CD Odyssey Disc 1829: Rush

This next album is long – I wouldn’t have been ready to review it this soon except fate intervened when I forgot my access card at home. That extra commute time is just what Dr. Music ordered and…here we are.

Disc 1829 is…Clockwork Angels

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 2012

What’s up with the Cover? What time is it? Why, two tines and quadricross past the tridentulon, as anyone can plainly see!

I could explain how this clock is floating in a red storm of chaos as well, but that would make even less sense than that previous sentence.

Despite the weirdness of it all, Rush fans know exactly what time it is. 9:12. In the evening. Which is…well, if you know, you know.

How I Came To Know It: I was already a Rush fan when this came out, so this was just me buying their latest record.

How It Stacks Up: I have 19 Rush albums, which I acknowledge is a lot of Rush albums. All of them, in fact. “Clockwork Angels” is in the middle of the pack – still awesome, but only able to land at #10 due to heavy competition at the top.

Ratings: 4 stars

“Clockwork Angels” would prove to be Rush’s last studio album. For a lot of bands the last record is the final whisper of talent before the doors of time lock them in and consign them to memories of their former greatness. Not so, Rush. With “Clockwork Angels” the trio demonstrated they still had plenty left in the tank, delivering yet another great record in an already impressive discography.

The first thing I noticed about “Clockwork Angels” was the crunch. Latter-days Rush tend toward a lot of complex explorations of sound, and while it is candy for the ears, it also sometimes loses a bit of the edge that makes rock and roll…rock and roll. I should note that even when Rush isn’t biting as hard, it is still awesome (to wit: the brilliance of the very synthy “Hold Your Fire” reviewed way back at Disc 410).

For all that, the thump of “Clockwork Angels” immediately establishes itself. This record has plenty of hair tossing riffs. This being Rush, don’t expect a song to dwell on any one riff for too long though – the boys are as committed as ever as switching things up multiple times within a single song, and dozens of times across a record. But within all that frenetic brilliance, this record hits harder than most.

As ever we are treated to the expansive mind of lyricist Neil Peart, who never found an intellectual concept he wasn’t willing to dive down to the bottom of, punch through that bottom, and come back up through a bizarro world that reflected whatever he discovered in a new and creative light. Here, Peart embraces a steampunk aesthetic. Many were doing this in 2012 (steampunk was a bit of a thing for a while there) but few did it in as interesting and unique way as Peart.

His drumming is also powerful, and he embraces the low end of this record, hitting hard but as technically brilliant as ever (love it all, but on this listen “Carnies” stood out in particular). There aren’t a lot of bands that you can just sit back and enjoy just the drumming, but Rush is one of them.

Peart died early in 2020, leaving a big hole in the music world with his passing. To read my tribute to Neil, click here.

Even when singing about nerdy sci fi/alternative reality stuff, Rush always find a way to reveal their sensitive side, and my favourite entry on “Clockwork Angels” is “Wish Them Well”. The older I get, the more inclined I am to pass on pointless conflict with random idiots. Life’s just too short to waste time on altercations. Rush embraces this strategy. Sample lyric:

“People who judge without a measure of mercy
All the victims who will never learn
Even the lost ones, you can only give up on
Even the ones who make you burn

“Thank your stars you're not that way
Turn your back and walk away
Don't even pause and ask them why
Turn around and say goodbye”

I like that they take the time to say ‘goodbye’ as they walk away. Even when giving someone the snub, Rush are polite about it.

I admit that despite my love for this record, it had been a while since I put it on. Rush is a band that infuses a lot of dense musical concepts into their work, and it doesn’t lend itself to a casual listen, or a party anthem. Nevertheless, revisiting “Clockwork Angels” was a joy and an overall reminder to revisit their music more often. There’s always something new to discover and even at their heaviest, this is a band that at its core is about being thoughtful and self-examined. Chicken soup for a complicated multiverse.

Best tracks: Caravan, Carnies, Halo Effect, Seven Cities of Gold, The Wreckers, Wish Them Well

CD Odyssey Disc 1440: Rush

It’s been over three years since I last rolled an album by this next band. It was a long time to wait. Why did this happen? Because it happens – roll the bones.

Disc 1440 is…. Roll the Bones

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 1991

What’s up with the Cover?  A kid kicks a skull. This kid looks like quite the little punk, and when that skull gets reunited with his skeleton, I hope it comes looking for some payback. Or maybe they two of them will become friends and play a friendly game of Yahtzee. The wall behind them provides plenty of dice for it.

How I Came To Know It: I like Rush a lot - enough to buy all their studio albums, and this album is proof positive of my commitment. Keep that love I hold for the band in mind at those times when I say unkind things.

How It Stacks Up: I have 19 Rush albums. I had reserved a spot for “Roll the Bones” at #16 but it just couldn’t live up to its initial seeding. Instead I am going to bump “Presto” up one spot and drop “Roll the Bones” in at #18, second from the basement and barely holding off “Power Windows”.

Ratings: 3 stars but only barely

Rush made some amazing records over their career. “Roll the Bones” is not one of them. The musicianship is still there, but it is often wasted on songs that feel like incomplete notions at times, and at other times try way to hard.

The album starts out strong, with “Dreamline.” It features some solid guitar work from Alex Lifeson (no doubt happy at this stage to be emerging from the band’s deep dive into synthesizer in the eighties). Sure, the way Geddy Lee sings, “We are young” at the beginning of each chorus always makes me think of Pat Benatar singing the same line on “Love is a Battlefield.” But that’s OK; he moves on quickly and besides, I like “Love is a Battlefield.”

Geddy Lee’s voice sounds great on this record, catching him in that later career when artists know exactly how to sing a tune to showcase their strengths, but where they haven’t yet started flailing to reach hard notes. Lee doesn’t hit the stratosphere with his high notes anymore here, but he sings with an easy grace that matches the record well.

When this album came out, I really loved the title track, but I think the reason for this was in large part to the message. Lyricist Neil Peart examines why good and bad things happen. His answer? Stop looking so hard for a reason; the universe is filled with a lot of random shit, and you’re gonna get caught up in it. If his classic “Freewill” is a call to take responsibility for your actions, “Roll the Bones” is the reminder that not everything is a matter of will in life, and sometimes things are just going to happen. Roll the dice and take your best shot.

I still like half the song, but with every listen it is hard to overlook the absolutely terrible section featuring Geddy Lee rapping. Hearing middle aged prog rockers attempt a rap in the middle of a rock song is about as jarring as you can imagine it would be. It is hard to pick a “worst line” from this monstrosity. I think it is a tie between “Jack, relax/Get busy with the facts”, and “Stop throwing stones/The night has a thousand saxophones.” Thankfully the second option does not make good on its threat.

This song is immediately followed by “Face Up” which feels like something Andy Samberg would write if he were making fun of Rush. As an actual Rush song? Gentlemen, you can do so much better.

“Face Up” has some very forced lyrics, a problem on several tracks on the album. The worst of these may be “Neurotica” where Peart seems obsessed with rhyming the song title with various other words (“erotica”, “exotica”), and almost-words, (“chaotica”, “psychotica”). The fact that half the words are real, doesn’t make the exercise any less pointless.

He is still Neil Peart, though, and also delivers some thoughtful messages. One favourite is “Heresy,” a song about the end (at that time) of the Cold War, and the realization that we had lived for decades in fear, with precious little to show for it. Peart does a solid vocal delivery of the message, capturing the right tone somewhere between anger, relief, and weariness.

