On The Road Again: Rush "A Farewell to Kings"

martes, 20 de junio de 2017

Rush "A Farewell to Kings"

A Farewell to Kings is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in September 1977 by Anthem Records. After touring their previous album 2112 (1976), which saw the group reach a new critical and commercial peak, they started work on a follow-up. They decided to record at Rockfield Studios in Wales, the first time Rush recorded an album outside of Toronto. The band expanded their sound with each member playing new instruments that they had not previously used, and recorded a mix of concise and long songs.

A Farewell to Kings reached No. 11 in Canada and helped the group to breakthrough internationally, reaching inside the top-40 in the UK and the US for the first time. "Closer to the Heart" was released as the album's first single, which reached No. 36 in the UK. Rush toured the album from August 1977 to June 1978 which saw the group headline major venues across Canada, and perform in the UK for the first time in 1978.

In June 1977 Rush ended their sixteen-month tour in support of their previous album, 2112 (1976). They decided not to take a break and started on a follow-up straight away. Later that month, they retreated to Rockfield Studios in Rockfield, Monmouthshire in Wales to record. This marked the first time that Rush recorded an album outside of Toronto, and Peart recalled the decision to pick a studio suitable enough as "extremely difficult". After longtime Rush producer Terry Brown did some research, he became excited about working in Rockfield and the group chose it. Peart later wrote that the seclusion and the "mellow" atmosphere at the studio created a productive environment for the group to work in, which gave them the opportunity to record outdoors.

The album was recorded in three weeks, followed by two weeks of mixing at Advision Studios in London. Peart said that 2112 made the band sound confined in their sound, so for A Farewell to Kings, the group decided to write material that featured instruments they could play naturally as well as new ones, thus allowing them to play multiple instruments when performing on stage. As a result, A Farewell to Kings features Peart playing orchestra bells, tubular bells, chimes, and other percussion; Lee playing double neck bass and Minimoog; and Lifeson on new guitars and for the first time, a bass pedal synthesizer. Prior to recording, Rush completed a short tour in 1977 which saw the group perform "Xanadu" prior to recording. Apart from early ideas for "Closer to the Heart", the majority of the album was developed in the studio.

In 2017, Lee considered the album as a particularly important one in regard to his musical development. "I learned a lot; I was learning a lot. I was always challenged and I was very stimulated and the end result was A Farewell to Kings, so I guess it was a pivotal record in that regard."

"A Farewell to Kings" features birds chirping that were recorded outside the studio. The title originated from an idea Peart had a year before Rush started work on the album, and recalled Lee and Rush manager Ray Danniels pushing him to work it into a song and make it the album's title. The track became one of the band's favourite because, as Peart wrote, "it seems to encapsulate everything that we want Rush to represent."

"Xanadu" opens with birdsong that was also featured on the opening track. It is a fantasy-inspired song that Peart described as "the most complex and multi-textured piece we have ever attempted" at the time of recording. The opening line is taken from the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Initially, Peart had an idea based on Citizen Kane before he found Coleridge's poem, the lines of which "etched like a burning image in my head." On the day of recording the song, Rush initially played a run-through of the track to gauge the balance and tone that the microphones were picked up. They performed it a second time once the equipment was set up, and the take was used for the album.

"Closer to the Heart" was the first song Rush developed for A Farewell to Kings and for a time, was the album's early title. In a lyrical sense, Peart noted that as "A Farewell to Kings" deals with the idea of problems, "Closer to the Heart" addresses solutions. It is based on a verse by Peter Talbot, a friend of the group from Seattle who, in addition to being a writer, worked in the media.

"Cinderella Man" features lyrics written by Lee with assistance from Lifeson, and based on Lee's thoughts and feelings from the romantic comedy film Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), a favourite of his.

"Madrigal" is a love ballad. The drums were recorded in an echo room.

"Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage" is a ten-minute story song in four distinct sections: "Prologue" and parts labelled one to three. The story takes place in outer space in the centre of a black hole named Cygnus X-1, where the character decides to take a closer look in his spaceship, the Rocinante. Peart was inspired by an article about black holes and their origin in Time magazine and went about researching the topic further. The music was almost entirely devised by the time Rush had moved into Rockfield Studios.

Lee subsequently said "That whole idea of using sci-fi stuff really worked for Rush because there are no boundaries, there are no limitations, you can use all your goofy, weird sounds because that’s what’s happening out in space. There are always Marshall stacks and Serbian guitarists making noises through echo machines in space."

In the tourbook for A Farewell to Kings, Peart wrote that the group had already decided to conclude the story on their next album, which became Hemispheres (1978). The album opens with the six-part sequel, "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres", forming a song series of a combined 28 minutes in length.

The cover was designed by longtime Rush collaborator Hugh Syme. He started on the design before Rush had started to record the album, and built upon a theme that the group had pitched to him. It features a composite photograph of a Buffalo, NY demolition site with the Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto in the background, while the foreground depicts a retouched human figure that resembles a "grotesque puppet", all of which represents themes addressed in the title track.

A Farewell to Kings was released in September 1977. In the UK, Phonogram Inc. prepared an extensive advertising campaign for the album to increase the band's profile in the territory.

In November 1977, A Farewell to Kings was one of three Rush albums to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling 500,000 copies. The others were 2112 and All the World's a Stage.

In the Q & Mojo 2005 Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came in sixth in a list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums". AllMusic's Greg Prato gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, saying they "had improved their songwriting and strengthened their focus and musical approach". He took notice of the synthesizers that were creeping into the arrangements, "a direction the band would continue to pursue on future releases". He said "Xanadu" "remains an outstanding accomplishment all these years later". Conversely, Village Voice critic Robert Christgau gave the record a D rating, calling Rush "the most obnoxious band currently making a killing on the zonked teen circuit". He compared them to bands such as "...Angel. Or Kansas. Or Uriah Heep, with vocals revved up an octave. Or two."

Rush toured in support of the album from August 1977 to June 1978. Early into the tour, Rush headlined a sold out gig at the Exhibition Stadium in Toronto in August 1977 that was attended by over 22,000 people. In late 1977, tickets for a 16-date leg across the UK from February 1978 were announced which quickly sold out.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Neil Peart, except where noted; all music is composed by Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee, except where noted.

Side one