Rush

A Farewell To Kings

LIFESON BECOMES A GUITAR GOD!

Review Score:

(10/10)
A Farewell to Kings......Lifeson graduates! He moves from being the guitar great from Canada who did 2112 to the exclusive status of GUITAR GOD (joining Gilmour, Beck, and Page).My original exposure to this album was on 8-track. The title track opens with a classical piece which is very well done. Although Lifeson is not known for his acoustic prowess (Rush should have used the acoustic more), the song moves into a heavy riff which has Lee in perfect voice. The solo is earth shattering then immediately moves into a cut-time riff which USED to be their trademark.Xanadu shows the incredible talent of this Kid Lifeson. The intro is pure volume pedal. To young guitar players in the mid-70s, we had never heard anything like this before, or since. The song is brilliant. A reviewer stated in her review of the Odeon live version that Alex sure rocked back then. Yes he did! However, within 10 years, Lifeson would forget how to use the volume pedal, as well as the wah, and basically forget how to play guitar in general.Closer to the Heart is a bit to AM for me, maybe because radio has since worn it out (radio has a way of taking a good song and playing it into the ground...look at Sawyer and Limelight). But it gells nicely with this album. Madrigal is a soft ballad that is very well done. Many blast this song because it doesn't rock. Well, DUH! IT'S A BALLAD, MAN! Cinderella Man is probably the best song ever written by Lee. The band is absolutely tight. Cygnus closes out the album. Very strange song, LOADED with cut riffs and time-signature changes (if you like post Roll the Bones Rush with all its standard 4/4 time and melodic emptiness, then you probably won't like Cygnus). But clearly, Cygnus defines Rush as a powerhouse. All in all, a perfect album. Rush would continue its extraordinary art form for 2 more albums, culminating with the incredible Permanent Waves.

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