On “Ghost of a Chance” Peart further explores the epistemological themes of the record, musing about the incredible number of random events that pull us in different directions, and yet despite all that he believes…

“There’s a ghost of a chance?
We can find someone
And make it last.”

It’s an idea that appeals to me. The universe is a big chaotic place, but love could still be just around the corner. Roll the bones and find out. Just don’t rap really badly while you are rolling those bones, guys. Because it sounds bad new, and gets even worse with age.

Best tracks: Dreamline, Bravado, Heresy, Ghost of a Chance

Goodbye and thank you, Neil Peart

If you’re here for the latest review, scroll down to see my thoughts on Ex Hex. However, before we get into that I must pause and reflect on the passing of Neil Peart, dead at 67 after a lengthy battle with brain cancer.

I have every one of Rush’ studio albums, and I have loved them for decades, but even so I’m a long way from being Rush’ biggest fan. The band inspires a loyalty among their fan base that puts any passion I could claim to shame.

For all that, Neil’s death feels like a punch to my stomach. He is the person who first taught me that a song could be accessed first through the drumming. His drumming was so brilliant it just stood out and demanded attention, even though he played alongside two other great musicians.

As for the lyrics, few lyricists have inspired me over my life like Neil Peart. A week rarely goes by that I do not find some element of wisdom or solace in his words. It was Neil who taught me that “Free Will” could be more than just a philosophy, it could be an anthem; a clarion call for the world I want to live in. In the same breath, Neil reminded me that “if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”

It was Neil who best captured the simultaneous familiarity and disconnect that exists between performer and audience. Confessing “I can’t pretend a stranger is a long-awaited friend” was the most honest thing a rock star ever said to his audience. Neil was uncomfortable with the love of strangers, but on “Limelight” he proved he understood there was an alchemy to it that allowed him to accept that love on his terms. He told us we:

“Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme.”

On a more personal level, Neil reminded me to respect people who might differ with you on how they see the world. On “Entre Nous” he writes:

“Just between us
I think it's time for us to recognize
The differences we sometimes feared to show
Just between us
I think it's time for us to realize
The spaces in between
Leave room
For you and I to grow”

It’s a great reminder that we’re not all the same, and that’s a good thing. And moreover, those differences don’t have to hold us apart, they’re opportunities to learn and grow.

Over the years, Neil Peart imparted a lot more wisdom to me. How to take time and appreciate the moment (“Time Stand Still”), how ordinary people can still be heroic (“Nobody’s Hero”), and how to unapologetically love American muscle in the age of the electric car (“Red Barchetta”).

Neil’s wise words and inspiring drum licks made the world a better place or, failing that, at least a little more relatable and understandable. There are millions of Rush fans all over the world, and today while for the most part we don’t know each other, we are united in an underlying theme of grief.

CD Odyssey Disc 1090: Rush

I’ve gone with a couple obvious New Year’s resolutions this year: work out more and read more books. I read 33 books last year, so that’s on track but I seriously need to hit the gym more often than I did in 2017.

Disc 1090 is…Moving Pictures

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 1981

What’s up with the Cover? A bunch of guys move pictures – get it? Here we have the very emotional scenes of Joan of Arc being burned at the stake and some dogs playing poker. You decide which one moves you more. I would be a lot more moved by cats playing poker but that would never happen, because any cat whose stack got low would throw the rules to the wind and shiv the chip leader. Cats are like that.

How I Came To Know It: This is one of those seminal albums that has always been a part of my life. I’ve known this album so long I can’t remember where I first heard it, although it’s likely my brother bought it first back when it came out.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 19 Rush albums. Of those I put “Moving Pictures” in at the hallowed spot of #1. Gold! Sorry, 2112 apologists!

Ratings: 5 stars

On “Moving Pictures” Rush hits on all cylinders, coalescing rock riffs from their early albums, add in the progressive complexity of their mid to late seventies stuff, and hinting at the synth sounds that would shortly follow. Not only do they successful pull it off, they make one of rock and roll’s finest albums in the process.

The record starts with “Tom Sawyer” a churning rock anthem blended with an almost New Wave synth undercurrent. It would become arguably their biggest hit – this is Rush’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper”, their “Werewolves of London” – the song that would catapult them full force into the mainstream consciousness and enrage purists who want radio stations to play something else once in a while. According to Wikipedia “Limelight” was a bigger hit (more on that song later) but for me, when you ask a casual Rush fan to name a song they tend to go with “Tom Sawyer.” There is a lot to like about it, too, but on an album like “Moving Pictures” it is just one of many great songs.

Every song on this album speaks to me in a different way, sometimes musically, sometimes through the lyrics and usually a lot of both. Rush are masters at crafting music to evoke complex emotions and concepts, and drummer/lyricist Neal Peart is equally masterful at providing words that match that level of excellence.

“Red Barchetta” is a near-future song about the thrill of driving a muscle car in an era where they are outlawed. It tells the story of a young man visiting his uncle, taking the “red barchetta” out for a spin (basically a two-seater open performance car) and leading local authorities on a merry car chase (cars being outlawed since the “motor laws”). The song lifts you through every emotion – the pastoral beauty of the uncle’s rural property, the wild exhilaration of the race, and the eventual return of the car back to its hidden lair.

Every time I take “Moving Pictures” for a drive, “Red Barchetta” has a new set of memories for me. Ten years ago I did a CD Odyssey (which was a lot quicker, because I had a lot fewer albums and didn’t review them). I called my friend and Rush-devotee Kelly from my car to share the moment “Red Barchetta” came on. Last year I had an engaging discussion with indie rocker Trapper Schoepp after a concert about this song and a similarly-themed song that he wrote called "Run, Engine Run". I’ve also been on the look for a dream classic car for about 18 months now. Walking home listening to “Red Barchetta” made me want the search completed so bad it hurt.

The next song, “YYZ” is a lyric-free musical homage to Toronto International Airport. I challenge you to listen to the frenetic, triumphant stop-and-go excitement of this song and not think about a busy airport.

The best song on the record is “Limelight.” I cannot hear this song and not exclaim to someone nearby that it is the “most honest song ever written about the relationship between a band and their fans.” Peart is famously introverted and routinely shies away from the trappings of fame. “Limelight” is his opus to the complex relationship he has with the fans, the music, himself and how it all interacts. He admits that he “can’t pretend a stranger is a long awaited friend” and that “one must put up barriers to keep himself intact” but even amid the hell that Sartre called “other people”, Peart digs deeper and finds a fundamental connection that he can call real. In his words:

“Those who wish to be

Must put aside the alienation

Get on with the fascination

The real relation

The underlying theme.”

There in the music – and nowhere else – there is a real connection. The melody alternates between triumph, wistfulness and a hint of otherworldly guitar solo that borders on the mystical. It also features some of the greatest drum work in the history of rock and roll by a clearly inspired Neal Peart.

The album ends with “Vital Signs,” a song full of complex musical concepts and big words used correctly, mixed with explorations of psychology, philosophy and the complexities of human interaction. This is Rush demonstrating their proggy-brilliance. Best line:

“Everybody got mixed feelings

About the function and the form

Everybody got to elevate

From the norm.”

On “Moving Pictures” Rush doesn’t just elevate us from the norm, they lift their listeners along with them in a complex compelling way that is respectful, thoughtful and powerful as hell.

