A FAREWELL TO KINGS

Track 1 - A Farewell to Kings

From Alex's beautiful classical guitar intro, augmented by Geddy's synths and Neil's glockenspiel, it is apparent that Rush has already grown by leaps and bounds over the breakthrough that was 2112. When they kick in with the rock sound, it is still heavy but has a fresher sound. Alex's signature guitar chord voicings are more apparent than ever, And Geddy & Neil seem tighter than ever. The melody and tempo change for the first verse. Neil's drum fills are absolutely pristine. Then that guitar solo break is pure Rush-prog ecstasy. The crazy meter changes that are constantly shifting. It's the kind of complex playing the Rush (and the other great prog bands) make sound so natural and easy. And holy crap! Geddy's bass tone! Geddy is still singing in his upper ranges, but it doesn't sound like the "shriek" he was accused of on earlier albums. There is a nice marching tempo coda section closed out with a quick return of the classical guitar from the beginning to close us out. Brilliant song, but we ain't even warmed up yet!

Track 2 - Xanadu

My all-time favorite Rush song. 10 minutes of sublime brilliance. From the slow fade in intro with the nature sounds, synth, guitar swells, and tubular bells, to THAT GUITAR RIFF! Then they come together with absolute precision. Geddy's bass line is awesome. The transition to the main vocal part of the song is just perfect. Gotta love that electric 12 string. Then the rockin' part. Leading to the mellow keyboard fill and more tubular bells! This album has such a warm tone. Uriah Heep might have made fun of the "I have dined on honey-dew line" in the Beyond the Lighted Stage Documentary, but Rush have unleashed a masterpiece here. (I like UH ok, but they are no Rush!) Then we get the slow guitar solo section near the end. One of Alex's best. Then the return of the RIFF, and the beautiful glockenspiel part before the big finish. This song never fails to impress me.

Track 3 - Closer to the Heart

Alex's 12-String acoustic with, yep, even more glockenspiel start out a, wait, what??... 3-minute hit single?!? Everything that makes Rush great in just under 3 minutes. Brilliant! And a shout-out to Alex's harmonized guitar solo. And Geddy's vocals are magnificent here.

Track 4 - Cinderella Man

Lyrics by Geddy here?Kind of a rarity after Neil joined. But they are quite nice. Another relatively short one at under 4:30. But there are great riffs throughout, airtight Bass & Drum fills, nice acoustic strumming (it reminds me of Making Memories from earlier days), etc. And eve in a short song we still get a great Alex wah-wah solo, with precision rhythm section playing underneath. Maybe not as strong as some of the headliners on the album, but a great track, nonetheless.

Track 5 - Madrigal

So, the late 70s was a time of naked man-butts on album covers and songs called Madrigal on albums by Yes & Rush. Rush's song by that name may be one of the shortest tunes in the catalog at only 2:35, but it is a nice little piece. One of the more gentle tunes in Rush's repertoire, it has a great melody, excellent singing from Geddy who also provides wonderful synth and bass. Alex plays clean arpeggiated guitars, and Neil joins in by the end with a subtle drumbeat. It sets us up for another magnum opus on the album.

Track 6 - Cygnus X-1

We start with several spacy and distorted sound and narration with effects on the voice from producer Terry Brown. Bell sounds hive way to gloriously groovy Fuzz-Bass from Mr. Lee, to be joined by Neil and later Alex, in some tight power-trio playing. Then we open up to big chords and massive drum fills. Then an awesome instrumental sections with complex changes. We even get a not-quite-blues shuffle section. Then Geddy takes over only accompanied by his bass at first then the whole band crashes in. Then we have a short rockin' section. This is the one place on the album where Geddy's "shriek" returns. Alex enjoys using his wah-wah pedal again then things drop down to a quieter rhythmic section. Geddy & Neil join in with morse code rhythms. After a dramatic high pitched vocal workout, we end with some clean, quiet, guitar strums.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

Again, I can't understand how this album is in the bottom half of the rankings [On Prog Magazine's 100 Greatest Prog Albums of All Time list]. In my mind it should definitely be in at least the top 20, if not the top 10. I like almost everything that this band has put out, and while I consider it my favorite, the other "chapter 2" Rush albums are very close behind. An easy 5 out of 5 stars for me.

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