Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Song of the Day: Natural Science (Rush)

This is the last track on 1980's "Permanent Waves," in my top-five favorite albums. It weighs in at 9 minutes 16 seconds--the longest cut, and probably my favorite. This is Rush back when they were FUN to listen to and fun to play along with.

The first thing we hear is peaceful waves rippling onshore, gulls, and a shimmery acoustic guitar strumming behind Geddy Lee's vocals. After 90 seconds, Lifeson introduces a lively arpeggio before the bass and drums join in...then it is, as they say, "on." Very much a drum-driven song--Neil Peart's beating an aggressive WHACK out of the snare while staying machine-steady on the hi-hat and ride cymbals.

Lee and Alex Lifeson do their usual job of making technically-demanding bass and guitar parts sound easy and cool.

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