Published on May 15, 2002
That Rush created a so-called “concept” album in 1976 with their
fourth release
2112 is not a surprise, especially for those who had
followed the work of Geddy Lee and crew to this point. After all,
their last two albums had featured pieces which could be considered
mini-concepts, each one growing progressively longer.
Yes, the idea of Rush dedicating one side of a record to one
musical work is not surprising. What
is surprising, though, is how well the band –
bassist/vocalist Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neal Peart
– pulled it off. Not a true concept album since the whole disc
isn’t dedicated to one track,
2112 showed how far Rush had come in such a short time, as
well as the growing pains the band was going through.
“2112” – all 22 minutes of it – is an absolute masterpiece.
Telling the story of a future where we’re told what to think and
do, as well as how to spend our time (hell-
oooo, Tipper Gore), our hero discovers an ancient instrument
from a long-ago time and tries to share its beauty with mankind,
only to have its voice silenced by the high priests. Despondent
over losing the all-too-brief taste of freedom he enjoyed with his
now-Townshendized guitar, our hero takes his life, rather than
return to the pre-planned distractions that is the slavery of
future life. As the epic comes to an end, it seems like the
oppressors have won – but have they really? Something tells me that
this line of thinking is going to be open to debate for as long as
this album remains popular- and I don’t pretend to have the
definitive answer. All I can offer here is: let each individual
listener decide.
Musically, “2112” is a marvelous work. Where other mini-epics
like “By-Tor And The Snow Dog” (from
Fly By Night) and “The Fountain Of Lamneth” (from
Caress Of Steel) had their moments to shine, nearly the
entire work of “2112” fires on all cylinders. We understand why the
music surges forth with power and ebbs back into gentle moments,
all the while showing the mastery of the three musicians. It was a
daring move for Rush, and one that paid off in spades.
Of course, this is merely half the disc. When it comes to the
remaining five songs, one can only imagine the band asking
themselves, “Well, how do we top ourselves?” The simple answer is,
they can’t – not on this disc, anyway. Continuing in a songwriting
path they forged on
Caress Of Steel, Lee and crew try valiantly to mix more
thoughtful concepts with occasionally harder-edged music.
Sometimes, as on “A Passage To Bangkok” and “Something For
Nothing,” it works (though these two tracks aren’t quite as high in
the musical echelon that Rush has carved out for themselves). Other
times, as on “Lessons” and “Tears,” they’re moderate failures –
pretty enough to keep one’s interest, but not solid enough to write
home about. As for “The Twilight Zone,” the attempt to merge
everything into one track has its moments, but even this one falls
a bit flat in the end (most notably in the chorus).
This isn’t to say that I think Lee and crew should have turned
“2112” into a two-sided work. The chances are good that trying to
stretch the story would have weakened it substantially; as it sits
now, it’s a somewhat easy concept to follow (at least in regards to
Rush’s other mini-epics), and it seems to know when the time is
right to gracefully bow out. Looking back at this disc over 25
years since it was first released (and nearly 15 years since I
first bought it), it was – and remains – the right thing for Rush
to have done.
Yet the five “regular” songs on
2112 suggested that Rush had not yet figured out where to go
with their musical growth; their next two studio albums would
reflect the highs and lows of this period before everything clicked
for them. Yet this disc shows that Rush had rightfully taken their
place among rock’s elite in 1976, and is still a must-own for the
true rock fan, even if you’re only buying it for the title
track.