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Revisiting Every Rush Album In Order: A Farewell To Kings (1977)


Segue Myles
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So now I am through with the first batch of albums, which I am happy to say were all a lot better than I recalled (even my beloved Caress Of Steel), I am onto the second stage of Rush albums. How am I organising this marathon? For the most part, via the release of live albums (normally released with four albums between each one). Once we get to the Millennium, I will likely review the studio albums alone and the live separately as there was an extraordinary number of live releases!

 

Now back to the topic at hand: A Farewell To Kings. This 1977 release has the honour of being cited for several years as my very favourite Rush album. It is an extraordinary work, and I did for the longest time voice the opinion that it was the only truly great seventies Rush album from start to finish.

 

As you can see, recently I have come to revaluate that opinion, because each release building up to AFTK is superb, to a surprisingly high level of consistency. I know that Caress Of Steel and 2112 got very high scores, and the second side of 2112 especially stood out on my recent listening experience. So much so that I wonder if, now that I am once again very familiar with deeper cuts like Before And After, Tears, In The End, and The Twilight Zone, will songs such as Closer To The Heart, Cinderella Man and Madrigal still cast a spell over me?

 

Only one way to find out!

Rush-A-Farewell-To-Kings-album-cover-web-optimised-with-border-820.jpg

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So now I am through with the first batch of albums, which I am happy to say were all a lot better than I recalled (even my beloved Caress Of Steel), I am onto the second stage of Rush albums. How am I organising this marathon? For the most part, via the release of live albums (normally released with four albums between each one). Once we get to the Millennium, I will likely review the studio albums alone and the live separately as there was an extraordinary number of live releases!

 

Now back to the topic at hand: A Farewell To Kings. This 1977 release has the honour of being cited for several years as my very favourite Rush album. It is an extraordinary work, and I did for the longest time voice the opinion that it was the only truly great seventies Rush album from start to finish.

 

As you can see, recently I have come to revaluate that opinion, because each release building up to AFTK is superb, to a surprisingly high level of consistency. I know that Caress Of Steel and 2112 got very high scores, and the second side of 2112 especially stood out on my recent listening experience. So much so that I wonder if, now that I am once again very familiar with deeper cuts like Before And After, Tears, In The End, and The Twilight Zone, will songs such as Closer To The Heart, Cinderella Man and Madrigal still cast a spell over me?

 

Only one way to find out!

Rush-A-Farewell-To-Kings-album-cover-web-optimised-with-border-820.jpg

 

Top 5 album for me. Their growth from the debut to this in two years is amazing.

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1. A Farewell To Kings

 

I love the acoustic intro, the little bells and birdsong...it starts off tranquil and already the tone of the album is set in place. It sounds like the start of a fantasy story. Then the band get started and it turns into a wonderful, WONDERFUL rock song! The best thing about it is that it never loses the atmosphere set up by the intro.

 

I am struggling to explain myself here, but I love this song and always have. Is it my favourite? Yes. Let's get it out the way: my favourite song on AFTK is not Xanadu or Cygnus X1! The section where Geddy and Alex play off each other is a thrill to listen too. Also if note is Geddy's vocals. He sounds really great here: whereas before he used his higher register with gusto, on this song he sounds more refined, more confident. And the way he sings, it sounds not like a singer so much as a great performer. He really draws the listener in.

 

In short, A Farewell To Kings starts the album off perfectly, and it combines the atmosphere of Caress Of Steel with the focus and ambition of 2112. I love it!

 

10/10

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Love the title track to death. Fantastic playing, fantastic singing, fantastic songwriting, killer opening. Top 10 Rush song.
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2. Xanadu

 

Again, we have a long intro. Xanadu is PHENOMENAL! I wish I knew more about music because I cannot explain what is going on here. But it is truly vibrant and it draws you in, much like a movie, by setting the scene. It has a really intricate guitar line, where it spirals round and round before building up to the real start of the song. It's just so flawlessly executed, the keyboards on this track blow my mind and Peart is just...

 

I REALLY WISH I KNEW WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT! This is the sound of all my favourite moments in fantasy adventure stories brought to life!

 

I know I said A Farewell To Kings is my personal favourite song off this album, but I can say objectively that Xanadu is the best song on this album. It is Rush at their best! How they manage to craft such complex and elaborate metal without sounding self indulgent or flamboyant is beyond me. This song is PROG METAL PERFECTION!

 

Want to go on a journey? Listen to Xanadu.

 

41 years old and it doesn't show it's age at all. Modern bands are still playing catch up.

 

10/10

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"I will dine on honeydew, I will drink the milk of paradise" are lines only Geddy can sing without leaving the listener giggling at the cheesiness of it all.

 

This doesn't sound pompous, camp or theatrical at all. This sounds atmospheric, intense and wondrous. It is both cinematic and intimate. No other band in the world has written a song like Xanadu.

 

Yes I am playing it twice!

 

 

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Xanadu is perfection. Probably my favorite drum performance ever. Neil uses up every last fill. Everything feels like the start of something beautiful.
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Top 4 album for me and the first Rush album I ever heard. I was 5 and it was new. I’ve said this on TRF before that I remember the Cygnus X-1 intro scaring the shit out of me...that’s older bro BennyBlaze’s fault! He got his kicks out of terrorizing 5 year old me and played it over and over.

 

11 years later, my oldest bro MikeyBlaze had moved out of the house and so went his entire album collection. It meant there was no more Rush (or anything else) for me. So, newly licensed 16 year old me drove to the mall and purchased his first two Rush albums (in tape form): A Farewell to Kings and the then 3 year old album, Power Windows.

 

A couple of years later in my freshman year in college I had a paper to write in a Humanities class on castles. So, I pilfered ((footnotes)) the first few lines from A Farewell to Kings and had that lead into my paper. My professor was impressed. Thanks Rush! :cheers:

 

I’ve digressed.

 

Anyway, Kings had a massive influence on me. It’s not my favorite Rush album but it could be my most important one. :blaze:

 

 

P.S. I dig the write ups Segue! :yes:

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3. Closer To The Heart

 

The closest Rush ever came to having a hit single in the seventies, this is classic rock radio gold.

 

It carries all the majesty and atmosphere of the first two songs, but smoothes the bands heavier elements into a short, concise and addictive radio ready rock single. I love it! So damn much! If you took away the vocals, you will find a beautiful underlying instrumental. And the chorus is one of the bands most memorable and it's a joy to sing a long too! When you consider that the majority of rock singles at the time were flamboyant and pompous (think Styx, Yes, Kansas, Foreigner, Boston etc), Closer To The Heart still sounds intimate and gentle, with a heavier reliance of mood and dynamics, whilst many bands of that time were focused on gigantic hooks and repetitive song structures to gain recognition. Closer To The Heart is a PERFECT short Rush song.

 

10/10

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4. Cinderella Man

 

I have seen people refer to this as filler. Bollocks. This song, a rare moment when Geddy got the lead credits, is fantastic! It sounds once more like a single, and whilst it lacks a little of the mystical edge of the first three, it makes up for it with a rumbling bass line and a terrific, emotive chorus. Everything about this song is killer, and whilst it doesn't quite reach the heights of what came before, it is far from being a dip in quality.

 

It should have been a hit.

 

9/10

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Cinderella Man has one of the best instrumental sections in Rush’s catalogue, and a captivating lyric by Ged!
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5. Madrigal

 

Everything they aimed for, but didn't quite achieve, with Rivendell is realised here. Madrigal is really slated by fans but I think they are insane. Madrigal is every bit as glorious as this albums heavier moments, and whilst short, it is PERFECT as a sort of intermission between the fantasy of the first four songs and the more science fiction feel of the next song.

 

I love Madrigal and have played it on its own many times.

 

One of the best Rush songs ever, it is full of atmosphere and beauty, touching upon elements of the previous albums Tears but doing it's own thing wonderfully. I couldn't imagine this ending of this album being as great as it is without the gently soothing sounds of this track separating Cinderella Man from the glorious Cygnus X-1.

 

10/10

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6. Cygnus X-1

 

Remember when I said that A Farewell To Kings is my favourite song on the album, and that Xanadu is the best track, and then rated Closer To The Heart and Madrigal perfect scores?

 

Well it is a testament to the greatness of this record that what would for most bands be the pinnacle of their career finds itself merely another absolute masterpiece on an album chock full of nothing but career highlights.

 

THIS IS PROG METAL PERFECTION! The opening is like the metal soundtrack to a gothic horror movie set in outer space. That spoken word intro that recalls the poorly executed attempt at the same thing in The Necromancer is here handled PERFECTLY!

 

Cygnus X-1 is one of the greatest Rush songs ever released. It is the equal of 2112 and Xanadu, and it lacks absolutely nothing. It is an orchestra of sound created by three human beings.

 

Three. 3. A trio.

 

Bloody awestruck I am!

 

This is one of the greatest metal songs ever released, and in my opinion it sounds like a core influence for the next decades explosive thrash metal wave. Perfect.

 

10/10

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Cygnus X-1 is how you end an album. It’s how you thrill and amaze. It’s my favorite Rush song. What a Rush.
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A Farewell To Kings is hands down the masterpiece I always revered it as. Right now I am of the opinion still that it is the greatest achievement of Rush thus far, and they raised the bar so highly for themselves it seems inevitable that they must soon crumble under the weight of their own legacy.

 

Three years into their career. Three.

