A FAREWELL TO KINGS

Probably my second favorite Rush album after Permanent Waves. And while this album is not perfect, it is really close and deserves all the 4 and 5 star ratings it has gotten from this web site. This album seems to be the last one that has Geddy Lee singing in a real high registar a lot. After this, he seems to have mellowed out a bit. There are just 6 songs on this disc- 2 good ballads, 2 shorter rock prog songs, and 2 longer classics "Cygnus X-1" and "Xanadu". Both of the longer pieces make this album great. I find I enjoy Xanadu more than Cygnus, but just barely. I have listened to this effort countless times since it first came out on vinyl and I have yet to grow tired of it in the way that I sometimes find my self getting with Hemispheres and 2112, also good Rush albums. This gets a solid 4 star rating, which is as high as I rate any Rush album. While they acheived greatness and goodness many times, Rush just has never made what I consider a "perfect" 5 star album. (As of yet, I have only given 5 stars to 5 records.)