Rush – Fly by Night Album Review

Folks, the time has come for us to continue our journey through the forty-plus year career of the legendary Canadian Progressive Rock trio known as Rush. I hope you’ve packed a suitcase or two because, according to the title track from the subject of today’s monologue, we will be flying by night away from here. Today’s stop on our trek takes us back to early 1975 with the first of two albums released by the band that year.

Before we get into my usual, detailed, track-by-track review, I’d like to continue the tradition of providing a bit of backstory about this album. Fly by Night was officially released on February 15th, 1975 by Mercury Records, whom you might remember also handled the international release of the group’s debut album just about a year prior. According to guitarist Alex Lifeson, the album was recorded over the span of about five days in December 1974, then mixed throughout January 1975.

Most notably, Fly by Night was the first album which featured what would become Rush’s permanent lineup consisting of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and newly-minted drummer, percussionist, and lyricist, Neil Peart. John Rutsey, the band’s original drummer on their eponymous debut record, fell ill due to complications arising from diabetes shortly after that album’s release in March 1974. The band felt it would be best if Mr. Rutsey retired to focus on his health, so they temporarily forged ahead with Jerry Fielding as a replacement.

That was the case until July 29th, 1974, when Neil Peart officially joined the band. The date is also significant because it just so happened to be Geddy Lee’s twenty-first birthday. I would argue that Mr. Peart settling in as the third member of the “Holy Triumvirate” turned out to be one heck of an excellent birthday gift! As a final point about this album’s history, Fly by Night was also the first album that saw the group venture into more fantastical territories in regards to their lyrics, as you’ll see when we get to its fourth and seventh tracks. Without further ado, let’s begin!

First up, we have “Anthem.” This track was written when John Rutsey was still an active member of Rush. As such, it features a somewhat heavier sound similar to that which was present on many songs from the trio’s first record. It contains an outstanding guitar solo which I think fits that sound and style nicely. In terms of its lyrics, this track strikes me as a call to live your life as though you’re the protagonist of your own story rather than a supporting character in a tale told by anyone else.

In case that doesn’t quite make sense, I present for your consideration the second verse from “Anthem:” “Live for yourself / There’s no one more worth living for / Begging hands and bleeding hearts / Will only cry out for more.” I don’t know why, but the first images that jumped to my mind upon hearing the line about “begging hands” were of the street beggars from Assassin’s Creed II, of whom you could only rid yourself by tossing some money their way. Perhaps this verse serves to convey a similar idea.

Moving on, next up is “Best I Can.” This track’s lyrics were written solely by Geddy Lee. I must say they strike me as another track that could be mistaken for a “classic rock”-style song by the unfamiliar listener. The primary reason I say that with some confidence lies within the song’s third verse, which I now offer for your consideration: “Got an itchin’ to rock, a hate for small talk / I’m funny that way / Got my sights on the stars, won’t get that far / But I’ll try anyway / I just like to please, don’t like to tease / I’m easy like that / Don’t like long rests, I must confess / I’m an impatient cat.”

Track number three from this album is known as “Beneath, Between, and Behind.” Quite honestly, I don’t really know what to make of this track. That’s especially true in terms of its lyrics. I’d like to think I understand what the band was trying to say with certain lines in the song’s chorus, but I could easily be wrong about that.

The lines to which I’m referring are as follows: “Beneath the noble bird / Between the proudest words / Behind the beauty, cracks appear.” To me, that last line specifically refers to the possibility that the referenced cracks may appear despite a nation’s ruler’s attempts to posture and make it look like their empire remains a shining example of “how to do things right,” for severe lack of a more descriptive phrase.

The fourth track on this album is (as I promised earlier) one of the more fantasy-influenced songs in Rush’s repertoire. This song, which clocks in at around eight minutes and forty seconds in length, is entitled “By-Tor and the Snow Dog.” I made it a point to mention this song’s length because, as longtime fans of Rush likely know all too well, the band would go on to be known for creating lengthier tracks.

As an example of what I mean by that, consider the title track on their 1976 album, 2112. This seven-part epic piece clocks in at twenty minutes and thirty-three seconds in length. This, coupled with the song’s musical complexity, is quite possibly why the members of Rush rarely played the entirety of “2112” in concert. I would argue that the same can be said for “By-Tor and the Snow Dog.”

Another aspect of “2112” I’ve just mentioned causes that track and “By-Tor and the Snow Dog” to share something in common. I noted that “2112” is officially divided into seven parts. “By-Tor and the Snow Dog” is similarly organized, though only into four distinct components. Rush experimented with dividing their songs this way on numerous occasions throughout their career, including on the album I intend to review after Fly by Night.

I’ve gone on a bit of a tangent, so let’s get back to the topic at hand. “By-Tor and the Snow Dog” is (as I explained) quartered into different pieces which unite to tell the story of a battle between “Prince By-Tor, knight of darkness, centurion of evil” and a presumably antithetical entity known as the Snow Dog. The four parts are known as “At the Tobes of Hades,” “Across the Styx,” “The Battle,” and “Epilogue.”

The majority of this song from about the 1:10 mark to approximately 7:33, is entirely instrumental. I imagine this portion of the song constitutes Part III, “The Battle,” and the music serves as a sort of backing track to what likely isn’t the first confrontation between Prince By-Tor and the Snow Dog. According to the official lyric page on the band’s website, Part III of “By-Tor and the Snow Dog” is, itself, divided into four subsections which correspond to different parts of this instrumental portion.

