The History of Rush v. Discography Thread: Epilogue

[Mladen]

Fly by night isn't bad but it's still one of my lesser favorite Rush albums. They still had to write a song that I would truly fall in love with.

[mikemangioy]

Posting before I get too behind:

I always wanted to explore Rush further, but never had the time/the will to do it. Now's the time!

The first record was very enjoyable, a few tunes were awesome (Need Some Love, Take A Friend, What You're Doing, Working Man) but there were also awesomely cringeworthy moments (In The Mood).

Fly By Night is amazing. Anthem is a great song, I love the chorus of BBB and the title track, and By-Tor is a masterpiece 

[The Letter M]

My thoughts on FBN:
-"Anthem" was a great way for them to open the album. It's very "in your face" and shows off Neil's chops and skill. It's like the band had to announce their new drummer, and they did it well.
-"Best I Can" was a staple of their live sets in the early days, and it's OK. Not one of my favorites on the album, and it definitely has that Early-Rush sound and feel.
-"Beneath, Between And Behind" is impressive, and Neil's grooves in it are very intuitive and interesting. I'm glad they kept playing it even up through the Moving Pictures Tour!
-The roaring epic, "By-Tor And The Snow Dog", is the centerpiece of the album, IMO, and it's SO prog LOL Well, I mean, it's their first track with individual movements within it, and in fact, even one of those four movements has movements WITHIN it!!! Everyone shows off well in this track, and it's been a hugely popular concert staple for many years, with good reason! It just pumps me up and I love air-drumming to Neil's solos in the middle.
-The title track is a great short rocker, a rock-radio staple, and I love hearing it on the radio whenever I happen to have it on. This is another fun one to air-drum to, especially Neil's fills that are always different! His attention to detail is astounding!
-"Making Memories" is another early-Rush rock tune, which I couple with "Best I Can" for songs that are very debut-album-ish and don't really make much of an impression on me. They're good, mind you (mostly because it IS Rush), but among tracks like "By-Tor" and "Anthem", it doesn't hit me as hard as the others.
-"Rivendell"...oh "Rivendell". That rhyme scheme is SOOOO off-sounding because everytime Geddy sings "Feel the sun upon your ____", I want to insert "ass" instead of "face" because it rhymes with "grass" in the previous line. EVERY SINGLE TIME. Thankfully, I don't listen to it very often.
-"In The End", appropriately named, is at the end of the album. Another early-Rush-ish tune but with some good heavy moments. It's got some interesting changes and parts, and for that, it's a step up from BIC and MM for me.

Over-all, the 2nd side of the album isn't as strong as the first side, and I can understand if they did that on purpose. It was also pretty tricky to put the title track, and single, at the top of side 2, just to get everyone to flip the vinyl and in turn, listen to the whole album. This was step-up and a step in the right direction for the fledgling band, and they would take a step sideways (COS) first before moving on to bigger and better things (2112).

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

Best I Can would be a lot better if the chorus was good, but it kind of falls flat, especially after how sweet the verses are.  But they, this was early on and they were still learning how to write good songs...

[jingle.boy]

Side 1 is 10 pounds of awesome in a 5 pound bag.  Always loved BBB. By-Tor took some time for me to warm up to, but quite clearly the start of them spreading their progressive wings to form their own sound, and break away from the quite clearly 'influence' influenced style of the s/t debut.  One might even argue that By-Tor was the birth of progressive-metal.

Fun facts:
Neil was working for his dad in the parts department of Dalziel Equipment at the time he was recruited to audition for Rush.
Neil was initially non-committal on his invitation to audition for Geddy and Alex.  Geddy would whisper "he's a greaseball" when Neil entered the audition.
After accepting the position, the trio had 10 days to prep for an opening gig for Uriah Heep
The album was recorded in 21 days from the time they entered Toronto Sound Studios, to the time they delivered the master tapes.
By-Tor comes from roadie Howard Ungerleider's stay at Ray Daniels', and he was not warmly greeted by Ray's dogs.

[KevShmev]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the By-Tor and the Snow Dog story.  There were two dogs; one looked like a snow dog, and the other was a German Shepard that kept biting people, hence Howard Ungerleider calling him a "By-Tor."

