Rush

A Farewell To Kings

An incredible and severely underrated album

Review Score:

(10/10)
A Farewell To Kings (1977.) Rush's fifth album.

Although Rush started their career as a straight-up classic hard rock band reminiscent of Led Zeppelin, they quickly began changing their sound into a more progressive rock-oriented one. Their career had been an awkward and turbulent one thusfar, despite all of their music being excellent. Fortunately, with the 1976 album 2112, the band made it known that they wouldn't be leaving the spotlight anytime soon. One year later, Geddy Lee, Neil Peart, and Alex Lifeson released their fifth studio album, A Farewell To Kings. How does album number five from the Canadian power trio measure up? Read on and find out.

After hearing the 2112 album, I thought that Rush would never put out an album that would top it. Boy, was I ever wrong. Although not nearly as popular as 2112, A Farewell To Kings actually manages to be (in my opinion) a stronger album! The band began to use synthesizers on a more regular basis with this album, and also started adding more melodic elements into their music. The title track to this album is, quite possibly, the most underrated Rush song ever. Why doesn't it get more credit than it does? The album is also home to two lengthy epics, Xanadu and Cygnus X-1. Although the former is nothing short of excellent, the latter is one of the true stand-out tracks on the album. It's a shame it's overlooked by so many fans. The melodic rocker Closer To The Heart is the only true hit to emerge from the album, and with good reason - melodic rock never sounded better. Also not to be overlooked are Madrigal and Cinderella Man. There is not a single weak track on this entire album, making it one of the finest efforts that Rush has ever released.

Like most of the Rush catalogue, the version of this album most readily available in America (as of September 11, 2004) is the Mercury Records remaster. These remasters are good because they give you expanded liner notes and improved sound quality. I was hoping Mercury would have added some bonus tracks, but oh well. I guess we can't have it all. In either event, that does NOT change my opinion of the album itself.

In the end, A Farewell To Kings stands as one of Rush's strongest efforts. Many of Rush's fans share this opinion, and rightfully so. Don't make the same mistake so many other Rush fans have made and overlook this album - you'll only be hurting yourself if you do. Final verdict? This is a must buy.

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