On 1977's A Farewell to Kings it quickly becomes apparent that Rush had improved their songwriting and strengthened their focus and musical approach.
Synthesizers also mark their first prominent appearance on a Rush album, a direction the band would continue to pursue on future releases.
With the popular hit single "Closer to the Heart," the trio showed that they could compose concise and traditionally structured songs, while the 11-minute "Xanadu" remains an outstanding accomplishment all these years later (superb musicianship merged with vivid lyrics help create one of Rush's best all-time tracks).
The album-opening title track begins with a tasty classical guitar/synth passage, before erupting into a powerful rocker.
The underrated "Madrigal" proves to be a delicately beautiful composition, while "Cinderella Man" is one of Rush's few songs to include lyrics penned entirely by Geddy Lee.
The ten-minute tale of a dangerous black hole, "Cygnus X-1," closes the album on an unpredictable note, slightly comparable to the two bizarre extended songs on 1975's Caress of Steel.
A Farewell to Kings successfully built on the promise of their breakthrough 2112, and helped broaden their audience.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Farewell to KingsGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 05:53 | 13 MB | 36 MB |
| 2 | XanaduGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 11:07 | 25 MB | 72 MB |
| 3 | Closer to the HeartGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart, John Michael Talbot | Rush | Play | 02:54 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 4 | Cinderella ManGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 04:22 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 5 | MadrigalGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 02:36 | 5 MB | 13 MB |
| 6 | Cygnus X-1Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 10:21 | 23 MB | 59 MB |
| 37 mins | 85 MB | |||||
| 37 mins | 230 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Terry Brown | Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 2 | Terry "Broon" Brown | Engineer |
| 3 | Fin Costello | Photography |
| 4 | Yosh Inouye | Photography |
| 5 | Bob King | Design Assistant |
| 6 | Geddy Lee | Bass, Composer, Guitar, Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Bass), Keyboards, Organ, Synthesizer, Vocals |
| 7 | Alex Lifeson | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (12 String Electric), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric) |
| 8 | Pat Moran | Engineer |
| 9 | Declan O'Doherty | Mixing Assistant |
| 10 | Neil Peart | Bells, Bell Tree, Chimes, Composer, Cowbell, Drums, Temple Blocks, Triangle, Tubular Bells, Vibraslap |
| 11 | Rush | Primary Artist, Producer |
| 12 | Hugh Syme | Art Direction, Artwork |
| 13 | John Michael Talbot | Composer |
| 14 | Ken Thomas | Mixing Assistant |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |