Prior to one of Rush's first U.S.
tours, original drummer John Rutsey split from the band, since he wasn't prepared to commit to the band's rigorous touring schedule.
And it proved to be a blessing in disguise, since his replacement was to become one of the most respected rock drummers of all time, Neil Peart, who would also steer the band towards success with more challenging material -- starting with Fly by Night.
While the title track and the album-closing ballad, "In the End," still had Zeppelin roots, the album isn't as straightforward as the debut.
Rush's first bona-fide classic, "Anthem," is included, while the over eight-minute "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" helped pave the way for the group's future epics ("2112," "Cygnus X-1," etc.), and introduced the fans to Peart's imaginative lyric writing, often tinged with science-fiction themes.
The reflective and melodic "Making Memories" is an underrated early composition, while "Beneath, Between, & Behind" is a furious heavy rocker.
Fly by Night may not be one of Rush's finest albums, but it is one of their most important -- it showed that the young band was leaving their Zep-isms behind in favor of a more challenging and original direction.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AnthemGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 04:26 | 10 MB | 28 MB |
| 2 | Best I CanGeddy Lee | Rush | Play | 03:28 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 3 | Beneath, Between & BehindAlex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 03:04 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 4 | Fly by NightGeddy Lee, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 03:22 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 5 | Making MemoriesGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 03:05 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 6 | RivendellGeddy Lee, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 05:00 | 11 MB | 21 MB |
| 7 | In the EndGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson | Rush | Play | 06:48 | 15 MB | 41 MB |
| 8 | By-Tor & The Snow Dog | Rush | Play | 08:39 | 19 MB | 53 MB |
| 37 mins | 86 MB | |||||
| 37 mins | 230 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Terry Brown | Arranger, Engineer, Producer |
| 2 | Eraldo Carugati | Paintings |
| 3 | Richard Fegley | Photography |
| 4 | Jim Ladwig | Art Direction |
| 5 | Geddy Lee | Arranger, Bass, Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Bass), Guitar (Classical), Keyboards, Producer, Vocals |
| 6 | Alex Lifeson | Arranger, Composer, Guitar, Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Producer |
| 7 | Bob Ludwig | Mastering |
| 8 | Neil Peart | Arranger, Composer, Drums, Percussion, Producer |
| 9 | Rush | Primary Artist, Producer |
| 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). |