Permanent Waves (Rush) - Extended Play Lounge (Ep. 25)
Added 2022-08-05 14:16:34 +0000 UTCAs we start our 2nd year, we return to Rush for their third appearance in the series. I really enjoyed this listen. These albums from right around 1980 (from a variety of bands) are so interesting in how they reflect a rapidly changing commercial music scene. I think this album threads the needle as good as any.
I hope you enjoy!
Unlisted Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/736713532/70717a552b
Comments
This takes me back to junior high, playing D&D and listening to music over at my best friend's house. He had this, A Farewell to Kings and 2112.
Robert Thornton
2024-04-04 00:07:11 +0000 UTCI was 16 when this came out. This was my favorite band. The tour for this album was the first rock concert I ever saw, back in '80. Powerful stuff.
grnmntl
2024-03-02 05:48:54 +0000 UTCListening along with you, I'm realizing this is probably Alex's strongest album. His playing on this is really beautiful and very diverse. He has such lovelyy restraint and simplicity on Different Strings. Jeff Beck-like.
Ryan Quick
2023-02-11 03:34:12 +0000 UTCAbsolutely. Poor Neil really had to endure some heavy tragedy. Such a brilliant man.
Ryan Quick
2023-02-11 03:22:50 +0000 UTCYou know, though, they're such goofy guys and so affable that they never really come off as pretentious - at least not in an insufferable way.
Ryan Quick
2023-02-11 03:21:34 +0000 UTCIsn't that amazing? I just about fell over when I saw that fairly recently for the first time. What an amazing artifact.
Ryan Quick
2023-02-10 19:02:22 +0000 UTC"Difference Strings" is also self referential about key progression. ;-) (recognizing the spaces in between and how they make the transition between keys work in the song.)
Toby Sanchez
2022-10-18 18:33:57 +0000 UTC"The Spirit of Radio" was meant to sound as if the listener was changing stations - hence all the tempo and stylistic changes. They weren't lamenting changes in radio as much as how their production oversight demanded shorter, radio friendly songs.
Toby Sanchez
2022-10-18 18:11:30 +0000 UTCIs it just me, or do I detect a hint of Wagner in the "at once, the clouds have parted" section?
Joseph Maurone
2022-09-18 08:52:56 +0000 UTCFor a newish Neal Peart fan I wholly recommend reading his book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. It's heartbreaking, moving and thought provoking. A masterpiece in its own right.
Jukka Alanen
2022-08-24 20:36:41 +0000 UTCI was about 14 or so when I first bought this record. I was fascinated by everything on it! I always thought of the middle jam section of Freewill as a three-way solo, and the next section (Bm11, BbM7#11.. ) as the vocal solo. I loved Jacob's Ladder enough to transcribe every note of the drum part for a friend of mine, so we could play it. Natural Science was no problem for me to play on guitar and bass, but I wanted to know what the lyrics were, and my copy of the record did not come with an inner sleeve with lyrics, so I did my best to transcribe them.. not quite right. Anyway, thanks for doing this one, Doug! These videos always remind me what it may have been like when I listened to it for the very first time many years ago.
Tung
2022-08-24 00:50:34 +0000 UTCLOL!
Gerard Dion
2022-08-15 21:30:08 +0000 UTCProg music... pretentious? And self-indulgent?
DJ Marquis Marc Rambeau du Tacoma
2022-08-09 21:21:46 +0000 UTCThis is your best reaction to date! The entire album had you hanging on every note, lyric and shift in meter, accompanied by the many stank faces. There is only one Rush, and you picked their very best. Thanks Doug!
Anthony Taylor
2022-08-07 21:45:52 +0000 UTCFantastic review and as a fan of Rush since 1985 and having heard these albums countless times, I still find freshness within them and your insights also spark new ways of listening and experiencing them which brings me much joy. Plus, your expression during that instrumental break of Freewill is all of us :).
Tom Brophy
2022-08-06 18:51:22 +0000 UTCFor your next Rush album, I think you should fast forward a bit to 1985’s Power Windows. It’s the heart of synth-y Rush, but I find it to be one of their most powerful albums both sonically and lyrically. Neil hits on lots of heavier real-world topics, like capitalism, atomic warfare, world cultures, and, of course, human nature. It’s one of my favs, if not my absolute favorite Rush album.
Anthony Acquisto
2022-08-06 05:40:08 +0000 UTCSpirit of Radio and Free Will are prog classics and some of Rush’s very best songs IMO. Also IMO, I find the rest of the album a bit self-indulgent and pretentious, but that’s Rush. Rush may be the originators of prog metal, but they definitely diversified as their career wore on. They are just a great, very unique, and extremely talented band. RIP great drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.
Gerard Dion
2022-08-06 04:33:52 +0000 UTCOne last thing: Have you ever seen the film of Alex Lifeson telling his parents he was quitting school to play in a band? It was from a Canadian documentary. Fascinating: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M977GFRWDmY
Paul Halicki
2022-08-06 04:11:27 +0000 UTCThe "concise" arrangements of this album were a purposeful decision to simplify the music. Hemispheres was too ambitious musically. Rush conceived it but could barely play it and it was exhausting; it almost broke them in a way. Thereafter they made an effort to create music that was better within their abilities.
