Permanent Waves [Remaster] - Rush (CD 1997)

All Rush fans have their favorite periods of Rush music. Some favor Rock Rush, the period in the '70's when Rush perfected the art of the epic. Others, for some reason I will probably never understand, think Synth Rush of the '80's was the best. (Hey, I think Rush made some good stuff during that period too, but to list it as your favorite...) Still many love the stripped-down sound of Alt Rush in the '90's. Finally, some are hopping the bandwagon as Rush fans converted during the unnamed period started by the 2002 album Vapor Trails.

As for me, my favorite period of Rush music is their first transitional phase, in which Rock Rush slowly but surely morphed into Synth Rush over the course of three albums: Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, and Signals. This was a great experimental period during which the band performed the near-impossible task of trying out new things while not completely abandoning the style which got them going in the '70's.

The roots of Synth Rush can be heard on Permanent Waves, but it also bears a closer resemblance to Alt Rush at some points. The most apparent connection is on the song Freewill. Freewill is a fairly simple three-chorder in which Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart really don't try anything fancy. It would have fit in nicely on Test for Echo, which has a handful of contempletive songs with questioning, thoughtful lyrics. The lyrics in Freewill are about finding a belief system that resonates with you.

The Spirit of Radio and Freewill are both staple Rush tracks, and they are respectively the first and second songs on Permanent Waves. Listening to Permanent Waves, it's obvious why they were chosen to be singles: Of the six tracks on the album, they are really the only ones that are radio-friendly.

After those two, the only other song which might pass for being radio-friendly or mainstream is Entre Nous. It might have been a single, but the theme of the song might make certain types a little testy. It's not what you would call a weeper, but it's a non-happy, non-sad ditty about a couple mutually agreeing to break up with each other.

The remaining three songs are Jacob's Ladder, Different Strings, and Natural Science. These three songs give us the dictionary definition of sonic beauty. Different Strings has a soft, acoustic-sounding guitar that plays a handful of sad chords over and over again. The song is a weeper. The lyrics make it sound almost like a continuation of Entre Nous with Neil writing lyrics only for himself now. The lyrics seem to take the form of a sad goodbye letter to the girl he had to let go of in Entre Nous.

The epics of Permanent Waves are both gems. The first epic is the beautiful, thundering Jacob's Ladder. The opening chords are a low, ominous-sounding death march perfectly suited to the opening line:
The clouds prepare for battle
The music build until the band lets the song have their all. After that, the song takes a calm turn. I like Jacob's Ladder a lot. It's an oddity - you think it's going to be an epic about a massive battle for the borders of England and Scotland or something,but most of the lyrics suggest it's a simple tribute to a thunderstorm!

Natural Science is the grand pappy here. The song takes place in three different-sounding parts. With a sci-fi twist, the parts of Natural Science appear to revolve around the evolution of science itself from the past to the present and the future. The music is very fitting for each of the three periods, and the different melodies make the song eclectic. The music is simple for when our ancestors are crawling out of the muck, a bit more complex for the present, and uplifting to befit the possibilities of the future.

Permanent Waves isn't the most popular or acclaimed Rush album, but it's my personal favorite. And while few Rush fans will share my top-of-the-Rush-pantheon fondness for it, few will argue against it being an essential part of the Rush discography.