A FAREWELL TO KINGS

Items ordered by ending time | Showing only 20
Show all RUSH A Farewell To Kings items on eBay

Visit eBay search:'prog rock' for items
Sell your RUSH items on eBay !

Best selling order

Visit Amazon tag:'Progressive Rock' for more prog rock

Rush at their peak . This album , every young Torontonian knew how much of a classic it was right from the moment we bought and could not wait for the band to get recognized around the world . Expectations were so high after the great 2112, and did Rush ever answer those fantastically .

Xanadu is my fave track from Rush but I think it is also the case of many other. This is another track were Rush excells in passing emotions in their music. Every time I listened to this , I saw Kubilaï Kkan running with his mongol tribes through the Steppes - Grandiose. Cygnus X-1 is the best attempt at making science-fiction on record as you feel so lost after the spaceship got sucked in by the black hole . We could not wait until the next album to discover what happened next. Closer To The Heart soon became a concert favorite and Cindarella man is yet another typical Rush song. Madrigal is another Geddy Lee tune (if memory serves me well and is slightly weaker).

With superb tracks like Xanadu and La Villa Strangiato in the following Hemispheres , it is now clear that Rush had come of age and write great epics worthy of some of the original early 70's English giants.

Now we're rocking! This is the first contender for best Rush album. They hadn't done, and didn't do another studio album to rival it until Moving Pictures. Every track on here is excellent and the musicianship is superb. Probably, if someone put a gun to my head and asked me the weakest track, I would say, Cinderella Man, but that is comparatively speaking, as it is a fine song in itself. Xanadu of course is the Coleridge-Kubla Khan inspired epic. And another favourite of mine is the often glossed over Madrigal. Short but sweet with beautiful guitar and bass. Closer To The Heart needs no introduction,and the title track is a good powerful opener. Cygnus, whilst not as good as Xanadu, is a great ending to the album. A must for prog rock fans, and Rush fans especially!

Probably the best album by RUSH and the most "Progressive effort" as well, except on a few prolix parts (anyway such defect typically belongs to almost the whole music stuff in the seventies, so never mind...). The suite "Cignus X1" for instance is a classic which can put into the list of some 20-30 "progressive songs" to have in a desert island, but also the other tracks are well worth checking out. The unique minor defect (if you admit that is true that's a problem...) there's not a great pathos or emotional feeling,as this concept album was constructed in a perfect way,from the point of view of the harmonic solutions...but never mind once again, because a certain fascination always remains.

Highly Recommended!!

This is their really first progressive record, with pleasant keyboards and percussions (tubular bells and cowbells among others). On the previous album, "2112", the rare keyboards are still at the experimental stage. Here again, the rythmic guitar sound is slightly different, being very controlled and defined, and still being very rythmic hard rock. The guitar has not the perfect sound like on "Hemispheres", because it lacks some overdrive pedal effects. "Closer to the Heart" is a simple accessible song, having a good acoustic guitar rythm. "Cinderella Man" is very pleasant and catchy, with an outstanding bass playing. "Madrigal" is a sentimental, tender & mellow song, having a very special fretless? bass sound. The epic & progressive "Cygnus X-1" starts with a very remote & echoed bass, progressively approaching, while complex drums make their entrance. Then, a very repetitive rythmic guitar makes the law through miscellaneous fast drums parts. After, there is a bit where only 2 guitar notes are repeated, just before the craziness reaches its peak when Geddy Lee near the end starts to scream like an hysterical person in crisis! "Cygnus X-1" is a bit strange & dark I must admit.

On the other side, "Farewell to Kings" has a curious metallic studio guitar sound. Be careful while listening the guitar solo: I've rarely seen a faster solo than this one: UNBELIEVABLE! The solo is a bit coarse, but just enjoy the speed at which it is played! The last track "Xanadu" is the best one by far: it is VERY structured, very epic and progressive; the drums, bass, percussions and guitars form a strong ensemble, loaded, very catchy and addictive. Some floating & melodic keyboards add the perfect final touch to this masterpiece. Geddy's voice is superb. Actually, "Xanadu" has more the "Hemispheres" style, although the guitar sound is not yet the same. The "Xanadu" intro sounds a bit like Alan PARSON'S PROJECT - "Sirius" ("Eye in the Sky").

Rating: 4.5/5

1977 was the year Rush has been named Group of the Year at the Junos. And what an album. Rush uses a formula that worked pretty well with 2112. But this one's higher in songwriting. With Moving Pictures it's the album with the most Rush' classics. It's basically Part 1 of what Farewell and Hemisphere should be. Just like Rubber Soul and Revolver from the Beatles. A very cosmic guitar-driven album with themes from litterature and space travelling. Hard rocking in almost every number, my favorite stays the title song. Beautiful intro with classical guitar and cute chimes by Peart. Pure magic. Xanadu and Cygnus X-1 stays concerts favorites and heavy sounded. Such power and determination makes this album a solid and reliable addition to your essential Rush collection and classics of the mid- 70's. Simply cannot go wrong with this one. A total winner.

I can't add much to what has already been said. Along with "Hemispheres", this is my favorite RUSH album; they had a perfect balance of hard rock and exploration on these two releases. The raw rock sound of 2112 had been refined but not yet as smooth as it would get on "Moving Pictures" and beyond. The transitions and style changes are smoother (although "Cygnus X-1" is still a bit choppy in parts), and they can establish a textural mood with more finesse.

The title track is grand, soaring, and allegorically critical, displaying some of the most successful lyrics that Peart had yet penned. "Xanadu" is as fine a soundscape as they ever created, evocative and faithful -though probably presented a bit different than Coleridge envisioned. It's also probably what inspired IRON MAIDEN's later metal epics (especially their Coleridge-authored "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"!), and thereby the birthsong of prog-metal. "Closer to the Heart" is their first really good pop song, accessible and yet loaded with notable sonic details (a fine synth solo, for instance). "Cinderella Man" is less well done, but still full of good moments. "Madrigal", on the other hand, is a suprisingly impressive and simple piece, the successor to "Rivendell" but so much more polished- and it really is a madrigal.

It's hard to say that this is the best RUSH album, or the ideal place to start with the band, but it and "Hemispheres" are the best expressions of the band's progressive journey. It was only three years before this that they released their debut- can you believe it?

What a treasure...Farewell to Kings marked a serious step in the Art Rock genre. It is without question one of their top five albums. It is hard to pick out any weak songs on this album, my only criticism is that the album is unusually short even for the 70's.' Xanadu' and the title track for me show the strength in side one although side 2 still has bundles to offer.

"A Farewell to Kings" is a landmark album in the long, prolific career of its threesome perpetrators. The progressive colours that had been part of Rush's sonic landscape in their previous two studio efforts are now taken to the next level, becoming now an integral element of a hard-rock driven progressive power trio sound. Another important factor is that Peart's lyrics are getting increasingly better at alluding and eluding things along and behind the lines. The intro theme to the opening namesake track is not misleading at all: the classical guitar motif seasoned with lines on piccolo-like Moog and glockenspiel is a proper announcement of the band's commitment to progressive exquisiteness and symphonic pomposity. They never leave that metallic aggressiveness, which is still administered with skill and fire, but it is also clear that the rhythm section is riding headlong for a complex ideology of pretentiousness, while the guitar parts are in many, many passages designed to fill an orchestrating role in company of the synth harmonies and textures. Well, the opening track is quite amazing, with its catchy riffs, jazz rock interlude, and a dramatic guitar solo soon after. The percussive arsenal handled by Peart serves as a fundamental basis for the band's renewed symphonic orientation: that is mostly obvious in the album's absolute highlight 'Xanadu', a 12-minute epic where the heavy and the texturial alternate with full splendour. The other epic is the more directly heavy metallic 'Cygnus X-1', which exhibits obvious hints to their 75-76 albums. Though I find it less inspired compositionally than 'Xanadu', I still regard it as an impressive number where all three musicians exhibit their own individual capacities and their combined ability to function as a perfectly united ensemble - the explosive neck-breaking finale is something that leaves the listener stunned long after the song has ended. In the middle, here we've got one of Rush's undisputed anthems (the high-spirited humanist chant 'Closer to the Heart'), a serene acoustic-based ballad ('Madrigal'), and a 'Caress of Steel'-like rocky number ('Cinderella Man'), whose sense of irony is attractive enough to keep the listener's interest after the emotional candor exhibited in 'Closer to the Heart'. In short: "A Farewell to Kings" is one of Rush's masterpieces, and a masterpiece in itself in the overall context of the history of prog rock.

Alongside the equally brilliant Hemispheres (which would come a year later), A Farewell To Kings is the pinnacle of Rush's prog-rock brilliance. While "Closer to the Heart" and "Cinderella Man" showed us that they had some great shorter songs in them (the former spawning a strong radio hit), the band's greatest strength still lies in their sci-fi epics. Caress of Steel and 2112 may have put these epics on the map, but A Farewell To Kings was the first time Rush really perfected them, and did they ever. "Xanadu" and "Cygnus X-1" are undeniable classics in the band's back catalogue. Everyone is sounding incredible on their respective instruments as always, but the fact of the matter is that this was the first time Rush was really able to string together an album that holds together the whole way through.