Paul Halicki
2022-08-06 04:03:42 +0000 UTCYep, you got there: "Three soloists."
Paul Halicki
2022-08-06 03:26:06 +0000 UTCI've said it before on one of your Rush reviews I think, but while the bass is usually a backing instrument, Geddy Lee plays it as a lead instrument. Some of the other great bass players do the same; Chris Squire of Yes comes to mind. All three musicians in Rush lead with their instruments, but rather than fighting for attention, it's just beautiful synergy.
Paul Halicki
2022-08-06 03:16:47 +0000 UTCIndulge yourself, Doug, and watch the official video for Spirit of Radio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_QtO0Rhp0w. It was done after Neil's death. It's cleverly animated and a look into each of the band members as well as some of the historical figures of radio.
Paul Halicki
2022-08-06 03:09:09 +0000 UTCIn the early 80s Rush was my favorite band and I bought all those albums on the day they came out...I remember calling the record stores to see who had them first. Every hour counted. Haha. Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures and Exit Stage Left were perfection in my book, and still are. Doug, I'm glad you're getting on board with Rush. Better late than never. And I certainly appreciate your obvious enthusiasm for the band.
Warren B
2022-08-06 02:12:10 +0000 UTCTres cool, Doug. Spirit of Radio and this album was my first introduction to Rush. I played drums in college, and all the bands in my area (L.A. at the time) in that era (1982) considered this album the pinnacle of performance art. A few years before I was congratulating myself for being able to mimic Bill Bruford on The Yes Album (please do that one!), but when it came time to master the first 30 seconds of SoR, forgetabboutit!!! (To my ears, no other local drummer did it expertly, either.) Count Bill Bruford, Neil Peart, and Tool's Danny Carey as my favorite technical drummers; but I grew up listening to rock drummers like John "Bonzo" Bonham, of Led Zeppelin, and many others of the 60s era who themselves grew up listening to and learning from the great Jazz drummers of the 30s; guys like Gene Krupa, whose Sing Sing Sing (Benny Goodman Orchestra) is an amazing 9 minutes long (original 1937 version from movie "Hollywood Hotel") presages Toad, Moby Dick, YYZ, Lateralus, and many more. Tres cool, Doug. Tres cool. Encore.
DJ Marquis Marc Rambeau du Tacoma
2022-08-06 01:40:41 +0000 UTCJacob’s Ladder, Neil takes a thunderstorm’s life cycle and turns it into poetic gold. Have loved this album from its release. Excellent ELP Doug!
David McCardell
2022-08-06 01:03:45 +0000 UTCYou didn't disappoint, Doug! I was waiting to see your face at the instrumental break of Freewill when they all solo together, and it looked like mine does every time...stunned that 3 mortal men could craft such music
David Harris
2022-08-05 20:43:42 +0000 UTCDoug: Your take on Neil's experiential text for Entre Nous reminds me of Martin Buber's I-Thou (vs. I-It) relationship.
David Granger
2022-08-05 19:21:37 +0000 UTCNatural Science: One of the great Rush tracks ever, in my opinion.
David Granger
2022-08-05 18:56:04 +0000 UTCDoug--phenomenal session of the EPL. Thank you for covering Rush yet again. Rush entered my life when I was a young teenager--Peart's lyrics have always spoken to me in a very profound way. His last song, The Garden, off of the last album, Clockwork Angels, is a song about a person's legacy and it moves me to tears every time I listen to it and I think about Peart's impact on music and all of us who loved his work and Rush's enduring legacy.
Bill Lee
2022-08-05 16:03:10 +0000 UTCWhile my favorite will always be Hemispheres, you can't deny the power of this album. I think being slightly shorter also proves a point that they can pack a major punch no matter what song they give you.
Dominick Pearce
2022-08-05 15:53:05 +0000 UTCyes!!
Dominick Pearce
2022-08-05 15:50:35 +0000 UTCReggae...?! Yes, Doug. It was Rush's tribute to things going on in current music (ON THE RADIO) of the day, most specifically, The Police.
Christopher Arters (relative timeworx - Mr.A)
2022-08-05 15:48:19 +0000 UTCThis is the key Rush album... experimenting with long form material coalesces here into accessible tracks which maintain their fundamental artistic integrity. This is mature Rush who have found the formula for mega-success.
Christopher Arters (relative timeworx - Mr.A)
2022-08-05 15:42:39 +0000 UTCI think Permanent Waves is the best proof why Rush is even better at concise songwriting. I like their epics but they manage to fit in just as many ideas in a beautiful shorter song. And they polished the songwriting even a bit more in Moving Pictures, that's why Permanent Waves is a close-second to me. Really glad that you reacted to it. In my opinion, Signals is the next Rush album you should listen to. But I suppose we should give Rush a little break. As much as I like Rush, 3 albums in 25 episodes is a massive advantage over other great bands or artists.
Einaras Sipavičius
2022-08-05 15:39:39 +0000 UTCMasterpiece
Kevin Marcinek
2022-08-05 14:55:49 +0000 UTC