Best tracks: All tracks, but particularly Red Barchetta, Limelight, Witch Hunt and Vital Signs

CD Odyssey Disc 924: Rush

For many months I’ve been having a hard time reading the fine print on the back of CD cases (usually I’m looking for the release date). I attributed the problem to poor light or that I needed to clean my glasses. Turns out is just that my eyesight has gotten worse. Cognitive dissonance is a bitch.

Now that I know, everything looks fuzzy and I’m waiting impatiently for my new lenses to come in.

Disc 924 is….Power Windows

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 1985

What’s up with the Cover? A teenage David Bowie dreams of becoming a starman. Actually it is some kid named Neill Cunningham. Maybe he was dreaming of being David Bowie? Maybe he was just dreaming that he could get a new television. He’s got three there and they all look pretty outdated.

How I Came To Know It: This was just me filling out the last of my Rush collection as I drilled through their discography. I admit I totally missed this album when it came out in 1985, despite being totally into hard rock at the time.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 19 Rush albums. “Power Windows” isn’t my favourite. I’ll put it #18.

Ratings: 3 stars

“Power Windows” is right in the heart of the synth-storm that Rush experimented with through the 1980s. Don’t expect Alex Lifeson to wail out a bunch of guitar solos, and if you’re searching for the melody then you best be looking to Geddy Lee’s keyboards. This is not your older brother’s copy of “Moving Pictures.”

Some Rush fans reject this period of the band’s development, while others love all things Rush. I’m somewhere in the middle on that subject. “Hold Your Fire” is one of my favourite Rush albums, whereas “Grace Under Pressure” and “Signals” are OK, but I feel like the production lets them down.

“Power Windows” is my least favourite of the four. I don’t hate it, but it is lacking the melodic brilliance of “Hold Your Fire” and the songwriting strength of “Signals”. It is about on par with “Grace Under Pressure.” It doesn’t have the brilliance of “Red Sector A” but overall the quality of the songs is higher.

One nice side benefit of not being so guitar-driven is that you get to appreciate the Geddy Lee’s bass playing. On the opening track, “Big Money,” he is in fine form, flowing through series after series of groovy and difficult bass riffs, all the while faithfully serving the rhythm of the song. Beyond Geddy’s bass, though, I don’t love the song. The lyrics are a bit hokey and the bridge is this weird combination of bells, beeps and a bit of Lifeson guitar that is good but seems to hang in digital space due to the production.

“Middletown Dreams” feels a lot like Signals’ “Subdivisions” in terms of theme, but is not executed as well. It is almost the sequel, replacing the restless youth of teenage dreams in “Subdivisions” with the more seasoned understanding of characters in their twenties and thirties. These are the kids who never got out of the suburbs but are finding ways to reconcile that within themselves. Again, an interesting theme (one Springsteen explores often as well) but in terms of execution the song is just a bit too jazzy in places for my tastes.

The record came out in the middle of the Cold War, and this is evident in songs like “Manhattan Project” and “Territories”. “Manhattan Project” tells the story of the first atomic bomb and while the subject matter is about the bomb’s development and the bombing of Hiroshima it is clear that the song is viewing that event from 1985 and everything that had resulted from a nuclear age. “Manhattan Project” is one of my favourite songs on the album. The lyrics aren’t overwrought, and the music walks the perfect line between the excitement of scientists in the throes of discovery and the ominous nature of what they were about to create.

Another favourite is “Marathon” which is about running a marathon, but also a lot more. On “Marathon” Rush perfects the use of their new keyboard-driven sound to capture the drawn out endurance of the race but also the triumph and exultation of completing the race. And here, when Lifeson’s guitar solo enters, it nestles in nicely and feels like it belongs.  The ‘more’ of “Marathon” is its reminder that life itself is a long race, and you’ll be just fine if you just keep at it. It is an overused metaphor, but the boys do a fine job of recycling it, and I feel genuinely inspired each time I hear this track.

As an aside, this song pairs nicely with Iron Maiden’s “Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner” as rock songs about marathons. Maybe throw in the Popes’ “Loneliness of the Long Distance Drinker” for a lark at the end to represent the trip to the pub at the end of the race. But I digress…

The album ends with “Emotion Detector” and “Mystic Rhythms” which are both songs that are as awkward and overwrought as their titles would indicate. These songs are swamped by the new production values. “Emotion Detector” is the worst of the two, which has a tune that sounds like it belongs in an early eighties movie soundtrack: something about bike couriers or moving to a city. “Mystic Rhythms” would actually function better as a New Age Celtic folk song. As a rock song, the mystic rhythms just didn’t resonate.

“Power Windows” doesn’t have enough high points to work its way into my regular music rotation. I don’t hate the record though, and the musical genius of Rush is still shining through in places. I’ll hold onto it a little longer.

Best tracks: Manhattan Project, Marathon

CD Odyssey Disc 917: Rush

I had the day off today and I took advantage of it by sleeping in and then doing some chores. I went to the music store as well but nothing grabbed me and I left empty handed.

My teeth still ache from Wednesday’s dental surgery, but not as bad as I expected. As I was writing this blog entry, my dentist called to see how I was recovering. Needless to say this was above and beyond the call of duty so a tip of the hat to Dr. Grady O’Neill.

And now we return you to regular music review scheduling, and my first Rush review in almost two years.

Disc 917 is….Hemispheres

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 1978

What’s up with the Cover? Walking upon the surface of the brain are a businessman and a naked dancer. The ego and the id, perhaps? John Steed and Mikail Baryishnikov? We don’t know. What we do know that this is one of rock music’s worst album covers ever. Just put a dragon and a castle like every other prog band, Rush!

How I Came To Know It: When Rush issued remastered editions of their classic albums it seemed like a good time to catch up on some of the albums I was missing. “Hemispheres” was one of them.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 19 Rush albums, which is all of them except their 2004 cover album, “Feedback.” “Hemispheres” isn’t my favourite, but there is no denying its greatness. I put it 7th, just behind “Fly by Night” and just in front of “Farewell to Kings.”

Ratings: 4 stars

“Hemispheres” is Rush at their proggiest. After this record they had to take a step back and simplify with 1980’s “Permanent Waves.” Going any further down the progressive rabbit-hole would have been the musical equivalent of gazing upon mighty Cthulhu. Their minds (and our ears) would have exploded.

It is a testament to Rush’s greatness that they can make music this complex and ambitious and it is still not only listenable, but enjoyable and inspiring.

The record only has four songs and like “2112” before it, the first side is consumed by a single track, “Cygnus X-1 Book II”. (Rush devotees will know that Book I appears on the end of the preceding record, “Farewell to Kings.” Book II is about how we need both logical thought (represented by Apollo) and emotional inspiration (represented by Dionysus) in order to be whole. I have two tattoos representing this concept, so it has long appealed to me.

The song itself is not for the faint of heart. Over 18 minutes long, it ranges through a variety of movements that demands your attention and quickly loses you if you don’t provide it. It makes this album a good one for lying down and listening to, but not that great in the background while you do something else.

Side Two has three songs of more temperate length, and because of this they are easier to wrap your ear around. The best of these is “Circumstances” which is a pretty kick ass rock song, thick and grounded in the world’s greatest rhythm section, with a crazy little detour into keyboard about two-thirds of the way through to cleanse your palate.

This is followed by “The Trees” which has the feel of a medieval folksong at the beginning, before cascading into full rock glory a couple of bars in. The song explores the concept of equality through an imaginary conflict between two types of trees, the Maples and the Oaks. The song is unlike a lot of other rock songs, in that it is a dissertation on the dangers of revolution, rather than a call to it. It has a distinct anti-communist flair to it as well which is notable given the album’s release date.