 

I cannot believe just how much this band grew in such a short space of time. The same band that produced a very exuberant, if rather generic, debut rapidly grew to become a sensational prog metal beast, unleashing one classic album after another!

 

The next album, Hemispheres, is one I am excited to get too. For years I really didn't like it. This year, it finally grew on me.

 

But for this album, six songs long and five of which scored a perfect 10/10, and one 9/10, it has to be rounded up because it is honestly flawless. It works together to create an absolute essential listening experience, and to give any less than a perfect score would be a major crime.

 

10/10

 

Highlights are:

 

The whole damn thing.

Edited by Segue Myles
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Top 4 album for me and the first Rush album I ever heard. I was 5 and it was new. I’ve said this on TRF before that I remember the Cygnus X-1 intro scaring the shit out of me...that’s older bro BennyBlaze’s fault! He got his kicks out of terrorizing 5 year old me and played it over and over.

 

11 years later, my oldest bro MikeyBlaze had moved out of the house and so went his entire album collection. It meant there was no more Rush (or anything else) for me. So, newly licensed 16 year old me drove to the mall and purchased his first two Rush albums (in tape form): A Farewell to Kings and the then 3 year old album, Power Windows.

 

A couple of years later in my freshman year in college I had a paper to write in a Humanities class on castles. So, I pilfered ((footnotes)) the first few lines from A Farewell to Kings and had that lead into my paper. My professor was impressed. Thanks Rush! :cheers:

 

I’ve digressed.

 

Anyway, Kings had a massive influence on me. It’s not my favorite Rush album but it could be my most important one. :blaze:

 

 

P.S. I dig the write ups Segue! :yes:

 

Great story! And yes that intro is really intense. I always imagine scenes from Event Horizon when this song plays! It is absolutely amazing.

 

I hope my threads encourage more sharing of stories like this.

 

Rush is life!

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4. Cinderella Man

 

I have seen people refer to this as filler. Bollocks. This song, a rare moment when Geddy got the lead credits, is fantastic! It sounds once more like a single, and whilst it lacks a little of the mystical edge of the first three, it makes up for it with a rumbling bass line and a terrific, emotive chorus. Everything about this song is killer, and whilst it doesn't quite reach the heights of what came before, it is far from being a dip in quality.

 

It should have been a hit.

 

9/10

 

I think this album, and this song in particular, is the beginning of Al finding his own identity as a player. His solo here (and in Cygnus X-1) is... wacky. His personality is starting to come through.

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4. Cinderella Man

 

I have seen people refer to this as filler. Bollocks. This song, a rare moment when Geddy got the lead credits, is fantastic! It sounds once more like a single, and whilst it lacks a little of the mystical edge of the first three, it makes up for it with a rumbling bass line and a terrific, emotive chorus. Everything about this song is killer, and whilst it doesn't quite reach the heights of what came before, it is far from being a dip in quality.

 

It should have been a hit.

 

9/10

 

The chorus sounds like it could almost be a Beatles song. I could easily imagine Paul singing the main melody and John coming up with a harmony line.

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4. Cinderella Man

 

I have seen people refer to this as filler. Bollocks. This song, a rare moment when Geddy got the lead credits, is fantastic! It sounds once more like a single, and whilst it lacks a little of the mystical edge of the first three, it makes up for it with a rumbling bass line and a terrific, emotive chorus. Everything about this song is killer, and whilst it doesn't quite reach the heights of what came before, it is far from being a dip in quality.

 

It should have been a hit.

 

9/10

 

The chorus sounds like it could almost be a Beatles song. I could easily imagine Paul singing the main melody and John coming up with a harmony line.

 

I have never thought of that before, but you're right, I can too!

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So now I am through with the first batch of albums, which I am happy to say were all a lot better than I recalled (even my beloved Caress Of Steel), I am onto the second stage of Rush albums. How am I organising this marathon? For the most part, via the release of live albums (normally released with four albums between each one). Once we get to the Millennium, I will likely review the studio albums alone and the live separately as there was an extraordinary number of live releases!

 

Now back to the topic at hand: A Farewell To Kings. This 1977 release has the honour of being cited for several years as my very favourite Rush album. It is an extraordinary work, and I did for the longest time voice the opinion that it was the only truly great seventies Rush album from start to finish.

 

As you can see, recently I have come to revaluate that opinion, because each release building up to AFTK is superb, to a surprisingly high level of consistency. I know that Caress Of Steel and 2112 got very high scores, and the second side of 2112 especially stood out on my recent listening experience. So much so that I wonder if, now that I am once again very familiar with deeper cuts like Before And After, Tears, In The End, and The Twilight Zone, will songs such as Closer To The Heart, Cinderella Man and Madrigal still cast a spell over me?

 

Only one way to find out!

Rush-A-Farewell-To-Kings-album-cover-web-optimised-with-border-820.jpg

I must say, you have impeccable taste in music...
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