Thursday 28 February 2013

2112 (Rush, 1976)

Here's a very old question: can you do prog rock without a single keyboard? Well, Rush did. And they even played an entire suite, a 20 minutes, seven-part composition. Balancing hard rock and very quiet moments, this wonderful piece of work also features space rock athmospheres and lyrical ballads, in a series of musical surprises, so that you don't even perceive time passing by. The lyrics are about a future in which music is forbidden by a repressive theocracy ruling the galaxy. But one fine day a man finds out a forgotten guitar... and a real civil war begins.
 
A promo advertising for 2112.
 
The story is based on a novel titled Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, an American novelist. The three members of Rush are at their heights here: Alex Lifeson's guitars interwine with Neil Peart's drums and Geddy Lee's bass guitar in a thick wall of sound and Geddy's squeaky voice hits the peaks of sorrow, gets down to a peaceful stillness, then rises once again. Believe me, this is not just one more track, this is one of the deepest and strongest emotional experiences prog rock can provide.

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