2. Best I can (3:24) 3. Beneath, between and behind (3:00) 4.
By-Tor and the Snowdog (8:57) 5. Fly by night (3:20) 8. In the end (6:51) - Alex Lifeson / electric guitars, six and twelve string guitars - Geddy Lee / bass guitars, classical guitars, all vocals
Those who highly recommend this , should be more careful as to what they recommend .
Not that this is a bad album but it is hardly a classic , as they were still struggling to come out of their Zep clone habits. And this is an old Torontonian speaking who saw them live about twenty times around those years and to 82. Of course one can see that By-Tor And The Snow Dog is the premice of the start of greater things to come , but there are still a lot of flaws in it.
Of course as a teenager, we did not see those flaws, and my comments on all Rush albums are a mix of my teen fanhood and the grown-up proghead I am today. Anthem has got its moments , in The End is a good closer and Rivendell is correct. The rest is in my eyes relatively flawed but nothing shameful either, displaying the same hard rock they had given us with their debut album.
Posted Tuesday, February 03, 2004, 10:40 EST |
WOW! For the first time, Neil Peart plays the drums here: compared to the previous album, we feel here a quite more DYNAMIC energy involved: faster more refined bass, more complex and varied drums. The guitar sound is not exactly the same too: it is more nervous and the sound is just slightly less extreme, although very powerful and razor all the same.
rock style. This record has no keyboards and does not need them at all! The sound is very good and the recording is professionally made.
There are some excellent flanger effects in the electric guitar sound, like on "Anthem" and "In the End". Lee still screams like an hysterical person, and that is very pleasant, never irritating. Most of the tracks are rythmic, loaded and catchy.
On "Rivendell", the mood is very mellow, featuring a peaceful acoustic guitar, with Lee whispering in your ears some poetic words. Of the RUSH's keyboards-free records, this is my favorite one! Posted Wednesday, April 14, 2004, 17:58 EST |
They came riding from the North, ready to do battle with the notion that progressive rock was a dying art form.
No disservice to JOHN RUTSEY, but new drummer/lyricist NEIL PEART was the missing chink in this power trio's armor, as "Fly By Night" makes plain. This is a firestorm of a record, with music delivered in great chunks of hot metal: the epic "By-Tor and The Snow Dog", the searing "Beneath, Between and Behind", et al. PEART's drumming, sometimes treated with an echo, is the perfect foil to LEE's impassioned (if awkwardly high register) vocals and Lifeson's gargantuan guitars.
At this stage, RUSH hadn't incorporated the standard LEE/LIFESON/PEART credits for their music, allowing various members to pair off in songwriting (including a song written completely by Lee, "Best I Can"). The title track, which served as the album's single, is as catchy a song as they've written over their career (the style is reprised on "In The End", my personal favorite on here). The LED ZEPPELIN comparisons still hold on a few tracks, notably "Making Memories", which sounds like an outtake from "Houses of the Holy" (or a southern boogie band, given LIFESON's leads).
The band also slips into GENESIS territory on the delicate "Rivendell", with LIFESON stretching out the guitar notes a la STEVE HACKETT. "Fly By Night" may find the band groping for their own voice, but what I hear is a band throwing down the gauntlet and challenging for their own fiefdom in prog rock's storied land. Posted Monday, May 03, 2004, 19:32 EST |
Fly By Night isn't really the Rush we've all come to know and love.
These are plesant yet fairly simple rock songs. The group, despite the addition of future drum god Neil Peart, was still firmly within their roots at this point, so the Led Zeppelin influence is really shining through. Still, songs like "Anthem" make the record worth checking out, and the suite "By- Tot and the Snowdog" was the first real hint at the band's future direction.
For fans, Fly By Night is a very important item in tracing the development of Rush, but for the casual listener or a progressive rock fan looking to get into their work, this is unquestionably NOT the Rush album you should be checking out. Start with something like Hemispheres or Moving Pictures if looking to get into their work. However, this isn't a bad starting point if you're trying to get a non-prog fan into Rush, as the catchy melodies and dynamic sound Posted Tuesday, July 27, 2004, 19:53 EST |
Rush begin to take their compositions seriously, with Fly By Night, their second album.