The final song is the nine and half minute instrumental “La Villa Strangiato.” This is an inspired track, exploring multiple musical themes while stitching them together seamlessly. The song also features some of the greatest guitar work by Alex Lifeson you will ever hear. Lifeson conducts a clinic on how a solo is supposed to work, exploring a theme with grace and power but never falling into a pointless noodle. After a record filled with complex imagery and thoughtful themes, “La Villa Strangiato” is a balm for the mind. It brings your logical appreciation for song construction and your emotional reaction to great music together, just as Cygnus X-1 intended all along.

This is not a record for everyone, and for the most part only lovers of seventies progressive rock will fully appreciate it. However if that’s you, “Hemispheres” is a must-have.

Best tracks: Circumstances, The Trees, La Villa Strangiato

CD Odyssey Disc 670: Rush

I’ve got one hell of a busy Sunday ahead; so busy that I will actually…miss watching some football. This simply does not happen. Fortunately the beloved Miami Dolphins are on a bye week.

On to the album!

Disc 670 is…. Signals

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 1982

What’s up with the Cover? The fire hydrant sends out a signal to the dog – get it? Or is it that when we see a dog and a fire hydrant we receive a signal that a certain thing is about to happen. This cover toys with the ideas of how we interpret signals and how those interpretations are instant, arbitrary and not always true. I like it!

How I Came To Know It:  I was just about to enter junior high when this album came out. It followed the huge success of “Moving Pictures” and so did very well. It seemed like everyone had it – my brother included. I used to tape songs off my brother’s record collection, which is how I got into “Signals.” The CD version I bought back in the late nineties when they re-mastered it.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 19 of Rush’s studio albums, which I believe is all of them. I like “Signals” less than I did when I was twelve, but it still has its moments. I put it around 13 – just ahead of their debut album (reviewed way back at Disc 184). Careful readers will see that this may bump around some other earlier Rush rankings. Hey – it’s a work in progress. Relax.

Rating:  3 stars

It was 1982 and so began Rush’s five year obsession with synthesizers and organs. It also began my love/hate relationship with this new direction. I still put “Hold Your Fire” as one of their great albums, but “Grace Under Pressure” is sadly lacking. Somewhere in the middle we find “Signals” alternatively infuriating and inspiring.

I’ll start with the good stuff, which includes some of the band’s better songwriting. “Signals” has Rush once again showing off their ability to come up with two or three different musical themes, then cramming them together into a single song. It shouldn’t work, but it does. It is what makes them the masters of progressive rock.

My favourite example of this on “Signals” is “The Analog Kid” which has a fast-paced bass line firing away, capturing a young boy’s excitement as he races through a hot August afternoon. Then the song shifts speeds from fast-paced thrill ride to a solemn, awe-inspiring anthem. It feels like you’ve run until you’re breathless and then lay down and just stared up at a blue sky through some green trees and let the beauty of the world soak into you.

Growing up, the two songs that appealed to me most were “Subdivisions” and “New World Man,” both of which speak to disconnects in the modern world. “Subdivisions” is the alienation felt by kids living in the suburbs. I grew up in a small town where there wasn’t really such a thing as the suburbs, but Neil Peart’s lyrics remind us that the real subdivisions are not geographic, they’re social:

“Subdivisions –

In the high school halls

In the shopping malls

Conform or be cast out.”

High school can be hard on someone trying to express individuality, and I did that a lot. I survived high school just fine in the end, but in Grade Eight the whole thing can feel pretty daunting, and this song gave me comfort – it was an anthem for those of us who wanted to do it our own way.

“New World Man” is from the perspective of a young man heading out into the world, trying to make good choices. He is aware of his own power, but not always of the ramifications of using it. Coming out in the Cold War, this song also echoes the dangers of making bad decisions in a nuclear world.

Now the not so good things about this album – and that conversation must begin with the production decisions. The whole album has a fuzzy quality about it, like it was recorded in a tin drum. The band seems to be trying to create a wall of digital sound, but it just makes the whole record sounds distant and dull. No matter how loud you turn it up, you still feel like you can’t hear it properly. It comes seriously close to wrecking the record.

Also, while Peart delivers some great lyrics on “Signals” he also gets a bit too much free rein to explore his inner nerd. The result is songs like “Chemistry” and “Countdown”. “Chemistry” is literally about the chemical reactions between cells. Peart tries to connect this theme to human interaction, but the whole thing is a stretch. If you want this kind of Rush song, then I recommend “Natural Science” off of “Permanent Waves” instead.

“Countdown” is about a space mission – likely the first launch of the space shuttle Columbia in 1981. It was a big deal when I was 11, but the idea hasn’t aged well and neither has the song.

“Countdown” also has dialogue from the shuttle launch dubbed over the music which is annoying and distracting. It is another unfortunate production decision that made me convinced that I was going to give this album two measly stars.

But then “Signals surprised me with a song I’d never properly paid attention to before – “Losing It”. A quiet and introspective piece with a lot of organ as it tells the terrible tale of artists – a dancer, a writer – who are losing their ability to create:

“Some are born to move the world

To live their fantasies

But most of us just dream about

The things we’d like to be.

“Sadder still to watch it die

Than never to have known it

For you – the blind who once could see –

The bell tolls for thee…”

When I was a kid I skipped by this song without a care. As a man in his forties it speaks a lot more deeply. It is a brave song to write as well, because there is no way Peart could have done it without digging deep into his own personal demons.

For surprising me more than thirty years after I first heard it, I moved this album up several notches from where I thought it would be. It felt good to be wrong.

Best tracks:   Subdivisions, The Analog Kid, New World Man, Losing It

CD Odyssey Disc 530: Rush

Two Rush albums in a row!  It is an unlikely event, but this isn’t the first time the dice gods have managed to pull it off.  Fortunately it is another good one.

Disc 530 is…. Fly By Night

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 1976

What’s up with the Cover?  Pretty basic.  We’ve got the title, the band’s name and a pentagram reflected on a stage.  I like the simplicity well enough, but doesn’t compare to the owl of “Fly By Night.”

How I Came To Know It:  Like, “Fly by Night,” “2112” was a very hyped album throughout my high school experience and when I started building my Rush collection in the early nineties this was another one of the first albums I bought.

How It Stacks Up:  As I just finished mentioning in my last review, I have 19 Rush albums – I am missing their “Feedback” album. “2112” is one of their best, although I put it just behind my favourites so we’ll go with...4^th.  Just ahead of “Caress of Steel” and just behind “Hold Your Fire.”

Rating:  4 stars but almost 5

In the seventies, the usual approach when you want to sell a rock album was to put a relatively short ‘single’ on Side One to draw people in, and then put whatever long, drawn out epic noodle-fest on Side Two, after your audience was firmly interested.  “2112” bravely turns that convention on its head filling the entirety of Side One with the title track, which is over twenty minutes long.  It is a risky decision, but it works because it just happens to be twenty of the greatest minutes in the history of rock and roll.

“2112” is an epic sci-fi/fantasy about the power of music and how it inspires people to stand up to tyranny.  On a perfectly ordered mythical planet run by the austere priests of the Temple of Syrinx, the human population lives safe, but uneventful lives.  Then one day a man finds a guitar and in his excitement he brings it to the priests.  Instead of being interested, they dismiss him and demand that he return to the ordered society they’ve constructed.  Finally, in a bit of a deus ex machina, an elder race returns to the planet to tear down the Temple of Syrinx.

