Since Neil Peart joined the band in time for 1975's Fly by Night, Rush had been experimenting and growing musically with each successive release.
By 1980's Permanent Waves, the modern sounds of new wave (the Police, Peter Gabriel, etc.) began to creep into Rush's sound, but the trio still kept their hard rock roots intact.
The new approach paid off -- two of their most popular songs, the "make a difference" anthem "Freewill," and a tribute to the Toronto radio station CFNY, "The Spirit of Radio" (the latter a U.K.
Top 15 hit), are spectacular highlights.
Also included were two "epics," the stormy "Jacob's Ladder" and the album-closing "Natural Science," which contains a middle section that contains elements of reggae.
Geddy Lee also began singing in a slightly lower register around this time, which made their music more accessible to fans outside of the heavy prog rock circle.
The album proved to be the final breakthrough Rush needed to become an arena headliner throughout the world, beginning a string of albums that would reach inside the Top Five of the U.S.
Billboard album charts.
Permanent Waves is an undisputed hard rock classic, but Rush would outdo themselves with their next release.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Spirit of RadioGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 04:59 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 2 | FreewillGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 05:24 | 12 MB | 36 MB |
| 3 | Jacob's LadderGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 07:28 | 17 MB | 47 MB |
| 4 | Entre NousGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 04:37 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 5 | Different StringsGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson | Rush | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 6 | Natural ScienceGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 09:17 | 21 MB | 61 MB |
| 35 mins | 81 MB | |||||
| 35 mins | 234 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Terry Brown | Arranger, Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| 2 | Erwig Chuapchuadua | Drums (Steel), Guitar (Steel) |
| 3 | Fin Costello | Photography |
| 4 | Ray Danniels | Management |
| 5 | Peter George | Collaboration |
| 6 | Geddy Lee | Assistant, Bass, Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Bass), Keyboards, Mini Moog, Mixing Assistant, Moog Synthesizer, Oberheim Synthesizer, Synthesizer, Vocals |
| 7 | Alex Lifeson | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (12 String), Guitar (12 String Acoustic), Guitar (12 String Electric), Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Pedals, Pedal Steel |
| 8 | Craig Milliner | Assistant, Mixing Assistant |
| 9 | Adam Moseley | Assistant, Mixing Assistant |
| 10 | Paul Northfield | Engineer |
| 11 | Neil Peart | Art Direction, Bell Tree, Composer, Concept, Cover Art Concept, Crotale, Drums, Orchestra Bells, Timbales, Timpani, Triangle, Tubular Bells, Wind Chimes |
| 12 | Rush | Arranger, Primary Artist, Producer |
| 13 | Deborah Samuel | Photography |
| 14 | Flip Schulke | Photography |
| 15 | Hugh Syme | Art Direction, Concept, Cover Art Concept, Design, Graphic Design, Guest Artist, Keyboards, Piano |
| 16 | Robbie Whelan | Assistant, Assistant Engineer |
| 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). |