Driven by Sonic Obsession

Late seventies Rush has always had a great reputation among fans of progressive rock and metal. And not without reason. Rush managed to inject all the clever twists and melodic touches that the likes of Genesis and Jethro Tull had into their music without ever losing the heavy, Led Zeppelin-esque force that so many progressive bands sacrificed in the process of making their music less immediate. To me, ‘A Farewell To Kings’ is the Canadian trio’s crowning achievement, because it manages to strike a balance between all the elements that make them the band they are unlike any other of their albums.

After a bunch of great short, punchy songs, but underdeveloped and meandering epics on ‘Caress Of Steel’ and possibly the best side-long song of the seventies followed by a handful of largely unremarkable shorter tracks on ‘2112’, ‘A Farewell To Kings’ finally gets everything right. The long songs are a bit shorter this time around, though there are still two that pass the 10 minute mark, which causes the band to sound a tad more focused than before. Where in the past, the band’s amazing performances pushed some of the less remarkable passages over the edge, ‘A Farewell To Kings’ is tight and powerful all the way through.

On the shorter side of the spectrum, ‘Closer To The Heart’ is probably the first truly radio-friendly song the band ever recorded. It is done on their own terms, however. Built upon twelve string acoustic strumming by Alex Lifeson and containing several changes in dynamics, it is barely believable that the track is under three minutes long. So is ‘Madrigal’, which is more folky in approach and brings to mind ‘A Trick Of The Tail’ era Genesis. ‘Cinderella Man’ is a more typical Rush song somewhat in line with ‘Lakeside Park’ from ‘Caress Of Steel’.

The powerful opening track is the middle ground on ‘A Farewell To Kings’. It is not as concise as the aforementioned songs, but it also is not a big, sweeping epic. There are some powerful riffs in the track and some of Geddy Lee’s most impressive vocal work to date: it’s still high-pitched, but full of passion. One of my favorite Rush songs. The same can be said about the following ‘Xanadu’, which tells the tale of an immortal man descending into madness both musically and lyrically in a highly dynamic 11-minute track. The other long song, closer ‘Cygnus X-1’, is slightly more fragmented, but such a masterpiece of progrock musicianship and massive riffs, that it is easy to forgive the band.

In hindsight, ‘A Farewell To Kings’ can be seen as a transitional effort between Rush’s more proggy early days and their more accessible work that started with ‘Permanent Waves’. But of course, it is not that black and white, if only because ‘Hemispheres’ was released in the intervening years. I do have the feeling that it often gets overlooked due to being sandwiched between ‘2112’ and ‘Hemispheres’, both of which have huge, sprawling epics, but in fact, it is my favorite Rush album. Sadly, Neil Peart’s death three weeks ago means that they will never top it.

Recommended tracks: ‘A Farewell To Kings’, ‘Xanadu’, ‘Cygnus X-1’