PERMANENT WAVES

Permanent Waves is one more demonstration of the excellent state of form of Canadian virtuosos, incorporating some less harsh sounds and new wave touches to their progressive proposal. It is thus that the keyboards that Geddy Lee alternated with the bass, acquire greater weight and begin to look at Alex Lifeson's guitar riffs more closely, challenging part of their prominence. On the other hand, Neil Peart's percussion does keep the same old line, a master class on how to play the drums.

The album unfolds with a lot of vitality, from Alex Lifeson's meandering guitars in the festive and captivating The Spirit of Radio, a brushstroke of reggae in between and crowned by the interaction of an audience that responds to the challenge, through the epic and hypnotic Jacob's Ladder that reminds us of a biblical passage from Genesis, up to the final and indisputable jewel of Permanent Waves, the magnificent and super progressive Natural Science, ideal for the instrumental display of the trio in the 3 sections that compose it in their most of 9 minutes, being this one of the last extensive pieces of Rush (the last one ended up being The Camera Eye of the mega-successful Moving Pictures).

In between, the dynamic and more digestible Freewill and Entre Nous, and the delicate and at times inconsequential ballad Different Strings, perhaps the most debatable song on this great album. The duration of these three pieces would be the example of the new standard from now on, themes not so extensive and more direct, leaving little by little the intricate conceptual developments.

Permanent Waves implied one more evolution in Rush's musical career, they extended their horizons into new territories, but without neglecting or betraying their essence. Excellent work starting in the eighties.