Unlike “By-Tor and the Snow Dog,” on the earlier “Fly by Night”, “2112” is not as goofy as it sounds.  Combined with brilliant music that hits just the right tone through the shifting story, Geddy Lee gives heartfelt voice to Neal Peart’s lyrics, as he relates what in many ways is a simple morality play, where the greater good being upheld is the power of music.

The martial sounding “Temples of Syrinx” section of the song is the best for rocking out, but my favourite part of “2112” is when our hero first discovers the guitar.  Geddy sings with a tentative wonder, and Alex Lifeson plays the ‘part’ brilliantly, putting just the right amount of uncertainty into his playing to convey what it’s like to pick up an instrument and be enthralled with playing it for the first time.

Recently I was treated to a surround sound version of this song at my friend Chris’ which was accompanied by an animation depicting the story I outlined above.  It was an immersive experience that gave me a new appreciation of “2112”s greatness. So a shout out to Chris for that.

Side Two of “2112” is a collection of shorter songs.  While they don’t provide the shock and awe of the first half of the album, they are still pretty damned good.

In particular, I liked the strum-tastic “Lessons” which felt like a sequel to “Fly by Night’s” “Making Memories.”  “Making Memories” has a similar construction as it sings about the pleasant memories you make on a road trip.  “Lessons” is darker, as it juxtaposes the sweet memories of experience, with the grim fact that so often we don’t learn from them.

As we get older, there is a risk that we mistake all of our accumulated experiences for wisdom, but it isn’t wisdom if you don’t let those experiences teach you something about yourself, and always be ready to guard against complacency.  “Lessons” is a reminder of this, and a kick ass song as well.

Lesser tracks include “Passage to Bangkok” and “The Twilight Zone.” They are both great musically, but lyrically I found them a little bit awkward.  Not remotely enough to ruin the record mind you, just not at the same level of the other material.

My other favourite Side Two track is “Something for Nothing” which explores a common theme in Rush music; that of self-reliance.  Rush is not a typical rock band, because they aren’t content with songs simply about rebellion.  They will always step forward and challenge their listeners to make choices, take stands and own the results of their actions:

“You don’t get something for nothing

You don’t get freedom for free

You won’t get wise

With the sleep in your eyes

No matter what your dream might be.”

 It is an appropriate song to end this record with.  It rocks out, it makes you think and then it makes you take ownership of those thoughts and put them into action.

This is a thoughtful record by a thoughtful band determined to make good art, even at the risk of alienating record sales.  That they are still going four decades after “2112” was released is proof positive that people are perfectly willing to be intellectually challenged through music.  That the music is so damned good – well that’s just the chocolate coating that makes it go down easier.

Best tracks:  2112, Lessons, Something for Nothing

CD Odyssey Disc 529: Rush

The CD Odyssey requires one full listen before I review, but sometimes after a single listen I don’t feel like I’ve sufficiently grokked the record to talk about it.  So it was with this next album, which I’ve listened to three times over.  Each listen has been a better experience, which is how a good record should treat you.

Disc 529 is…. Fly By Night

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 1975

What’s up with the Cover?  Owl!

How I Came To Know It:  I’ve known the song “Fly by Night” since I was a kid, and when I started building my Rush collection in the early nineties this was one of the first albums I bought.

How It Stacks Up:  I have 19 Rush albums, which I think is all of their studio releases.  Competition is fierce at the top, but I’ll put “Fly By Night” ahead of most of their work so let’s say…6^th.  Just behind “Caress of Steel.”

Rating:  4 stars

1975 and enter drummer and lyricist Neil Peart, and with his entry Rush became the band that went on to worldwide fame.  As much as I get a kick out of the fun-lovin’ rock and roll of their debut album, it is this new incarnation of Rush that made them interesting and durable and to me this is the first of their great records.

The band’s earlier sound is still present, particularly in tracks like “Best I Can” and “Making Memories.”  “Making Memories” is positively mainstream, and has a laid back feel that made me think of stubby beer bottles, cut off shorts and cannonballs into the local lake (not that I ever  cannonballed anyone – it always seemed more rude than fun).  These straight ahead rock songs aren’t may favourites on the album, but I like them and as weird and progressive as Rush gets, these songs show that they could play straight ahead hard rock songs with the best of ‘em if they were moved to.

But of course an album of straight ahead rock songs would bore this trio of musical maestros, and so they welcomed odd-ball and book-worm Neil Peart into their band for drumming excellence and lyrical inspiration. At the same time as Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson began taking the music down more interesting pathways.

The hit that resulted was the title track, “Fly By Night.” Like any great rock song it has a memorable introductory riff, but the song infuses a much more interesting melody into what could be just another summer anthem.  As the song itself says, almost self-referentially:

“Start a new chapter

I find what I’m after

Is changing every day

The change of a season

Is enough of a reason

To want to get away.”

Of course they seamlessly change the song’s tempo and melody as Geddy sings these lyrics, the kind of in-song gymnastics that would become their hallmark.  It should be worth noting that while undertaking all this sonic flexibility, they don’t forget to make the song catchy in its own weirdly beautiful way.

Along with a fresher sound, the album features the beginning of some wild and fantastical topics.  At its best, their literary and fantastical references are wonderful.  “Rivendell” is inspired by the mythical Elven kingdom from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth.  What could have been a laughable piece of fan fiction in the wrong hands is instead a beautiful depiction – musically and lyrically – of a magical place of rest and respite.  Lifeson’s guitar playing is gentle and dreamlike and Geddy wisely sings it light and airy so it sounds relaxed throughout.  I won’t quote the lyrics, because it is one of those songs that loses something without the dimension of sound.

When Rush goes too far, however, it can get ridiculous, as we hear on the ridiculous “By-Tor & The Snow Dog”:

“The tomb of Hades, lit by flickering torchlight

The nether world is gathered in the glare

Prince By-Tor takes the cavern to the north light

The sign of Eth is rising in the air.

By-Tor, knight of darkness,

Centurion of evil, devil's prince”

What the hell?  I’ve heard this song many times and while what it is about (a battle between some evil demon named “By-Tor” and some mythical ermine-coated guardian called “The Snow Dog” it always makes me laugh.  Musically interesting, the lyrics are too over the top, and pull me out of the moment.  Also, with no frame of reference I don’t really care that the Snow Dog triumphs over By-Tor.  Somewhere in Neil Peart’s rough notes I suspect the beginnings of a very bad short story.  Please never finish it, Neil.

The album ends with one of my all-time favourite Rush deep cuts, “In the End.”  At 6:46, this song takes its time getting going, delivering an entire verse in stripped down, slow-tempo as it draws you in, setting you up for Lifeson’s kick-ass guitar rock riff and even a subtle bit of funk guitar tucked in behind for the first couple of bars.  This song is simple in construction, but filled with fist-pumping energy, a heartfelt (and grounded) guitar solo and a vibe that makes you want to go out and take on the world.

In some ways, “Fly by Night” is a transition album for Rush, as they still hold onto some of their more traditional conventions while also establishing their own unique sound.  However it is so good at blending the two trends that to call it a simply a transition album would be to do it a disservice.  It doesn’t come out in the top five of their records like I expected it to, but it comes damn close.

