FLY BY NIGHT

Fly By Night is the first Rush album with drummer Neil Peart, and coincidentally the first album with a hint of the prog to come. All of the heaviness of the debut is here, but with a much more clean and defined sound.

The songs are a bit more divese than on their debut. There are the rockers in the form of 'Anthem,' 'Best I can,' 'Beneath, Between, and Behind' and the title track. But there are also some softer acoustic driven songs in 'Making Memories' and 'Rivendell,' and the methodically developed 'The End.' But the real treat here is 'By-tor and the Snow Dog,' which could be considered their first prog song. The structure is radically different from anything they've done this far, and the instrumentation is more complex and elaborate.

Though this isn't a true prog rock album, (closer to prog-related perhaps) I still believe it to be one of Rush's greatest accomplishments.

6/10