Review Summary: "It's really just a question of your honesty, yeah your honesty"
After several years of progessive rock decline, Rush had enough. During most of the latter part of the 70s, punk was dominating the charts. Hemispheres didn't sell too well either, it was the only album together with Hold Your Fire that didn't enter the Billboard top 10. It ended up on No. 47. In addition to that, Rush stated that they had overdone themselves, and made the music too complex to play and really enjoy doing it. The 1980 release marked the strict "progressive" touch of Rush. Now, they were heading down the same road as many other fellow prog acts entering the 80s.
The stylistic changes are huge, and easily heard from the first second of their new LP. The well-known The Spirit of Radio is very different to their earlier work, especially in the guitar and vocal department. Alex Lifeson used to have a harder hitting edge to his guitar sound, similar to other hard rock guitarists of the 70s. It was rawer and had a more classic sound to it. However, Lifeson approached Permanent Waves differently. First of all, the guitar chords are more experimental, but strangely enough, catchier. Spirit of Radio is very upbeat and has that "sing along" vibe to it, making the song easier to sell. It entered at No. 13 in the british charts, making it their most successful single to date.
Geddy Lee's voice drastically changed on most of the songs as well. His typical very high pitched voice and shrieks displayed in most of their earlier work seemed to annoy many people (not me though), and it's likely that that's an important factor that led to he changing his style. The amount of these "shrieks" was toned down significantly, and it was now hard to find them throughout the record. Despite that, he still sings falsetto on most of the songs. Free Will's last chorus is sung in his highest vocal register.
In terms of songwriting, Permanent Waves is in no way a step down from Hemispheres. Some people might believe it is because the music has been simplified, but this is not the case. Natural Science and Jacob's Ladder are great examples of them not forgetting their past. Both go through several mood changes, tempo changes, time signature changes etc. In the making, they create a whole another type of prog, now delivered with a less wanky factor and more accessible (Jacob's Ladder not so much). Natural Science is in fact one of my favorite songs of theirs, ranking in the top 10 Rush songs. Entre Nous (Between us) and Spirit of Radio are examples of how Rush changed fast. Entre Nous isn't really prog or hard rock, it's just casual rock. But Rush are extremely talented at fusing different kinds of music together, even if that's not a very prominent feature in their discography just yet. Spirit of Radio briefly showcases some raggae near the end, while Entre Nous is more of a prog and pop rock crossover, but it's pulled off very well. Different Strings can be described as a ballad, considering the slow tempo, calm instruments, pianos and atmosphere. In every way, almost all songs are perfect.
Lee and co never lost the touch, especially not here. While not a prog masterpiece like their previous titles, it sure introduces a whole new face of Rush to the entire world, and a very good one with that. With only 35:35 minutes of playtime, it requires little effort to sit through, so I recommend this on a very high level to almost all music lovers out there.
different strings is also very good, better than entre nous even. it might be an unpopular opinion, but to me, the spirit of radio is the weakest song here