With and each other as musicians. This is not really a prog album, as it stays faithful to their rock 'n' roll roots, but it does have 'By-Tor and the snow dog' the first 'concept' track by Rush. At almost 9 minutes, 'BTATSD' moves through a series of musical chapters, describing battle netween good and evil.
Its entertaining, is filled with classic Peart drumming, but is not to be taken too seriously. 'Athem' opens the album explosively and scatty, silly sounding debut album. There are great rock songs on 'FBN' is raw and his playing competent.
The only song that doesn't quite hit the spot is 'Rivendell' This is a weak glimpse into the bands admiration for Tolkein, but despite it weakness it is certainly prophetic. A good second album for a young band. A good rock album.
Posted Thursday, September 02, 2004, 16:29 EST |
Not an essential, but oh! so slose. This is 4 stars.
..if you take the time to listen and relisten.
We have a bit of everything for everyone. Hard rock, prog rock even something close to folk in Rivendell, inspired of course by Peart's love for Tolkien's litterature. Because this is something that Peart is good at.
..reading.
Thanks to him, the band really of. He reads a freakin' lot, judging by the quality of the lyrics and the cohesion of his This is a misunderstood album. Despite duds like Best I Can (which is quite finger snappy), this is prime-time good ol' rock and roll.
Who Rush generates in Fly by Night a fiery cry of youth that could alter your behavior while driving. Suddently, you feel like speeding up and giving "the eyes" to women at a red light just like at 20 years old. Fly by Night breathes great mid-20's years just hanging out and listening old records.
and 100% concert headbanging potential? Man, I wrecked my neck in the Vapor Trail Tour on that song. I still recall shouting at the top of my lungs "the sign of Eth is rising in the air!
" and A huge 1975 "ROCK ON!" to everyone who agrees. Posted Sunday, September 12, 2004, 22:26 EST |
This is Neil Peart's debut with Rush.
From the get-go, he was asked to supply lyrics for the band, and this addition changed the principal elements of the band. No longer would they sing about working from 9-5, now they would sing about Snow Dogs and Necromancers. Anyway, the work by all the members is phenomenal.
Rather than talk about all of the tracks, I'll mention the stand out tracks. The opener Anthem begins and ends with a bang. With great guitar work by Lifeson, phenomenal bass work by Lee, and incredible drumming and lyrics from Peart, the song brings up Peart's long fascination with the heart and mind.
A true rocker at the core. The next stand out track, By-Tor and the Snow Dog, brings in the entrance of By-Tor, who later makes an appearance in The Necromancer. A true rocker, with phenomenal work by all of the members, especially Peart, whoses drum fills take the main stage throughout the song.
The song has a very rocking intro, a very quiet middle section, and a rocking ending everything a good song needs, a rise and fall. The other three songs woth mentioning are Beneath, Between, and Behind, another with some great bass work by Lee and a catchy chorus. And the finale, In The End, beginning with a quiet acoustic guitar, then roaring in with a phased electric guitar, this is Overall, this is my 2nd favorite of the first 3 Rush albums.
For every track I like, there are a few that are just okay, nothing spectacular. 3.5/5.
Posted Tuesday, June 21, 2005, 19:26 EST |
Not all bad, but surely not among my favourite rush albums. Neil Peart has strengthened the team, while John Rutsey did a good job on the eponymous debut, Neil really adds to the sound, with great drumfill's. So now the line-up is in place.
With their second release Rush is atempting to find their own sound, and break away from the all too obvious Led Zep. influence that was a central theme throughout the previous album, they succeed on that I think, but it has a negative effect on general direction, some songs are really good, others seem less well thought out. Fly By Night, and By Tor, are the best songs on the album, Anthem deserves a mention, but the rest is while not bad, not very good.
An inconsistent second album, good moments, but too few to really grab me, a nice album for the fans. Maybe a step in the right direction, but not quite there, and I like the raw sounds of the debut album above this piece. 2 stars, but not all bad.
Posted Saturday, July 23, 2005, 19:09 EST |
Rustsey was replaced by Neil Peart. This line-up which we can consider it as Mark II has never changed since then until now. Through this second album, the band still consistent with their music style, i.
e. hard rock with three-piece formation similar to early line-up of American Grand Funk railroad. With this second album, musically the band has matured as the composition was getting better than the debut album.
Yes, by band Led Zeppelin. However, with this album Rush had pushed their music boundary exploration of guitar riffs and inventive bass lines.
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