[Kwyjibo]

Following this, though I won't have much to say

[GentlemanofDread]

Fly By Night is a lot better than the debut than me, though it might be because I just LOVE By Tor. Incredible song.

[KevShmev]

After spending the spring touring, the fellas jumped right back in the studio in the summer of 1975 to record their third album, Caress of Steel, and it would be the only year to have two Rush studio albums.  They were, however, pressed for time in the studio, but they went in armed with some great ideas, one of which was their eagerness to get a little more progressive, highlighted by Neil writing some lyrics that would become a part of The Fountain of Lamneth, their first sidelong epic.  I can't help but think that had they had more time, the album would have sounded more cohesive and focused, but since it was a bit of a rush job, no pun intended, it sounds like a scattershot of great moments sandwiched around some moments that feel unrealized.  There is the most evident on the six-part sidelong epic, which has some terrific parts - No One at the Bridge and Bacchus Plateau stand out to me the most - but overall sounds like a bunch of moving parts kind of stuck together for the sake of having something they could call an epic.  It's an admirable first attempt at a sidelong epic, even if it falls way short of being great.  But hey, you always need a rough draft, right?  Not every band hits it out of the park on their first try with a 20-minute plus tune.  Plus, the band had fun making the record, being that they were all high as a kite during the making of it , so maybe that explains the loose nature of it.

Side 1 is comprised of three short songs and a mini-epic.  While the sidelong epic didn't really come together, the mini-epic, The Necromancer, did.  It has a great flow - Part 1 is mellow and builds up nicely; Part 2 is rocking and fast; Part 3 is a mid-tempo section celebrating the victory of the returning By-Tor over The Necromancer, punctuated by a triumphant guitar solo by Alex Lifeson to end the journey.  Of the short tunes, Bastille Day stands out the most, it being a kick ass rocker that still manages to have a lot of melodic goodness.  Lakeside Park is a laid back, nostalgic number that has its moments, but some of the vocal lines have not aged well since Geddy was still in search of vocal control and his vocal identity. I Think I'm Going Bald is kind of a throwaway song, one that has never appealed to me, even though it is a rare song that shows off their sense of humor, something they usually save just for live shows, instead of putting in songs. 

Sadly, the album was a flop at the time, which infuriated the record company, who would then amp up the pressure for the band to return to its roots, stop messing around with extended arrangements, and get back to being a basic hard rock band, ala the debut record. But that is a story better told when we get to that fourth record...

[jammindude]

Even now...30 years after I first heard it...I still am amazed by the hate for I Think I'm Going Bald.   Probably up there with my non-epic Rush songs of all time.  LOVE the riff...LOVE the contemplative lyrics.   

[KevShmev]

I'll admit that it bugs me that the main riff is basically a slight variation of the In the Mood riff, so it sounds derivative of them being derivative of Led Zeppelin.

[Podaar]

I don't know, I still love Caress of Steel, even if the color of the album cover is mistakenly brass colored. I love the brass balls it took to put this eclectic music out for all of 1975 to see!

Again, I may be guilty of overly sentimental nostalgia but I Think I'm Going Bald and Lakeside Park are both wonderful tunes. Bastille Day is an obvious highlight and the Necromancer was just a different kind of heavy that no one else was doing at the time. That middle section! 

Rush is unique.

I've never got the criticism for The Fountain of Lamneth. There are parts of it that I think surpass much of what came later.  I always found it so poetic and wonderful...of course, like them, I usually had a bit of Colombian cash crop around and plenty of black lights. Still, this passage is sublime, IMO.

Yet my eyes are drawn toward
The mountain in the east
Fascinates and captivates
Gives my heart no peace
The mountain holds the sunrise
In the prison of the night
'Til bursting forth from rocky chains
The valley floods with light

I completely enjoy this album, from front to back, everytime I play it. Which is often.

[jammindude]

I'll admit that it bugs me that the main riff is basically a slight variation of the In the Mood riff, so it sounds derivative of them being derivative of Led Zeppelin.

And I have to admit...this was something that I didn't notice for 20 years until someone pointed it out.    Still didn't ruin my love for it.   It think it's an improvement over In the Mood. 

[Orbert]

I like this album more than most people do, but I'm sure that's largely due to nostalgia.  This was the first Rush album I remember hearing when it was new.  Fly By Night had come out earlier that year, and was of course great, and one of my friends even had the first album, but Caress of Steel came out and we all went out and got it.  New Rush!

