My Impression of Fly By Night

As I completed my Rush studio album collection, I decided to not just listen, but study their music and listen to how the band evolved over forty years. Here were my impressions of their first album, Rush. Now, on to the second album.

Fly by Night

Of course, after the first album, the drummer John Rutsey left the band to be replaced by Neil Peart. That forged the lineup that has lasted for 38 years, and helped mold Rush into what it would become.

Fly by Night is a very different album from Rush. The first album had an enormous Led Zeppelin feel to it, only not as good as Zeppelin. There were some shades of Rush, but without Peart, well, it was different music.

Enter Neil Peart. From the moment the first bar plays on the first son, Anthem, it’s an entirely new sound. Rutsey was a Bonham-style drummer, where Peart was more heavily influence by Keith Moon. This is a young Neil Peart, without the musicality of the elder version, yet he did have a natural ability to mold and shape a song with his kit. Songwriting is one of his strengths, and it shows. The songs are deeper, and more complicated than the songs appearing on Rush.

The Tracks

1. Anthem 4:21

The song opens with the traditional Neil Peart heavy drumming. Sometimes he has a tendency to drum on the beat to blend with the guitar. It’s something I’ve never really liked–he’s much better than that, and alex Lifeson needs no help or support staying on beat. But, where Peart does this, it works. It’s the first song that captured the true sound of the band. The title is unfortunate because it makes the song seem more like an introduction, but that’s really the only thing I don’t like about the song. hard drumming, great guitar licks, and Geddy wailing away. I give it an A-.

2. Best I Can 3:25

This song is credited to Geddy Lee, and it has a different feel from the Peart contributions. I suspect his might have been something written before Peart joined, maybe a leftover from the first album. It sounds a lot more like the songs on Rush at times, but even this song has moved toward the Rush sound. In an article I read recently, Neil Peart said they were trying to move away from Led Zeppelin and Who influences and emerge into their own sound–a wise move for any band. (Go read the interview, it’s interesting.) I give this song a B.

3. Beneath, Between, and Behind 3:01

This song is credited to Lifeson and Peart. I suspect his was a partial Alex wrote and Neil helped mold it into shape. Peart uses a lot of cymbals on this piece, and it works despite supporting the guitar on the beat. that’s mainly because he uses that sparingly.

The song has that 3-piece band Alex Lifeson wanted so badly, and it moves pretty well, but it feels a little thin. I’m not sure why, maybe it’s lacking a little complexity. I give the song a B.

4. By-tor and the Snow Dog 8:37

This is the first of many multi-part ballad-from songs Rush would record. There’s a lot to like in this piece. It’s got the classic Rush sound, some, er, unique instrumental parts, and an interesting fantastical storyline. There are two issue I have with the song,and these are simply matters of taste. First, the arrangement of the vocal part whenever the title characters are mentioned seem a bit force, and I’ve always felt that way to the point of avoiding the song because of it. Second, young musicians often have to get silly things out of their system. The section where they play a 6 note run, then taper down, 5-4-3-2-1 is all little annoying and doesn’t seem very sophisticated, but I can live with it. I give the song a B-.

5. Fly by Night 3:21

This classic track is probably one of the best songs the band ever recorded, and also very likely the reason the band was able to stick around despite the disappointing third album (to be reviewed soon). I think this song defined Rush, putting them on the map as more than a one-hit-wonder, and it gave them a lot of air play. It’s an elegant song, makes good use of audio distortion in places, has a catchy melody, and is executed flawlessly. This song is the band’s first A+.

6. Making Memories 2:57

Usually, when a band starts to write songs about being on the road, the end is near. This song is different. Most songs about being on the road describe the misery, loneliness, and fatigue of being away from home. Making Memories talks about the joy of being on the road, the fun they have when it’s time to disappear into the music. It’s a refreshing change from other touring songs, and a nice foreshadow of how the band would be a working and touring band over the years.

I always like when Alex leads into a song with acoustic guitar the way he does on this piece. There is some lovely slide guitar parts on this song. Until now, I did not know Alex could play with a slide, but according to this page, supposedly from an interview with Lifeson, he indeed played slide. I wish he would go back to playing some slide if they produce a 21st studio album. Wwould be fun. I give this song an A.

7. Rivendell 4:57

This is a curious piece, because despite credit in writing the lyrics with Geddy Lee, Neil doesn’t appear in the song. The entire piece is on acoustic guitars played by both Lifeson and Lee. (Yes, Geddy Lee can play guitar, too.) The melody is gorgeous and shows the softer side of Rush, in great contrast to By-Tor and the Snow Dog. I suspect this came out of one of the jam sessions Geddy and Alex are famous for, and might have been originally intended as an instrumental the way Headlong Flight evolved on the Clockwork Angels album.

Unfortunately, Geddy’s voice wasn’t up to the task of this sort of singing. I suspect the 60-year-old Geddy Lee would sound a lot better since his voice has mellowed. And, I do kind of miss having drums. That said, as the band ages and Neil needs more rest during a set, they may pull this song back into the show to give him some of that rest. I give this song a C+, mainly because of the mismatch of the tone of the song with Geddy’s voice. I’d really like to hear this in concert with the older Geddy singing, though.

8. In the End 6:46

This is another song that does some musical exploration, beginning with an acoustic guitar and changing later to the electric. Alex Lifeson plays a very beautiful acoustic guitar that we don’t get to hear often enough. the later part of the song is classic driving Rush. the lyrics aren’t as solid as some of the songs, but not bad. I give the song an A-.

Conclusion

Fly by Night is the album that defined the Rush sound, and the title track defined the band and gave us a look ahead at the sort of thing that would be coming later. This is a solid album, but still shows signs of growing pains and the band searching for its identity. I give the album an A-.