Rush

A Farewell To Kings

Without a doubt, the strongest Rush album of the 70s

Review Score:

(10/10)
A Farewell To The Kings(1977). Rush's 5th studio album.

Coming fresh off of the major underground success of the album 2112(1976), Rush follows up nicely with perhaps their greatest album of the 70s. The band were certainly rocking harder than ever, with Alex full-decked on the heavy electric guitars, along with Neil's dexteritous drum playing, and Geddy's thumping bass being stronger than ever before. Synthesizer pedals were brought forth into the music for the first time, and adds a nice backdrop touch to perfect the impact of their songs. AFTTK has something for all fans of Rush: two commercially successful short songs, two long epics, and two short undiscovered gems.

As for the main theme to this album, half of the songs have to do with some kind of quest or search for a certain paradise or mystery of some kind. The other half are about the effects of human nature in a society. I know that many people can interpret what each song means far better than I can, but I will provide a brief explanation of the tracks, so please bear with me. Here's the breakdown track-by-track:

1) A Farewell To The Kings- Excellent rocker. This song is about the struggle between people of a society and it's powerful tyrannical minority. It starts out and ends with acoustic guitar parts, but in between them is a hard rocking section with excellent riffs and strong-delivering vocals. This song actually received a bit of radio play. 9/10

2) Xanadu- A phenomenal 11-minute epic, which is about the quest to find Xanadu, the land of paradise and everlasting life. However, when paradise is obtained, the adventurer remains there for 1000 years and realizes that his paradise is really full of loneliness and despair. The synth at the beginning creates a nice ambience before Alex cuts in with the guitars. It alternates between several fast and slow parts. 10/10

3) Closer To The Heart- The BIG RADIO HIT, and one of the greatest fan-favorite Rush songs to date. The song is about people expressing themselves in their own ways, in order to bring themselves "closer to the heart". Brief, yet still outstanding. 10/10

4) Cinderella Man- A semi-acoustic guitar-driven rocker. This song is the story of a rich man who is just trying to be friendly, is ended up being branded "insane" by the poor majority. He tries to help them, but the more he does the worse it gets. Not very long, but a good song overall. 9/10

5) Madrigal- An acoustic-ballad type song about love triumphing over all of the hardships and distractions of life. This song has a good melody to it, but it's WAY TOO SHORT. Not bad by any means, but its brevity makes it seem like a wasted opportunity. 7/10

6) Cygnus X-1- The other sci-fi epic of the album, and part one of a two part mega-epic. It's about the journey of an astronaut through space into the black hole of the constellation Cygnus, in order to find out what lurks beyond. Starts off with a digitized speech and droning synth effects and then explodes into a versatile rocker. Arguably the strongest track on the whole album and maybe the best of the long epics, as each part flows together nicely. Not just the lyrics, but the instrumentation playing perfectly describes each part of the journey through space, making this one hell of a rollercoaster ride of guitar, bass, and drums. Geddy's vocals are also let loose with the intense passion. Kudos guys. Kudos. 10/10

Overall, I consider this album to be Rush's zenith of the progressive 70s era. Even though the followup Hemispheres(1978) is their most progressive effort, Farewell contains a stronger set of tracks that can appeal to all sorts of Rush fans. Five stars for musicianship, production, and songwriting. If you're first getting into Rush, Moving Pictures(1981), or Permanent Waves(1980) may be the best place to start, but if looked at closely, AFTTK is definitely a rocking suitable alternate. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. PICK THIS UP NOW.

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