A FAREWELL TO KINGS

This is definitely my favorite Rush album; A Farewell to Kings is one of Rush's finest hours. Their fifth album, it really shows the culmination of the progressive side of Rush that was experimented with on the previous two releases.

AFTK begins with a soothing, almost hypnotic acoustic intro from Alex Lifeson on the title track. It soon kicks into a rocking song with some excellent guitar work from Alex Lifeson. Great lyrics from Neil Peart can be found here, though one of my favorite aspects of this song might not be noticed by many - the way that Geddy Lee sings the word "down" in the phrase "beating down the multitude." The way he vibrates his voice on this one note sounds so awesome! (Not really that important in very many aspects, but I just thought it would be neat to mention it.) Overall, the band's abilities comes together perfectly to create a progressive rock tune that I almost always have stuck in my head.

However, the extended prog epics are definitely the highlight of AFTK. "Xanadu" is probably one of Rush's greatest epics because of its exceptional balance of musical technique and precise timing; it is also more concise and fluid than previous songs like "2112" or "The Fountain of Lamneth". "Xanadu" starts out quietly with Lifeson's "violining" on the guitar and Lee's keyboards to create a placid atmosphere. One might think of a purple morning, when the creatures have come back to life and the dew is still young. With this image, the song suddenly erupts into an explosive rock song with a catchy riff (in the same vein as the title track, but more dynamic) and some amazing drumming from Peart (cow bell!) and great bass from Lee. The song soon returns to the atmospheric form as Lee's vocals come in. As you probably expected, not for long. As if the song could get any crazier, it heads full speed into the lightning fast verse section, and repeats this cycle once more before finally culminating with Lee's shriek of "For I have dined on honeydew, and drunk the milk of paradise!" and Lifeson's brilliant solo before relaxing at the end. This is probably the most mature song on the album, and along with "Closer to the Heart", has aged the best.

Starting the next half of the album is one of Rush's earliest popular songs that still gets much airplay today. The acoustic guitar in the beginning is beautiful. The song is very short, under three minutes, but in that short amount of time Rush manages to create an unforgettable song with Peart's metronomic drumming, Lifeson's masterful guitar, and Lee's unbeatable bass and vocal performance.

The next song, "Cinderella Man", is NOT a throwaway. It is NOT filler. However, I wouldn't quite put it on the level of, say, "Xanadu" or "A Farewell to Kings", but it IS a solid song with some great work from the whole band, especially Lifeson's solo. Hey, not all the songs on an album can be classics, right? But they can certainly all be pretty darn good, and that's what this song is.

The shortest track on AFTK, "Madrigal", is appropriately named; a quieter ballad about love, this song has a very laidback mood, with acoustic guitar, melodic bass, echoing drums, and sincere lyrics from Peart sung in an equally sincere voice by Lee. Seems somewhat unfinished in my opinion, but compliments the album well.

.And just as you've lain down to relax to "Madrigal", the music screeches to a halt and turns full circle. Chilling spacey sci-fi effects start off the grand finale of the album. A haunting recital by Neil Peart tells the story of the death of a star in the constellation of Cygnus: this is "Cygnus X-1". Slowly fading in is Geddy Lee's awesome bass hook, which sounds almost percussive on the "Rush in Rio" DVD. This is soon complimented by rapid- fire drums, and then guitar (all in 13/8 time), before launching the listener headlong into lightning-fast riffs and bewildering time changes. 6/8 to 11/8 to 12/8 to 11/8. it's insane! As the 11/8-12/8 (23/16?) switching section comes to a halt, Lee's vocals cut in. The song starts rocking again, but takes an unexpected turn - an excited, almost adventurous segment of the music tells the story (and sets the mood) of a space explorer of sorts journeying into the uncharted Cygnus constellation, only to slip melancholy as his ship is pulled further towards the black hole of Cygnus X-1 (funny, as it's a real location that's believed to be a black hole!), which is apparent in the lyrics in the sudden change of tempo and switch from C major to C minor. As Lee's singing of "Control" echoes into darkness, Alex Lifeson's wah-heavy solo truly squeezes distress into the listener's ears. As the solo ends, a quieter section of more spacey sounds builds into a rock-hard segment in a tricky 11/8 beat. Returning to the original riff (from the section RIGHT AFTER Lee's "bass hook" portion), but faster, more insane, and the manic shrieks of Geddy Lee, all the bands musicianship comes together to create a truly intense finale as Lee shrieks his last and most effective on the album. "Cygnus X-1" ends with an almost inaudible unsteady drum beat, and Lifeson's strumming of barre chords. Trust me, you WILL feel lost after listening to this song. Though one of Rush's most progressive rock songs, it doesn't quite fit the rest of the album. But it is necessary. That's the magic of one of Rush's most progressive albums. A Farewell to Kings is right up there with 2112 or Permanent Waves. I VERY HIGHLY recommend this to any fan of progressive rock music, specifically "art rock". I'm sure you won't regret it.