I've talked about Permanent Waves previously. My conclusion, then as now, is that the band's musicianship held up in the face of sweeping changes that took their music out of the bounds they had set up for themselves between 1975 & 1978.
My favorite tracks are "Jacob's Ladder" and "Natural Science". Not coincidentally, they retain the progressive spirit that had imbued their previous work. They also have the best riffs (although it might be fairer to call the one in "Jacob's Ladder" a melodic lead).
But much like Caress of Steel led to 2112, so too does Permanent Waves lead to Moving Pictures. Thanks to their flourishing musicianship, though, this only seems evident after listening to Moving Pictures.
The album starts with a two-headed beast of material that seems to my ear a bit more radio-friendly than the norm. That's not to say such material was wholly absent from their previous albums, because it certainly wasn't. That said, it's easy to now notice a subtle difference in the construction of "The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill" that marks them as something like, and yet unlike what came before.
Certainly, these songs are not much like anything from the previous two albums, but that was the point. As related in the excellent documentary Beyond the Lighted Stage (which unfortunately glosses over both A Farewell to Kings & Hemispheres), the band had grown disenchanted with their method of recording albums. One would think that the free-flowing and organic process involved in recording at Rockfield (in Wales) would be entirely conducive to what they were doing as a band. But after two albums done that way, they wanted to move on and get closer to earth.
Honestly, knowing the results of that decision, I'm hard-pressed to say that I support it. While it did lead to Moving Pictures, which many will say is Rush's finest hour, the decision to move away from Hemispheres in particular led them to the keyboard-driven work that dominated the 80's for the band.
On Permanent Waves, change appears to have done some good for Rush. Peart's lyrics are more relatable and discuss topics that are resonant with a wider variety of people. Moving away from science-fiction and fantasy topics may have done some good too.
I'm not sure if I would call Permanent Waves a great album, since I'm biased toward their 70's material. But it's not like the album has a bunch of stinkers on it, either. Aside from "Entre Nous" (which isn't really bad, per se), it's strong throughout, and ends about as well as anyone could have hoped for.
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Next time: an epic realization.
