"Enter Peart."
Fly by Night signals the departure of John Rutsey and the recruitment of superlative rock drummer Neil Peart. Peart's membership helped guide this band to a more progressive, powerful trio than they were with the debut. His contributions musically and lyrically were HUGE. But it's important to keep in mind that in being an important album, Fly by Night is not necessarily a great one.
The record begins with "Anthem," a fiery-played rocker with Peart's first lyrical input. He lacked subtlety at this point; his Randian lyrics come across as pompous and hollow when too direct. (With "2112" and "The Trees," for instance, the lyrics work well because he's more clever.) "Rivendell" reminds me of a medieval minstrel's song. Gentle acoustic guitar accompanies Lee's most limpid vocals. I actually like this one, although many others don't care for it. I also enjoy the peppy riffs and catchy chorus of the title track, and the Zeppelin-esque "In the End."
I'd say the best song here is "By-Tor and the Snow Dog," a seminal progressive suite for the band. Although people say the instrumental interlude is aimless and boring, I like it a lot. The band uses their instruments in resourceful ways to convey the battle between By-Tor, the prince of the underworld, and the Snow Dog, a beasty-monster-thing. In that respect, it's somewhat like Yes' "The Gates of Delerium," but not quite as good. (On their live album All the World's a Stage, the band extends the instrumental section and makes it more interesting.)
Rush still required growth, some focus, but they were on the road to success.
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