Opening with the painfully underrated title track, Farewell... never has a dull moment. Starting with an acoustic intro, this track never gets mentioned among the best Rush tracks, and it is fairly straightforward for their standards, but it's still a fantastic rocker, just nothing more. In that sense, it's comparable to "Circumstances" from Hemispheres (despite being longer). But "Xanadu" is what really shows us that the band means business. This 11 minute classic is a pompous prog-rock epic the whole way through, and I can't help but love it. The intro may be overly dramatic, but it works. And once the song gets into full force, it's a powerful stream of rapidly changing guitar riffs covering all kinds of moods, and Geddy Lee's scream giving surprising power to Neil Peart's strange tale of "searching for the lost Xanadu". All in all, this is 11 minutes of what Rush is all about. "Closer to the Heart" is short, but also a fantastic ballad, giving a rare (at the time) glimpse of the band's soft, sentimental side. It won't appeal to all prog fans, but great music is great music. "Cinderella Man" is another track which deserves more attention than it gets. Carried by driving, ridiculously catchy riffs, this has some great, somewhat more down to earth Peart lyrics, and a vocal delivery that just works perfectly. "Madrigal" is a short throwaway track which I've always seen as little more than an intro to what comes after it. Sure enough, "Cygnus X-1" may very well be the best song Rush has ever done. Gradually coming into existance after a robotic spoken bit at the start, the intro may have a crunchy riff and an odd time signature, but the song itself is as rocking and violent as Rush's music ever gets. This is outstanding hard rock which just so happens to be stunningly complex. There's also some rare flashes of keyboards (something that one would have thought the band gave up on for this record from listening to the rest of it). The track itself is about being sucked into a black hole, and spawned an equally amazing "sequel" on the classic following album.

So that's A Farewell To Kings. It encompases everything one could possibly like about Rush (musicianship, melodies, lyrics, power), and gradually clings together, leaving the listener with one of the best prog albums out there. Somehow, they would actually improve on what they had seemingly perfected, but what you cannot deny is that after these great albums, things would never be the same for Rush again.

Their first two albums were inspired by the progressive blues rock from CREAM and LED ZEPPELIN but from "A Caress Of Steel" RUSH started to experiment with a more symphonic approach: longer track and more changing climates. Unfortunately this LP almost led to the demise of RUSH: no sales, no money, no musical direction. But the Canadian trio regained their self-confidence, the result was the album "2112", legendary progressive hard rock! Inspired by the pivotal symphonic rock from the mid-GENESIS line-up (Hackett, Banks, Rutherford and Collins) RUSH began to mix more acoustic guitars and synthesizers and the compositions showed more symphonic elements like changing climates, many accelerations and lots of dynamics. My love for RUSH started with "A Farewell To Kings" ('77), I read the critics in the known Dutch music magazine Muziekkrant Oor (the author was Kees Baars, nowadays a friend of Geddy Lee) and I rushed (sic!) to the music store. At home I was blown away by the music: the dynamic atmosphere on the title track (acoustic guitar intro, heavy electric guitar riffs), the super-progressive 'magnum opus' "Xanadu" (what an exciting changing climates and biting guitar solo), the pleasant rock song "Cinderella Man" (another great guitar solo), the beautiful "Madrigal" and the very original composition "Cygnus X-1" with that ominous bass guitar intro, the splendid drum work and the exciting guitar play, this sounded like a 'power-sympho' version of CREAM. To me this album is one of the milestones in rock music, I'm not allowed to give it more than five stars!

One of the defining moments in my (then) young life was going into town to buy A Farewell To Kings, the first Rush album to be put out on official release in the UK. The wondeful gatefold sleeve, yet another Hugh Syme masterpiece,only served to heighten my excitement and expectation as I impatiently waited for the bus that would return me home. From the moment I placed it on the turntable and the first acoustic chords thrummed out from the speakers I knew this was going to be a classic album. A Farewell To Kings (the title track) immediately struck a chord with me- "cities full of hatred fear and lies" reminded me instantly of the atmosphere of fear that hung over Punk- era Britain. Gentle acoustic guitars and ringing synth give way to a tumult of powerchords and muscular drums and bass. Almost anthemic, sometimes brutal,this is really the song that defined Rush for me at this time, even loved the "yadda-yadda" vocals on this track that oddly sound treated in some way.The instrumental/solo break is one of their best a combination of "Bastille Day" and the later "Freewill" with the final few acoustic chords and cymbals setting the scene nicely for Xanadu. For me Xanadu will always be Rush's greatest epic and the track I always play to anyone I want to convert to the "Rush cause." It has the finest opening of any Prog Rock song, one that will always bring the goosebumps up on me:tubular bells and atmospheric guitar building up to a crescendo of foreboding before the more complex chops of drum, bass and rock guitar kick in.The mystical story provided by Coleridge's "Kublai Khan" is nicely judged as a framework for an epic musical workout, and boy do Rush do it justice.The guitar solo at the end of the piece is one of Lifeson's best and spawned a host of imitators ( Pallas & Def Leppard to name but two.) Closer To The Heart next and what can you say? Two minutes and fifty-five seconds of pure genius.This was always going to be a crowd favourite-hopeful lyrics, jangly guitars, a synth solo and gasp, more tubular bells! A minor hit in the punk rock-bloated Uk charts was the outcome. Cinderella Man is a pretty straight-forward (for Rush) song,echoing the title track in tone and execution. Madrigal is a pretty little soft-rock ballad that allows Geddy Lee to sing "normally" for a change. Sci fi sound effects lead us into another classic "Cygnus X-1." The bass throbs in with a pulsating riff, joined by strident guitars and drums.The band move into a pulsating, rhythmic jam that wonderfully evokes space travel, pulsars,black holes and all things Steven Hawking.I always remember my parents baulking at the strangulated vocals especially as our hero plunges into the Black Hole, but to me it readily evoked the cataclysm of that mysterious space phenemenon.Bludgeoning guitars, bass and drums in unison-play at volume 10 for maximum impact! This is such a good album that any review would fail to do it justice.Go out and buy this if you dont already own a copy.

A Farewell To Kings was Rush's first album in around two years and it saw them move in a different direction, or a new phase as they started to write with a different edge than the hard rock based fundamentals of their earlier work. 2112 was to date their most successful album and this ( A Farewell...) collection of songs was a sizable shift in musical styles which is more in keeping with the emerging new wave, although subtle as may come across. But while some of this album certainly works well and sounds cohesive there is still much of the music which comes across to me as naive and even unfinished. "Cinderella Man" being one side of the coin. A simple throwaway piece with a sympathetic vocal and some of Lifeson's better guitar playing but it not as enjoyable as "Closer To Heart", a short song that provided Rush with some airplay during and after the release of A Farewell To Kings. It is a song which would almost defy Rush's prog like tendency and veers toward middle of the road and safety. But while the band take on new structures with varying key signatures and time changes some of it, for me at least, sounds forced and unfocused. "Cygnus X-1" starts off promising but soon turns very ragged and that electro/robotic voice definitely sounded dated by the end. "Cygnus..." also serves as a prelude to another self same track on "Hemispheres", as part of a suite, which would follow this album a year later. "Xanadu" sounded a trite unfinished to my ears and the chorus very uninspired. To me it sounded as if Rush were forcing themselves to become a staple prog band, Yes were never a million miles away from this sound at their peak a couple of years earlier but they may have defined it better. Rush may well have been a progressive rock band but there may well be a generic identity with the tag prog rock. With a Farewell To Kings I think Alex, Geddy and Neil nailed it. Personally I feel it lacks the earthy and honest quality that made 2112 or even the much criticised Caress Of Steel so successful. But of course like this one, that argument is arguable. For what it's worth the lyrics on 2112 come across more convincing and with more passion. A Farewell To Kings has a cold and distant feeling for the most part, though certainly not a bad album. In my opinion it just lacks a drive to make it more memorable.

Rush were always trying to expand their sound. They went into a more intricate direction starting with this album. Featuring some of their best epics, and some of their best "singles", this album is easily one of their best efforts. This is the first album where Geddy plays the Moog, this addition would be arguably the best thing Rush ever did. With great textures created by the Moog, great riffs and solos from Lifeson, awesome bass work from Geddy, and some of Peart's best drumming, this album has a special place in my heart.

The opener of the album, A Farewell to Kings, begins with quiet acoustic guitar accompanied with some Moog and some bells, then the electric guitar kicks in and a real rocker is revealed. With lyrics alluding to corrupted politicians, a very underrated track. The next track is often considered the best Rush epic, the groundbreaking and phenomenal Xanadu begins with eerie chimes and percussion and volume swells from Lifeson, one of their best introductions to date. When the main riff comes in and the band kicks in, the listener is taken for a wild ride. With lyrics inspired by the epic Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Peart gives it the personal twist that the poem did not have.

The second side opens with the quintessential Rush "ballad" Closer to the Heart. Beginning with quiet acoustic guitar, and some bells from Peart, it quickly evolves into another AFTK type rocker. Add a fade-out and you get one of the great Rush singles. Cinderella Man is Geddy Lee's adaptation of "Mr. Deeds Goes To Town" is another rocker that used to close their shows during the tour that would follow. Add a wah solo from Lifeson, and another Rush masterpiece is born. The final of the contemporary songs is the quiet, soft-spoken Madrigal, which really is one of the softest things Rush had ever did. Predominantly lead by Moog, it is the weakest track on the album, but still a great showcase of Geddy's Moog work.

