Hey everybody, it's Octo again. I'm here. To annoy you all with my thoughts and feelings about Rush's follow-up to 2112, A Farewell to Kings. Like usual, I'm very excited to dig into album. What does the average rush fan think about this one? What are your thoughts?
A Farewell to Kings - within seconds, I'm transported to medieval England. The classical guitar is absilutely beautiful, supported by an organ? that accentuates it's beauty. Who's playing what right now? Why is it so pretty!? Now, as far as the second section goes I don't have a ton of thoughts on the music but are the band arguing that people will mourn the end of the monarchical period of human history? Or are they arguing for the end of the monarchical period - a time of lords and nobles; saying that people in power are oftentimes demons in kingly guise? "Ancient nobles showering their bitterness on youth." Is this line about how older generations always despise the younger ones? Is that even always the case? By the end of the first verse I'm pretty significantly confused. I may get a ton of flack for saying this, but I think this is the weakest I've ever heard Geddy play - specifically at the start of the instrumental section. The rest of it was alright but I just didn't jive with it. Alex's playing on this track has blown me away though. Wait, Geddy said "Closer to the Heart" towards the end of this song. Is this going to be a lyrical through line? What's up with that? The songs are bleeding into the other bloody songs! I dig it! I also dig the ending, as it begins so shall it end 🤷♂️ Can anyone explain to me why this song is about? I feel kind of dense but I'm having trouble parsing the words.
Xanadu - before we even get rolling, does the name of the song "Xanadu" just look like a slightly modified version of the word "Canada" to anyone else's eyes? Regardless, I love the haunting low end of the first few seconds of this track - but the birds in the background combined with the percussive things going on really bring it to the next level for me. What kind of instrument is that? There's almost something "Baba O'Riley"-esque about the next section and then it fades out into nothingness to be replaced by a bog standard rock section???? I dig it but this song is keeping me on my toes. And I couldn't be happier. The section where Geddy starts singing has got me dancing around my car again but I can't help but the feeling that I'm misunderstanding some sort of mythological inspiration of some sort. We've got some synth going on here. It was brief but I really enjoyed it. Also, why is Kublai Khan here in this song? Did Honeydew ever grown in any of the places Kublai Khan reigned??? I'm loving Alex and Geddy's playing here in the instrumental section. And I love the chimey-xylophonish sound that the track ends on.
Closer to the Heart - I've heard this song before. Geddy and Alex performed it somewhat recently with the one of the co-creators of South Park on drums for some sort of South Park celebration and I saw the video online so that may color my experience of this track but let's jump right into it. I love these soft, beautiful, openings. Adore them, like nobody's business. " And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start, to mold a new reality - closer to the heart. " I can't articulate the level of truth I find in this line, this level of beauty. It unironically brought a tear to my eye. I don't know if it was the music. I don't know if it was Geddy's delivery or what it was but fuck man, it's powerful. "The blacksmith and the artist reflect it in their art. They forge their creativity closer to the heart". The world could be a happier place, where everyone is able to take pride in their work. Geddy's bass playing once again is really resonating with me but the draw for me right now is Neil's simple but potent lyricism. Everyone has a role to play in life - a purpose, fate, dharma, whatever you want to call it. We all have a career and in our career we could be doing things that bring us a sense of pride; things that make the world a more compassionate place. That's what I get out of the song at least.
Cinderella Man - I really didn't connect with this song for some reason, but I really enjoyed the instrumental section that started around the 2 minute and forty second mark as well as the line about the manic depressive that walks in the rain.
Madrigal - This song has such a strange soundscape but I dig it. I like the lyrics about how the world is just fucked - the dragon too mighty to slay with pen or sword. I like how this despair about the world we live in is juxtaposed with the narrator's lover being honorable and truthful and good.
Cygnus X-1 - I really enjoy the spacey, sci-fi opening. Is this first section about the death of a star? I really enjoy Geddy's tone and bass part here. He's very prominent in the mix and I really dig that as well. The rhythm is weird as can be and that's pretty cool too. My body's moving and grooving again, I'm chilling in my car listening to this track in therapist's parking lot. Alex's parts here are also pretty cool. These instrumental sections are the bomb diggity and I wish there were more of them, or that they were longer. And boom, Geddy's voice comes back in over a pretty soft background before exploding back into some rocking sound. I love the way the "to soar" line is repeated in increasing pitch and decreasing volume that was pretty sick. Rocking section. Then back to full on instrumental stuff! (Seemingly). This track kind of reminds me of The Necromancer in its length, quality, and storytelling style; the only difference being genre. I really like this one.
Overall thoughts - This record is where I've been the most engaged with the lyrics up to this point. I feel like their depth and complexity challenge me to listen over and over again, until I can process Peart's poetry properly. Maybe my brain's just not firing on all six cylinders today, but I struggled to understand a lot of what was going on here lyrically but in a good way. There's a depth here that I feel in going to lead me down a cavalcade of rabbit holes, reading the inspirational material and all that. This is pretty good record. What do you guys think of it?
