Rush - A Farewell To Kings

I'm not a fan of the production, it sounds too "stuffy." To really experience the album, I suggest listening to "Different Stages" disc 3 which has their 1978 performance at the Hammersmith Odeon Theater. Xanadu, A Farewell To Kings, and Xanadu are featured on it and they sound way better than the original recording (IMHO). Also featured is Cinderella Man, but who cares. Not a fan of Madrigal or Closer To The Heart.

Written by DrumMachine84 on 07.09.2010 at 06:29

I'm not a fan of the production, it sounds too "stuffy." To really experience the album, I suggest listening to "Different Stages" disc 3 which has their 1978 performance at the Hammersmith Odeon Theater. Xanadu, A Farewell To Kings, and Xanadu are featured on it and they sound way better than the original recording (IMHO). Also featured is Cinderella Man, but who cares. Not a fan of Madrigal or Closer To The Heart.

so you don't like 2 songs that much and you don't likethe production but you still give the alb um a 10?

well, I rated this album a 9 which means i find it brilliant.

For me personally, this is their best album. I think it also shows Geddy Lee's best bass work, though the other 70's albums bar their debut shows his talent in that area too. Cygnus X-1 is a sprawling epic\m/

Xanadu is the song that sticks out on the album for me, other than that, I find this to be one of Rush's weaker albums

A great rush album with all goods rushing elements also with the great cygnus X-1

One of Rush's best albums. I'd probably put it in 3rd place, behind Hemispheres and Permanent Waves.

Excellent stuff! Xanadu is a magical piece, and every other song is great too! One of my favorite albums of theirs.

I can confirm that "Xanadu" and "Cygnus X-1" are fantastic Rush songs and personally I'd say the title track is great too. The rest of them on the other hand I don't enjoy as much. Still a strong album due to over the half of the length coming from those two longer songs.

Written by No False Steele on 14.07.2016 at 17:31

I can confirm that "Xanadu" and "Cygnus X-1" are fantastic Rush songs and personally I'd say the title track is great too. The rest of them on the other hand I don't enjoy as much. Still a strong album due to over the half of the length coming from those two longer songs.

I agree that it is basically these three songs -- Xanadu, Cygnus and the title track -- that make the album, Xanadu clearly standing out.
While these are great songs they are no masterpieces when compared to other classic Rush material though imo, making the album sort of second tier Rush.

My first Rush record and as a teen mostly into heavy and power metal it didn't really make a huge impact on me, I found it pretty boring and it took years before I decided to buy some more of them and getting into Rush for real. Today I like it better than back then but I feel it's stuck in the middle between two masterpieces. Definitely need to listen to it more

I'm starting to finally get this band. Mainly a bit strange vocals have turned me off before but now I can see the charm.

All songs sound good but the title track is maybe my favorite. Last song is a bit strange case but I kinda like the variety.

I've been digging this album intensely over recent months and seem to like it more and more now. While I used to say: "Yeah, it's a good one. It has these two great tracks up front, plus an epic closer, whereas the mid section is largely forgettable." Now I've also come to terms with these three songs squeezed in between. They are some how nice songs too, they belong to the album, and they are not too long overall.
This is now definitely among my top 4 Rush albums, and it needed quite a few spins over all these years to get there. I should probably revisit some other of their later albums and see if I also come to like them more on multiple spins. There is always just so much to dig with these guys if you just sit down long enough and have an open mind for it.