The finale of the album is my personal favorite track, the epic Cygnus X-1. With an eerie intro guided by a distorted voice (Terry Brown I believe), the scene is soon set for Geddy's awesome bass intro. The riff quickly evolves into an all-out jam between the group. Then the metal-esque riff is played, and the mood and tempo of the song is in place. At about the middle of the song, the vocal comes in. Then ending with screeches from Geddy, so ends one of the best Rush albums available.

Overall, one of my favorite albums from Rush. I give it my highest recommendation. 5/5.

On this album Geddy has also started using synthesizers, and Neil's drum set has probably doubled it's physical size with all kinds of percussions, so the sound texture is richer here than on their "2112" album. The opener and the album title song is a fine rock anthem with imaginative rhythms and good compositional parts. The follower "Xanadu" is also a fine composition, but the song has much better treatment on their "Exit...Stage Left" live album. "Closer to The Heart" is also a nice track, but it too works better on the mentioned live album. The true highlight for me on this album is it's closer, "Cygnus X-1". As a small epic it works wonderfully, there are some very fine rhythmic movements in it, and the overall feeling is raw and great! The voyage to the heart of a black hole is truly a rough rollercoaster ride! Recommended highly!

This was Rush's first real attempt to move towards the prog genre and it doesn't really work that well. There are some good moments, such as the title track and Closer to the Heart, but there is too much which doesn't reallly sound fully completed or thought through properly. Both the long tracks, Xanadu and Cygnus X1, have good moments but don't really hang together convincingly and sound slightly (dare I say it, yes I dare) - pretentious. Madrigal and Cinderella Man are pleasant and show the lighter side of the band well and, as ever, the playing is top notch. Their earlier albums were better because they stuck more to hard rock which is what they did best. But honestly, to see Rush at their best, you had (have?) to see them live, where they are unforgettable. Buy All the World's a Stage instead for a taste of them at their best.

Symphonic rock wise Rush reached their zenith with Farewell To Kings.The title track is a catchy little prog number with a nice little instrumental break that was to become a feature of future Rush tracks.Xanadu is a much loved classic slice of prog.The construction of this peice is highly original,inventive and wonderfully satisfying. The side 2 opener Closer To The Heart is a poignant song about with a clear message about humanity that hits home well.Cinderella Man is a good song while Madrigal is ok.The final track is a bit special though.Cygnus X-1 does exactly what groups like Dream Theater can only dream of doing! PROG METAL WITH A CLUE!! Overall this has to be rated a masterpeice.4.5 stars.

This album brings great memories for me as I got it when I first entered Bandung city at first time for my enrolment as engineering student at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB). Well, pretty late actually - roughly close to two years after official release date in 1977 - but I had no regret at all because for the past one year I had worked really hard to get the entrance to ITB, due to a very tough national competition while I was just a village boy coming from small city Madiun, 800 km away from Bandung. Yes, I was born with the heart of Lothian. I built my rock spirit when I was grown up in Madiun with all of limited availability of rock albums - but it's OK. On my first day in Bandung, I visited a rented house where my senior from Madiun (who had been an ITB student) had stayed. I heard from his room a rock music being played from the car stereo in his room. The vocal quality was very unique and very easy to identify. So, I asked him: "I it Rush?". "Yeah!" he replied while handed over me the cover of a cassette with provoking label: "RUSH - A Frewell to Kings". Wow! What a great cover and great music. That day, I went to down town Dalem kaum to buy the same cassette of this album. This represented my first collection during my study at Bandung. Bandung was the place where I met many prog mates who introduced me to diverse music styles, especially progressive rock.

The Album

The wonderful acoustic guitar work which is performed energetically, augmented with key synthesizer and vibraphone works at the intro part of opening track "A Farewell to Kings" reminds me back to "Horizon" by Genesis's Steve Hackett even though it's totally different kind of music. This excellent opening sets the overall atmosphere of the album. The music flows in a rocking style with some variation All musicians fill their roles excellently as the music produced is really solid and packed. Lifeson's guitar combined with Lee's inventive bass lines and Peart's syncopated drumming has given great enjoyment pleasure for me. Memorable segment for me is when Lee gives his bass guitar solo augmented with powerful drumming at approx minute 3:12. Lifeson then gives his guitar solo part after drum and bass works. Really nice!

The second track "Xanadu" starts off with an ambient music exploring synthesizer with soundscapes, congas, triangles and bells. This long introduction that consumes approx 2 minutes has become a pivotal part of this excellent track. The music enters slowly at minutes 2 through the soft touch of guitar fills and drum work. This instrumental part gives an excellent work of bass guitar that serves as main rhythm section of the music which is led by guitar solo plus drums. The music turns into quiet passage when Geddy Lee's voice starts to enter the music but it then moves into more complex arrangements. Synthesizer solo also enriches the textures of this track. Surely, this is one of my favorite Rush tracks.

"Closer to the Heart" (2:51) is another excellent composition which starts beautifully with acoustic guitar work and vibes to bring Lee's voice enters the music. The song moves into rockier part as the lyrical part requires the higher register notes to present. "Cinderella Man" (4:19) is another excellent track combining acoustic guitar rhythm and guitar solo. "Madrigal" (2:33) is mellow track with synthesizer and guitar rhythm that provides a good break into quiet passages.

"Cygnus X-1" (10:21) is my favorite track from this album. I enjoy the opening part on quiet passage for approx 2 minutes time. The music then enters with heavy and solid bass lines combined wonderfully with machine-gun drum work and guitar riffs. The music flows smoothly in a rocking style until vocal enters the scene in quiet mood. Structurally, this epic comprises various forms of music with a balanced combination between high and low points. In some segments there are atmospheric nuance combined with dynamic combination between bass guitar and drum. Geddy Lee's voice changes throughout the epic from high to low and returns to high points. It's very enjoyable.

Summary

Overall, "A Farewell To Kings" is the first progressive efforts by the band as all tracks are truly progressive. With this album, Rush established its strong standing as a full progressive rock band expanding its creation with various styles and forms of rock music. Most of song structures are not straight forward - even some tracks feature frequent tempo changes. It's one of finest albums by Rush. Highly recommended! Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild, GW

Being the first Rush album in my collection, with a lot of memories attached to it and all, "A Farewell to Kings" could have easily led me to jump into a very subjective view. Fortunately, the band indeed come up with very strong, if not mighty, materials, ranging between concise straight-to-the-point songs and longer but tight and well- structured songs.

The opening title track, "A Farewell to Kings", kicks off with a crispy classical guitar over a light synthesizer layering passage, before exploding into a thundering rock song and Geddy Lee sings "When they turn the pages of history...." This really is a splendid choice to set the tone, from which the band firing the other (five) songs with sharp focus and bold confidence. Apart from the popular radio hit "Close to the Heart", two outstanding songs worth mentioned are the 11-minute "Xanadu", an excellent showcase of superb musicianship and arty lyrics, and the 10-plus-minute "Cygnus X-1", a tale of a swallowing black hole.

This album should be at least in the same place with what most fans consider as the band's commercial breakthrough, its predecessor, "2112". But for me this is a well- rounded and better work.

An album with a very distinctive production, and Rush's first real progrock album. Maybe it was the location they recorded in (the English countryside), the introduction of synthesizers (yessss!!!) or just natural evolution, but 'A Farewell To Kings' sees a seriously refined Rush, less aggressive and more complex. The sharp edges of their earlier sound are rounded off here. It's a pleasing listen, and as a production piece it's one of Terry Brown's best. But it misses "masterpiece" status, as some of the songs are lacking a bit in memorability.

The personality in the performances has never been stronger. They almost overshadow the songs...when I think about this album, I think about great individual parts and the stellar recording job more than I do most of the songs. The title track is like that, as is "Cinderella Man" and "Madrigal". "Closer To The Heart" deserves the popularity it has gained over the years, a perfectly-composed song with remarkably poignant lyrics from "Peart and Talbot". "Xanadu" is a challenging piece, weaving a myriad of ideas into a gorgeous 11-minute epic, but that almost laid-back feel of the album makes some of the parts lack a bit in energy. I've always felt distant from "Xanadu", and I have a friend and fellow Rush-lover who feels the same. Great song, no doubt, but much of it feels disconnected somehow. The parts are indeed wonderful, it's the whole that fails to grab me totally.

There are two moments that shine brighter than anything else here. The whole of "Cygnus X-1" is insanely good. The first couple minutes are amongst the most foreboding in all of music, Geddy's bass locking tightly into Peart's sharp drum accents. The arc of the song is huge...a compelling, frightening, exciting journey (into a black hole, if you're reading the lyrics). With some wacko Lifeson guitar and one of Geddy's most communicative vocal performances, it's easily one of Rush's prime crowning moments. The other highlight illustrates the magic of the Lee/Lifeson/Peart union, and that is the jazzy breakdown in "Cinderella Man". A fine song, but the whole is eclipsed by one particular section: that moment combining funky bass with well- planned open spaces, whining guitar, and professorial percussive syncopation. Each member is playing his heart out, for the part as well as for himself. It's a joy to witness. It all occurs between 2:26 and 3:15, for those with nothing better to do.

A fascinating listen and an important piece of work, but really a textbook- definition "transitional" album. They would capitalize and improve on this new, more progressive direction with their next album.

