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The Owl reviews every Rush album


The Owl
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QUOTE (driventotheedge @ Feb 14 2012, 05:29 AM)
QUOTE (Silas Lang @ Feb 13 2012, 01:03 AM)
QUOTE (driventotheedge @ Feb 13 2012, 02:48 AM)
"wouldn't it be a real drag if we were all the same?"

You dig Savoy Brown?

Sorta.....always liked the sentiment in that song.....any blues based rock is good to my ears. Saw them about 6 or so years ago. Wishbone Ash opened. 800 seat theater. Damned good show. Good crowd that night which always makes for a better performance.

Cool...totally agree. Their albums Blue Matter, A Step Further and Looking In are classics. Then three of them split to form Foghat and despite carrying on for decades were never as good again.

Edited by Silas Lang
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Here Again is not only my favourite track from "Rush", but one of my favourites from the band full stop.

 

Alex's solo is an indication that he was the equal of any of his contemporaries you might care to name. The fact that he developed a playing style geared towards supporting an incredible group dynamic rather than showing off his chops speaks volumes about his character IMO.

 

Neil's arrival is rightly seen as fundamental to the development of the Rush we know and love today, but I think Alex's attitude and temperament hasn't always had the acknowledgement it deserved.

 

How many "axe masters" would have stuck around during the period from Signals to Presto because the bnand's sound was more important than how high their guitar was in the mix and how many solos they got to do?

 

Back to the review, I largely agree. For a bunch of young, Zepellin obsessed musicians, it was a triumph, and sits well beside its hard rock contemporaries.

 

A very good, fair and balanced review, that augers well for the rest of the series.

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QUOTE (Silas Lang @ Feb 15 2012, 01:52 AM)
QUOTE (driventotheedge @ Feb 14 2012, 05:29 AM)
QUOTE (Silas Lang @ Feb 13 2012, 01:03 AM)
QUOTE (driventotheedge @ Feb 13 2012, 02:48 AM)
"wouldn't it be a real drag if we were all the same?"

You dig Savoy Brown?

Sorta.....always liked the sentiment in that song.....any blues based rock is good to my ears. Saw them about 6 or so years ago. Wishbone Ash opened. 800 seat theater. Damned good show. Good crowd that night which always makes for a better performance.

Cool...totally agree. Their albums Blue Matter, A Step Further and Looking In are classics. Then three of them split to form Foghat and despite carrying on for decades were never as good again.

I knew Dave left to form Foghat but didn't know 2 others did. Who were the other two? Tony & Roger (don't recall ever reading Rod was in SB)?

.

.

.

BTW, always liked Foghat quite a bit though it certainly isn't complex music. I think the combination of Dave's enthusiasm for blues based "boogie" and Rod's slide playing just worked for me. Saw them twice btw, '76 & '77 I think. Mid 70s anyway.

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Without further Adue... my Fly By Night Review

 

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/00/Rush_Fly_by_Night.jpg/220px-Rush_Fly_by_Night.jpg

 

Fly By Night

1975

 

 

 

- Track #1: Anthem

 

What an album opener! Hard rocking, and guitar driven from start to finish. A very catchy tune leads no doubt why this song was a live staple in the early days of Rush, the lyrics, despite whether you love or hate Ayn Rand or Objectivism are a noticeable uptick thanks to the new guy... as are the drums.

 

(8.5/10)

 

- Track #2: Best I Can

 

A nice little tune, easly noticeable that it was written before Peart joined the band, and just as with the more mediocre material of the debut album the song while not bad, even in the slightest, is nothing special.

 

(6/10)

 

- Track #3: Beneath, Between, & Behind

 

Another great track, one in which the lyrics slightly outshine the music IMO. The music fits great with the lyrics and Geddy's voice is great here, especially on the anthem-esk chorus....the length of the track is very appropriate and fits into less than 3 minutes what some groups cannot do with 5 or 6.

 

(8.5/10)

 

- Track # 4: By-Tor and the Snow Dog

 

Ah, a teaser for what to come, a jump in the shallow end of the pool of prog that the band will be swimming in for the next 5 years. (That pretentious enough for you!?) The song is good, but not great. The growling sound effects during the Alex solo are... kind of annoying, and detract from the music, the transitions from section of music to section of music are less than solid, the slow section goes on for a bit much (though the solo ending it back into the ending part is great)... It's as about as good as a first foray into the world of "Epic Tracks" that you can expect, and a very good first building block, but just that.

 

(8/10.... closer to a 7.8, but Ill round to the nearest half point)

 

- Track #5: Fly By Night

 

There is little more to say about the title track other than geared for radio play....does it make it a bad song? Not at all, in fact it is rather good, I love the guitar tone on Alex's guitar and work very well at driving the song, good solo, I love the bridge, and it's paced well. It does what it's meant to do, be the lead single...nothing too special.