Best tracks:  Anthem, Fly By Night, Rivendell, In the End

CD Odyssey Disc 410: Rush

I’m home from a long day at the office and looking forward to the review.  Sheila is out tonight for dinner with a friend so I have a window to get my blog in before she gets home.  I’ll try to cover as many points on this amazing album as I can before I run out of time, shotgun style.  Bonus points to anyone who can tell me a second reason this would be considered a shotgun review.

Disc 410 is…Hold Your Fire 

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 1987

What’s up with the Cover?  A typically prog rock cover.  Three balls of colour hang motionless, seemingly stuck in time over a background of the same deep red.  I love this cover’s simplicity, but the same red colour is used on the back, and the black writing is hard to read on top of it.  Otherwise, I have no complaints.

How I Came To Know It: This is my ninth Rush review, so by now you’ll know that I grew up listening to Rush, although mostly albums previous to this one.  When this came out in 1987 it didn’t really register with me, which was my loss as it turned out.  I’ve had it now since it was remastered on CD in the late 1990s.

How It Stacks Up:  I have all 18 of Rush’s studio albums, and am quite excited that later this week their 19^th is being released. While not a big deal for either avowed Rush fans or the masses, “Hold Your Fire” speaks to me and I think it is between 3^rd and 5^th best, up there with classics like “Fly By Night”, “2112”, and “Caress of Steel” – and probably speaks more deeply to me than all of those.

Rating: 4 stars but a very thin line from 5.

Rush often gets panned for their ‘synth pop’ period, and when I recently reviewed “Grace under Pressure” I too had a mixed opinion.  However, knowing that the experiments undertaken on “Grace under Pressure” and later “Power Windows” would eventually lead to the masterpiece that is “Hold Your Fire” makes any missteps along the way well worth it.

Yes, Rush left some fans behind with their creative conversion to drum machine sounds, and organ over their original guitar driven progressive rock.  They left me behind as well for a time.  The fuzzy production on 1983’s “Signals” annoys me to this day, and I simply found other music to pursue for the latter half of the eighties.

In the process, though, I glossed over Rush’s best work in this period, “Hold Your Fire.” It is my distinct regret that this album has really only been in my life for fifteen years, when it could have been twenty-five.

So what did they do right?  Firstly, they finally manage to perfectly meld their complex arrangements to the new sound.  The ‘electronic percussion’ (drum machine) works in the mix where on so many albums of this period, like Springsteen’s “Tunnel of Love” or Tom Petty’s “Southern Accents” it falls flat and hollow.  “Hold Your Fire” is Rush going all-in for the sound, and not trying to hold onto past successes from their work in the seventies.  The Petty and Springsteen albums have great writing diminished by inappropriate arrangements.  Rush builds the songs to the sound from the ground up.  It is brave and crazy, and it works.

Am I disappointed that Alex Lifeson’s guitar is so muted on the record?  In a way yes, but that’s not what this record is about any more than the cowbells you’ll hear on their 1974 debut.  There is a time and a place for everything.

I also believe this is one of Geddy Lee’s greatest vocal performances.  Sure he shows more range on earlier albums, but on “Hold Your Fire” he takes time to really wrap himself emotionally and intellectually around Neil Peart’s lyrics.  He sings them with conviction, and helps them sink into the listener.

And there is a lot to sink in on this album.  I read a recent interview of Peart where he talks about how he gets an idea or a theme in his head and he works through it in depth, and that is definitely true of “Hold Your Fire.”  Here we have a record where the band is at a mid-point of its journey musically, maybe even a crossroads, given the mixed reception they were receiving from fans.

Peart explores the importance of taking the time to look around on life’s road at these moments; not to be too focused on where you’ve been, or where you’re going next.  Never is this better expressed than in the perfectly constructed “Time Stand Still”:

“I let my skin get too thin

I’d like to pause,

No matter what I pretend

Like some pilgrim –

Who learns to transcend –

Learns to live

As if each step was the end.

“I’m not looking back –

But I want to look around me now

See more of the people

And the places that surround me now.

“Freeze this moment a little bit longer

Make each sensation a little bit stronger.”

Listening to this on my walk to work I couldn’t help but be filled with marvel at the present, and how we walk through it without paying attention.  It made me pay attention.  I don’t know what it was, maybe the combination of the lyrics, and the engaging inspirational tune.  Maybe it was the ethereal beauty of AimeeMann’s background vocals singing “time stand still” elfin-like in the background.  Whatever it was, time might not have stood still, but I could imagine it flowing around me like a river.  It’s not every day a five minute rock song gives you a new appreciation of time, movement and the very human experience of being conscious of both things even happening.

There are a lot of great ‘take a look around’ moments on “Hold Your Fire” including the opening track “Force Ten” reminding us that “we can rise and fall like empires/Flow in and out like the tide” and on “Prime Mover”:

“From the point of ignition

To the final drive

The point of the journey

Is not to arrive.”

Of course, I did arrive at work (after all, they pay me) but I had a new appreciation for every experience along the way, and then through the day.  I’ve listened to this album dozens if not hundreds of times, and it got to me all over again.

For Rush awareness starts (and maybe ends) with self-awareness.  The songs are not just about consciousness, but our unconscious minds as well.  On “Lock and Key” Geddy sings:

“We carry a sensitive cargo

Below the waterline

Ticking like a time bomb

With a primitive design.

…

“I don’t want to face

The killer instinct

Face it in you or me

And so I keep it under lock and key.”

We’re conscious, but we’re not far removed from the lizard brain.  “Lock and Key” reminds me that these undercurrents to our genetic makeup aren’t going anywhere.  We need to reconcile them to our ‘civilized’ self or we risk letting them drag us back into deep waters that our ancestors spent a lot of time and effort crawling out of (and yes, the album features a wonderfully geeky song about this exact evolutionary notion – “High Water).”

And finally, Rush reminds us that being aware of our place in time, and in touch with our own limitations at the same time, the next step in our evolution is empathy.  “Second Nature” opens with an echoing organ, a near-divine invocation for us to care more about one another.  A song on par with Pink Floyd’s “On The Turning Away” the lyrics are beautiful and inspirational, but since I’ve already heavily quoted other lyrics, and since I can’t preach it anywhere close to the way Geddy Lee sings it, I’ll just suggest you go and look it up on YouTube.

The best thing about this album is how everyone – not just Lifeson – dial their own egos back in service to a higher cause.  Lee sings with passion instead of power, and Peart writes about awareness and humility and – even more tellingly – lends a relaxed feel to his drumming.

I get that “Hold Your Fire” isn’t for everyone.  Those who only want Rush to rock out, will not get their fix here.  If you want Rush at their most musically complicated, this is definitely not for you either – stick to “Hemispheres” or “2112” and you’ll be well served.  Maybe the eighties production is so hated to your ear you can’t get past it to hear the music – I am always surprised that I can do it.

 “Turn the Page” is the one song that is a bit silly, and poorly constructed, but not so much to knock me out of the groove by the time it shows up at track eight.  “Tai Shan” has been panned by critics for its dissonance with the rest of the songs on the album (it takes inspiration in topic and construction from traditional Chinese music) but I love it.  “Open Secrets” always sounds to me like Rush is borrowing from Blue Oyster Cult’s sound on 1983’s “Revolution by Night.”  I happen to love Blue Oyster Cult so, again, I’m not complaining.

I’ve yet to run into someone who likes the album as much as I do, and even though critically, there are at least three or four records I should rank above it, I’ve got to be honest with myself.  The honest truth is that I like the way this album gets my head talking to my heart, and along the way gives me some time signature changes and pretty melodies to keep the music interesting as well.

