2112

The first complete Rush masterpiece. This is where "prog metal" originates in my opinion. The side long suite "2112" is a guitarist wet dream. Power chords, suspended, diminished chords; harsh to soft, loud to quiet, emphasizing the lyrics, carrying the changes, Alex did the job. And while Peart's lyrics were sometimes referred to as having a fascist bent, too many forgot to read them or listen to them. It was a message of independance, free thought, of reminding oneself that "guidance" & "direction" from authority, be it government or mob led, is often not something that the "priests" will tolerate the questioning of. The punks sneered at Big Brother, Neil was on their side. They just couldn't see how a dinosaur rock band couldn't believe in the big machine as being the answer. And oh, the oft disparaged second side, for those who remember LPs. A Passage to Bangkok rocks, with the lyrics obvious as to their meaning, wink wink, nudge nudge. The Twilight Zone was a soft step into a dream, an interesting song. Lessons for a long time was among my favourites, a song that I would play constantly on my acoustic, again revelling in Alex's use of more than just power chords. The words are simple, but they do relate to the album's concept. The acoustic verses to electric chorus would recall earlier Rush songs from Fly by Night. Tears is the odd man out here. Apart from Rivendell on FBN, Rush doesn't do "ballads" too often. This wasn't your typical "pop" ballad, but it did fit in with the Rush style, with beautiful words to carry it home. Then , a masterpiece to finish a masterpiece - Something for Nothing. Again, this is a song that I still play on guitar after all these years. Peart was starting to get his point across in a more concise manner & nailed it in this set of lyrics. The music hailed from Rush's Zep influenced peaks from their preceding 3 albums. Glorious open chords in the verses,these same chords hammering through the chorus with the addition of single note lines. Whew, I get tired just trashing though this song in my mind. Anyways, this is where Rush made their stand. And would rightfully stand justified !