 

(7.5/10)

 

- Track #6: Making Memories

 

Another great little short track, but I feel more could have been done with it, unlike BB&B this ends before you expect it to... nothings wrong with it, the acoustic lead is great, but it dosen't feel like a full song... I don't know, but when I listen to this Rush album, I get to this song completely not even remembering it being on here in the first place, it is ultimately a forgettable track.

 

(6/10)

 

- Track #7: Rivendell

 

Here is where my biases completely conflict with an objective approach to a song review..... I LOVE TOLKIEN, the lyrics while cheesy do invoke beautiful imagery to the world of Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, but from an outside view, I can see this being almost a skipable track for alot. And this has almost the inverse problem that Making Memories had as in it goes on for FAR TOO LONG. The music; beautiful at first gets very repeatative after the 3 minute mark, and you still have just under 2 minutes to go. I want to like this song, but it just stops the album DEAD..

 

(5.5/10)

 

- Track #8: In the End

 

People ask here on the forum what track would you love to see Rush play live that they have not played for quite some time, for me it's this song. It transitions very nicely out of Rivendell into the soft acoustic intro, and the soft beginning section, sung fantastically by Mr. Geddy Lee... The lyrics while not fantastic are enhanced by just the way they are sung....When the song transitions into the heavy section it is just jaw dropping, you can barley tell that you are hearing the same lyrics you just listened to in the mellow section, because they are sung so different. The track moves and progresses splendidly (I am running out of adverbs here) until the end closing out the album in a way that is hard to match..

 

(9/10)

 

 

 

---------------------------------------OVERALL THOUGHTS/ Review----------------------------------------

 

 

First lets talk the elephant in the room, and that would be the addition of Neal Peart on drums and taking over as lead lyricist. I brought up lyrics several times in the song reviews so I wont tread on them too long but to mention that it is far superior to the "Woahs, the YEAH!, and Oooahs" of the first album..... Far more noticeable is the drumming ability can go without mention is leagues above that of John Rutsey... Substance and Flair are two good words to use....

 

The musical direction is an improvement from the debut as well, while still there in parts, Fly By Night progresses into something more than the standard Zeppelinesk hard rock of the first album. The music is much more dynamic and diverse. Even this early on Rush are on their way to defining themselves as a prog rock staple....

 

Fly By Night has some good highs, and some less than good points... It's still a very good record, and a good step above the debut album, but also feels very much like the album it is, an album recorded by a band that has yet to hit their full potential....

 

 

 

 

Overall Score For "Fly By Night": 78

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QUOTE (Tommy Sawyer @ Feb 16 2012, 08:51 PM)
Fly By Night is awesome - deserved a higher score! 1287.gif


Why the hate on By-Tor? fing.gif

yes.gif

 

I am in 1000% agreement on both points!!

 

Both By-Tor and FBN are great songs!!

 

Heck, this is a very, very good album. Excellent review - even if I am in agreement with Tommy Sawyer over the 2 songs he mentions.

 

Can't wait for the continuing series of reviews to continue. Good stuff. Really making me think much more in depth about my evaluations of Rush's songs and albums.

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QUOTE (Tommy Sawyer @ Feb 16 2012, 08:51 PM)
Fly By Night is awesome - deserved a higher score! 1287.gif


Why the hate on By-Tor? fing.gif

I still gave By-Tor an 8, and is one of the better songs..... I just rambled on too long about the negative aspects (which are more nit-picks) of this "mini epic" I didn't get to the positive points..... I love Alex all throughout the song, and is probably the best track featuring him on the album, the lyrics are great, and Neal is greatly highlighted in the track as well....

 

All positive points, I could have added but would have made the song review a bit long winded....

 

 

With FBN I stand by my review, I really enjoy the song, but in the attempts to remain objective as possible I have to call it what it is.... a song written and geared for radio airplay....which it succeeds in, I don't feel that because the song is one of their "Greatest Hits" is deserves a higher rating...

Edited by The Owl
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Good review, Owl trink39.gif

 

I agree with your 4 top ranked songs here. Though I think Anthem, BB&B and By-Tor are definite 10s! In The End and Best I Can - I'll give them an 8. Another great one but I still like the first album more! 8/10 for me.

Edited by Silas Lang
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Nice review. I'm looking forward to the rest of them...hope you have the stamina to keep going!

 

Fly By Night (the song), in my opinion, has not "aged" very well.

 

5.5 for Rivendell is generous. When Neil talks in later interviews about comparing Rush's early work to the kindergarten artwork a parent hangs on the fridge, this is the song that always pops into my mind.

 

In the End, on the other hand, I absolutely LOVE. Very high on my "wish they'd play this live" list.

