FLY BY NIGHT

Rush's 2nd full album effort in my opinion is their weakest from all of their earlier albums from their debut album up to "Moving Pictures". Granted, Rush was working hard to find their sound, and they do move a little bit away from their straightforward Rock sound of the debut album towards a Hard Progressive sound, but they don't quite nail it down very well. To me, "Caress of Steel", their next album does a much better job of expanding their sound than this one does. I know that probably contradicts what most people say, but, I love "Caress of Steel" even if it is a little disjointed and "Fly By Night" to me is rather substandard in comparison. It even sounds more like a 1st album than the debut album does.

There are a few great songs here at least that hold their own when compared to the best Rush songs, namely "Anthem", "Best I Can" and the multi-movement epic "By-tor and the Snow Dog" and these songs throw the most light on the greatness that was to come later, but the rest of the album seems to sag. Most of the 2nd side of the album is much softer and sounds like an attempt to be radio friendly. Of course, this made the title track accessible and has become one of the band's most famous songs, but it pales in comparison to Rush's usual output. The usual emotion and energy of Rush's music is missing and this creates a weak album.

I can't rate this as a 1 star because it's not a poor album. The 3 strong songs here make it a good album, but just don't expect a lot out of it and you may find it somewhat enjoyable at least. Nothing really makes this essential though when compared to the greatest Rush albums. So, it squeaks by with a 3 star rating because of the excellence of 3 tracks and a very cool looking album cover.