I have been studying the oeuvre of Rush, studying each album and listening to the band’s evolution over the course of 40 years.
A Farewell to Kings
This was an interesting album. Because 2112 really was a landmark album for Rush, the follow-up album would be under further scrutiny. All they had to do was produce one song to get radio play, and they did it with the perpetual favorite (especially in Brazil) Closer to the Heart.
While you could hear a little bit of keyboard on 2112, the synthesizer in the song Tears was played by a guest musician. On A Farewell to Kings, it’s Geddy Lee playing Mini Moog. Rush is still largely a guitar trio style band at this stage of their career, you can start to sense the band is beginning to move in the direction of synthesizer in their songs.
Neil Peart seems to have discovered the chimes, aka tubular bells on this album, which I appreciate and wish they still used instead of the synch pads he uses now. I understand why he doesn’t, but I still prefer the pure sound of the real thing.
The Tracks
1. A Farewell to Kings 5:49
Another thing Rush started doing is introductions with acoustic guitar and moving to the electric later. Probably the best known song of this type was The Trees on the next album, Hemispheres, but this one is just as good. The lyrics are a commentary on society and a mental study of whether anything we are doing will be remembered fondly by history. This song gets an A.
2. Xanadu 11:05
This song got a lot of word-of-mouth back in junior high and high school as a rocking song. Geddy’s mini moog makes a major contribution to the song. I don’t consider it one of their best long songs, but there isn’t anything specifically wrong with the song either. It has some sections that rock, and other sections that slow down considerably. I appreciate when a band can change up dynamics and create different moods with different parts of a song. That’s well done on this piece. I give it an A-, mainly because it’s a little more forgettable than a song of this length should be.
3. Closer to the Heart 2:52
Anyone who has heard Rush has heard this song. It’s a perpetual fan favorite. If you’ve read the liner notes to Rush in Rio, you know that they love this song in Brazil. I really have only one issue with the entire song, and that is Neil Peart started the song with the word ‘and.’ That has always rubbed me the wrong way. Fortunately, since it starts the song, it’s gone quickly. I give it a high A, missing A+ only because of that stupid ‘and.’
4. Cinderella Man 4:19
This song did get soem air play back in the day, but it seems to be an underappreciated song anymore. It’s another one of Neil Peart’s “be yourself and do great things” songs, which I love. I give it an A.
5. Madrigal 2:33
Another keyboard-heavy song with a slow tempo and low-key vocals from Geddy Lee. While I like the song, I do find it utterly forgettable. I get the impression Rush were experimenting with this song, and perhaps trying to get radio time with a slow piece. That didn’t work, but the song did. I give it a B+.
6. Cygnus X-1 10:21
I can’t think of another song by Rush that comes close to the unique characteristics of Cygnus X-1. The song is about the black hole of the same name. It incorporates at times a lot of interesting music similar to what you might hear on an astronomy program on the Science Channel. I think I hear some whole step scale in there, which tends to sound “outer spacey.” At the end, as we’re being sucked into the black hole, Geddy uses probably the most extreme screaching vocal in the band’s history, and does it to great effect. The fact that my mother would disapprove adds credibility. The song is not an easy listen, it has to be the focus of attention with lyrics in hand to get the full impact. I give this song an A+, mainly for the creativity and how the entire package was put together. that said, it’s not music I would want to listen to over and over. It’s more of a fine art display that’s best taken in small doses with program in hand.
Conclusion
While 2112 was a tough act to follow, A Farewell to Kings does enough to warrant a positive rating. It isn’t as good as the albums before or after, but it’s still quite good in and of itself. I give A Farewell to Kings and A-.
I gave 2112 an A.
I gave Caress of Steel a B+.
I gave Fly by Night an A-.
I gave Rush a C+.