Retrospective I (1974-1980) - Rush (CD 1997)

This is the only Rush album I own (so far). I'm broke right now, so this'll have to wait:). Anyway, like it says in my profile, I'm a libertarian. Rush is popular with us libertarians because of the lyrics of their songs, which deal with Objectivism, Ayn Rand novels, and science fiction. Hearing this, I decided to check them out. They have so many albums, I decided to get this one as a starter. I've heard some of these songs on the radio, so I was all ready familiar with some of them. On to the review.

The Spirit of Radio, Closer to the Heart, and Fly by Night are some of the songs I heard on classic rock radio growing up. The Spirit of Radio is a tribute to radio, and how it sends signals over the air and reaches many people. The song has a great guitar riff, and a terrific drum sound. (By the way, I have yet to hear a Rush song with bad music:). When Geddy Lee sings on the bridge about "Echoes with the sound of salesmen!", especially the last part, it's amusing to me. Don't take this the wrong way, I'm a newbie to Rush:). Don't flame me:)

Closer to the Heart is another song I grew up hearing on the radio. It starts with a pretty, simple guitar riff, with Geddy Lee singing about how everyone has a purpose in life, no matter how humble they are.

Fly by Night is my favorite of the radio songs. It has a great opening riff, and I love the lyrics about taking off on a ship. I don't know if that is metaphorical or literal, but I love this song anyway.

My favorite songs on the album are The Trees and Freewill. The former is a parable about the oaks and the maples. The maples feel oppressed by the oaks, and demand equal rights. The oaks get tired of the maples complaining and a law is passed, making the trees equal "by hatchet, ax, and saw". To me, this sounds like an attack on the idea of egalitarianism, the thought that everyone should be equal no matter what. Equality under the law is one thing, but making everyone equal is wrong. It leads to the strong being punished along with the week. Don't want to sound pretentious here, so I'll move on:)

Freewill is the other favorite. This song was mentioned in an article on TechCentral Station about libertarian songs. I can see why. The lyrics are about how people have freewill in their lives; they can choose whether they will succeed or fail. My favorite lines are about how some people feel that they got the short end of the stick, and how they feel the world owns them something. The lyrics are contemptuous of this attitude. They say that these people need to "choose a path that's clear", and to choose Freewill.

The really long songs are interesting. I recognized Xanadu as being about Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I read this poem in freshman English, and it's a favorite of mine. It starts off with this ambient-sounding music. About five minutes into the song, the lyrics start. I immediately recognized the lyrics from Kubla Khan. If I knew this song earlier, I might brought it to the attention of the class. Or maybe not, the class would probably hate it:)

I don't care much for By-Tor and the Snow Dog. I know that sounds like heresy, but I have trouble understanding the lyrics, and I don't get the song, period. Don't flame me, I'm just stating an honest opinion here:). La Villa Strangiato, I don't like either. I'm not an instrumental person, I have ADHD when it comes to this stuff. I have no problem with Wipe Out or the Ventures stuff, but this is one is too long for me.

The stuff from 2112 is cool. The Overture is interesting. The only other rock and roll overture I can think of is from Tommy, and that was cool. I'm not sure if it comes at the beginning or end, someone help me out here. It sounds cool, and seems to include parts of different songs. Again, I'm a newbie, so help me out. The Temples of Syrinx is short, fast, and loud, almost like a punk song. It's in the first person, from the point of view of one of the priests in the temple. Damn, I got to do more research on this. Something for Nothing is cool. The song is lyrically similar to Freewill, with the same theme of being self-reliant and not depending on others.

I hope this review is somewhat helpful. I'm a newbie to Rush, and this is my only album of theirs. If there are any mistakes, I apologize, but this is not really my field. I'm more of a punk rock/metal girl, so I'm a bit out of my league. Anyway, this is a very good album, and maybe when I get some money, I'll check out more of their stuff.