Farewell to kings is the first Rush album for their best era (74 - 81) I have heard and as most of people think, one of their best. This is their first album to have lots of synthesizer (2112 has, but much less). There isn't a 20 minute epic as in Caress of Steel, 2112 and Hemispheres, but has two 10-minute epics, being Xanadu one of their best songs. There's the famous hit Closer to the Heart also.

Farewell to kings has a beautiful acoustic guitar and bells intro. Then starts the song main riff, good drumming, guitar sounds. Good guitar solo in the middle. The rest is the main riff with skillful playing. Overall is a common Rush song from the age.

Then the second, Xanadu, is a 11-minute epic. The intro is very interesting, many synthesizer sounds and assorted percussion. It lasts 2 minutes. Then starts a guitar riff, with good drumming too and then the riff changes with some synthesizer soloing too. And nearly five minutes start the main riff and singing. One part slower other harder. Then some beautiful synthesizer and bells arrangement. There are lots of variations among those parts, that come and go till the end where there's good synthesizer and percussion part.

Then comes Closer to the Heart, a beautiful and short song, with acoustic intro, good drumming, percussion (bells) and bass playing. Then starts the electric guitar riff, a good guitar solo, good singing by Lee (although I don't like much his voices)

Cinderella Man has good bass, drumming and acoustic and electric guitar parts. There's an interesting solo in the middle, with good bass and drum riff acompaining the guitar solo.

The fifth song is Madrigal, very beautiful and mellow. The guitar tone is very beautiful, Lee's singing is very inspired. The bass lines are very good too. In the end there's a very slow synthesizer solo.

Then the last song is another 10-minute epic: Cygnus X-1 book one: The voyage. Starts with synthesizers and percussion. Some synthesized speech nearly indistinctive, then bells and a very low volume bass, that keeps growing then comes drums and guitar to this riff. Later, after some interesting guitar variations, comes a synthesizer solo over a strong guitar riff and only after 5 minutes, starts the singing. The main part lasts 2 minutes, then comes a spacial synthesizer and drum part, then a strong guitar riff, with good drumming too. Then a hard riff with screamed verses by Lee and a very light guitar part in the last 30 minutes.

Two magnific songs (Xanadu, Closer to the Heart), two excellent( Madrigal, Cygnus X-1 book one: the voyage, and two good ones (Farewell to kings and Cinderella man). Four stars so. Without a doubt a great addition to any progressive rock collection.

The pinnacle of Rush. A wonderful blend of hard rock and prog, Rush made themselves here. The inclusion of additional instruments(the moog) add more dynamics to Rush's sound, and in addition Rush brought out some of their best melodies and rhythm sections on this album.

Xanadu is by far my favorite Rush track, and probably their most "progressive" effort. If you heard this song by Yes, you wouldn't doubt it to be prog for a second. Xanadu is a mystical atmosphere, which envelopes you and takes you in for a journey of sonic bliss. If you are looking to get into Rush, look no further than this track.

My only complaint about this album is Cygnus, which I have never been too fond of. I understand why a lot of people like it, let's just say it's not for me. A Farewell to Kings(the song) is underrated, a great opener to the cd. Rush defined their progressive nature firmly with this album, cementing their status as Canada's finest.

The second-best release from Rush's 70's period, this one was a true evolution after the great progressive-ignition that was 2112. If that earlier album had a flawed 20+ epic, A Farewell to Kings finally had the formula corrected and improved, with two long tracks at 10 minutes each, plus 4 short, almost filler tracks (my complain with 70's Rush) in between. As in Hemispheres, which I just reviewed, the album's length leaves somewhat to be desired, specially if we have in mind that the short pieces are not up to par with the near-epic ones.

A Farewell to Kings, (8/10), a good short track with Rush at their most ROCK-prog (not prog-rock). It actually takes two listens to appreciate it (at fisrt It sound rather bland to me) but finally you realize this song works.

2. Xanadu, (10/10), Rush's finest moment from the 70's, my favorite pre-Moving Pictures song, with amazing lyrics by Rush's pen master Neil Peart (who happened to be a masterful cymbal-beater, too). It has a main verse followed by a chorus-like section, with a repetition of both with amazing soloing and a great introduction.

Closer to the Heart, (9/10), a very short song but actually the most memorable from this album, not only because of Peart's intelligent lyrics but because the melody is one of Rush's best. It's not a love song for a woman, is a love song for, well, love. Great.

Cinderella Man, (7/10), weak short track ("weak" in Rush never translates into "bad", that's why it still gets a 7), good lyrics and a good performance by high-pitched witch- look-alike bass-master Geddy Lee.

Madrigal, (7/10), the least memorable track in the album, but enjoyable nevertheless.

Cygnus X-1, (9/10), a near-epic that begins a story that ends in part II in Hemispheres; I prefer this one to its longer conclusion, because this one has all the unity and coherence that the one in the following album lacked. A good, even great song that closes the album in style.

So what we got here is a very, very good album by one of progressive-rock's true legends; I've already stated my general complains about Rush's 70's era (too much fillers, saw sounding guitars) but not one of those has anything to do with their musical talents, which they had and in unusual amount. A fantastic, beyond-his-time drummer, (also one of the genre's best lyrics writers), an amazing guitarist and a excellent bass player and competent, at times great singer. This album contains Rush's best song from the 70's (Xanadu), and as a whole feels more complete than its follow-up, Hemispheres. It only lacks that albums' biggest asset: the outstanding Villa Strangiato. But, those points made, these two albums are the best from that era in the band's history and two necessary cadditions to any prog- collection worthy of respect.

Recommended for: Prog lovers, rock lovers, music lovers.

Not recommended for: again, fans of album-elephantism. You won't get more than 37 minutes from the canadians.

This is the first prog record i bought when i was around 16 years old,many years ago.I didn't know it was prog back then,but i was always fascinated with "Xanadu",and would describe it back then as being like songs within a song,a journey,a story.So yeah,i was being prepared by the masters for the prog world i would one day enter.RUSH does make me proud to be a Canadian,and they have been my favourite band for a long, long time. I love the way this record starts off with the title track that is a straight ahead in your face rocker.The song starts off so quietly with classical guitar,and then it's like someone turns the volume to ten a minute in.I remember rushing over to turn it down the first time i played this on my record player in my bedroom,knowing my mom would soon be yelling at me if i didn't. Geddy's vocals are at their best on this track,and the guitar is amazing."Xanadu" is truly a RUSH classic,with Geddy playing moog to open,with an abundance of tempo and mood shifts.The lyrics for me are like reading a short novel,they're great!The drumming is incredible and Geddy's bass playing is prominant."Closer To the Heart" is a beautiful song with some great bass lines.I love when Geddy goes "Wooooooh" and Alex comes in guitar just a blazing.Priceless."Cinderella Man" is one of my favourite RUSH songs,that for some reason has popped into my head over the years,and i just will start singing "Cinderrella man,doing what you can..."Just out of the blue this happens.The instrumental passage two and a half minutes in is fabulous."Madrigal" features Alex on the bass pedal synths,and is a reserved tune,giving us time to prepare for "Cygnus X-1".The first 5 minutes of this song are instrumental,and the drumming is fantastic!This is a ride folks.And not your typical spacerock either,parts of this song will peel the paint off your spaceship.The story of an astronaut who travels to the constellation Cygnus in order to go into the black hole.His ride is described in this song.Interesting that the second part of this story is continued with the first song of the next record "Hemispheres". From the cover of the record to what we hear inside,this record is pure genius.

In this reviewer's opinion, "A Farewell to Kings" is the first Rush album which is consistently excellent and catches them at the peak of musical balance, where their hard-rocking feel is not tempered by synths but is instead enhanced through sensitive and appropriate play. Of course, there is a ten minute section of the album which has only trace progressive elements but even these concise songs are better than anything written previously.

Despite their popularity, this reviewer considers Rush to be a bit-player in the world of progressive rock. This opinion wouldn't stand under the weight of more albums such as this one and "Hemispheres"; sadly they veer towards the commercial under the influence of *that* decade and never recapture this sort of brilliance, even once they've recovered their wits.

Another solid release from start to finish, trimming down "2112"s mega-epic formula into several concise-- but nonetheless outstanding-- songs with lots of variety. Throughout "Farewell to Kings" we can see the trio really hammering out their own, now unique style as well as achieving new heights of proficiency on their own individual instruments. Moreover, "Farewell..." is the first of Rush's albums where we can really see the group "clicking", and playing better together and tighter than on any previous album.

While "Closer to the Heart" is probably the most famous of the album's 6 songs (and maybe the most likable Rush to date), it is the two epics "Xanadu" and "Cygnus X-1" which really showcase the band's talents. Each has colossal instrumental sections and a dynamic power which gives them a very timeless quality ("stars stuck in the sky").

While "Cygnus"s complex rhythms and "Xanadu"s gigantic scope draw worthy attention, the forgotten songs-- "Cinderella Man" and "Madrigal"-- are just as good for what they are. "Madrigal", I think, is a really underappreciated Rush song, especially for how different it is than their other output.

All in all a terrific, easily accessible but still brainy, and enjoyable album even after many plays.

3.6 stars

I admit that the musicians behind the music of Rush are extremely talented, but I've never been too fond of Geddy Lee's vocals at all, and I find their songwriting abilities to be inferior to their instrumental virtuosity. That said, I find "A Farewell to Kings" one of their most consistent and satisfying records in their career.

