Besides this review of Alex Lifeson's guitar solo, I haven't talked about Rush very much on this blog, and for no good reason. Rush is a very important band for a scrawny little nerd like myself; I own every Rush album up to Exit...Stage Left (minus their self titled debut) and I even have a giant Rush poster hanging over my fucking bed. Hell, just look at this picture of me:
Obviously, I love Rush, and listening to them makes me about as happy as a Red Sox player Beating a Yankee (well, maybe not THAT happy) and they deserve to be glorified in one of my lengthy reviews goddammit!
I vaguely remember hearing Rush for the first time as a young pre-teen. All I remember was that it was on the rock station and it was "requests hour" and someone requested Rush, who I've never heard of at that point. I cannot remember for the life of me which song it was, but all I remember thinking was 1.) This guy's voice is really high, and 2.) This music is pretty complex. A short time later, I bought a used copy of the fan-favorite 2112 at a music shop and I slowly grew to like the album more and more. One thing I knew about Rush at that time was that their fans were, uh, dedicated, to say the least, and there were no "casual" Rush fans. If that were true, then I thought I would become the first given how much I enjoyed 2112. I was very wrong. I grew to love 2112 and then Rush as a whole, and I started collecting their albums soon after. I analyzed the fuck out of the "La Villa Strangiato" solo (see the link above), I know all the drum fills in Tom Sawyer, and I saw Rush live during their Time Machine tour, and yes, I passionately and furiously air drummed all the Tom Sawyer fills with impunity.
On that particular tour, Rush played their hit album Moving Pictures in its entirety, a favorite among fans, but mostly among critics who previously labeled their music as over-amplified nerd rock with a vocalist who sounded not unlike "a hamster being pushed through a blender". So this brings us to the album that preceded it, Permanent Waves. Strangely enough, this is one of the last Rush albums I bought. I must have bought 2112 in 2006, and I just bought Permanent Waves last year. So why would I choose to review this one and not either of their most acclaimed albums? The honest answer to that is because Permanent Waves is simply my favorite Rush album, hands down, and I usually don't buy into that one album in a band's discography that all the critics label as the "best" one. It's strange to say this, but even I myself do not really analyze music as deeply as you'd expect from an amateur critic. Most of the time, I just remove everything else from my mind and listen to an album just to get the feel of it, more specifically, how do I feel listening to this album? I've pretty much decided that I feel the best listening to Permanent Waves over any other Rush album, but this is an album review, so I have to do what I have to do and think about it in a way that I don't normally think about a piece of rock art such as this.
After the technical fireworks display that was Hemispheres, Rush stated in the excellent documentary "Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage" that they never wanted to make another album like that again and decided to explore new musical territories, and that they did. Just listen to the first track, the aptly titled "Spirit of Radio", with it's bizarre reggae breaks but overall radio friendly sound. This showcases how Rush could expand into a more mainstream style without sacrificing depth or technical ability, and to impressive effect. And just because the band stated that they didn't want to make another album like Hemispheres doesn't mean that these nerdy Canadians relaxed themselves and played in a more subdued fashion, in fact, it's just the opposite. A fine example of this can be found in the epic solo in the middle of "Freewill" which is, in effect, a drum solo, bass solo, and guitar solo happening simultaneously, and Lifeson's technique during this section cements his status as a rock guitar hero. "Jacob's Ladder", another standout, is distinguished by it's nearly cinematic guitar motif and slow burning buildups that fill it's seven and a half minute runtime. "Entre Nous" is filled with acoustic as well as electric guitar riffs and arpeggios that crawl all over the place, and I absolutely love how the music accompaniment during the second verse is entirely different from the first verse. "Different Strings" begins with a perfect melodious mixture of guitar, piano, and vocals that work together beautifully and might even bring a tear to your eye. It's just one perfect song after another on this thing, and the music just delves deeper and deeper as the album progresses, increasing in complexity and meaning.
Lastly, if this album was a Christmas tree, then the final track, "Natural Science", would be the brightly shining star on the top of it. Out of all the multiple movement Rush epics in their discography, this one is easily my favorite just because of how exciting and compositionally superb it is. We begin with the tranquil sounds of the ocean and Lifeson's acoustic guitar with Geddy Lee's voice sounding like it was recorded beneath the waves. You're then treated with more excellent arpeggiated guitar lines and vocal melodies playing off of each other before Lifeson dives into what has to be the most badass metal riff in Rush's entire history. Lifeson's solo is equally badass before the song morphs back into the same arpeggios and vocal melody as before, and the way things resolve at that point is wholly satisfying. After an anthemic and uplifting part III, the song takes us back to where it began with the waves softly crashing against the shore. The End.
Although this isn't the most critically acclaimed album in Rush's catalog, or the most beloved by fans, this album cannot be overlooked if you are a fan of Rush or progressive rock in general. There's no filler here; every song the band wrote for this album is completely unique and stands on its own so that nothing blends together, something that most other bands can't manage to do, and that will pique your interest and make you feel engaged rather than compelled to keep looking at the tracklist wondering when the album's going to be over. And this goes back to what I mentioned earlier; the way you feel listening to a good record. You don't have to analyze every chord and key to appreciate an album like this, not even close. If you want a piece of music to take you for a wild ride, you just have to give up your time and let it. And if you can appreciate "heady" music (and can get over Geddy Lee's shrill voice) then this album might be one of the wildest hard rock rides you will ever take. And yes, I did an entire review of a Rush album without mentioning Neil Peart once. How I did that, I will never know.
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