eMusic Review
For many Rush fans, 1975's Fly By Night is the band's “real” debut — the first Rush album with über-drummer Neil Peart behind the kit, and the first one where the Canadian trio's unique combination of progressive proficiency, hard rock heft and sci-fi/Ayn Rand-inspired lyrics (the latter courtesy of Peart) began to coalesce into a recognizable identity.
Minus the obvious Zep- and Sabbath-isms of their self-titled first album, and more accessible than their third (1975's Caress of Steel), Fly By Night is certainly the strongest and most consistent album of their pre-2112 efforts. Along with the title track, which would become a classic rock standard, highlights include the opening blast of “Anthem,” the swaggering boogie of “Beneath, Between & Behind,” and the acoustic reveries of “Rivendell.”
The album's centerpiece, the eight-minute, multi-part “By-Tor and the Snow Dog,” is actually far more enjoyable than its title or reputation would lead you to believe; though the song's over-wrought lyrics — about an epic confrontation between a Prince of Hades and, er, a snow dog — are admittedly silly, it's still a thrill to hear Peart, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee really stretching out together in the studio for the first time.