In retrospect, and with the benefit of perspective (which is kinda the same thing), it's not a really great album.  But we dove into it anyway.  Even then, I remember thinking that "The Fountain of Lamneth" sounded pretty disjointed and was a bunch of things cobbled together to form an epic (I'd already been listening to Close to the Edge for years) but the guys were going for it, and the individual pieces were kinda nice.  I think that's where most of the criticism comes from.  It's not a bad piece, but somehow less than the sum of its parts, not more.

The first verse of "The Necromancer" rhymes!  With the second verse, and of course the third, it's much more obvious, but the way the first verse is spoken rather than sung, and devoid of any rhythm, it's not obvious at all.  I remember being amazed when I was reading the lyrics one day and realized this.

[?]

I may be in the minority here, but I like COS a lot more than the first two albums. The Necromancer is awesome, Bastille Day rocks hard and ITIGB puts a grin on my face. I don't care much for Lakeside Park, and The Fountain of Lamneth lacks the cohesion of their later epics, but both are still listenable.

[The Letter M]

An oddity and a gem all at the same time. I felt like this was Rush being more Genesis and Yes than Led Zeppelin. Like Genesis, this is their third album ending with a song that fades out and fades back in with "The Fountain Of ______" as the title. The opening part of the closing epic features a rhythm that is two-beats shorter than a familiar rhythm in "Watcher Of The Skies".

The first side is pretty typical Rush, especially the first three songs, although there's an epic-feel to the ending of "Bastille Day" which still amazes me to this day. As early-DT have called it, it's majestic. The next two tracks are rather forgettable in the grand scheme of things, but in the evolution of Rush, they were the next step, if a bit odd lyrically, especially "I Think I'm Going Bald" - an attempt by the band to show that they should NOT be taken so seriously.

The sequel to "By-Tor & The Snow Dog" features By-Tor as the hero, thus creating the band's first attempt at a (loose) cross-album story. Their next attempt (the Cygnus X-1 Duology) would fare better, although I would love to hear them (or anyone, really) perform both By-Tor songs back-to-back in full.

The closing epic is a piece-meal try at an epic, and they've got a lot of good IDEAS, but compared to works like "Tarkus", "Supper's Ready", or "Close To The Edge", there's a lack of cohesion and thematic "glue". It's a mini-concept, almost an album in of itself, something I liken to Spock's Beard's "A Flash Before My Eyes". If the songs were longer, and it took up a whole album, it could've been the band's first true concept album, but as it stands, it's 6 pieces (really 5 songs and a drum solo) that are loosely held together by a story of a growing and traveling man (an idea that would later be perfect in Clockwork Angels). I do enjoy the fact that Neil incorporated  bits of "Didacts And Narpets" into his drum solos for years and years to come, but it's a shame there's no real live recordings of this epic.

Caress Of Steel was an early favorite of mine when I was beginning to get into Rush, and I liked the proggier bits compared to the first two albums. In fact, aside from the title track on their next album, I like COS more as a whole than I do 2112 (whose second side is a bit lacking for me, but more on that later). I often wonder how Rush would've ended up had COS been a hit, but I guess we'll never know.

-Marc.

[hefdaddy42]

It's a good album, with some brilliant sections, but overall I prefer the first two.

[Orbert]

Like Genesis, this is their third album ending with a song that fades out and fades back in with "The Fountain Of ______" as the title. The opening part of the closing epic features a rhythm that is two-beats shorter than a familiar rhythm in "Watcher Of The Skies".

This kind of thing always amazes me.  I make some pretty obscure connections when I listen to music, but, despite listening to both albums for nearly 40 years, I never even thought about the parallels with "The Fountain of _______" and that they're each on the band's respective third album.  That takes things to a whole new level.

[TAC]

I still don't know how I feel about this album.

[King Postwhore]

It's a good album, with some brilliant sections, but overall I prefer the first two.

I agree.  I throw it on once and I while and dig it a lot but that's because I play it in moderation.

I love what they named this tour telling us in the Doc.  The "Down The Tubes" tour.

[Podaar]

I still don't know how I feel about this album.

