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_hi_water._'s reviews: Fly By Night (1975)


_hi_water._
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Fly By Night... the first album already proved to us that they are good, but Fly By Night, however, proves to us that they had the potential to be amazing. However, I do somewhat agree with something zepphead (credits to him) said on my review on the first album: "Album #2 was not "natural progression"... it was a stratospheric leap."

 

This album is a big step-up to the first album, and there is no denying that. I mean, who doesn't love "Anthem," "By-Tor And The Snow Dog," and "Fly By Night"?

 

As has been credited, this wasn't natural progression. However, this did hint lots of progginess. With "By-Tor And The Snow Dog" being their first multi-piece song, and "Rivendell" with its composition and acoustic guitar.

 

The album's lyrics are definitely more significant than the ones on the first album, regardless who writes them (even though Neil Peart is the better lyricist).

 

But most importantly, how good is the music? Well, first of all... Side A is flawless. However, Side B gets... a lil weaker. Not the most balanced album, but it's still an enjoyable album.

 

The production is still crisp and listenable. Nothing to complain about here!

 

The songs:

Anthem - Top 3 Rush songs for me. Absolutely amazing.

Best I Can - kickass lyrics and music. Love those drums!

Beneath Between & Behind - could say the same from Best I Can.

By-Tor And The Snow Dog - an excellent attempt at making a first multi-piece song.

Fly By Night - a timeless jam!

Making Memories - a very fun song with some bright bass and an outstanding solo!

Rivendell - good composition, but it really needs more musical standout.

In The End - the song begins with a slow and beautiful acoustic intro. Then it blasts into something amazing. Does better live!

 

Rush albums ranked so far:

2 - Rush

1 - Fly By Night

 

And that's my review on this album. What are your thoughts on this album? What are your favorite songs? Do you agree or disagree with my review? Post below, I'd love to get stuff cookin'. :d13:

Edited by _hi_water._
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Substantially better than the debut. The title track is the obvious gem off this one, a timeless classic. By-Tor, the 1st Rush epic, is the great song that really introduced the Prog community to these guys. In The End is an underrated closer, and Anthem sets the mood very well. And then theres... Rivendell (that was hard to type). I think theres enough said about that one...

And the rest are average, although BBB is a little irritating sometimes to me.

A- 7.5/10

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best i can and making memories are two songs that i really love and i feel are underappreciated because the rest of the record is so great.

 

rivendell is a product of its time. tolkien and toking..................

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To put 'Fly By Night' into perspective within my own timelines, it was the second Rush album i heard .... 'Caress of Steel' had been released, and I purchased it on the strength of a friend's recommendation.

COS impressed me enough to immediately purchase 'Fly By Night' and I was not not disappointed!!

 

The album starts well with three strong songs -

 

Anthem - I had already heard a cover of it by a local band. The actual Rush version became an instant classic for me.

Best I Can - The Professor flexes his muscles at an early career stage on this song to give us an inkling of his genius.

Beneath, Between and Behind - Good song with some nice work by Alex & Geddy and yet more great drumming.

 

By-Tor & The Snow Dog - Prog-tastic! Rush's first Science Fiction/Fantasy epic. I was already hooked. I knew at this stage that this band were special.

 

Side 2 is a slightly mixed bag -

 

Fly By Night - Along with Anthem this is another Rush classic which would be played for many years to come. I just love this song.

 

Making Memories - A bit slower in pace but a decent song in it's own right without being special.

 

Rivendell - A slow ballad. Nice guitar backing over a beautiful vocal performance by Geddy. It's not universally loved by the fans but I think sometimes it gets a harsh press!

 

In The End - Relatively speaking, a simply structured song - acoustic sounding first section building into a hard rock song. This song struck a chord with me - I adore it.

 

I knew when this album had finished that Canada had given the world something truly special...... and the adventure was only starting. :Alex: :Neil: :geddy:

Edited by zepphead
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Prime Mover's perspective is almost identical to mine. To me, though, the (relative) lowlight is Fly By Night, probably because it's a default track on rock stations. The highlight to me, by far, is Anthem. Listening to it is like taking speed, even to this day. I was a kid when i first heard the song, and I remember the final part absolutely blew me away. On first impression, I thought several times the song had ended. . . but they kept playing! And then the end slaps you in the face with instant silence, as if it sucked all of the sound out of the room.

 

To me, one word that describes that album is Energy. And maybe owl. So, let's say energetic owl.

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best i can and making memories are two songs that i really love and i feel are underappreciated because the rest of the record is so great.

 

rivendell is a product of its time. tolkien and toking..................

Spot on!

 

When I first heard Best I Can, I thought it sounded a lot like Kiss, especially the opening and Geddy's voice when he says, "...got no class." Understand, I would not put Kiss anywhere near Rush's musicianship, I'm just saying. :)

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best i can and making memories are two songs that i really love and i feel are underappreciated because the rest of the record is so great.

 

rivendell is a product of its time. tolkien and toking..................

Spot on!

 

When I first heard Best I Can, I thought it sounded a lot like Kiss, especially the opening and Geddy's voice when he says, "...got no class." Understand, I would not put Kiss anywhere near Rush's musicianship, I'm just saying. :)

 

I hear you. I love the youthful optimism of BIC.

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