Book I details the journey of a spaceship pilot into Cygnus X-1, and Part II depicts a battle between the gods Apollo and Dionysos, representing order and chaos the explorer returns and is declared “Cygnus, Bringer of Balance” between the two. Clocking in at nearly a half-hour, the “duology” was inspired by the black hole of the same name. Whatever the album’s political philosophy, it rocks hard, and its songs remain live staples.ġ977-78: Cygnus X-1 (Books 1 & 2): This two-part suite stretches across two albums: Book I closes out 1977’s A Farewell to Kings, and Book II opens 1978’s Hemispheres.
![rush we are the priests rush we are the priests](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e4/ac/7a/e4ac7a897d38980e47da8bf6d18f0078.png)
In 2006, it was named a MasterWork by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada. Peart drew lyrical inspiration from the writings of Ayn Rand and he found himself castigated by the music press for being a “Randroid.” To this day, he asserts that he was never an objectivist or a pure libertarian, but that he was arguing for the importance of individual belief against a sometimes stultifying collective. Perhaps it was an allegory for their own battle to write the music they wanted to play, and though the hero finds himself shot down after picking up a guitar and penning his own songs, Rush themselves would be vindicated as 2112 became one of their most popular albums ever. The album, which also features a 12-and-a-half-minute song called The Necromancer, bombed, and the band nicknamed the resulting tour “Down the Tubes.”ġ976: 2112: Ignoring record-label pleas to record something less complicated, Rush delivered an album that opens with a 20-minute science-fiction suite about a world where everything, including music, is controlled by a group of priests. Musically, it’s a little disjointed, with each section fading away before the next begins. The suite’s melding of adventure with disappointment makes it a precursor to Clockwork Angels. It tells the tale of a man from his birth, (he emerges from the womb singing “I am born / I am me/ I am new / I am free”), through his quest for the titular fountain, which he seems to hope will bring him enlightenment. At the end of the suite – SPOILER ALERT!!! – he finds the fountain, but it leaves him as confused as before. Though its title suggests a Dungeons & Dragons adventure module, its narrative is difficult to pin down. Thanks to him, “the land of the Overworld is saved again.” Granted, the lyrics are over the top, but there’s an element of Rush’s vaunted humour here: the antagonists were, in fact, inspired by their manager Ray Danniels’ real-life pooches.ġ975: Fountain of Lamneth: Caress of Steel’s entire second side is taken up by this six-part suite.
![rush we are the priests rush we are the priests](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zjMWu0HTDIM/UV5TZ5w4oiI/AAAAAAAAAFI/iFZXhC11cJU/s1600/we-are-the-priests-front.jpg)
Led Zeppelin-influenced songs with lines such as “I just want to rock and roll you woman” were scrapped in favour of pieces like this: a suite about a battle between a “centurion of evil” and a beast with “ermine glowing in the damp.” As Lee’s bass snarls and Peart pummels his drums, the fight rages through a section called “7/4 War Furor” (making explicit the band’s fascination with odd-metre time signatures), and ends with the canine victorious. Not only did the bookish Neil Peart take over from John Rutsey as the band’s drummer, but he also took up the lyric-writing reins.
![rush we are the priests rush we are the priests](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/17/11/48037389-10000885-image-a-18_1631873360610.jpg)
![rush we are the priests rush we are the priests](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/02/13/PNJM/ff84f180-4316-4ff1-adc9-53f8c50d6723-010617_n_bishop_11.jpg)
Here’s a look at the Toronto power trio’s most beloved (and occasionally bemusing) concept songs to date. Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart and Geddy Lee in 1984 (CP/HO)Īlthough their latest release, Clockwork Angels, is Rush’s first full-length concept album, it’s not as though the band hasn’t had a lot of practice.