Rush

A Farewell To Kings

Rush has opened up chapter two of their musical history...

Review Score:

(10/10)
True to their message in "All The World's A Stage", 1977's "A Farewell To Kings" has indeed set up chapter two of their musical history. Unaware of the fact at the time that there would be a live album released after every 4 studio albums, Rush has begun a new chapter after every live album, indulging with loads of synthesizer work after "Exit... Stage Left", and heading for a more streamlined rock sound following "A Show Of Hands", and following it up with a more raw and edgy hard-rock sound after "Different Stages". "Vapor Trails", you can say, is the beginning to a fifth chapter in the annals of Rush.

When it comes to "A Farewell To Kings", Rush were quick to experiment with new sounds and to further expand their musical expertise. It is also their first album on which Geddy Lee plays keyboards, Alex Lifeson fiddles with guitar pedals and double-necks, and Neil Peart has built up an extensive percussion set featuring temple blocks, cowbells, marimba, tubular bells, crotales, vibra-slap, triangles, glockenspiel, and timpanis along his good ol'-fashioned Slingerland drum kit.

The title track starts off with an acoustic guitar introduction, followed by mellow glockenspiel and tingling of Moog keys in the background, before plunging into their amplified instruments, showcasing their unnatural ability to progress with each new album experimenting with changing time signatures and the ability of stopping for breaks before going back again. "Xanadu" is another classical piece of work, in which the band, especially Neil, gets to show off their skills on their newly-added equipment. "Closer To The Heart" has become quite a huge stage favorite in their repertoire, and they've played it on every tour following the "Drive Til You Die" tour for 20 years!(Initially, the band decided to give it a breather, although they did include it in their Mexico and Brazil dates of the Vapor Trails tour as an extra "treat"). "Cinderella Man" features lyrics penned by Geddy, after watching "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town" on which the song is loosely based. Here he also indulges into a more funky groove in the instrumental section, between screaming vocal parts and intricate bass playing. "Madrigal" could be considered more of a ballad, featuring a light drum beat from Neil as well as squeaking keyboards and acoustic six-strings galore. This song is known as being the only one from this album not to have been performed live. And then finally "Cygnus X-1", which deals with the story which is so evident in the lyrics, informing us about a black hole in the constellation of Cygnus; the unknown hero travels to Cygnus in a ship called "Rocinante", and finally ends with him getting sucked into the hole. When I heard the sequel on "Hemispheres", it turned out to be quite different than what I had expected.

"A Farewell To Kings" is also known for being the first album to be recorded outside of their native Canada, this time resorting to Rockfield Studios in the pastoral countryside of Monmouth in Wales. "Hemispheres" was also recorded here.

This is quite an excellent album in which the band gets to further their showcase musical abilities, which was nothing new at that time. Many other bands in the late 70s had begun experimenting with synthesizers in general, and Rush quickly picked up on that ideal. In contrast to their earlier albums, which feature more edgy, guitar-oriented songs, "A Farewell To Kings" has indeed opened up a new chapter in their history and has paved the way for further albums like "Permanent Waves" and "Moving Pictures". This, I think, could be called the "golden period" when they were alternating between guitar and synthesizer dominance, and following "Exit... Stage Left" the synthesizer took on a more leading role, much to the disillusionment of Alex Lifeson.

P.S. I accidentally bought this one on LP and I knew it was a cautious mistake. I still have the LP version, although I much prefer to have it on CD, which I also do have. Anyway, I was quite impressed when I first heard this one, and it really blew me away when I heard them break into unchartered musical territory, which was a quite significant achievement for such a young and powerful trio. Nevertheless, it has proved itself to be a sequel to the success of "2112"!

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