A FAREWELL TO KINGS

It's hard to choose a Rush masterpiece album. A Farewell To Kings have all to be considered the best album of the band, and more: can be considered one of the progressive music masterpiece! One of the best prog rock album ever made. This Album is the first with keyboads in Rush career and the first using complex effects in the songs, so this album marks definitivily the pure prog era of rush. A Farewell To Kings stablished them as a progressive rock band. So, what makes A Farewell To Kings essential? The album begins with a medieval atmosphere, the classic guitar intro in A Farewell To Kings (first track) do it. After the classic guitar the music starts to rock on, and the agude voice of lee, his very strong and well played rickenbacker bass and the effects of lifeson guitar make this track a great prog rock song. The drum of peart is fabulous too. Than Xanadu is the second one! The best song of the album, one of the best prog rock sound ever made! It's a complex and beauty music, with gently and heavy melodies which catchs the listener and put him in the other world; this world is XANADU! The atmosphere is this music is magic, words aren't sufficient to describe it. The guitar intro, the big monster drummer peart make excelent drumming passages. The mini-moog, the guitars, the bass and other percussion instruments are in an amazing harmony! This song get your soul and put into the higher good feelings. The instrumentation in this album is complex and the lyrics well written, the feeling and the techinique accurated are elevated at the maximum level of the band. These guys play with heart and great techinique in this album. The other songs are excelente too. Closer to the heart became a rush hit, Cinderella Man shows more hard rock approach with a great guitars, Madrigal is a beutiful song with a misterious atmosphere. The final track is other prog rock anthem: Cygnus X-1 Book One, The Voyage Prologue. The lyrics of this song is about science fiction, Cygnus is a black hole. The music is a heavy/hard/prog rock! This inspired many of the prog metal bands! Cygnus X-1 Book One can be considered with 2112 the great roots of prog metal. All the effects and instrumentation in Cygnus makes the listener think he is in a starship...yeah, this the Rocinante!