Music
Milagro – Santana
Milagro is the seventeenth studio album by Santana, released in 1992. Milagro, which means “miracle” in Spanish, was dedicated to the lives of Miles Davis and Bill Graham, and was Santana’s first album on the Polydor label after twenty-two years with Columbia Records. The album reached 102 in the Billboard 200. This was my second album of Santana that I purchased, the first being Abraxas and I also had a compilation of his best hits.
We start off from a live recording introduction by Billy Graham and it segues into Milagro. Lyrically it just states about working with others and letting music heal everyone and it’s Latin beat will keep you dancing. Beginning with a talk track by Martin Luther King, the gentle guitar works of Carlos before the religious lyrics of Somewhere In Heaven. The slow track suddenly picks up in pace. Saja/Right On is a cover of a Marvin Gay track, done in Santana’s style. Your Touch is probably one of the better tracks with a dance feel and almost spoken word style singing. The guitar solo is a searing blister of shred work. Life Is For Living is a very uptempo fun song about the good things in life, with fun guitar work as well as keyboard soloing by Chester D. Thompson.
Red Prophet is driven more by the keyboards by Chester and it takes a while for Santana’s guitar to show up. Agua Que Va Caer sounds very Afro centric and has this beat that reminds me of the Congo. Make Somebody Happy is a throwback to RnB numbers, a romantic tune. Free All The People (South Africa) is a shoutout to the end of apartheid which was just around the horizon. The singing is done well in this as is the understated guitar soloing. Gypsy/Grajonca is an instrumental ballad dedicated to German-born American impresario and rock concert promoter, with a faster and more rockier bit in the middle. Bill Graham (whose birth name was Wulf Wolodia Grajonca).
We Don’t Have To Wait is a funky number that is surely a get up and dance in concerts. And finally we A Dios which is a goodbye to the album, a quick 1:31 that ends in a jazz burst. The focus of the album is centered on Carlos Santana’s guitar interpretation and Latin rhythms. Milagro may not be Santana’s best album, but its balance of energies and genre versatility make it a record well worth listening to. It is likely not on the average rocker’s radar; however, once you give it a listen, it’s impossible not to dance and eagerly anticipate what comes next.
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1987 – Whitesnake
1987 is the seventh studio album by English rock band Whitesnake, released on 23 March 1987, by Geffen Records in the US and by EMI Records in the UK one week after. It was co-written and recorded for over a year in what would be the only collaboration between vocalist David Coverdale and guitarist John Sykes, the final album to feature original bassist Neil Murray and the only album with drummer Aynsley Dunbar. The album, besides its commercial success, is remarkable for the band’s change to a more modern glam metal look and sound, and the first recording to use the band’s new logo which would characterise them in the future.
Crying in the Rain is the first song on the album and is a slightly different version of the original, which was released on the group’s 1982 album Saints & Sinners. The song was inspired by singer David Coverdale’s divorce. From more slower and bluesier it is now much heavier and with a faster sound, influenced by heavy metal. Still of the Night, which was written by David Coverdale & John Sykes was released as the first single from their self-titled 1987 album. It reached #16 in the U.K., #18 on the U.S. Mainstream rock Tracks and #79 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is a popular encore and setlist ender to this day. Bad Boys is the party rocker and also reminds me of Bad Boys Running Wild by Scorpions.
And then we have the big kahuna – Here I Go Again was another song originally written for and released on their 1982 album, Saints & Sinners in October 1982. The song was written by Coverdale and then guitarist Bernie Marsden and written was written while Coverdale’s was at the end of his troubled marriage with his first wife, Julia. It became a classic icon of the 80s and is an evergreen song of the indomitable spirit of the romantic die hard! It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart as a sleeper hit and remained there for one week, being the band’s only number-one single of that chart in their discography to date. It also peaked at number four on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. The re-recording also peaked at number nine in the UK, number 1 in Canada and top 10 in the Netherlands.
Give Me All Your Love was the fourth single released from the album, and reached number 48 on the US Top 100 charts, number 22 on the Mainstream Rock Charts, number 18 in the UK charts, and 49 in New Zealand. Is This Love is the next big song in 1987, released on 18 May 1987 in the UK as the second single and remains a huge hit. Reaching number nine in the UK Singles Chart, and number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, it has been a true ballad and mainstay of their live set list ever since. Children Of The Night is up next and a rightfully rockier song which goes a little lower tempo during the refrain. Straight for the Heart is a fast paced love song that is right up the band’s style. Don’t Turn Away is a plea to your lover to work things out.
