FLY BY NIGHT

'Fly By Night' is the second album by Canadian rock legends Rush. Released in 1975, it's the first album to feature drummer Neil Peart, and solidifies what is the definitive Rush line up, with bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson, holding up all the way to the bands retirement in January 2018.

However, I don't think this album is as good as the band's debut. While there's a few good songs, and Neil Peart's drumming has lots of small touches that make him stand out from his predecessor, John Rutsey, I just struggle to really get into most of these tracks.

That's not really a knock on the band though. I love Rush, especially their 80's synth-driven era, and their self-titled debut was a solid hard rock album. But 'Fly By Night' just doesn't quite work for me. It's easy to hear the progressive elements coming into the trios sound, and the musicianship itself is fantastic. I'd just prefer to listen to 'Grace Under Pressure' or 'Signals' instead.

So what songs do I like? 'Anthem' is catchy, as is the title track and 'Best I Can', and there's the soft, folk-inspired 'Rivendell' which I didn't like initially but eventually it came to grow on me. But from a band with such a wealth of material to choose from, I can't see myself coming back to these very often.

Rush are one of my all-time favourite bands, and with a career spanning over 40 years, there's bound to be a couple of albums I'm not too keen on. This is one of them. There's no specific reason, but they have so many other albums that I prefer much more over this one. Simple as that. Sorry guys!