A musical element that is prominent in this album is the acoustic guitar. The opener and title track, for example, opens acoustically and turns into a good rocker with excellent bass guitar playing and good dynamics. The first epic might be the best song they ever did, composition-wise. It opens with synthesizers, sound effects and pedaled guitars not too different from Yes' Close to the Edge until it turned into a dynamic hard rocker with brilliant guitar riffs and synthesizer melodies that takes your mind to a musical paradise.

The next songs are all of small durations, though they maintain a solid quality. Closer to the Heart is under 3 minutes, but it manages to be very varied and tight, containing more ideas than some songs of over 6 minutes. Cinderella is both acoustic and electric, and very good overall. Madrigal is more stripped down and softer; but is quite pleasant to the ears.

Cygnus X-1 is fun, irritating, and cheesy. It has the silly narration of 2112/The Necromancer, and the weak songwriting of Caress of Steel which makes this sound like a collection of riffs over a long time. Also, the vocals of Lee are at their least listenable. What saves this song is that many of the rhythms and riffs are both complex and very fun, and the musicianship is excellent. I would recommend this album to a hard rock fan, to a casual Rush listener, and of course: if you are a Rush fan, you've gotta get this just for Xanadu alone!

1_A Farewell to Arms (C+)

2_Xanadu (A)

3_Closer to the Heart (B+)

4_Cinderella Man (B-)

5_Madrigal (B-)

6_ Cygnus X-1 (B-)

"Sound and fury drown my heart, every nerve is torn apart"

Having set the bar substantially higher with "2112", Rush relocated to Rockfield Studios in Wales for their return to the studio in June 1977. It is perhaps no coincidence that Budgie, a band who had clearly influenced the sound and style of Rush, called the Rockfield Studios their home.

The introduction to the opening title track immediately indicates that the band are continuing to progress. A soft acoustic guitar and keyboards melody precedes a louder, more familiar guitar driven rock song. A quick check of the credits at this point indicates that it is Geddy Lee who has added a Mini-Moog to his instrumental credits, and both he and Alex Lifeson have gained access to bass pedal synthesisers.

Not to be left out, Neil Peart uses the introduction to the epic "Xanadu" to show off his new toys, in the form of orchestral and tubular bells. As the track develops, the synthesised bass adds a whole new dimension to the sound as it tests the abilities of even the most accomplished woofers. There are Yes like tones and structures lurking just below the surface of the piece as it develops, Lee even sounding at times like Jon Anderson. The unfamiliar lilting Moog sounds which drift in and out are complemented by the expected fine guitar work.

The second side of the album has three short songs and an epic to close. The three songs which kick off the side also benefit form the refined sound the band have adopted, despite the song structures themselves reflecting the band's first two albums. "Madrigal" sees the band sounding surprisingly like STYX when in ballad mode. These are but teasers however, leading up to the closing 10 minute piece "Cygnus X- 1". In true prog style, the track here is subtitled "Book one - The voyage" with the notation "to be continued" at the end of the lyrics on the sleeve. The spaced out sounds which follow the noise of a rocket taking off are more like those of Pompeii era PINK FLOYD, before the more organised sounds we were introduced to on "2112" kick in. The suite develops through many time changes and switches of mood driven on by both Moog and guitar. It really is a remarkably exciting piece with true power and majesty.

As had quickly become the usual modus operandi since he joined the band, Peart is in sole command of the lyrics for most of the album, while Lee and Lifeson dominate the melodies. For me, this results at times in rather unsatisfactory vocal melodies which do not sit well with the lyrics. There is no questioning the calibre of the lyrics, the music, or the performances but for me there are times when the three are not in total unison. The other gripe I have is with the album length, which at 37 minutes is somewhat brief.

In all though, those minor grumbles should be seen in the context of a high quality album which represents a further major step forward in the history of Rush.

well hello

here we have one of those essential albums. by no strecth is this my favourite rush album. BUT having said that with Xanadu the cannuck youngsters have hit the big time.

cinderella man is lovely, madrigal is quaint. closer to the heart is the sort of track that a million 15 year olds try to impress their mates at parties by playing. A farewell to kings is almost as quaint as madrigal.

THe gem of this albumis Xanadu. be all and end of all of this album.

As far as I'm concerned that's a 5.

Well, this is kinda the bridge album from hard rock to prog rock. A good album, but I can imagine the hard rock fans listening to the first couple of electric guitar chords on the title song and immediatly take the disc out and shoot it with arrows. My review

A farewell to king's- The first minuete is what makes this song! Just a beautiful classical guitar solo, nothing else suporting it. Now I am not a fan of the word overated, but Alex lifeson is the most overated guitar player on the planet. he is praised for his solo's and his riffing, but for those of us who know guitar probably know he ONLY uses the pentatonic scale, NOTHING else, and it disgusts me coming from one of the prog rock "gods". And this first minuete relieves him of some of his shame. Well, anyways, After the pretty guitar part, the electrics come in and basically ruin the song, I feel nothing has any flow to it, not the vocals keyboards or drums, not the best opener. 3/5

Xanadu- A much better song, with elegant songwriting, courtesy of peart, and excellent and limber bass lines. The vocals are wonderful as well, and the opening riff is very cool! The concept of the song is about a person or traveler hoping to find eternal life amongst the immortals, and he believes he deserves it with all of his discepline and training. Though it is certainly not an epic, a wonderful and great song, best song on the album! 5/5

Closer to the heart- A onderful and uplifting song! Certainly NOT prog though, so I am not allowed to give it over a 4 on my scale rating thingy, but I wont deny it's amazingness. I think it's about world piece or something, anyways really nice twelve string work, bland solo, but an amazing bassline. If this was about the song live, I would consider it prog, but I wont go into that. either way when I was upsest with classic rock, my band and I did a cover of this little tune!3.5/5

Cinderella man- This song makes no sense to me, out of knowhere we have a song that goes against this ongoing flow that this album is creating. Really a low point in rush album making. I usually just skip this song when listening to the album... actually a lot of Rush albums have these "mood ruiners" Moving pictures- vital sighns, Permanent waves- freewill, Hemisheres- circumstances, and plenty more. I refuse to rate this song, cause I do not want to offend.

Madrigal- a pretty little song, filler to the much larger song coming. 4/5

Cygnus x-1- A wonderful song to end the album on a high note. The only problem is that the music is a bit pompous and the intro ends up taking up half the song. Well, afterwards Geddy starts singing, and although I do not know what the song means,his vocals are excellent! Besides the overly done intro this song is quite excellent! 4.5/5

Rush will go on to make better albums, but this one is good to listen to if you want the entire rush sound!

This and Hemispheres go hand in hand. However i believe this is the better album, and unlike Hemispheres, deserving of the masterpiece status.

A Farewell to Kings- This is a fairly good song. Works well if you play Closer to the Heart afterwards.

Xanadu- The Proghead favorite. Very atmospheric, from the sound of birds in the forest and the wood blocks Neil brilliantly plays to give the song a real earthy feel. The song just rocks, and the mini story is sweet like milk of paradise.

Closer to the Heart- A favorite with Brazilian RUSH fans, or so ive heard since im not Brazilian. Its a pretty great song, and very catchy. Not one of my favorites, but definitely a favorite of most Rush fans.

Cinderella Man- This song actually really speaks to me. I could be forgettable to some people, but the lyrics have great truth to them and i believe that in itself can make a good song.

Madrigal- Not quite filler, but it's barely an average Rush song. It keeps the album moving quite nicely though, so thats great.

Cygnus X-1- Oh how i love this song. Even if you don't have Hemispheres to finish the story its still an awesome song, and it does end like a finished song, so it doesnt leave you completely hanging. I believe the story of Cygnus X-1 is the greatest epic RUSH has ever done, and I believe the first half of it is actually quite better than the second, because it never lets up and keeps the driving rock rolling the whole way through, no boredome sets in here!

The Proggiest of RUSH albums, very outdoorsie and beautiful. A Masterpiece of Progressive Rock...and Rush!

RUSH reach their musical zenith with this varied masterpiece.

'A Farewell to Kings' must have been a difficult album to make, having garnered widespread success and acclaim with their breakthrough album 2112 featuring the side long eponymous track heralded by many as a masterpiece of it's own, expectations were high for a follow up and RUSH certainly delivered with a varied and interesting album full of great music.

'A Farewell to Kings' starts off strongly with the hard rocking title track, with guitarist Lifeson playing a jaunty little neo-classical intro on his acoustic before the band in full voice come cascading in - triumphant and uplifting it's one of their best hard rock songs they have ever made.

Next up is my personal favourite of the album and one of my top 5 RUSH songs the 11 minute epic 'Xanadu'. Xanadu is based on the poem 'Kubla Khan' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and as a drastic departure from the opening track, it starts off with an instrumental section which is very beautiful and meditative with birds chirping, volume swelled guitar and gentle percussion before the electric instruments come in generating feelings of excitement and contentment. This is one of RUSH's best written songs, nothing is really over the top here it all works together well and is structured brilliantly, it moves from slow to fast and soft to hard effortlessly, a very peaceful song.

The next 3 songs are fairly poppy standard RUSH songs, I feel I should lump them together because they are quite similar in the vibe they give off, quite mellow and subdued. Individually these songs might leave a bit to be desired but in the context of the album they work perfectly, they continue off of Xanadu and are nice and gentle to listen to.

