The future of Rush was now at stake.
Caress of Steel was a flop, and the ensuing tour, dubbed the "Down the Tubes tour" by the band themselves thanks to the crowds being smaller than they were earlier that year on the
Fly by Night tour, was very disheartening to the guys, who fell that they were doing the right thing as they had some growing pains, but they had little support. The record company was bugging them to return to their hard rock roots of the first album, and the three met and figured they could do one of the three things:
1) Make another first album.
2) Quit.
3) Say,"to hell with it," and keep doing what they wanted to do.
The more they talked about, the angrier they got, as they knew they were on the right path, even though it was bumpy at times, so they happily chose number 3, which the record company couldn't do a thing about, since Rush had been given creative control in their contract. And off they went to record their fourth album,
2112, where the sidelong title track would not only be the song that would lift them up and propel them into the stratosphere where they still remain, but would arguably stand all these years later as their best and most important piece of music ever. Inspired by the writing of Ayn Rand, Neil Peart wrote a conceptual set of lyrics that centered around individualism, with the setting being a futuristic world. In reality, the song is not only about one man's fight against the oppressive leaders, but Rush's fight against the record company for creative freedom and control. Rush would win.
Rush won, because
2112 was an immediate hit, selling more records in the first month than the first three records had sold at that point combined! The title track was the reason, as it was heavy and long, yet accessible at the same time, not to mention being all of Side 1, which infuriated the record exes, who couldn't do a thing about it since Rush had creative control, so they couldn't move it to Side 2 and put all of the short songs on Side 1. Radio stations even played all 20 minutes and 34 seconds of it back then (remember, this was the 70s!). I still remember the first time I heard all of it; to say in inspired awe would be an understatement.
I was still a lukewarm Rush fan at the time (this was the fall of 1991), but "2112" annihilating me the way it did really opened my eyes as to how great Rush was and is.
Getting back to Rush's victory, while their win over the record company was more than obvious, the victory over the solar federation was more ambiguous for a bit, thanks to the death of the protagonist in the sixth part of the song, but the grand finale makes it quite clear of the victory:
Attentions all planets of the solar federation
Attentions all planets of the solar federation
Attentions all planets of the solar federation (7 words x 3 times = 21)
We have assumed control
We have assumed control
We have assumed control (4 words x 3 times = 12)
The band, years later, remarked that they had no idea about that and that it was unintentional, but I think they are just being coy.
I know some think "2112" doesn't sound totally cohesive thanks to stop and starts in between the majority of the movements, but I look at the different parts at snapshots of a story we are only told parts of. Visually, think of each part as a door opening and us getting a brief glimpse of the story, and the door closes, we move on to another part, and then another door opens. The story is complete, but we are merely given snapshots of the major events. Make sense?
But, there is more to
2112 than just the title track; a lot more! Side 2 is jammed pack with a handful of excellent short songs, all under four minutes, from rockers like "A Passage to Bangkok" and "Lessons," to a lovely ballad like "Tears," to a rocker with great dynamic shifts like "Something for Nothing," to the oddly creepy, yet most excellent, "Twilight Zone." As great as "2112" is, Side 2 being as good as it is, is a large reason why
2112 is such a great record.
Not only was the songwriting better on this record, but Geddy Lee's voice really started getting better here. Sure, he had the crazy howling, like in the Temples of Syrinx section, but some of the softer singing, heard in many parts of the "2112" and "Tears," really showed that he knew how to his voice depending on the song and its nature, even if he was still a little rough around the edges at times. Meanwhile, Neil Peart's drumming has never been as furious as it was on this record, and I still maintain that the lead tone Alex Lifeson had on
Caress of Steel and
2112 is the best he has ever had. The guitar solos in the No One at the Bridge section of "The Fountain of Lamneth" and at the end of "The Twilight Zone" display this quite clearly, IMO. Overall, this is not only the most important Rush record to date, but arguably their best. It is often said that bands do their best work when they have something to prove, and
2112 is a shining example of this.
Topic: The History of Rush v. Discography Thread: Epilogue (Read 85481 times)
