PERMANENT WAVES

Another extremely powerful release from the trio from Canada during their classic period, Permanent Waves is most well known in the music world for The Spirit of Radio, Freewill, and Jacob's Ladder, all of which have become well-established Rush classics and often performed live. But if you only focus on those three tracks, then you're forgetting the other half of the album. Here marks a clear change away from Hemispheres and towards what would become Moving Pictures, often considered the pinnacle Rush album. However, this one is no slouch either. Absolute musical perfection right here as far as I'm concerned.

My two favorite tracks on here are Jacob's Ladder and Natural Science. The first is one of them because of that great thundering, pompous, and driving bass and drum work, as well as the heaven-esque synths. Everything about that song just speaks of majesty to me. Natural Science has that beautiful sound and feeling of rushing water with Geddy's singing and the acoustic guitar evokes such a tender feeling from me that it sends chills down my spine whenever I hear it. This is of course before the racey guitars and whirling synths come in. To me, this is easily one of the best songs that Rush ever wrote, and very few songs can top it.

I wish I could have made this review a bit longer, but it seems fine the way it is. If I had to rank my favorite Rush albums, this one would round out my top 5. I see no reason to not give this 5 stars. Catchy, yet highly progressive and an absolute masterpiece.

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