Then things take a turn once again with the closing track Cygnus X-1, which is significantly heavier and different to anything RUSH had done up to date and is a great closer to the album and a great contrast to the rest of the songs certainly indicative of a band at their creative peak. Cygnus X-1 is about a starship getting sucked into a blackhole in the famous Cygnus binary system (the first black hole ever discovered) and is quite cheesy but in a good RUSH way The song starts off very gloomily with some heavily effected vocals and resonant bells before a rising bass appears and the song begins on it's sci-fi journey full of heavy syncopated rhythms and forboding melodies (with a brief happy departure in the middle). Cygnus X-1 is easily up there with the best RUSH songs, well crafted and interesting although it does tend to drag in a few places but it ends very strongly. The famous RUSH power trio really shine here, Geddy's bass is sounding great and there are some groovy riffs, Neil has some great syncopation going and Alex just holds it all together - their musical chemistry and alignment is frightening at times.

Overall this is in RUSH's top 3 albums and is one of the best prog albums of all time all the members are at their creative and technical peaks. There is an amazing variety of musical direction here in a mere 6 songs and every song has it's own merits, strongly recommended to any serious prog fan.

*The* Rush Album

This album kicked my butt so hard. I am sure that is the reason that Hemispheres disappointed me so. From the word go, 'A Farewell to Kings' displays originality, energy and deep concepts. The band again shows their attachment to literature and science with the albums epics, Xanadu and Cygnus x-1. Even the radio hit 'Closer to the Heart' is a moving and enjoyable classic. Though this is the album that made me start to hate radio. I began to realize that I was missing all the best music in the world because it did not fit commercial time allowances or mainstream sensibilities. But I'm certainly not going to blame 'CttH' for that.

This album is at least tied, if not flat out Rush's best work. 4.5 stars...rounded up...take that Hemispheres!

A Farewell to Kings was the album that brought Rush to my attention in 1977 and I was instantly hooked. It comes from the era when they were at their most "Progressive" in terms of how most people view (including non-believers) Progressive Rock. As much as I loved the major Prog players like Yes and Genesis what I particularly enjoyed about Rush was their infusion of Heavy Rock into the genre.

The album opens in fine style with the title track with a medieval acoustic intro before the band come in full force with a great Lifeson riff. I particularly like his guitar sound from this era too, heavy and rich without being metallic and his solo on this track has long been one of my favourites.

The eleven minute Xanadu follows and is rightly regarded as a Rush classic. A slow atmospheric intro gives way to some of the finest playing on the album, lots of light and shade with the heavier elements and enough time/tempo changes to keep the most demanding Prog fan happy. Of course it's well known what a fantastic Drummer Peart is and over the years since this release has become regarded as one of the finest players in any genre, but what I like about his playing in the earlier days is he also had a looseness to his style (as well as the technical chops) that he seemed to lose (deliberately?) over Rush's 80's, more keyboard dominated albums.

Side 2 of the original album opens with Closer to the Heart, a perennial live favourite and was even a minor hit single at the time! Cinderella Man is a fairly straightforward (by Rush standards) Rocker which is followed by the more laid back Madrigal. Side 2's highlight though is Sci-fi epic Cygnus X-1 which has some of the most ferocious playing the band ever committed to tape. What tended to divide music fans over Rush was Geddy Lee's high pitched vocals, you either loved them or hated them and he hits some of his highest notes here. Personally I loved them and thought they gave the band an extra stamp of originality and let's not forget what a fantastic bass player he is too.

Rush would go on to make one more album in this style (Hemispheres) before changing tack for Permanent Waves and as good as that album is it can't compete with this as my favourite by the band.

Cities full of hatred, fear and lies.

Rush's Farewell to kings did more than start a tetrad of fantastic albums that would mark the band's classic period. It also put the band on the map as one of the leading hard rock, and indeed, progressive groups of the late 70s while proving that they could be just as heavy and aggressive as the punk rock scene of the time. Likely the band's most unique blend of abstract and more scientific lyrics (paired with it's successor, Hemispheres), starting to focus more on the poetic side of Neil PEART's lyrics with objective observations about society and human nature will still adding a ''swords and shields'' feel t it. Really, this is where Peart's more down to Earth lyrics would start -- having only mild success on their truly poetic Caress of Steel [CoS] album, but more success on their rebellious 2112.

This album also did a number on this young head banger. One of the first albums by Rush that I would acquire, (right after Fly by Night and Grace Under Pressure) this would be the one that would appeal to me the most and make a true fan (and eventually fanboy) out of me. On those cold Canadian nights, treading through the snow after school the warm sounds on songs like XANADU and CLOSER TO THE HEART were incredibly welcome. This is an album that is one of those ones that has that crazy ability to conjure up memories every time it hits my cd player... and what good times those were.

Nostalgia aside, what makes it so good? Let's start the review shall we?

A great mix of old and new (at the time), this is the album that Rush found their niche on. Mixing progressive elements from their newer outings (2112 and CoS) and hard rock elements from their older albums (Rush, Fly By Night) Rush finds a perfect middle ground that is both pleasing to the prog fan, and commercial enough to score a hit. It also seems that the aggression from 2112 has stuck around. This is an album that is heavy and with some truly rebellious moments. Going both more progressive and, at points, darker than ever before, this is an album that demands attention.

Starting with the calm acoustic riff that opens the album, this is a powerhouse. The title track, A FAREWELL TO KINGS, starts off the fray with some excellent keyboards and spacy bits until it's blasted away in Rush's typical Heavy Prog way. More old school-y in style than the sci-fi 2112, the sounds here are more like a better refined version of CoS. The title track is one of those rebellious songs -- a track that shows Peart writing about his view on human nature and questioning what later generations will think of us and our decisions. Abstract, yes... but effective. This is one of the shorter songs on the album, coming just short of 6 minutes (okay, so it's mid-lengthed, but bare with), but definately one of the most memorable. Another song very much in the same vein as the opener is the romantic and accessible CLOSER TO THE HEART. This song is a great one for Rush as it allowed them to score a bit hit, especially here in Canada, where any radio station has likely played it a thousand times... today. This is not without merit of course, Geddy's voice is soothing and the melodies too... the guitar is excellent and the solos fly while the bass and drums provide a mean rhythm section. While definately better in the 5 or 6 minute live blowout version (Different Strings [1996] or A Show of Hands [1988]), this is a song that's always appealed to a wide audience, and has definately earned it.

Among the other short songs are a couple great, often forgotten gems. CINDERELLA MAN is a quirky number driven by some excellent bass and Alex LIFESON's ever wonderful guitar. Certainly not the focal point of the album, this is still a track far too often overlooked. The tranquil MADRIGAL is another one that's often forgotten. This is a short, beautifully composed song highlighted by some excellent keyboards and bass. Geddy is seen singing here in what would later become his normal singing voice (less high pitched), and man does he do a great job anyways.

Of course, this album would not be complete without some kind of Rush epic...

The album houses two Rush classic epics that have been known and renowned as some of the band's best work. Starting with the sublime XANADU, this album is given true life. The calm and subtle intro, highlighted by Peart's background rhythm and Geddy's synths, gives a couple of minutes of ear candy followed up by some heavy riffs by Lifeson. A take on Coleridge's classic poem ''Khubla Khan'', this is a song about the search for paradise and what happens to those who become obsessed with it. Open to interpretation by the song's fans (I myself am guilty of writing a high-school English paper on this song back in the day), Geddy himself has admitted that he doesn't know entirely what the song means. Made great by what Rush does best, mixing heavy elements with traditional prog, this song is one of the best in their catalog. But where XANADU is fairly traditional in it's approach... poetic and floaty... it's counterpart CYGNUS X-1 is the exact polar opposite. This sci-fi thriller that would be concluded on the following album has all the makings of a grotesque (in a good way) heavy-metal epic. Dark and evil narration paired with some very spacey atmospheres and even the sound of a rocket launching make this song's into much different than their previous works. Geddy's pounding bassline soon comes in to overwhelm what was starting to become a Hawkwind song and starts one of the band's best instrumental overtures. It won't be until about halfway through the dark epic that lyrics will come into the fold, and when they do... they do it with a bang. Geddy pulls out all the stops on this one and shows just how high his voice can go coming into the climax of the song. Ending with the same spaceyness as it began, this is a song that might has well have ''To Be Continued...'' written on it (and yes, it does -- in the liner notes, but I'm talking about the music here). Excellent track and a great end to an excellent album.

Slap another great Syme-Peart artwork collaboration on the cover and you're ready to go. This is everything that Rush does best crammed into one album. Some may consider it the band's apex... but between this one and the three to follow it, it's really friggen hard to chose. 5 stars without a shadow of a doubt. This is some of the band's best work and certainly essential to any prog rock collection.

Others will tell you this album is essential, and I respect their opinions. However, for me there are too many issues preventing my enjoyment of this record, fine though it may be.

First, and most important, while the songs are vigorous and energetic, they lack cohesion and impact - in essence, they don't have enough punch. This is particularly true of the two 'epics', 'Xanadu', with its misplaced, cringeworthy synths and dragging chorus, and 'Cygnus X-1' with its clunky sfx (though it is a much better track than 'Xanadu'): the shorter songs are more cohesive, leading to the suspicion that RUSH's prog-rock excursion in the late 70s was a mistake. This suspicion is proved correct when, for their most successful album ('Moving Pictures') they abandoned prog grandeur for something a little more streamlined.

