Rush - A Farewell to Kings
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Free Music Notes for A Farewell to Kings
Free Music Review: A great progressive rock album
Hit: 5 Stars
This album is often overlooked, even though it contains some of the best Rush classics--Closer to the Heart, and Xanadu.
Closer to the Heart is one of the all time Rush Classics--great melody and inspiring lyrics flowing seemlessly in a beautiful song. If you've ever experienced this song live in concert, you understand that it can be an emotional experience listening and signing along to this track.
Cinderella man is a great story perserverance, and the title track has a great baroque quality to it. The only bad part is a track called Madrigal. Even all these years later, it sounds terrible-I don't know what they were thinking.
Cygnus X-1, is an incredible epic song that is continued on the entire first side of their next album-Hemispheres. Cygnus X-1 and Hemispheres represent the peak of Neil Peart's fantasy concept album epics-a bit difficult to digest and take in all at once, but the creativity and the music are top notch.
This album is a must for any real Rush fan if only for the inclusion of the epic Xanadu. Although dated from an instrumental standpoint (old school synth etc), this song represents a culmination of the early efforts of Rush, screaming vocals, heavy guitars, complex drumming and percussion, coupled with an ambitious undertaking in presentation and songwriting. Xanadu will take you far away, and spark your imagination. That is what art does. And that is why Rush is one of the premier artists of all recorded music.
Free Music Review: Worthy of a king's listen!
Hit: 5 Stars
"A Farewell To King's" is probably the second best Rush album from the 1970's behind "2112". Songs like "Closer To The Heart", "Cinderella Man", and "Madrigal" show a very emotive side to Rush that would reappear decades later on albums like "Roll The Bones" and "Vapor Trails". These songs each have memorable chorus and verse lines, and the guitar/bass/drum playing is still truly great given the short length of these songs. Rush has always been a good hit singles band from my point of view.
The other three songs are more of the lyrical and instrumental showcase brand of song (these songs are: "A Farewell To Kings", "Xanadu", and "Cygnux X-1"). I will say, however, that these three remaining songs are among the most sophisticated tunes in rock.
For newcomers to Rush, I cannot recommend this album enough, especially when you compare its music to most any otehr album. yes, it sounds somewhat like 2112 and somewhat like Hemispheres, but it really stands on its own (even though the track Cygnus X-1 is really part 2 to a marvelous sci-fi story).
For casual fans of Rush, or for those fans who haven't listened to 70's Rush, pick up this CD. It contains the most variety and surprising elements of any Rush album.
For the rest - the rabid Rush fans - like myself - let's go to the internet message boards and ask Rush to play side one of 2112, Cygnus X-1, and Hemispheres all in one concert!
What a trip that would be!
Free Music Review: A Classic Prog Hard Rock Masterpeice
Hit: 5 Stars
This is part two of a comprehensive four part series of Music Reviews of the Progressive Rock band Rush. When a band has been around as long as RUSH has (30 years), their styles will change just as their clothing and hairstyles. I group the bands second five releases into what I call their "Mid-Era Progressive" phase. These albums include: A Farewell to Kings (1977), Hemispheres (1978), Permanent Waves (1980), Moving Pictures (1981) and Exit Stage Left "Live" (1981)
A Farewell to Kings kicks off Rush's foray into full progressive rock, which began with "2112", and eventually culminates with Moving Pictures. On Kings, Alex Lifeson continues to use more acoustic guitars. Neil creates more interesting percussion sounds, and Geddy's bass-lines improve to some of their most distinct. Two of the bands's most progressive tracks are included here. Coming in at over ten minutes each, Xanadu and Cygnus X-1 are classic examples of 70's progressive hard rock. The album also contains one of Rush's all-time fan favorites: Closer to the Heart.
A Farewell to Kings is one of my favorite Rush albums from this era and many fans put it in the top 5 of all Rush releases. Even discerning Prog-Rock fans put this album in their Top 50 of all-time progressive rock titles. It's only second to the ever popular Moving Pictures in ranking (currently #18). Go to [...] for more info.
Best Tracks: A Farewell to Kings and Xanadu
Free Music Review: SURPRISE SURPRISE !
Hit: 5 Stars
AFTER THE ENORMOUS SUCCESS OF 2112, ONE WOULD THINK RUSH WOULD HAPPILY COUNT THEIR MONEY AND GO ON A LONG VACATION...BUT NO, RUSH CAME BACK WITH NOT JUST A NEW ROCK OPERA..THEY HAD A WHOLE NEW SOUND ! NEIL PEART SOUNDS BETTER THAN EVER AND GEDDY'S BASS GETS MORE CLEVER SOMEHOW...RUSH DECIDE TO DIG INTO SOME CLASSIC NUGGETS HERE; THE BEST OFCOURSE IS THE INSANE CYGNUS STORY BEGINS...WHATS REALLY WEIRD IS HOW THIS IS ALL NOTHING REALLY LIKE 2112 (EVEN BACK THEN!) ..THE EVOLUTION OF RUSH IS REMARKABLE...THE UNDERRATED ALEX LIFESON ACTUALLY TAKES FULL CHARGE OF THIS ALBUM AND HE LETS IT BE KNOWN ..FOR NOW, THIS IS MY BAND ! THE VERY FIRST SONG STARTS WITH A TENDER ACCOUSTIC BIT BEFORE THE SONG GETS LOUD YET NICELY DONE AND MELODIC.."A FAREWELL TO KINGS" GIVES WAY TO THE MAJESTIC XANADU..A RUSH LIVE STAPLE AND ONE OF ROCK'S BEST LONG SONGS, FILLED WITH TECHNICAL PROGGY HEAVY AND LIGHT PARTS AND DELIVERED WITH EMOTION...YES, A FAREWLL TO KINGS IS BIZARRELY EVEN BETTER THAN 2112..BUT HERES THE KICKER ! YOU AIN'T HEARD NOTHIN YET...RUSH ONLY KEEPS ON GETTING BETTER FROM HERE ! I'VE SEEN THEM IN CONCERT NEARLY 20 TIMES FOR A REASON ! RUSH IS NOT JUST ROCK ENTERTAINMENT...RUSH IS LIKE HOMEWORK...YOU HAVE TO DO IT AND GET GOOD GRADES...RUSH WILL HELP YOU SUCCEED IN LIFE ! THEY INSPIRE YOU LIKE RELIGION AND YOU HUNGER FOR MORE...THE GREATEST ROCK AND ROLL BAND ON THE PLANET !Free Music Review: A Great Album
Hit: 5 Stars
In the pre-Spirit of Radio days, most of Rush's albums contained tracks that were basically long suites. This album (1977) and "Hemispheres" (1978) are no exception. The lyrics are written adventure where one could feel as if you were traveling through an exotic place such as the lost Xanadu or traveling through space toward the black hole of Cygnus X-1. Prior to the release of "Hemispheres" most Rush fans who followed the lyrics of "Cygnus X-1" were probably eager to find out what would happen next after they read the last words "will be torn apart - (to be continued)". That happened to an old friend of mine who could hardly wait for the release of "Hemispheres", which contained the continuation of the story on "Cygnus X-1, Part II". Listening to both these tracks is almost similar to watching "2001 A Space Odyssey" (1968) when Dave Bowman was sucked into the stargate heading for a destination unknown.
Both "A Farewell to Kings" and "Hemispheres" are in conjunction with one another, which could have easily been one double album, but that takes out the excitement of having them as separate albums. If you're into reading the lyrics, I would recommend purchasing "A Farewell to Kings" prior to buying "Hemispheres" unless you are inclined to buy both at the same time, but listen to this album first. You won't be disappointed.