January 14, 1980 - Permanent Waves

Happy New Year! A month after my last release and about 15 months since "Hemispheres", Rush released their seventh studio album "Permanent Waves" on January 14, 1980. This album would contain shorter and more radio-friendly songs than their last record, although they do still have a couple longer progressive songs. With a very successful lead single this album would end up being their best-selling yet. I'm not sure how I feel about a less progressive Rush, but let's not judge before we listen!

The album kicks off with the immensely popular single "The Spirit Of Radio". Alex Lifeson plays an awesome lead guitar riff as Geddy Lee and Neil Peart add an epic rhythm section to complete this wicked opening riff. A nice, quick little segue takes us to a new bridge riff that sounds pretty solid before they finally settle into the main verse. Peart's drums sound fantastic and Lifeson leads this slower but still pretty great riff as Geddy comes in with his typical high vocals. I think he sounds pretty great as usual as he carries this catchy, certainly more accessible tune. After another solid verse they build back into the epic guitar riff from the opening as this turns out to be the chorus. It's a pretty intense chorus riff as Lifeson continues to shred it and I love how Geddy sings "invisible airwaves crackle with life". This connects right into another great verse and I really like Geddy's singing in this one. They play another really good chorus and afterwards we get an instrumental bit that Lifeson leads on guitar but Geddy and Neil are both playing some really great stuff as well. Geddy adds a few epic keyboard notes with his feet and they really change things up. It shifts into an almost reggae style riff with Lifeson playing some slow, cool guitar and Geddy slowly singing along. It's certainly different but it somehow fits on nicely and sounds pretty good! "It echoes with the sound of salesman. Of salesman. Oooof SALESMAN!" Geddy delivers that last line really well and Lifeson gives us a short guitar solo that is jam-packed with some amazing stuff! Geddy adds some piano to the main riff after the solo and after one final play through Lifeson ties it all up with a sweet little bow and some fine guitar work to end it. A pretty awesome way to lead things off! Track 2 was another successful single, titled "Freewill". Lifeson leads the way with another great guitar riff and Lee adds some nice bass to back him. Geddy's voice sounds pretty smooth as he leads this solid verse and Lifeson plays some cool stuff to bring us to the catchy chorus. It's a short chorus but Geddy's high voice and Lifeson's guitar make it very memorable. Geddy plays some synths in the background of the verse and Peart gets a few chances to show off his talents. After another chorus Lifeson plays a cool little bit that bridges us to a new part and things get quiet briefly. Lee plays some amazing bass by himself at first before Lifeson joins in the mix as well. This is technically a guitar solo but Geddy's bass playing is so good that it's really like two solos at once! His bass sounds pretty fantastic and Lifeson is playing some crazy awesome lead guitar as well for a pretty spectacular solo! Another solid bridge riff brings us to a new verse where Geddy really, really goes high! Even for him it's pretty high up there but it sounds pretty great! This leads right into a final chorus where Peart plays some great drum fills and once again they tie things up nicely with a well done ending. The side is ending already with the 7-plus minute "Jacob's Ladder". All three members play a riff that is somehow both quiet and epic as Lifeson leads the way with some cool guitar. Geddy's bass keeps time as does Peart's marching drums and Geddy sings in a low, epic voice that sounds solid. Lee also plays some epic synths in this verse and things move into a heavier riff carried by some awesome bass. Once again Geddy's awesome bass plays in the background while Lifeson leads the way with some epic guitar. Things sound pretty great in this heavy, slow part and they seamlessly shift into a slightly different part that also sounds pretty great, reminding us that they haven't lost their progressiveness. This new part has some heavy guitar and bass while Geddy also plays some epic synths. Everything starts to slowly fade out as Geddy's synthesizer is all that remains and Peart adds in some chimes. Geddy carries this part with some crazy synths that sound pretty cool and he also sings a light verse that makes things sound like an epic ceremony. Now it's the synths that slowly fade away as Lifeson plays a nice guitar bit to take things over. The synths continue on this new riff and Lifeson's guitar sounds pretty great as he slowly ramps things up until he reaches an awesome heavy part! Geddy sings a few final epic lines and his crazy synths bring this epic progressive song to a close. All three songs on this side were pretty great!

Side two begins with "Entre Nous" which is French for "between us". Lifeson has another cool guitar riff to lead the way as Geddy plays some epic synths in this opening before they settle into the main verse. Geddy's voice sounds smooth and solid as usual as he and Lifeson sync up for a simple, but catchy main riff. They move nicely into the chorus as Lifeson plays some nice guitar and Peart plays some solid drums in another much more radio-friendly chorus. They repeat the same formula and after another chorus they move into an instrumental part led by some more guitar by Lifeson. Geddy takes over the riff with some more droning synths as they are certainly much more prevalent on this album as well. Geddy plays some cool bass in addition to his epic synths in this solid part before they return for one final verse and chorus that ends the song. Rush continue to show they can make solid radio music as well as their prog epics. Geddy Lee wrote this next song, "Different Strings" by himself and his light singing carries the tune while Lifeson plays some slow lead guitar that sounds pretty good. Geddy plays some nice piano in this kind of sad sounding song that's unlike typical Rush but still sounds cool. Peart finally joins the mix with a nice drum beat as Lifeson continues his slightly trippy lead guitar. They play another slow verse and chorus and at the end of the song Lifeson plays a slow, mean-sounding guitar solo that sounds pretty sweet. Unfortunately, they fade out the song during this slow solo so we will never know where he might have taken that riff! This was the weakest song on the album thus far, but it was still above average compared to most bands. The final song on the album is the nine-plus minute "Natural Science". It's broken up into three sections and the first part titled "Tide Pools" opens with the sound of water and Lifeson playing a cool acoustic guitar riff. Geddy sings an epic verse overtop that sounds pretty grand and at the end Lofeson switches to electric guitar and starts a fast riff that sounds really cool. Lee and Peart join in after a few bars to form a nice rhythm section and Geddy sings quickly along to this cool part. This leads right into a crazy wah-wah part that is I believe some sort of keyboard and explodes out the other side with an awesome hard rock riff with great contributions from everyone! This second section has Geddy singing some great high vocals and all three members playing some really great music. Each member takes brief turns showing off as there is awesome guitar, bass and drum parts all mixed in to this awesome riff. Everything stops for a pretty sweet drum fill by Peart, then they kick right back in to this wicked riff. Lifeson gets a chance to solo and he delivers with an unsurprisingly awesome solo! It's back to this great main riff as they just keep reeling off the good stuff. They shift into a new part with a marching guitar riff and some pretty sweet bass by Geddy. This turns into a new verse with some more cool guitar and Geddy hitting some more high notes. After another verse Lifeson gets another chance to solo and he plays an even better solo than before with some awesomely fast stuff! These guys just keep the gravy train flowing with incredible music as they play another verse and another Lifeson guitar riff seamlessly takes us back to an earlier riff with some more cool bass by Geddy. Peart tips off a few absolutely crazy drum fills as they bring this epic prog song to a finish. We hear the sound of waves take over and they gently takes us to the end of the album. A phenomenal grand finale!

That is the end of "Permanent Waves" and I thought it was a really great album! Rush moved into a more commercial style quite well as they showed they can write some great radio hits like "The Spirit Of Radio" and also that they can still do prog better than anyone these days with two excellent longer songs, especially "Natural Science". Overall it was really great and already we have a high bar for albums this year! But how does it compare to their amazing catalog? I think this new album was better than all four of their first albums, and that's really saying something! I don't think it surpasses either of their last two albums though, but third place is very high praise on Rush's ladder. They are on quite a roll and I can't see why it wouldn't continue next time!