I have to say I find their sound a little thin for a supposed 'hard rock' or 'heavy prog' group. The guitars are, frankly, a little lame, lacking the power one expects from those peddling heavy music. There's no excuse for the naive synths, either, not years after PINK FLOYD showed how the instrument could be used to create sophisticated atmospheres. That said, the drumming is a distinctive improvement on '2112', and the rhythm section certainly embraced progressive time signatures, nowhere more apparent than in the title track.

The 'hit', 'Closer to the Heart', passes by unnoticed every time I listen to this record: it doesn't have the bite I'd expect from a concise hard rock track. 'Cinderella Man' is excellent, with a playful instrumental section, and is perhaps the highlight of the album for me - though I can't help feeling that, like every RUSH track, it could do with a better arrangement.

RUSH have my respect but not my adoration. This album, like all their progressive records, fails to engage me. Every prog rock collection should have at least one RUSH album, but probably not this one.

Review 31, A Farewell To Kings, Rush, 1977

StarStarStarStar

The title track begins with a touch of acoustics, accompanied by synth and some glockenspiel. It promptly kicks off properly in true Rush style, with a bombastic guitar part, a solid bassline, giving Geddy Lee space to play around a little, some very capable drumming from Peart, and great vocals and lyrics. The chorus and verses are both strong, but the (even if it's good) instrumental break creates a rather poor place for the second chorus to hit in, and I'm never particularly motivated by the Lifeson solo here, which seems rather too surgical for my liking. An acoustic outro concludes the piece. So,

Gentle synths feature prominently in the following Xanadu, an ambitious story of the quest for immortality, replete with references to Samuel Taylor Coleridge . Wind chimes and either a very precise guitar or intelligent synths create a powerful, yet unobtrusive atmosphere, before the guitar and synth duet punches in with a very powerful accompanying rhythm section. So far, an intelligent, developed atmosphere, a perfect progressive opening. A rather sudden burst from the guitar, replete with a confidently wandering bassline and an impressive rolling drum leads through some more whimsical synths and both hollow and pompous percussion.

A more directed section leads up to the vocals, with a clever combination of bass and synths, while a vocal and lyrical whirlwind (delightfully reminiscent of the cutting lines of The Fountain Of Lamneth) takes us on the journey through paradise, ironic twist included. Another seemingly random bit of bass and drum rolling prepares us for the powerful return to the final verse ('A thousand years have come and gone, but time has passed me by/Stars stopped in the sky/Frozen in an everlasting verse'). As our protagonist escapes, the trio provide a rather grandiose conclusion, with a superb Lifeson solo continuing to a return of the earlier synths and some clever variation from Peart with precise drums and guitars leading us again to the end. Symptomatic of both the things I love and hate about Rush. Some music that just feels unneeded and damages the atmosphere, but in between that a lot of classic high-energy performance and some great lines and ideas.

Closer To The Heart is essentially a ballad, even if its subject matter is romantic only in style. Great performances from Lifeson and Lee, and admittedly Peart does a good job, except in his seemingly random tubular bells near the start of the piece, which really just seem like he was trying to add something in. Very complex and intelligent for a pop song, and a classic solo from Lifeson. Great song.

Cinderella Man is the album's weak point for me. Geddy Lee contributes a dose of incredible lyrical pain, which isn't massively helped by everything else emphasising the vocals. Very credible performances from those involved, with acoustics and electric guitar alternated nicely. The biggest problem, really, is some of the short bridges, which feel very out of place and repetitive. An instrumental section closer to the end gives us a nice, even self-deprecating solo from Lifeson, as well as an absolutely solid bass part and a good launching point for a return to the final chorus. Anyway, the lyrics and bridges make this a more difficult thing for me to listen to.

Madrigal is an excellent, short romantic piece, with a combination of interesting, rather uplifting bass, some synths, and an acoustic guitar. a little surprisingly organic drumming from Peart, which manages to merge nicely with the song. Good stuff.

Cygnus X-I, sci-fi theme and all, is my joint favourite Rush song (with The Necromancer... perhaps I have a thing for unrestrained lyrics), with a solid atmosphere sustained throughout, cheesy, but loveable lyrics interwoven with stellar lines and ideas. A series of gradual haunting atmospheric synths with a spoken, distorted voice, kicks off the piece before the bass, drums and guitar mechanically insert themselves, gradually preparing for an bit of rolling chaos from Peart and Lifeson and eventually a rocking theme with its near-hypnotic sound. Everything cuts out, and we are left with just bass and a new-found vocal idea. The piece takes a little time to explore the black hole's legend. The piece soars off to meet the protagonist, complete with a brilliant guitar solo from Lifeson. We are then taken to an uncharacteristically instrospective section before we get a monstrously loud bass-guitar duo and crashing drumming from Peart. The protagonist's maddened voice cries out in the chaos, which ascends to a haunting end before dropping away to a lone, tantalising acoustic voice in the other side of the void. To be continued.

So, some of the things that will really get to me in the later Rush albums that many will call classics, but also a lot of the features I love from Rush songs. Generally solid performances all round, great lyrical content (mostly!), and the stellar Cygnus X-I leave the album meriting a four star rating from me. Great album, highly recommended, the good far outweighs the bad.

Rating: Four Stars

Favourite Track: Cygnus X-I

A Farewell to Kings is the fifth album from canadian prog rockers Rush. Rush didn´t start life as a prog rock band but with the previous release 2112 things had taken a progressive direction compared to their first three releases which are basically hard rock albums. The progressive approach is fully established on A Farewell to Kings and for many fans of the band this is one of the finest releases from Rush.

The music has become rather complex and intricate on A Farewell to Kings and the use of keyboards is now an important part of Rush sound. The albums starts with the classical inspired guitar intro to the title song which is a great progressive rock song. Xanadu is the greatest highlight of the album and my favorite here. Epic and beautiful. Powerful and complex. Xanadu is a masterpiece and one of the best songs Rush have ever written.

Closer to the Heart is the hit from the album if you can talk about hits in progressive music. It´s actually a semi-ballad. I didn´t use to like it, but over the years I´ve learned to appreciate it a bit more. It´s acceptable. Cinderella man is a rock song which I don´t find much joy in and Madrigal is a short ballad type song. It´s beautiful but nothing special. The last song on A Farewell to Kings is the epic Cygnus X-1 which is another highlight on this album. It´s a very majestic song. It actually has a very dark mood.

The musicianship is outstanding as always but Neal Peart has once again stepped up and outdone himself ( as he has done his whole career). His playing is very complex yet memorable and powerful. Both Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson performs unbelievably well too of course.

The production is masterful. Really great.

This is an excellent prog rock album and even though this is not my favorite Rush album it´s definitely one of them. I wouldn´t call it a masterpiece even though I think it´s an essential prog rock album IMO. It´s a matter of personal taste though. No one can deny that this music is of a very high quality. I will rate A Farewell to Kings 4 stars.

Rush magnum opus is A Farewell to Kings and not Moving Pictures!!!!

Let me begin my review saying that this album was my way into Rush. It was the door that allowed me in to know this fantastic canadian band. However, at first, i was very disappointed, because i heard that this band was amazing, that it rocked, etc, but the second i heard Geddy Lee saying When they turn the pages of history i was immediately turned off. I could not stand his vocals and, to be frank, i still don't like his vocals completely but i learned to not hate them and even like them sometimes, because their music is really good and his vocals are just a little part of the songs. Maybe that is why i like this era of Rush better than the others (the epics era), because in this era Geddy Lee don't sing too much, and also because this is their most progressive era. However, like it or not, Geddy Lee's vocals are the pure representation of Rush, pretty much like Jon Anderson's vocals are the representation of Yes: the band would not work out properly with another vocals since Geddy's fit their stile perfectly.

Anyway, despite the vocals problem, this is my favorite Rush album and that is because this album is pretty constant. Unlike Caress of Steel, 2112 and Hemispheres, both sides of the album are very good instead of, in the case of the albums listed before, having one terrific side and a just decent another side. In th CD era this is not as clear as it was in the LP era, but it still pretty obvious that in those 3 albums one part is definitely better than the other (in the Caress case is the end and in both 2112 and Hemispheres cases is the beginning). Bottom line: this album is the most balanced album of the progressive / epic Rush era.

About the songs, musicianship and other features there are some thing i would like to state:

Well, definitely the instrument that stand out the most here is the bass. Maybe the producer just increased the volume of Geddy Lee's bass and reduced the volume of Alex Lifeson's guitar but the fact is that the bass is clearly with some kind of improvement over both the guitars and the drums. That, however, set the tone for the album, creating a very interesting atmosphere.

This album is also quite technical, specially the drum parts, but not too much if compared to the rest of traditional prog rock: it fall right into the right amount of technicality that is the characteristic of progressive rock, but it still quite technical.

Overall, the music is a very good mixture of hard rock and progressive rock. Well, it is actually more hard rock than progressive rock, but it is still a good blend between these genres of rock and probably was rush the first band to blend those two together for the first time, with great results and being very influential because of that.

Grade and final thoughts:

For being a balanced and constant album, and because it has terrific songs, i think that A Farewell to Kings deserves the masterpiece grade. Besides, this album is very influential: many parts of the Dream Theater album Falling Into Infinity are clearly influenced by this album (i don't know if its a coincidence, but the best parts of Falling Into Infinity are influenced by this album).

