Rush Retrospective: Album 02- Fly By Night

Album:  Fly By Night

Year Released:   1975

Lineup:  

• Geddy Lee – bass guitars, classical guitar, vocals
• Alex Lifeson – electric guitars, 6- and 12-string acoustic guitars
• Neil Peart – drums, percussion, lyrics

Overall Thoughts:

Rush replaced their drummer, and it has a bit of an impact on the band...

John Rutsey left the band for both health and music reasons, and the band picked up Neil Peart to replace him.  This is the musical equivalent of replacing Wally Pipp with Lou Gehrig.

The difference is obvious right from the start- Peart's drums are more complex, and it adds an extra dimension to the group musically.  The group also divided the song responsibilities- Peart generally wrote the lyrics, while Lifeson and Lee wrote the music.  

The group definitely moves in a more prog rock direction.  Some of the songs (like the opener, "Anthem") is more of the basic rock sound of their first album.  But by the fourth song ("By-tor the Snow Dog"), you can definitely see the difference

This album is full of different styles- "Rivendell" is a soft ballard, "Fly By Night" is an energetic rock song, "Making Memories" is an acoustic jaunt.  The album shows Rush going in different directions as they find their sound.

Ranking of Rush Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Fly By Night
2. Rush

Top 10 Rush Songs (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. "Working Man", Rush
2. "Fly By Night", Fly By Night
3. "Making Memories", Fly By Night
4. "Here Again", Rush
5. "Finding My Way", Rush
6. "Anthem", Fly By Night
7. "Rivendell", Fly By Night
8. "By-tor & the Snow Dog", Fly By Night
9. "In the End", Fly By Night
10. "Before and After", Rush