My Favorite Albums: #90 Rush’s “2112”
Progressive rock is one of those genres that I can’t help but love. And at one point I was informed that there were 4 essential prog rock albums you needed to have: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, Emerson Lake & Palmer’s Brain Salad Surgery, King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King and Rush’s 2112. So over time I collected all these albums, spent hours dazing to them under a black light while enjoying a hookah full of perfectly legal substance and contemplating their meanings. And do I ever think they mean something.
A concept album like 2112 seems to be maligned by music critics for some reason. Heaven forbid an artist uses a unifying theme or story and then force their lyrics and instrumentality to work around it. That kind of musicianship won’t fly with critics. But it works for me. I find the concept album a way to explore an idea or story that brings out the best in the artist, because it forces the album to rise in its unity. If the guitar doesn’t fit the mood or the lyrics get too esoteric, the concept album fails. But when it succeeds, it makes the album unit the best it can ever really be in terms of unity and mood.
Rush is a band made of three very talented musicians that try and present a story in the title track, “2112”: A world that is run by machines that chose the culture of the land is shaken when a man find an electric guitar. It is immediately destroyed, but the man is so shaken by its discovery that he commits suicide rather than live without it, thus sowing the seeds of revolution. It some ways this theme is masturbation, since it triumphs rock as such a life changing event. But then again, for me, rock is a life changing event. Every moment of my life is better because I listen to and love rock music. It is a story that I can understand, both throwing off the shackles of conformity and uplifting music’s expression. All of this is done in only 23 minutes, which are pounded in such dynamics. Peart’s drums change tempo so seamlessly, while Lifeson’s guitars wails in anger and cries in despair and Geddy’s vocals set the scene for the listener in just such a way that the story is clear and told with emotion. Some people find Rush either pretentious or annoying in their style, but I say they take what song writing is about t its level of technical mastery and compositional unity to new extremes in this track and do so in a way that a person can sink their teeth into.
The rest of the album is great as well. “Twilight Zone” is among my favorite Rush songs because of the way Lifeson’s guitar rises and falls in such dramatic fashion and in such a cool tone. “A Passage to Bangkok” is a more traditional Rush song that depends on Geddy’s vocals and Peart’s drums interplaying in rhythm and pitch, but it’s a formula that works. “Lessons” has excellent lyrical hooks, as well as a driving solo, and keeps well in unity with the rest of the album. “Tears” is my least favorite on the album, though it’s slowed pace and sad guitar help anticipate the listener to the album’s end. “Something for nothing” is a great album closer, as it rises to such great heights in all its aspects (singing, guitars, and lyrics. Etc.) only to slowly fuzz out, just like the computers of “2112” would push the music away. The idea is kept.
As I have said, a concept album aspired for great unity. And Rush does such a good job here and pushes the technical skill progressive rock require to new levels.
A concept album like 2112 seems to be maligned by music critics for some reason. Heaven forbid an artist uses a unifying theme or story and then force their lyrics and instrumentality to work around it. That kind of musicianship won’t fly with critics. But it works for me. I find the concept album a way to explore an idea or story that brings out the best in the artist, because it forces the album to rise in its unity. If the guitar doesn’t fit the mood or the lyrics get too esoteric, the concept album fails. But when it succeeds, it makes the album unit the best it can ever really be in terms of unity and mood.
Rush is a band made of three very talented musicians that try and present a story in the title track, “2112”: A world that is run by machines that chose the culture of the land is shaken when a man find an electric guitar. It is immediately destroyed, but the man is so shaken by its discovery that he commits suicide rather than live without it, thus sowing the seeds of revolution. It some ways this theme is masturbation, since it triumphs rock as such a life changing event. But then again, for me, rock is a life changing event. Every moment of my life is better because I listen to and love rock music. It is a story that I can understand, both throwing off the shackles of conformity and uplifting music’s expression. All of this is done in only 23 minutes, which are pounded in such dynamics. Peart’s drums change tempo so seamlessly, while Lifeson’s guitars wails in anger and cries in despair and Geddy’s vocals set the scene for the listener in just such a way that the story is clear and told with emotion. Some people find Rush either pretentious or annoying in their style, but I say they take what song writing is about t its level of technical mastery and compositional unity to new extremes in this track and do so in a way that a person can sink their teeth into.
The rest of the album is great as well. “Twilight Zone” is among my favorite Rush songs because of the way Lifeson’s guitar rises and falls in such dramatic fashion and in such a cool tone. “A Passage to Bangkok” is a more traditional Rush song that depends on Geddy’s vocals and Peart’s drums interplaying in rhythm and pitch, but it’s a formula that works. “Lessons” has excellent lyrical hooks, as well as a driving solo, and keeps well in unity with the rest of the album. “Tears” is my least favorite on the album, though it’s slowed pace and sad guitar help anticipate the listener to the album’s end. “Something for nothing” is a great album closer, as it rises to such great heights in all its aspects (singing, guitars, and lyrics. Etc.) only to slowly fuzz out, just like the computers of “2112” would push the music away. The idea is kept.
As I have said, a concept album aspired for great unity. And Rush does such a good job here and pushes the technical skill progressive rock require to new levels.