"Lack of focus can't undermine quality of material."
Although this is one of Rush's most unfocused records, I've always really liked it. I guess the band hadn't quite cohered entirely at this point, and it's a bit weird to have one song about heroes fighting against an evil wizard and another song about getting old and losing your hair.
The side-long epic "The Fountain of Lamneth" shows that the band hadn't quite mastered the long format. For one, the song FEELS long (and it is, at twenty minutes), whereas later Rush epics seem to zip by. Still, it's got the requisite thematic integration, soft moments, loud rocking moments, and a catchy chorus during "Baccus Plateau". It's a favorite.
"The Necromancer" is basically three separate songs tied together by a little story about an evil sorceror and those who fight him. The narrator is hilarious because his emotion and pacing his so awful, but I wouldn't have it any other way. The song finishes with an triumphantly uplifting riff (the necromancer has been defeated!) that makes me want to raise my fist into the air.
The rest of the album is pretty ok. There is the laughably bad, ultra-generic "I Think I'm Going Bald," but "Bastille Day" is a solid rocker and "Lakeside Park" is mellow and catchy. The album is really worth it for the two long songs. It's easy to forget this one (it was the precursor to 2112, after all), but it's underrated and deserves recognition.
No comments:
Post a Comment