Although the North American version ends here, in Europe the album included Looking for Love and You’re Gonna Break My Heart Again. The album was a critical and commercial success around the world, eventually selling over 8 million copies in the US alone and thus being certified 8× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. It peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200 for ten non-consecutive weeks.
Retro Active – Def Leppard
Retro Active is a compilation album by the English rock band Def Leppard, released in 1993. The album features touched-up versions of B-sides and previously unreleased recordings from the band’s recording sessions from 1984 to 1993. The album charted at number 9 on the Billboard 200 and No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart. After releasing only five albums over the course of a twelve-year period (4 years in between Pyromania & Hysteria, and then a further 5 years before Adrenalize) Def Leppard used Retro Active to break that habit, provide a treat for diehard fans.
Desert Song was an outtake from the songwriting sessions that produced 1987’s Hysteria. Self-produced, it became one of the last songs to be released by Def Leppard bearing the songwriting and guitar-playing of Steve Clark, who died on 8 January 1991. It was a hit on U.S. rock radio, reaching number twelve on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Fractured Love sounds like it could have been on Pyromania. Up next is a cover of Sweet’s hit song Action. Originally a 1992 recording, it was released as a B-side to Make Love Like a Man. The music video was shot between June and December 1993; in Sheffield, Ottawa, and Joe Elliott’s home in Ireland.
Two Steps Behind is a one of their best ballads and included in the soundtrack to the film Last Action Hero. The gentle acoustic ballad reached number five on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, numbers 12 and 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, and number 32 on the UK Singles Chart. Written in 1985, She’s Too Tough first appeared on the Helix album Wild in the Streets in 1987. It is a tough little rocker along the lines of mid-80s party rockers. The ballad Miss You in a Heartbeat, meanwhile, was first written and demoed by guitarist Collen in 1991 and was originally recorded by the Law, a band featuring Paul Rodgers and the Who drummer Kenney Jones, for their self-titled album in 1991.
Def Leppard later recorded their own version in April the following year, which they released as a B-side on the Make Love Like a Man single. Only After Dark which is a fun rollicking romp on the guitar is a cover of Mick Ronson’s single. A song that was written around the making of Hysteria, Ride Into the Sun is a rockier change. A surprise is the acoustic From The Inside which is a hate song and feels like the band wrote or recorded the song around a fireplace. Lyrically it is so different from their usual fun or love songs. Ring Of Fire is co-written along with the famed 6th Lep John Mutt Lange and is hard rock number, which would have been at home in Pyromania. The pleading I Wanna Be Your Hero as originally released on the 1987 singles Animal in the US and Pour Some Sugar on Me in the UK. T.
The albums closers are an electric version of Two Steps Behind and a piano version of Miss You In A Heartbeat, which is a hidden track.
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Seven More Rock Albums Turning 40 In 2025
Neil Young, ‘Old Ways’
Originally intended for release in 1983, Neil Young’s country album Old Ways sat on the shelf for two years as a result of the singer’s battle with Geffen Records, who sued him for making “unrepresentative” albums such as the synth-heavy Trans and the rockabilly Everybody’s Rockin’. When he was ordered to re-work Old Ways, Young dove even deeper into country music, which as he told Rolling Stone in 1988 “was a direct result of being sued for playing country music. The more then tried to stop me, the more I did it.”
Dire Straits, ‘Brothers in Arms’
Dire Straits had their cake and ate it too with 1985’s Brothers in Arms. The album’s biggest single, “Money for Nothing,” made fun of modern culture’s rock star worship while also becoming one of the year’s most popular MTV videos, propelling the album sales to unprecedented multi-platinum levels.
David Lee Roth, ‘Crazy From the Heat’
By his account, David Lee Roth wasn’t looking to leave Van Halen when he released his Crazy From the Heat covers EP in 1985. He purposely stayed away from hard rock guitar so as to not step on his main band’s toes, but the success of his take on “California Girls” led to a film offer that helped push the already squabbling group to the breaking point.
