A Farewell to Kings

A Farewell to Kings

Artist: Rush
Label: Island / Mercury
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Original recording reissued
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 731453462823
EAN: 0731453462823
ASIN: B000001ESJ

Release Date: 1997-05-06

A Farewell to Kings

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Tracks:

A Farewell To Kings
Xanadu
Closer To The Heart
Cinderella Man
Madrigal
Cygnus X-1

Similar Items:

Hemispheres
Permanent Waves
2112
Fly by Night
Caress of Steel

Customer Reviews:

Excellent progressive hard rock/metal.......2007-04-15

I really enjoyed this 1977 album (way back when) and along with the excellent Hemispheres (1978), Farewell to Kings finds the band at a proggy peak. The overall sound of Farewell to Kings borrows heavily from English progressive rock, yet with a healthy dose of hard rock and heavy metal styles. Overall, I find the combination pretty exciting and the album makes for a great listen.

The lineup on Farewell to Kings includes Geddy Lee (lead vocals, Rickenbacker 4001 bass, Taurus bass pedals, mini-moog synthesizer, and 12-string acoustic guitar); Neil Peart (drums and percussion); and Alex Lifeson (6 and 12 string electric and acoustic guitars, classical nylon guitar, and Taurus bass pedals). I think that of all the bands in the progressive hard rock/heavy metal genre (e.g. Kansas, Styx), Rush had the finest musicians. Geddy Lee is a superb bassist and along with incredible drummer Neil Peart made up one of the finest rhythm sections around. I recall listening to Neal's drumming in particular and loving the thunderous fills on his roto toms and the excellent double bass drum attacks here and there. Neal also happened to be a superb lyricist and his lyrics on Farewell to Kings are exceptional.

The six tracks on the album range in length from 2'33" to the lengthy 11'05" Xanadu suite. Musically, this album borrows heavily from English progressive rock and the epic length pieces, odd time signatures, dense ensemble work, virtuoso performances, vaguely experimental sections, and sharp acoustic/electric contrasts are plastered all over the album. Synthesizers are used a lot too, which makes the comparison with the English prog bands unavoidable. There is also a prominent hard rock/heavy metal element present too - Geddy's vocal style really makes this come across, but the heavily distorted electric guitar also contributes. Although I really enjoy all of the tracks, my favorites include Xanadu and the lengthy 10'21" Cygnus X-1 suite (which was continued on Hemispheres). This track, along with Xanadu features some nice spacey, acoustic passages and the muscular riffs that featured prominently in a lot of their compositions. Cygnus X-1 also has it's crazy moments too, particularly on the frenzied closing passage whereby "sound and fury drowns my heart, every nerve is torn apart..." Of course, although I have been obsessing over the prog component of the album, there are some nice "songs" on the album too including Closer to the Heart and the delicate track Madrigal. The title track and Cinderella Man are concise, yet complex prog statements.

This remastered album feature great sound quality and restored cover art.

All in all, this album is highly recommended along with the excellent Hemispheres. Other albums that might prove enjoyable include a few by Kansas including Song for America (1975); Leftoverture (1976); and Point of Know Return (1977).

Excellent album and follow up to the classic "2112".......2007-03-26

With "A Farewell to Kings", Rush achieved a new level of maturity in their songwriting, arrangements, and recording that they lacked on their previous albums. Every song on this album is very good, with "Xanadu" and "Closer to the Heart" being the best of the group. Most bands can't follow up a classic album this well, and Rush deserves a lot of credit for putting out a strong record like "A Farewell to Kings" after "2112". If I had to find one negative about this album, it would be that it doesn't have the same raw intensity of "2112". Every Rush fan will already own this, but still a strong recommendation to non-hardcore fans that want to own a few Rush albums.

'Rush' out and get this album........2007-02-18

I haven't heard 2112 but this is yet another great release from Rush that I've listened to more recently. The music on this album was very atmospheric and sounds very good especially Cygnus x-1 which has a sci-fi fantasy theme to it which also has a followup called cygnus book2 or something like that which is found on Hemispheres which is the next album after this, I just ordered these two albums from Amazon since I'm turning into a Rush fan. A Farewell To Kings starts of with a slow acoustic intro then the guitars and 70's sounding keyboards as well as the rest of the instruments start to progress and then become heavier, the next song Xanadu is about a guy who goes through a journey searching for Kubla Khan and it sounds like a long and epic track its also one of my favorites then theres Closer to the heart which is the single track that was released for this album and its quite good. Anyway you need to get this if you like progressive or classic rock music cause Rush are the best and are cleary one of the most talented and innovative musicians to play this type of music that I have ever seen.

What Else is There?.......2007-02-12

I didn't know about Rush until their "Vaper Trails" CD, after which I read everything and anything I could find them. To be honest I discovered Rush at the right time, because I was just getting into progressive rock and discovering Rush led me to the unbelievable "2112" CD (which still sends shivers up my spine when I hear it.)

"A Farewell to Kings" caught my attention because it seemed everyone was debating which was a better prog. CD "2112" or "A Farewell to Kings." So based solely on that debate I bought "A Farewell to Kings." To this day "A Farewell to Kings" is still my favorite LP by Rush.

I'm actually listening to it as I write this review. It's a CD that I never tire of. It's pure enjoyment. The title song starts off kind of with a Rennasaince sound that grows with birds slowly into a shower of bass and drums and becomes a driving rocker with one of the best bass lines I've ever heard.

Xanadu - 11 minutes of pure joyment. My sister can't stand it because she doesn't like just music, which is what the first half of the song is. This song is by far the stand out track on the CD refering to an actual poem written by a man on opium, who supposedly dreamed the 130 or so lines but forgot them when he was called to a meeting and Xanadu (the short poem) is the only part he remembered when actually wrote it down. This song reminds me of a girl I knew I considered my best friend before I move and still do.

Closer to the Heart - an outstading song, no wonder it became a hit. My only problem with it is the length, but any longer and it may have not been as great who knows.

Cinderalla Man - If I'm correct it's based off the movie that Mr. Deeds was a remake of. This song is more mellow and melodic than rock driven but by no means is it bad or the low of the CD. In fact there isn't a song on this CD that isn't great.

The last two songs are different lyrically (Madrigal) and musically (Cygnus X-1), which when I first listened to it, it reminded me of bands today that do scream-singing, though they don't really scream, the use mostly distortion over their voice. This is a prequel to the main event on Hemispheres which has my favorite epic song on it. But this CD is by far my favorite Rush CD. I would recommend this to anyone and have.

Oh yah..........2007-01-29

What can be said about this album that already hasn't been said?

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