2112

I'm giving this five stars, even though I HATE the second half of this album. The reasons behind this are more to do with historical issues surrounding prog than the music itself, though it is not like the title track is significantly lacking.

Everyone on this site should know the story behind 2112: RUSH's near dissolution, the Down the Tubes tour, fighting their record label to produce another side-long epic, all that jazz. This isn't the history I'm talking about.

The history I am referring to is the sonic imprint the title track left on Rush as a band. While "The Necromancer" featured the first serious song produced as a true Rush song, the title track here features sounds that I would argue they plumbed for... well, pretty much until MOVING PICTURES, which offered another sonic shift. And honestly, it makes sense; "2112" features the most cohesive and satisfying long-form musical piece Rush had completed up until this point, featuring in turns virtuosic progressive musical prowess, hard rock and heavy metal riffs, a kind of pop sensibility in terms of approachability, astute lyrics (much to my chagrin; I'm no Ayn Rand fan, but these lyrics are pretty good), and great song-writing. All of the pieces feel like they belong not only together, but also proximal to one another. In short, it feels like one big epic.

Honestly, though, side 2 is garbage. I don't even like "Passage to Bangkok," which I've been informed is Rush sacrilege, but I can't really care about that. These are throwaway tracks that feel like the last remnants of their pre-2112 songwriting approach that had been fading away up until this point. In a way, this album is like TARKUS in that the first half is one of the most important prog epics and the second half is just terrible.

Five stars for the historical value, three stars for the music, if you follow.