Day 107: A Farewell To Kings

Hi again everyone!

So I'm gonna be doing another album review- this time, A Farewell To Kings, by Rush. In contrast to Abbey Road, which was 17 songs, this one is only 6... Expect a shorter post, I suppose!

A Farewell To Kings

As I understand it, this song is about the shifts in societal structure over the past few hundred years, and how people in the future will see us looking back. It paints the present in a fairly negative light, and mocks us for taking "the path of least resistance". I feel like, to some extent, this mindset already exists- people are constantly dreaming about (a very idealised version of) the past, with kings and castles and the like. That said, I'm not gonna pretend to really understand this- I've never been great with poetry, and I may well be projecting my thoughts onto this song. Musically, it's pretty good, though honestly I don't have too much to say about it.

Xanadu

Once again, this is both the longest song on the album and my favourite. It's an interesting one- with a drawn out intro, and a fairly mysterious sound to it. After it gets started, though, it does get pretty upbeat. Lyrically, it's based on an old poem about a place called Shangdu (also known as Xanadu)- or at least, it refers to said poem. Again, I'm not great with poetry, but I believe it's about a man searching for, and eventually finding, a mythical place, which grants him immortality. Eventually though, he realises that living forever gets old, and starts going mad. The concept is pretty cool, in my opinion, and the music is really good- it gets pretty high-energy in some parts, but still retains some of the somewhat mysterious sound I mentioned earlier.

Closer To The Heart

To me, this song seems to fit thematically with the first one- essentially, saying we need to get back to our roots, in a sense, and connect more with our emotional/spiritual side (the "heart"). It's significantly shorter than the previous song- somewhere between a quarter and a third of the length- but that does make it a lot more radio friendly, so unsurprisingly, this was a pretty popular song for Rush. Funnily enough, when thinking of stuff to write about this, one of my first thoughts was "I don't remember liking this song too much". Having just listened to it, though, it's not that I don't like the song- if anything, it's that the song is short enough that I tend to forget about it. I'd say it's just as good musically as the first track, honestly- and definitely catchier.

Cinderella Man

I remember a couple of months ago, when my dad first played this album for me, he specifically pointed this song out as having a great bass part (presumably because I'm a bassist, though I don't know how he could reasonably expect me to learn a song this complicated). Honestly, I really like this song- maybe even more so than Xanadu (though it is only half the length, so there's less to enjoy of it). It's pretty catchy, in a strange way, and has some interesting stuff going on musically, between the time signatures and the bass lines. It seems to be in a fairly minor key, too, which seems strange considering the title. Lyrically, it seems to be about the loss of innocence, and an attempt to remain moral, though I'm sure there's a lot I'm missing out on there.

Madrigal

To be completely honest, I somehow forgot this song existed. I'm not sure how- it's a nice tune, and quite relaxed (in contrast to the rest of the album). It could have something to do with how short the song is (only two and a half minutes), but I'm uncertain of this. I actually do quite like this song though. Like I mentioned in my review of Abbey Road, the slower tracks on a lot of albums get dull, but this one has a certain calmness to it that makes it enjoyable- and even if it didn't, it's not nearly long enough to become boring.

Cygnus X-1 - Book One - The Voyage

That name's a bit of a mouthful. Honestly, I don't really care for the first bit of this song. I get that it's meant to introduce the story a bit, but it's not easy to understand the voice, between the distortion and the sound effects. Once it gets started though, it's pretty interesting- it's in a very strange time signature (or mixture of time signatures, like in Pink Floyd's Money), which is a bit hard to follow along with as a musician. It changes suddenly, and it's a bit jarring- though this does a good job of conveying the mood of the song, as a lot of things in it do, actually. The intro aside, I do like this song- the only complaint I have about it is that it doesn't really fit the album thematically in my mind (being about a voyage into a black hole). The song does a great job of building tension in places, and a feeling of chaos and anxiety in other parts.

I do have a few comments that don't fit into any one song on this album, and are more about the band in general. Firstly- they're incredibly talented. As a bassist, listening to Geddy Lee's playing is almost intimidating, especially when considering that he's also singing. I remember seeing a program once about the drummer, Neil Peart, which showed him completely surrounded by all sorts of drums and other percussion bits, all of which are used in the songs- in all honesty, he's probably one of the most talented drummers I've heard. The guitarist, Alex Lifeson, is also quite good- I feel a bit bad not having more of a comment, but truth be told, I've never been great with comparing guitarists. That said, I don't think I know a Rush song without a good guitar part. As for the singing... I've heard a lot of people complain about Geddy's voice. Personally, I don't mind it- he's not my favourite singer, but I like that he stands out at least.

Anyways, that's it for today- hopefully you enjoyed this post!