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Rush - Fly by Night Audio CD

A fair review of the Rush "Fly by Night" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Rush reviews here, or go back to the Rush tabs.

Rush Band: Rush
Title: Fly by Night
Rating:
Release Date: 1997-05-06
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Anthem 2: Best I Can 3: Beneath, Between & Behind 4: By-Tor and the Snow Dog 5: Fly by Night 6: Making Memories 7: Rivendell 8: In the End

Memory serves!
This album is just as great as I remember it!I love "themed" albums, and this is one of the best! By-Tor and the Snow Dog Takes the Genre of Tolkien, and makes it their own! Rivendell is a wonderful tip of the hat in that direction!.


Introducing Neil Peart
It's a vast departure from the eponymous debut lyrically and musically. Just a great album. There's less of a Led Zep feel as Rush starts finding its groove. Rush detractors will point to Geddy's shrill voice but (much like Dickinson with Iron Maiden) Rush needed a voice to rise above the music. "Making Memories" remains to me a criminally underrated song.


Rush - the Album Number Two!
The first album with Peart in drums turns to be a classic! There's great, uptempo songs, such as "Beneath, Between & Behind" and "Anthem". Rush's first album was great but after that started even better time - when Neil Peart joined the band. There's also great and long proggressive rock songs, such as "By-Tor & The Snow Dog" and "In the End". The Led Zeppelin sounding "Making Memories" is quite a slow one. . . this song could almost be from Led Zeppelin III. The slowest one however is "Rivendell" which is an acoustic ballad - still quite good. Alex Lifeson's guitar work and Geddy Lee's bass guitar work is beautiful. Geddy's vocals may cause different opinions - because they are rough! I like his voice very much. . .
Stars: Fly by Night, Beneath, Between & Behind, Anthem.


New Direction
Peart would play a pivotal role in the direction and future success of the band in the years to follow. Fly by Night is Rush's second album, and first with Neil Peart. Fly by Night is a solid release, and the first 3 tracks (Anthem, Best I Can, Beneath Between & Behind) are hard rockers, and any one of them would've been suited for the first slot. These tracks are somewhat of a continuation of where their first album left off. The next track (By-Tor and the Snow Dog) is their first epic-length offering, and delivers well in that it displays all of the band's diverse talents in one song. Each member highlights their respective instruments well, and Geddy's voice is as powerful as ever. The title track (Fly by Night) is still pretty popular on the airwaves, and responsible for pretty good sales overall. "Making Memories" reminds me so much of the Zeppelin track, "Over the Hills and Far Away". "Rivendell" is Rush's most mellow song, and Geddy sings it with emotion. This song is Tolkien-inspired, and brings some balance to the album. The last track "In the End" starts with good acoustics, then fades into powerful Lifeson riffs and vintage Lee vocals that shriek. Overall, the album is a healthy mixture of rock and progressive lyrics that transition the band out of the first album plainness, and into the more philosophy-inspired intellectual lyrics that would become a Rush trademark in the years ahead. The ratings:
ANTHEM:9/10
BEST I CAN:8/10
BENEATH BETWEEN & BEHIND:9/10
BY-TOR AND THE SNOW DOG:10/10
FLY BY NIGHT:10/10
MAKING MEMORIES:9/10
RIVENDELL:7/10
IN THE END:8/10

This album is a must-have for any fan, as well as anyone who's just getting into Rush, because these are the roots for everything else the band subsequently released.


Classic 70s hard rock
Before this they were sorting out their Led Zeppelin fixation and developing their own voice. For me this is where the legend begins - Rush's first truly classic album. They finally gelled with the addition of Neil Peart. The songs here are of higher quality than the earlier material, beginning to separate the band from the 70s hard rock pack. It wasn't until 2112 that they would emerge with their first truly distinctive album, and then hone their progressive rock sound down for their best work: Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Signals, and later Presto and Roll The Bones. Nonetheless this is more than just a historical document - it's also a fun listen and contains the kind of stuff that had me air-guitaring around my room in high school (and sometimes still does now). This is well worth your time.


You can see a complete list of all Rush discography, or go back to the Rush tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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