds alike. I actually prefer the debut album to this one since the debut is an interesting hard rock album and this one takes on more than it successfully delivers.