Best tracks:  I like almost all of the tracks but Time Stand Still, Second Nature, Prime Mover, Lock and Key, and Tai Shan have particular appeal.

CD Odyssey Disc 397: Rush

After a long day of work, I was tired when I got home and not in the mood to write (I have been writing all day).  Of course, if you only exercise a muscle when it isn’t tired, you never get stronger.

Speaking of which, I missed the gym today.  One muscle at a time, I suppose.

   

Disc 397 is…Grace Under Pressure

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 1984

What’s Up With The Cover?:  A pretty typical prog rock cover.  A bald albino watches a seascape melt, Dali-like, into the border of album cover itself.  Even though it is collapsing in on itself, it is still beautiful.  Get it – grace under pressure!

How I Came To Know It: Although this came out shortly after “Signals” and was therefore in the musical wheelhouse of my teenage years, I didn’t get “Grace Under Pressure” until about six or seven years ago, as I was finishing up my Rush collection.

How It Stacks Up:  I have all eighteen of Rush’ studio albums.  Competition is fierce at the top, but “Grace Under Pressure” doesn’t have to worry about that, because it is near the bottom.  I’m going to say 16^th, since there are a couple of albums I suspect might slip underneath it.

Rating: 3 stars

I have eighteen Rush albums, so I should hardly have to defend how much I like the band.  And yet, “Grace Under Pressure” tried my patience over the last couple of days.

This is the album that launched Rush in a new direction, with a lot more keyboard and a lot less of Alex Lifeson’s guitar wizardry.  They had taken tentative steps in that direction on “Signals” but on this record they push all their chips into the digital centre of the music board.

Lest you think this is the reason I don’t like this album as much as some, I would point out that 1987’s “Hold Your Fire” is one of my favourite Rush albums, and it is very much one of their eighties synth records.

I prefer “Hold Your Fire” for a couple of reasons, the first being that it is strongly melodic.  Not so, “Grace Under Pressure” which seems very experimental.  Rush has found a new artistic expression here, and they are determined – in Rush-like fashion – to explore it to its very edges.

It is an admirable quality, and it delivers a couple of brilliant songs when it feels like all the creative energy is rowing in the same direction.  When Lifeson’s guitar is mixed with the keyboard sound, like on the instrumental section of “Afterimage” it is a thing of beauty.  This song strongly reminded me of Blue Oyster Cult’s album from the previous year, “The Revolution By Night” and this was a good thing.

Unfortunately, at other times they seem more interested in combining as many disjointed sounds together as humanly possible.  The beginning of “The Body Electric” is a spastic combination of drum machines stripping Neil Peart of his power, and guitar licks that are good, but so far back in the mix for most of the song that they are an afterthought.  At one point I swear I hear someone playing the triangle because – well, because.

Then, “The Body Electric” brings the second reason I prefer “Hold Your Fire”; better lyrics.  “The Body Electric” is a song about an android trying to escape its programming and realize true intelligence.  At least I think that’s what it is about.  It is actually a pretty cool concept, but the chorus is “1-0-0-1-0-0-1.”  Seriously.  I’m sorry, but that’s just a bit too binary for my organic chemistry to appreciate.

“Kid Gloves” has fairly strong lyrics about the loss of innocence, and although I don’t like the song that much, I’ll give it credit for that.  Not so, “red lenses” which follows up with some terribly strained rhymes:

“I see red

It hurts my head

Guess it must be something

That I read.”

Peart is one of rock and roll’s great thinkers, and great lyricists, and it is sad to see him miss like this.  The tune was also practically unfollowable musically for me, although I did appreciate the gratuitous cowbell.  There is no such thing as too much cowbell.

So, that’s the bad stuff, but fortunately there are a couple of absolute gems on this record that make up for a lot, and have me still pulling this off the shelf despite its shortcomings.

The first is the single that was released, “Distant Early Warning”, a reference to the DEW line, set up to monitor Canada’s north from Soviet incursion.

It needs to be remembered that “Grace Under Pressure” came out at the height of the Cold War.  Reagan was demanding the Russians tear down the wall, and a barrage of missiles from the two superpowers pointed at one another ready to destroy the entire human civilization.  If you were a teenager back, you seriously doubted our chances to get out of it alive.

“Distant Early Warning” somehow captures the spirit of that age, but thoughtfully, rather than in an angry or panicky way.  The tune is sublime and the use of keyboard and synthesizer is absolutely perfect for the mood.  Whatever production challenges this record has elsewhere, I wouldn’t change a thing about “Distant Early Warning.”  The keyboard chords are stark, and full of ill omens and portents.  The guitar driven chorus follows on, before the song returns to a simple and subdued bass line.  Again, Lifeson’s guitar work had me thinking of similar work from B.O.C.’s Buck Dharma, again in a good way.  Atop it, Lee’s vocals give voice to Peart’s lyrical plea for the world to embrace some common sense:

“Left and rights of passage

Black and whites of youth

Who can face the knowledge

That the truth is not the truth?

Obsolete

Absolute

Absalom.”

The other amazing track on this album is one of my all-time favourite Rush songs, “Red Sector A.”  Musically, all of the perfect notes struck in “Distant Early Warning” are hit again, an appropriately troubling bass-line that would be home on “Another Brick In The Wall,” and keyboards as grandiose as church organs and even Peart’s drums sounding tough in the mix.

The song is about a family living in a concentration camp, starving and bereft of hope.  It could very easily be about the Nazi death camps of World War Two, given that Geddy Lee’s mother was an actual survivor of one of those camps.  The best image:

“For my father and my brother it’s too late

But I must help my mother stand up straight.”

I like the way this evokes an image of a young boy being comforted by a mother’s arm around his shoulder, but in his own mind he is standing up straight and supporting her.  This basic human response is important to me, because the chorus of “Red Sector A” asks”

“Are we the last ones left alive?

Are we the only human beings to survive?”

Speaking of basic human response, this section makes you wonder what it might be like in some apocalyptic future where the earth itself is conquered, and instead of putting each other in concentration camps, our entire race ended up there.

Like any great song, it leaves that open to interpretation, and just focuses on the emotional core even in the most awful of experiences.

While “Red Sector A” and “Distant Early Warning” are rock classics in my mind, they aren’t enough to elevate the entire album to where it needs to be all on their own.  They are enough to elevate it from simply average to good, however.

Best tracks: Distant Early Warning, Red Sector A.

CD Odyssey Disc 325: Rush

Another day, another Rush record. These guys have made a few over the last forty years or so, although this is one that almost never came to pass.

Disc 325 is...Vapor Trails

Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 2002

What’s Up With The Cover?: I have no idea. It might be a tail light - maybe of Neal Peart's motorcycle? That's a wild guess though, and other than that, I've got nothin'. I checked the liner notes, which helpfully advised me that the album was brought to us by the number '3', but provided no comment on the cover art. I give this cover a failing grade.

How I Came To Know It: This was just me drilling through the Rush catalogue. I believe I started actively finishing my Rush collection around the time this one came out in 2002.

How It Stacks Up: I have all 18 of Rush' studio albums. Vapor Trails is somewhere in the middle, but probably in the lower half. I'll say around 11th to 12th, depending on my mood at the time.

Rating: 3 stars.

"Vapor Trails" is a hard album to listen to without the context of how it was made. It is the first album since 1996's "Test For Echo", with the band taking a hiatus after the tragic death's of Neal Peart's daughter and wife in 1997 and 1998.