Eric Clapton, ‘Behind the Sun’
Relenting to pressure from his label, and seemingly agreeing that his commercial fortunes need a boost, Eric Clapton teamed up with co-producer Phil Collins and outside songwriters for the slicked-up Behind the Sun. He also let the guitar solos fly a bit more freely, particularly on the lead single “Forever Man.” The plan worked, kicking off a successful Clapton revival and a decade-long string of platinum and multi-platinum albums.
Bon Jovi, ‘7800 Fahrenheit’
Bon Jovi’s second album has been largely dismissed by the band over time, but it did show them putting together major pieces of the formula they’d use to conquer the world with Slippery When Wet the following year. Despite clashing with their producer and dealing with a rushed recording schedule, the band showed their promise on songs such as “In and Out of Love” and “Only Lonely.”
Robert Plant, ‘Shaken ‘n’ Stirred’
Robert Plant continued to push further and further from his Led Zeppelin past on his third solo album. With Little Feat drummer Richie Hayward joining the band, Shaken ‘n’ Stirred explores more exotic and complex rhythms while also leaning even heavier on keyboards than Pictures at Eleven and The Principle of Moments. “Little by Little” reached the Top 40, but the album was Plant’s first not to earn platinum sales status in America.
Megadeth, ‘Killing Is My Business… and Business is Good!’
Fired from Metallica just before the release of their revolutionary debut album, Dave Mustaine started again on his own, assembling a new band and self-producing their debut album on a shoestring budget. The resulting Killing is My Business… and Business is Good! helped define thrash metal, and Megadeth went on to become acknowledged as one of the genre’s most important acts.
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RIP John Sykes
English guitarist & songwriter and legendary for his guitar playing with bands like Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake and Blue Murder has died at the age of 65. The sad news was shared on the axeman’s official social pages, confirming he’d lost a battle with cancer. John Sykes is being remembered for his exceptional ability to craft engaging and memorable hard rock guitar riffs and solos. His songwriting played a pivotal role in the success of Whitesnake, with him co-writing all but two tracks off their 1987 self-titled album, which went eight-times platinum.
Hits like ‘Is This Love’ and ‘Still of the Night’ showcase Sykes’ prowess on the instrument, earning him recognition as one of the most influential guitarists of the 80’s hard rock scene. Despite not earning the same global fame as his contemporaries like Eddie Van Halen or Zakk Wylde, Sykes’ contributions to the genre are regarded as being just as impactful. John James Sykes was born 29 July 1959 in Reading, Berkshire. The Sykes family spent three years living Ibiza, Spain, where John’s father and uncle owned a discothèque. Afterward, they moved back to Reading.
Influenced by listening to his uncle’s Eric Clapton records, at the age of 14 and practiced playing guitar at home. After moving to Blackpool, Sykes resumed playing and was asked to join the band Streetfighter by his friend Mervyn Goldsworthy, who would later play bass in Diamond Head, Samson and FM. Sykes began his professional music career when he left Streetfighter to join Tygers of Pan Tang. Sykes recorded two albums with the group, Spellbound and Crazy Nights, which were both released in 1981 but headbutting with some members, he left the band in 1982 but would be featured in 2 songs of their next record. Sykes auditioned for Ozzy Osbourne’s band and was briefly a member of John Sloman’s Badlands.
Sykes got in touch with Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott and after co-wrting and performing on a couple of songs, he was asked to join Lizzy. Sykes performed on the group’s 1983 album Thunder and Lightning, for which he also co-wrote the single “Cold Sweat”. Sykes’s inclusion helped revitalise the band, steering them towards a sound more akin to heavy metal. During the tour, the band recorded the live album Life. Sykes also accompanied Lynott on a European solo tour. Thin Lizzy played their final UK concert at the Reading Festival in August 1983, before finally disbanding after a show at Nuremberg’s Monsters of Rock festival on 4 September.
After Thin Lizzy’s break-up, Sykes was initially keen to continue working with Phil Lynott in what would become Grand Slam. However, he was soon asked to join English hard rock group Whitesnake, made his live debut with the group in Dublin on 17 February 1984. He was first tasked with recording new guitar parts for the US release of the band’s 1984 album Slide It In. Afterwards, Whitesnake embarked on a lengthy world tour, which culminated in two shows at the 1985 Rock in Rio festival. The record became Whitesnake’s first major success in the United States, selling over half a million copies. Sykes was heavily involved in the making of Whitesnake’s next album, co-writing nine songs with vocalist David Coverdale. pushing the sounds towards something more mainstream.