I knew one day I had to write a review about Rush. So why not starting with their very best in the 70´s? Ok, they were in a steady development since their debut in 1974, but Farewell To Kings was a milestone! Released after the acclaimed 2112, it still was a big surprise: they not included keyboards as a featured instrument on most of the tracks, but their sophisticated hard rock now reached a stunning progressive status! And it was released in 1977! The year punk rock dominated the scene (at least in the mind of many rock critics).

The album is a masterpiece in prog music for its sheer display of talent, skills and powerful songwriting. It was quite novel the way they took songs and themes (remember, prog metal was not in anyone´s mind at the time!). Great acoustic parts, dashing electric solos, stunning bass and the elegant, wonderful drums of master Neil Peart. At last the band displayed their full potentital, showing those guys were much more than a good, maybe prog influenced, power trio. the use of inspired synthesizers and tuned percussion added to make Farwell To Kings a unique album, specially if you take in consideration the time it was released (and the fact it was a critically, comercially and artisticly successful one). Things would never be the same for Rush after this one. They never looked back, either.

The title track and Xanadu are the highlights of this album, of course. They both put the in another level. The epic Xanadu was always a favorite. Side two of the vinyl release was also very good, starting with the classic Closer To The Heart. I must say I never really like the last song Cygnus X-1. It had a good sci fic theme but the music is not that thrilling as the remaining of the album. But still, a great album. It really showed anyone that something´s good and timeless could thrive even at a time when everything seemed going against prog music.

Although I respected and liked Rush long before this release, it was also true it they was never a favorite band. But I was overwhelmed by this work. This is one of once in a lifetime albums. Highly recommended. 4,5 stars.

Actually this is one of my earlier prog albums. I got to know it somewhere in the mid eighties and loved it for a long time. I always considered it inferior to its successor Hemispheres but of course it's a great album. I have to add to the facts that in those days I was more easily overwhelmed by a prog album than nowadays. This is not strange; besides the fact I was younger then and probably more easily overwhelmed it was also an era with far less progalbums in history than now, almost a quarter of a century later.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that unfortunately nowadays A Farewell to Kings is not one of my favourites anymore. It has faded from me and in fact already did that more than 10 years ago. Sometimes I tried to reanimate my love for it but to no avail. In earlier days it was especially Xanadu that was my favourite track (as with many of the Rush fans) but unlike many Rush fans I don't care to much about the shorter songs. Madrigal is one of the few ballads Rush has ever done so that's at least an interesting one. But what's so mindblowing about the other 4 I wonder really. The title track is ok for me but no more than that. Cygnus X-1 is interesting but in the end another example of faded glory.

Initially I wanted to give it 4 stars for old times sake and out of respect but I have to be honest to myself and cannot go further than 3 stars (3,25).

Rush's A Farewell to Kings showed a significant improvement in composition, performance, and production skills for the band. Inspired by their success with the 2112 epic suite, Rush continued in their progressive roots with science fiction themes and two more tracks timing in at over 10 minutes. Again, to keep record executives happy, they provided four shorter numbers, two of them (Closer to the Heart and Cinderella Man) receiving much radio play on the AOR stations of the time (and still often heard on my car radio today!).

Many considered Caress of Steel or 2112 as the breakthrough for Rush and although both albums really showed a band with much potential achieve much progress, A Farewell to Kings in my opinion granted them with their first masterpiece with some wonderfully dynamic musicianship and an increasing use of synthesizers increasing the depth to their developing progressive sound.

The key songs on this album are Xanadu and Cygnus X-1. The former is about the search for Xanadu, apparently a mythical place that grants immortality. It was inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan. Cygnus X-1 is actually the first part (Book I) of a duology which continues on their next album with Book II. The song leaves the listener hanging in that the explorer on his ship the Rocinante gets drawn into the overwhelming gravity of the mysterious Cygnus X-1 black hole.

A stunning album released around the time many prog rockers were streamlining their music into more popular territories. The first of several masterpieces, a must-have for Rush fans, and a great starter for those of you who have yet to hear the music of this great Canadian band. Five stars.

Rush continued in the best direction, experimenting with longer and more developed pieces, and the sound began to become fuller. While not their best effort, this is an exceptional album, full of great music.

"A Farewell to Kings" Alex Lifeson gets the music going with a classical introduction. Otherwise, this is a heavy song with a moderate to upbeat tempo, and a somewhat filled-out sound (primarily due to Lifeson's tone).

"Xanadu" Quiet sounds reminiscent of nature at its most peaceful abound in the beginning of this lengthy track, alongside sweet swells of Lifeson's electric guitar and Neil Peart's blocks. Lifeson plays a static riff while the chords change, and at almost three minutes in, the band finally sounds more like Rush. There's the riff-based rock, but there's also enough variation to keep this piece fresh and lively. Five minutes passes before Geddy Lee even opens his mouth. A synthesizer interlude bridges the vocal sections. This is most definitely a progressive rock track in the richest sense.

"Closer to the Heart" A worldwide favorite, this little song has lots of charm and philosophical musings.

"Cinderella Man" Alternating between somewhat heavier sections and light acoustic sections, this song is a great short progressive rock number, with wonderful lyrics and excellent bass work from Lee.

"Madrigal" Another soft, short song, this has a whistling synthesizer and clean guitar.

"Cygnus X-1" Intergalactic noises and an extraterrestrial voice introduce the second lengthy piece on the album. In the distance, a growling, sputtering bass can be heard as it gradually comes to the fore. Over galloping chords enters a synthesizer lead. Again, five minutes passes before Lee sings. This lengthy track is not as great as some of Rush's others, and it can be difficult to follow, but it makes for an interesting piece of music, and serves as "part one" to the greatest song Rush ever created.

Groundbreaking and important as this album was, certainly in my own musical journey, this 37 minute short album is a mixed bag when you approach it without sentimentality.

Xanadu is the real winner here and is just excellent. Also the title track is pretty good if you can stand Geddy's prevalent wail of those years. Cygnus X1 is a personal favourite, even though I can understand somebody else might call it a piece of disjointed rubbish. It certainly is a song bound to trigger divise opinions. Next to those 3 prog masterpieces, there's the hit-song Closer to the Heart and two other weaker cuts that shouldn't have made it unto this album. With another strong 10 minute piece instead, this could have been the quintessential Rush album.

In the early and mid 70's I was not particularly a fan of RUSH, always saw them as an excellent Hard Rock band with little Prog and a vocalist with an annoying voice (Not as annoying as Jon Anderson though), but I had hard time finding Prog in them.

But then came "A Farewell to Kings" and my opinion changed radically, they passed to be on the Prog acts that I respect more, the delicate combination of the strong Hard Rock with melodic Symphonic passages really captured me, specially when Alex Lifeson plays his spectacular 12-string guitar or Neal Peart gives any of his amazing performances, but most important, discovered that even when Geddy's voice is extremely acute, the guy knows how to modulate it, doesn't throw it like other vocalists, he works it and presents delightful variations.

The album is opened with the delicate acoustic guitar intro by Alex Lifeson which blends with the keyboards to create a sweet, somehow Medieval influenced melody, but then the explosion comes, Neal changes the Classic guitar for the electric while Geddy and Neal hit us with all their repertoire and pass to a controlled climax with the vocals making perfect match, an amazing opener.

"Xanadu" is the longest track of the album and they make well use of the 11:155 minutes, at the beginning with a soft keyboard intro an announcing the dawn of a new day just to blow our heads in a frenetic succession of melodies and pure strength, this is how a "Power Trio" should sound, the impeccable drumming of Neal play a crucial role along with Geddy's bass.

The main difference with other Heavy Prog bands is that every change in RUSH is gradual, like preparing the audience for everything, but when they need to free the beast, they open the cage, this guys really care about the arrangements and structure, and that's the touch of a genius.

Before any comment, I must say that "Closer to the Heart" is my all time favourite RUSH song, the double introduction is as beautiful as you can get, it's also amazing to listen such a powerful keyboardist as Neal Peart playing soft bells with extreme delicacy. But the song is not only the intro, the perfectly crafted work of the band, making the music start to grow in intensity and start again is one of the finest moments in Heavy Prog.

"Cinderella Man" is a strange song, the band seems to return to their roots with a touch of LED ZEPPELIN, this is pure Rock without Prog elements, but this doesn't make it less enjoyable, at the end Prog's most important component is Rock.

The fusion of the acoustic and electric in "Cinderella Man" is simply brilliant, like a collision of two parallel universes, but with no destruction, only creation of a new and fantastic sound. "Madrigal" as it's name implies is mostly a vocal composition with Pastoral leanings in which the instruments play a secondary role behind the voice, a good preparation for the brilliant finale.

The weird introduction of "Cygnus X-1" announces that the album is about to finish, but they won't leave without giving a strong closure to this excellent album. The key moment is when Geddy's bass announces the change from experimental and weird to Hard Rock, a perfect bridge between the two main sections from the song.

But it's only when guitar and drums take the joint lead that the song develops in a sonic kaleidoscope, with frantic, calmed, dramatic and extremely elaborate moments that are superposed one over the other in a competent work, that closes the album in a superlative level.

Not my favourite band, but would lie if I didn't recognize the quality of "Farewell to Kings", an album that deserves no less than 4 solid stars.