I'm not very big on biographical context, but knowing this, and knowing that Peart is the band's lyricist, makes it hard not to think about these tragic events when listening to the album. I think it definitely affects the writing, with a lot of the songs having an intensely personal feel.

The songs topics are often emotionally stark, with Peart wondering at what humanity has always wondered at - how can bad things happen to good people. In "Ghost Rider" he sings of riding his motorcycle over 55,000 miles, trying to come to terms with what has happened in his life. Later, in "The Stars Looked Down" he asks the universe a series of questions, where the only response is "and the stars looked down." There are no easy answers.

While I think the most poignant lines on the album comes from the title track, "swept away like voices in a hurricane", my favourite stanza on the topic is from "How It Is":

"It's such a cloudy day
Seems we'll never see the sun
Or feel the day has possibilities
Frozen in the moment -
the lack of imagination
Between how it is and how it ought to be."

The album avoids the mistake of becoming too maudlin, and other topics also abound, including political commentary ("Peaceable Kingdom") and the appreciation of natural beauty ("Earthshine"). Often these also have a close personal connection, Peart choosing to reflect topics back again on his own emotional journey.

Musically, "Vapor Trails" sees a return to the band's hard rock roots, with Alex Lifeson's guitar riffs getting a bit more volume in the mix. I like this; as a prog band, Rush's songs are complicated enough, and giving the guitar a bit more notice makes it easier for my untrained ear to follow along. I can trace outward from the familiar guitar into the outer reaches of the song.

The record's hard rock edge is very hard in places, such as on "Earthshine", and then very relaxed and melodic in other songs like "How It Is". I like both experiences, and the combination I like even more.

In terms of rating, I struggled with this one. "Vapor Trails" is very strong both in terms of the quality of music and lyrics, and as ever, Rush are masters of their craft. At the same time, despite the deeply emotional resonant content of the record, I was not often pulled in like I expected to be. It was close, but I ended up going with 3 stars. I expect that when I'm finished all eighteen albums, "Vapor Trails" will be the dividing line between the 3 and 4 star Rush records. That's how it is, and how it ought to be.

Best tracks: Ceiling Unlimited, Ghost Rider, How It Is, Vapor Trail, Earthshine

CD Odyssey Disc 274: Rush

With me driving less, I will likely get creative to find ways to listen to the Odyssey while still following all the rules on the sidebar. In a way I'm looking forward to hearing more albums outside of the car. Not all records are meant for the car, and this will level the playing field a little.

This next album is good in the car, or anywhere else - and is one of my favourite albums of this or any band.

Disc 274 is...Permanent Waves Artist: Rush

Year of Release: 1980

What’s Up With The Cover?: A beautiful woman has her skirt blown up in the foreground, while in the background we see a tsunami wave leaving a path of destruction in its wake. I think. I don't fully get this cover, other than the obvious homage to the "Permanent Waves" album title. I know I like it, and not just because of the fetching model featured (although that helps).

Of note, this is the second album cover in the Odyssey featuring a woman with her skirt up, showing her underwear. The first was Alice Cooper's "Pretties For You" back at Disc 152, which handled the subject matter in a less violent, but far creepier manner.

How I Came To Know It: I knew the song "Spirit of Radio" for years, but it was my friend Kelly playing "Freewill" that not only hooked me on buying this album, but got me started on drilling through Rush's entire collection.

How It Stacks Up: I have eighteen studio albums by Rush, and "Permanent Waves" is tied for first. I love this record.

Rating: 5 stars

"Permanent Waves" is Rush at the height of their considerable talent. Still possessing the incredibly technical arrangements and virtuoso playing of earlier records like "2112", "Farewell to Kings" and "Hemispheres", "Permanent Waves" is all these things, but somehow more accessible to a larger audience.

The album only has six songs, but those six songs are each classics in their own right. The album begins with the hit "Spirit of Radio". In just under five minutes, "Spirit of Radio" sums up all the good and bad about music radio.

As long-time readers will know, I often take shots at radio, and as a band that has largely made songs not friendly to radio, Rush would certainly have been in their right to do the same. Instead, this song is balanced between hope and disappointment. The opening lines:

"Begin the day
With a friendly voice
A companion unobtrusive"

Completely captures my experience listening to the radio driving to work (albeit news radio, in my case). A quiet voice in the car that calms your nerves and sets your mind for the day ahead.

Sheila often tells me about how the song annoys her when Geddy Lee shrieks out how radio also "echoes with the sounds...Of salesmen! Salesmen!". So true, but such a perfect expression of one aspect of radio. The line jars you deliberately, but never loses the song's strong melody in the process.

"Spirit of Radio" winds itself up as more an indictment of the commercialism of modern radio, but the song contains a hopeful thread that radio could be better. For someone like me who long ago gave up on music radio, I'm glad that kernel of optimism remains, even amongst all the gibberish and gaga.

The second song on the album, is one of my all time favourite songs - "Freewill". A song whose lyrics are written by an Objectivist (Peart) but that an avowed Existentialist like me can still completely relate to. It is a song about taking responsibility for your own actions, and not falling back on blaming the heavens for your problems.

"You can choose a ready guide
In some celestial voice
If you choose not to decide
You still have made a choice.
You can choose from phantom fears
And kindness that can kill
I will choose a path that's clear
I will choose free will."

Every time I hear this song it fills my heart with the fiery fervour to carry on without any crutches, and own all my decisions - good and bad. It also always reminds me of one of my favourite poems by Thomas Hardy, "Hap" which covers the same themes. Since I like to slip a little literature in on my pop culture reviews, here's "Hap" for your reading enjoyment:

"If but some vengeful god would call to me
From up the sky, and laugh: "Thou suffering thing,
Know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy,
That thy love's loss is my hate's profiting!"

"Then would I bear it, clench myself, and die,
Steeled by the sense of ire unmerited;
Half-eased in that a Powerfuller than I
Had willed and meted me the tears I shed.

"But not so. How arrives it joy lies slain,
And why unblooms the best hope ever sown?
Crass Casualty obstructs the sun and rain,
And dicing Time for gladness casts a moan. . . .
These purblind Doomsters had as readily strown
Blisses about my pilgrimage as pain."

Awesome. Also, "Purblind Doomsters" would be a great name for a band. Given that I've just reprinted a Victorian sonnet, it is a good time to point out that amidst all the amazing music in "Freewill" Peart writes the verses in a rhyme scheme of ABCBDDEFFE, and then repeats it. It flows so seamlessly, you'd never notice unless you checked (which I did). Modern poets who think rhyme schemes are outdated should take a lesson from Peart. (Note - my quote above is the chorus, lest you think I can't read a rhyme scheme).

The song "Entre Nous" always makes me think of all those friends who don't necessarily share my belief systems (in various ways) but always offer something for me to think about, and always inspire me to be better. "Entre Nous" says it best:

"The spaces in between
Leave room
For you and I to grow."

Other songs on the album include a depiction of two storm fronts colliding ("Jacob's Ladder"), and a song about tidal pools ("Natural Science") that equates how the creatures in a tidal pool think they know their entire world, just as we foolishly act here on Earth, while floating in a vast universe we can never hope to comprehend.

The themes on this record are big, and Rush delivers on each one with grace and artistry. It is an album I put one when I need a lift, an album that makes me see things in a different light, and an album that makes me appreciate my life. It is a classic album that even years and countless listens later, keeps revealing itself to me.

Best tracks: All tracks, but especially Freewill