I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but damnit, you're worth it TAC!

Search your feelings...

[jammindude]

It's a good album, with some brilliant sections, but overall I prefer the first two.

I agree.  I throw it on once and I while and dig it a lot but that's because I play it in moderation.

I love what they named this tour telling us in the Doc.  The "Down The Tubes" tour.

I may have misheard it...or it may be just rumor...but wasn't it the "Down the TOBES Tour"?   (a play on words?  Remember "...the tobes of Hades lit by flickering torchlight...")

EDIT:  Even though it's reported everywhere as "Down the Tubes"....I had heard it reported somewhere in the 80's that it was "Down the Tobes" and that the reporters had simply heard it wrong.    I should rewatch Lighted Stage to see how Alex actually pronounces it.

[jjrock88]

This would be my top three least played Rush albums.  I would consider it good, no more no less

[Lucien]

I love The Fountain of Lamneth. Tied as my favorite Rush epic to Hemispheres.

[Mosh]

Better than the debut, worse than Fly By Night. Can't stand side 2, I've tried to like it but it's always failed to grab me. It has some cool moments but not enough to justify its 19 minutes.

The first side is definitely better, with all the songs being good, but I never really listen to any of the songs by themselves. Bastille Day and Lakeside Park are still awesome though, and it's too bad they couldn't be on stronger albums.

Not the worst Rush album, but not the best. It's probably in my bottom 5.

[ReaperKK]

COS is my favorite of the first three albums. Lakeside Park being my favorite song from all three albums and one of my all time favorite Rush songs. The song captures such a good feeling of nostalgia, "Though it's just a memory, some memories last forever."

[Mladen]

It is my favorite of the first three Rush albums as well, but still not such a great record. I like Bastille day, as well as The Fountain of Lamneth, although I feel like the latter lacks some diversity and maybe some heavier parts to stay more interesting. The remaining three are pretty forgettable, especially The Necromancer. I never understood the appeal of that one, not a single minute grabs my attention.

[Jaq]

Haven't been chiming in much here, because I said most of what I wanted to say about these songs in the individual Rush song thread, but I'm following. Always liked the energy this album had, even if it's really an undercooked version of the band they became as the 70s went on.

[SoundscapeMN]

along with Presto, Caress of Steel is maybe the most underappreciated  record they made (when more appreciation is warranted). I happen to love both Fountain and The Necromancer.

Most probably don't notice this, but the bassline's interval pattern at a point in The Necromancer basically is the same as a part of the bassline in Heart of the Sunrise from Yes, which actually was more or less the same as part of 1 of the jams on the Deluxe Edition of the Blind Faith album,

[nicmos]

 Even then, I remember thinking that "The Fountain of Lamneth" sounded pretty disjointed and was a bunch of things cobbled together to form an epic.  It's not a bad piece, but somehow less than the sum of its parts, not more.

This is well put Orbert, I guess that's how I felt but you hit the nail on the head.  As with KevShmev, I really like No One At The Bridge, and Bacchus Plateau, but more as standalone pieces.  And did anyone notice that fellow Canuck rockers I Mother Earth's album Dig from 1993 has a tribute to (or quote from?) No One At The Bridge in the solo on the last track?  There's some respect for this album that came as a surprise.

[KevShmev]

Haven't been chiming in much here, because I said most of what I wanted to say about these songs in the individual Rush song thread, but I'm following. Always liked the energy this album had, even if it's really an undercooked version of the band they became as the 70s went on.

Honestly, I feel like my write-ups aren't doing the band justice, mainly because we have discussed them so much over the years - between the main Rush threads, the song of the day thread, Marc's live tours thread, etc. - and when you combine that with me not being in any kind of Rush mood lately, it is making this thread feels like just an afterthought, almost like doing the updates are work or required, instead of them being fun.  

[Mladen]

I think the write-ups are pretty cool. 

[hefdaddy42]

I like the writeups too, Kev.

[Jaq]

Yeah, the write ups are just fine, Kev, just explaining why I'm not all over this thread like a madman. Hell lately I haven't been posting much period because of things going on to distract me (buying a house will do that to you) so keep up the work. 

[KevShmev]

Okay, cool.

Maybe I am just seeing jingle's epic write-ups in the LZ thread and having an inferiority complex about it.