I’ve always considered this part of the track to be a worthy addition because I think it gives all three members of the band a chance to demonstrate their peerless musical skills in equal measure, without any lyrics potentially distracting from that. The final one-fourth of this track, “Epilogue,” briefly tells the story of the ultimate outcome of this conflict.

“The battle over and the dust is clearing / Disciples of the Snow Dog sound the knell / Rejoicing echoes as the dawn is nearing / By-Tor, in defeat, retreats to Hell / Snow Dog is victorious / The land of the Overworld is saved again.” I don’t know about you, but the mention of “the land of the Overworld” causes me to immediately think of Brightrock Games’ 2015 game, War for the Overworld. Perhaps that title’s evil “Underlord” could recruit Prince By-Tor to their cause and, once united, defeat the Snow Dog once and for all.

Up next is Fly by Night’s title track, and my personal favorite song from this album. “By-Tor and the Snow Dog” is a very close second, but there’s just something about “Fly by Night” that is endearing. One of my longtime aspirations is to learn to play this song on my guitar because I think it just sounds so fun to play, but my deep-seated self-doubt in my skill as a musician has always held me back from even attempting that. Perhaps one day I’ll be able to clear that hurdle.

Anyway, Neil Peart was responsible for writing this track’s lyrics, as was the case for all but two tracks on Fly by Night. Mr. Peart did so as a reflection on his first experience journeying out of Canada when he flew to England at age eighteen. In April 1975, two months after Fly by Night hit record store shelves, this track and “Anthem” were released as this album’s first singles. This was notable because it marked the first occasion in which any Rush single was sold outside of Canada and the United States.

In terms of this track’s lyrics, two lines have always stood out to me: “Start a new chapter, I find what I’m after / It’s changing every day.” For some reason which I’ve never quite been able to pin down, these lines remind me of my own steadily-growing backlog of un-played Steam games. My best attempt at explaining that can be boiled down to the idea that when I settle on a game to play that I haven’t played before, I “start a new chapter” and “find what I’m after,” only for my attention to shift toward something new as soon as the next day.

The sixth track from Rush’s second studio album is entitled “Making Memories.” Based on its lyrics, this track seems to be an account of the band getting used to touring and adjusting to life on the road. In my mind, its lyrics go on to suggest that one should strive to make and maintain as many positive memories as possible while one is still capable of doing so. Thus, one still has plenty to pleasantly reminisce about in one’s golden years. I could be reading too much into the lyrics of “Making Memories,” but I choose to believe that I’m not.

To help illustrate what I mean by all that, consider these lines from this track’s chorus: “We feel no need to worry / No reason to be sad / Our memories remind us / Maybe road life’s not so bad.” On a somewhat related note about “Making Memories,” here’s something I never thought I’d say when discussing Alex Lifeson’s skill as a guitarist: the guitar solo present in this song reminds me of a solo you may be more likely to find in a Lynyrd Skynyrd song. I can’t really explain why that is; that’s genuinely just how the guitar solo in question struck me the first time I heard it. That’s absolutely not to say I dislike the solo or the song in general, of course.

The penultimate track on Fly by Night is known as “Rivendell.” Before I say anything further about this song, I want to acknowledge the fact that, yes, this track did (apparently) indeed get its name from the Elven settlement present somewhere within The Lord of the Rings.

Now then, I must say that “Rivendell” is most assuredly one of my favorite songs in Rush’s entire discography. It falls ever so short of being my favorite from Fly by Night specifically, but it’s at least within my overall top ten. The song is played primarily on an acoustic guitar, and Geddy Lee delivers its lyrics with such gentleness in his voice that this track nearly manages to bring me to tears every time I listen to it. That isn’t a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination, though.

“Rivendell” has actually managed to dethrone Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” as the song that can calm me down the fastest when necessary. That isn’t quite the highest praise I can bestow upon a piece of music, but I assure you, it’s pretty darned close to that. Having typed that out, it has just dawned on me that I would have loved to have seen Alex Lifeson and David Gilmour compete in a friendly guitar battle or something of that nature.

We’ve now arrived at the final track from Fly by Night. This one is, fittingly enough, entitled “In the End.” This track and the aforementioned “Best I Can” are the pair of songs present on this album whose lyrics were penned by Geddy Lee rather than Neil Peart. I’m not sure how to describe what I mean by this, but it seems I’ve developed the ability to tell fairly quickly when Geddy wrote a song’s lyrics as opposed to Mr. Peart having done so in his stead.

It feels like something of a cop-out to say this for the second time in an album review, but I’m not really sure what to make of this track. I find myself puzzled by its lyrics. To me, they don’t seem to convey much of a message, though I can’t quite put my finger on why I feel that way. To reiterate something you’ll see me say fairly often, Alex Lifeson’s performance on this track cannot be understated. In fact, I tend to focus on this song’s guitar track more than its lyrics. That’s something else I can’t quite explain.

There you have it, my friends! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my take on Rush’s second studio record. If you’re anywhere near as much of a fan of theirs as I am, perhaps this article gave you an excuse to reminisce about this album or even break out your copy of it and give it a well-deserved listen. Please join me next time as I dive into the second album the trio released in 1975, Caress of Steel!