 

TMD

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QUOTE (The Owl @ Feb 16 2012, 10:29 PM)
QUOTE (Tommy Sawyer @ Feb 16 2012, 08:51 PM)
Fly By Night is awesome - deserved a higher score! 1287.gif


Why the hate on By-Tor? fing.gif

I still gave By-Tor an 8, and is one of the better songs..... I just rambled on too long about the negative aspects (which are more nit-picks) of this "mini epic" I didn't get to the positive points..... I love Alex all throughout the song, and is probably the best track featuring him on the album, the lyrics are great, and Neal is greatly highlighted in the track as well....

 

All positive points, I could have added but would have made the song review a bit long winded....

 

 

With FBN I stand by my review, I really enjoy the song, but in the attempts to remain objective as possible I have to call it what it is.... a song written and geared for radio airplay....which it succeeds in, I don't feel that because the song is one of their "Greatest Hits" is deserves a higher rating...

Sorry by Fly By Night, I meant the album as a whole should've gotten a higher score. oops.gif

 

 

I can see you points about the song.

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Excellent review, Owl, on the debut LP.

 

I agree with most of it, except Working Man

should be 10 out of 10..One of the greatest RUSH

songs ever..I'm still in awe of the tune , almost 38

years after I first heard it on the radio.

 

I'd give the complete LP a 9 out of 10 score.

 

 

yes.gif new_thumbsupsmileyanim.gif 1022.gif 2.gif

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Pretty good review. I agree with most of it. I might rate Making Memories a bit higher, love that track. Best I Can is probably the weakest song on the album, with Rivendell not too far behind.

 

I'm glad to see that you didn't kiss Bytor's ass like many other Rush fans. This song is completely and absolutely overrated IMO. It's good and has some interesting parts, but is just seems so underdeveloped, a problem that would occur with The Necromancer as well.

 

I love In The End too, and wish they would bring it back for a tour. It'd be a huge surprise.

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I too am glad to see others who are not completely crazy for By-Tor. The instrumental section goes on a bit too long for me, though the dog noises are cool. On the other hand, I love Making Memories...it just has the feel of being on the road (which I love, but am glad I don't have to do for work), and the chorus means as much or MORE now that they have their career to look back on as it did when they had it to look forward to. Their awesome career has borne every line of that song out in ways they couldn't have expected.

 

Rivendell is another one that works for me, because it's nice to have a softer Rush song there for when I want one, plus Geddy's voice is so nice in it. It's SO soft that it can be tough to hear, though.

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By-Tor I find a tad overrated. It's grown on me considerably over the years, however, and while I still think it's a bit lyrically clunky, it's a good early attempt at an epic. It's one of their few songs that I think was eclipsed by a live version, which of course is the one on All the World's a Stage.

 

Rivendell I definitely see as underrated. It's not my fave Rush song ever by a very long shot, but it's still a pretty good song. For example, take the four Rush albums I'm not that crazy about; VT, T4E, Presto and RTB - I'll take Rivendell over any song from any of those albums with the exception of 3 songs. It's not a song I would go out of my way to hear on its own, but in the context of the album as a whole, I would never skip it, and I enjoy it when it comes on.

Edited by rushgoober
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QUOTE (rushgoober @ Feb 19 2012, 12:41 AM)
For example, take the four Rush albums I'm not that crazy about; VT, T4E, Presto and RTB - I'll take Rivendell over any song from any of those albums with the exception of 3 songs.

No personal offense - but this statement has pretty much negated any reason for me to read future posts from you.

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QUOTE (eshine @ Feb 19 2012, 03:10 AM)
QUOTE (rushgoober @ Feb 19 2012, 12:41 AM)
For example, take the four Rush albums I'm not that crazy about; VT, T4E, Presto and RTB - I'll take Rivendell over any song from any of those albums with the exception of 3 songs.

No personal offense - but this statement has pretty much negated any reason for me to read future posts from you.

rofl3.gif

 

Well, since this is the last time we'll ever talk. bekloppt.gif

 

tongue.gif

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QUOTE (rushgoober @ Feb 19 2012, 11:58 AM)
QUOTE (chaotic_ripper @ Feb 19 2012, 07:04 AM)
Thanks for these great reviews, they put me In The Mood to listen to those albums for the first time in a while.

uh well a hey now baby

said I like your smile

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QUOTE (rushgoober @ Feb 18 2012, 11:41 PM)
take the four Rush albums I'm not that crazy about; VT, T4E, Presto and RTB - I'll take Rivendell over any song from any of those albums with the exception of 3 songs. 

I had to do my own count after reading this comment. There are only about five songs from Presto, T4E, RtB, and VT that I prefer to Rivendell--and I like all four of those albums.

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