fly by night (1975) – rush: mercury records 1983 reissue, SRM-1-1023

As much as Caress of Steel represented a transition for Rush from their heavy “Zeppelin/Deep Purple” rock origins to their eventual unique style of progressive rock, Fly By Night represents their initial experimentation with prog.

Not coincidentally, Fly By Night also marks the debut of Neal Peart as the “new guy” in the band, taking the place of John Rutsey, the original drummer, who left for personal and health reasons. Peart, along with assuming percussion duties, also became the main lyricist and (for lack of a better term), visionary.

The vision Peart brought with him tended to be heavy with literary influences (particularly fantasy and speculative fiction), skepticism regarding authority, a natural desire to explore boundaries, and the idealistically simple (and sometimes simplistic) philosophy of youth.

In short, Peart brought with him all of the ingredients needed for a prog band. The fact that Lifeson and Lee were not only receptive, but good enough musicians to indulge Peart’s vision, proved the catalyst. The only thing was for the boys to try the whole prog thing out and see if they liked it.

Fly By Night is the result of the boys trying on some prog clothing and seeing that it was indeed quite a good fit.

Side 1: Anthem Best I Can Beneath, Between & Beyond By-Tor And The Snow Dog At The Tobes Of Hades Across The Styx Of The Battle Epiologue
Side 2: Fly By Night Making Memories Rivendell In The End

The one amazing thing about Fly By Night is that it is perhaps the perfect Rush album homunculus – if an album can be a homunculus. Think about it: it’s got all of the elements that will crystallize a few years down the road when Rush becomes RUSH!, only in a not-quite fully formed way. There’s the selfish social Darwinist Ayn Rand nonsense (Anthem), some strong rock groove (Best I Can), catchy riffs and hooks (Fly By Night), and the ponderously poxy pretense of prog (By-Tor And Snow Dog).

The other thing about Fly by Night isn’t quite as amazing, and that is that, well, it isn’t quite amazing. Song-wise, I mean. It’s not amazing. In fact, it sounds like an album made by a very ambitious band who are excited about venturing into the very wide (and fertile) style of music that will allow them to really just indulge themselves both musically and lyrically. But a band that is still quite young and perhaps not entirely in control of their ability nor entirely experienced enough to really create something amazing. In short, they sound young and enthusiastic. And that's the crux of the problem: this album suffers from the same sort of youthful over-enthusiasm and lack of control in much the same way that sex does.  Young boys may have energy, but they aren't very refined..

Of course that isn’t the same as saying the album is no good. And one certainly can hear a promise of things to come. But really, on it’s own, Fly By Night isn’t something that will stand out as exceptional other than offering that promise.

Perhaps that’s why listening to this album now was so frustrating. I haven’t heard it all the way through for a while, and for some reason I had a much harder time forgiving the flaw of enthusiasm on this play. I suppose part of that is because I’ve been listening to some great stuff lately, and it may not really be fair to compare this album to the last few I’ve gone through. Or maybe it’s because now that we’ve had 40 years since this was released we know what Rush eventually creates, making this pale slightly in the reflected awesomeness of, say 2112 or Hemispheres. But whatever the reason, this is a case where I listened and just found myself feeling perhaps less impressed than I did before or than the music may deserve.

Hell, It’s still way better than most stuff coming out today, though.

Up next: The prog album by the prog band against which all other prog albums and bands are measured