PERMANENT WAVES

with the first of two albums that Rush made in the early eighties, they perfected the signature sound of the band at this particular time. In my personal opinion, this album is better than its' much- praised counterpart Moving Pictures, but, as many Rush fans feel, their albums come in twos, and neither should be missed

The Album starts of with the radio- friendly "Spirit of Radio", With a spiraling guitar intro from Alex Lifeson. Geddy and Neal come in soon after, and with as much presicion and timing as they did back in the early days. The song has a reggae- influenced breakdown at one point, and this song serves as an excellent start to a stellar album. The radio- freindliness continues with "Freewill," which is a very solid song, with strong performances from all members of the band. The next track, "Jacob's Ladder, begins with a march- like feel, then starts rocking before a light, airy synthesizer break, and ends with a rocking section. The next song, "Entre Nous", is one of the shorter tracks on the album, and is probably the only weak point, in my opinion, to the album. "Different Strings," the shortest track on the album, is a nice, mellow song that somewhat prepares the listener for the best and most epic track on the album

The final track, "Natural Science", is by far on of the best songs ever created by Rush. Period. It begins with the sounds of an ocean, followed by a nice acoustic intro by Alex, followed by Alex coming with the electric guitar. after he plays a short riff, Neal and Geddy come in, and the song proceeds to show the listener why Rush is such a great band. Peart is in full form on this song, pulling out all the stops. Alex provides listeners with one of his classic solos, and Geddy provides the band's heavy lower end. At a little over 9:00, this song is a great closer to an excellent album.

In closing,I feel this album has a little for everyone. It clearly shines out amongst Rush's catalog as a true gem, and should be included in every progger's collection