A FAREWELL TO KINGS

A Farewell To Kings is Rush's fifth studion album, being released in 1977. The album has a more progressive sound than previous Rush albums did and shows a glimpse of what would become essential to Rush's sound on following albums: synths. The album isn't full of them, but some songs do contain some synth sounds. The album is not very consistent I must say, as it has some of Rush's masterpieces and several weak and uninteresting songs.

Some of those weaker songs are the poppy "closer To The Heart" which I absolutely dislike, the soft "Madrigal" and the title track. The title track is also the opening of the album. With a pleasant classical guitar intro the song sounds very promising. Unfortunately the song turns into a pretty uninteresting track, what a shame. Much more decent is "Cinderella Man". This song is not a classic, but it's a nice piece with lyrics by Geddy Lee.

Fortunately the album has some great songs too. "Xanadu" might be Rush's best song ever. It is a very progressive piece, with lots of different riffs, changes etc. It also is one of the only Rush songs, though I am a big fan, that really manages to make me shiver. The other song on the album that is among the best in the bands catalogue is "Cygnus X-1". After the introduction the song has an incredibily evil and striking sound. Alex Lifeson does a great job on this song, and manages to make his chords sound even more striking than most solos. This song also knows several different riffs and vocal parts.

This really is a tough album to rate, as it features both Rush's best and worst songs. Because of that I will rate the album with three stars. I do recommend this album to all Rush fans though, as both "Xanadu" and "Cygnus X-1" are essential pieces for any Rush fan.