Fly By Night

Rush - Fly By Night

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CD Details

Artist: Rush
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 1997-05-06
Music Label: Island / Mercury
Soundtracks:

Anthem
Best I Can
Beneath, Between & Behind
By-Tor & The Snow Dog
Fly By Night
Making Memories
Rivendell
In The End

Music reviews of Fly By Night

Music Review: Amazing album
Rating: 5 Stars

Fly By Night is Rush's second album and marks the departure of drummer John Rutsey and the beginning of current drummer Neil Peart's time with the band. There is a lot to find on this album from start to finish; Rush's first epic (By-Tor & the Snow Dog), the summary of Neil Peart's outlook on life and the height of his Ayn Rand influence (Anthem), and a song where no percussion is found anywhere but Geddy Lee's voice along with Alex Lifeson's acoustic guitar work together to create a truly beautiful and magical sound (Rivendell).
From the beginning of the album Rush makes listeners take notice with their explosive sound. Lifeson uses a combination of powerful chords, amazing solos, and soft acoustic accompaniment throughout the album. Geddy Lee displays his talent on the bass guitar and microphone, leaving the synthesizers for a later day. And while it would be a fallacy to call this album the height of Neil Peart's talent, his skills as a percussionist can be highlighted by this album just as well as by citing any of the band's later works.
Everything about this album is just plain great. Great music, great lyrics...even the track arrangement makes one think about the musical genius that is Rush. At this time the band had nowhere to go but up; and they knew it. With founding member Alex Lifeson, seasoned bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee, and the band's newest member, Neil Peart, this album goes a long way to silence any doubt as to why Rush is the legendary act they have become.
I'm not a professional review writer (obviously) so I'm just writing this as a tribute to Rush. Fly By Night is one of their best albums, and I hope that current Rush fans and new listeners alike will gain something from my opinions and perspective. That's the only reason I'm writing this. Below is what I think about each song individually. This will explain why I even had to mention that the track arrangement for this album is amazing.
Anthem starts the album and it's loud and in your face. The band makes a statement with this song, in my opinion, that it's important to remember to look out for oneself. Life can be strange sometimes, and while it's good to be selfless and good to one another, sometimes you just need to move on and look out for you.
Next up is Best I Can. The band's youthfulness and rock and roll attitude spill over from their debut self-titled album into this track. Peart's percussion grabs you from the beginning and never lets go. The rhythms he creates and the way they blend with Lifeson and Lee's guitars is sheer classic.
Beneath, Between, and Behind is up next. I really can't say too much about this one because I may be wrong, but to me it seems to be a song about America. The Canada natives express that while America is a beautiful country, it has strayed far from the founding principles the nation was built upon. Great guitar riffs and drum fills galore in this one.
Moving on to Rush's first ever "epic" track, By-Tor and the Snow Dog. Many would come after (The Fountain of Lamneth, 2112, etc.) but this eight minute story was certainly a good jumping off point for the whole epic concept. I've heard it's based on a funny story the band members heard about a friend's dogs fighting. They manage to take such a simple story and turn the characters into mythical creatures engaged in a battle of epic proportions. The guitar effects, the build of the song to the climax, and the lyrics that tell the tale of this struggle make for a truly awesome listening experience.
On to the title track, Fly By Night. This song does a great job capturing the feel of the album in my opinion. Geddy Lee's voice is as high pitched and distinctive as ever in this one. The song is about changes and life taking you different places. Great lyrics along with some of Peart's finest drumming to date make this song an absolute classic worthy of sharing the album's name.
Then on to Making Memories. Once again the youthful air of the band during this time can be felt full force. They're new, they're gaining more listeners and fame everyday, and trying to enjoy the road life is taking them down. Wanderlust and homesickness make for an interesting ride in the limelight, and the band does an excellent job of conveying this message.
Next up is the beautiful, almost haunting track, Rivendell. As mentioned before, Peart's sound is absent, but not necessarily missed in this song. Lee's voice and Lifeson's acoustic guitar make plenty of magic together in this soft fairy tale of a song.
Last but not least (and this is where the track arrangement really shines) is In The End. The song doesn't take the listener through too drastic a transition after the soft and melodic Rivendell. Rather the track starts off slow and soft and eventually leads to a more heavy riff that takes the song into overdrive. Any ideas about the band being young and brash are cleared up upon listening to the lyrics of this song, in my opinion. It's not that the band members don't care what people think, or are young and too cocky, but rather they may just be different from other people. The way you handle things says a lot about who you are, and not all reasoning and actions are black and white.
Well, I don't know how many people read to the end of this. I know it was quite a chore if you did. But as I said before, I'm an avid Rush fan and wanted to reflect upon this album with fellow fans and grant some insight to those of you who may be pondering giving it a listen. Enjoy.

"Listen to my music and hear what it can do
there's something here as strong as life
I know that it will reach you"
-Rush, 2112

More Fly By Night free music reviews:
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Description of Fly By Night

Japanese only paper sleeve SHM pressing. The SHM-CD [Super High Material CD] format features enhanced audio quality through the use of a special polycarbonate plastic. Using a process developed by JVC and Universal Music Japan discovered through the joint companies' research into LCD display manufacturing SHM-CDs feature improved transparency on the data side of the disc allowing for more accurate reading of CD data by the CD player laser head. SHM-CD format CDs are fully compatible with standard CD players. Warner. 2009.