Glad to see these resuming! Way to break down an incredibly complex and dynamic song on the first spin back.
"Natural Science" is a memorable tune for me in a few ways. Musically, i'll always dig its 7 groove section (in 'Hyperspace' iirc), use of the seashore sounds and packed-in excellence in instrumentalism. However, it also marks a few endpoints for me.
First, it's the endpoint of what i consider my favorite stretch of Rush -- from 2112 to Permanent Waves -- an ever-too-short 4-album period that featured a combination of purity, power and diversity that only Snakes & Arrows has even thought about tagging since (and lightly at that) ... although hope springs eternal. In line with this, "Natural Science" is also the last Rush song (unless my geekery fails me) to have its thematic sections granted titles of their own, akin to the brilliant "La Villa Strangiato", the imaginative "The Necromancer", and the all-out movements of side-long suites like "2112" and "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres".
Despite the genuine greatness and critical acclaim of Moving Pictures -- not to mention all of the exploration and consequent awesomeness that has come since -- it does, in a way, represent a corner-turn for me that makes me feel as if i didn't quite get to hear everything that the imagination of 1970s Rush had to offer. I'm not sure how much of that was the internal guidance of the band and their muses and how much of it was commercial influence of the day, but i can respect the decision either way because i understand how these things go. Nonetheless, i do wonder if i'll ever get to hear another album like these (at least compositionally speaking) from the artists that, in my mind, epitomize the pinnacle of the era.
"Natural Science" is a memorable tune for me in a few ways. Musically, i'll always dig its 7 groove section (in 'Hyperspace' iirc), use of the seashore sounds and packed-in excellence in instrumentalism. However, it also marks a few endpoints for me.
First, it's the endpoint of what i consider my favorite stretch of Rush -- from 2112 to Permanent Waves -- an ever-too-short 4-album period that featured a combination of purity, power and diversity that only Snakes & Arrows has even thought about tagging since (and lightly at that) ... although hope springs eternal. In line with this, "Natural Science" is also the last Rush song (unless my geekery fails me) to have its thematic sections granted titles of their own, akin to the brilliant "La Villa Strangiato", the imaginative "The Necromancer", and the all-out movements of side-long suites like "2112" and "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres".
Despite the genuine greatness and critical acclaim of Moving Pictures -- not to mention all of the exploration and consequent awesomeness that has come since -- it does, in a way, represent a corner-turn for me that makes me feel as if i didn't quite get to hear everything that the imagination of 1970s Rush had to offer. I'm not sure how much of that was the internal guidance of the band and their muses and how much of it was commercial influence of the day, but i can respect the decision either way because i understand how these things go. Nonetheless, i do wonder if i'll ever get to hear another album like these (at least compositionally speaking) from the artists that, in my mind, epitomize the pinnacle of the era.
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