Eventually, though, Coverdale’s relationship with the rest of the band began to sour. He then fired all other members of the group, including Sykes. Whitesnake’s seventh album was released in April 1987, and it became the band’s most commercially successful album to date, reaching number two on the Billboard 200 chart and selling over eight million copies in the US . Although he did not appear in any promotional stuff or touring for the album, it’s John that we heard on the record. Following his dismissal from Whitesnake, Sykes formed Blue Murder, which featured bassist Tony Franklin and drummer Carmine Appice. Cozy Powell was initially supposed to play drums but he left to join Black Sabbath.
Blue Murder’s self-titled debut album was released in April 1989, reaching number 69 on the Billboard 200 chart. The band then embarked on a tour across America and Japan. As expectations were not met, Sykes felt that the record label want him to rejoin Whitesnake & Franklin and Appice left the group. They were replaced by Marco Mendoza and Tommy O’Steen. At the same time, Sykes was being considered for the guitarist spot in Def Leppard. While no formal auditions took place, Sykes did jam with the band and sang backing vocals on their 1992 album Adrenalize. Ultimately Def Leppard would hire Vivian Campbell, formerly of Dio and Whitesnake. Blue Murder, meanwhile, released their second album Nothin’ But Trouble in 1993. n 1994, Blue Murder released a live album, Screaming Blue Murder: Dedicated to Phil Lynott, after which they were dropped from their label and broke up.
Sykes signed with the Japanese branch of Mercury Records and released his first solo album Out of My Tree in 1995. He would go on to record 4 more solo albums. Sykes was supposed to join Billy Sheehan & Mike Portnoy in forming The Winery Dogs but as schedules clashed they went with Richie Kotzen instead. In 2013, Sykes revealed he was working on a new solo album. Samples from the record were released in 2014 and Sykes discussed the album in a 2017 interview with Young Guitar Magazine. After signing with and then leaving a record label Sykes released “Dawning of a Brand New Day” on Jan 1, 2021, his first new song in over twenty years This was followed up by “Out Alive” in July.
Sykes married Jennifer Brooks-Sykes on 10 April 1989, after four years of living together and had 3 songs together. They divorced in 1999.
Power Windows – Rush
Power Windows is the eleventh studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on October 11, 1985 in Canada by Anthem Records and on October 21, 1985 in the United States. After touring in support of their previous album, Grace Under Pressure (1984), the band took a break and reconvened in early 1985 to begin work on a follow-up. The material continued to display the band’s exploration of synthesizer-oriented music, this time with the addition of sampling, electronic drums, a string section, and choir, with power being a running lyrical theme. The album reached No. 2 in Canada, No. 9 in the United Kingdom, and No. 10 in the United States.
The Big Money was released as the first single off the album and it peaked at #45 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Mainstream Rock chart, and has been included on several compilation albums. The lyrics, written by drummer Neil Peart, reflect on the power of “big money” and the sheer magnitude of trade in the modern global economy, particularly during the 1980s. The computer graphics in the music video is similar to the ones for Money For Nothing by Dire Straits. Grand Designs was partly written to criticise mainstream music which the group believed was too superficial. The song also echoes individualistic themes such as non-conformism.
Manhattan Project is a 1985 song by Canadian progressive rock band Rush, named after the WWII project that created the first atomic bomb. Despite not being released as a single, it did reach #10 on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Chart. Neil Peart read “a pile of books” about the Manhattan Project before writing the lyrics so that he had a proper understanding of what the project was really about. The 4th track Marathon, depict how one would feel while running in an actual marathon, but the meaning of the song is meant to use a marathon (an extreme challenge) as a metaphor for life, and say that life is full of obstacles and is all about one taking small steps to achieve their personal goals. The live version released on the A Show of Hands single reached number 6 on the US Mainstream Rock chart in 1989.
Territories is another interesting track – after Peart had written some lyrical ideas he went through them with Lee, who noticed it was telling a story and found them difficult to sing once he and Lifeson had developed music for them. Peart then rewrote them in a more direct way which suited Lee better. Much like the very popular Subdivisions from Signals, Middletown Dreams explores suburban monotony and the average person’s attempts to temporarily escape it. The battles of the middle class! Emotion Detector started out as a ballad but the lyrics that Lee has fit a more mid-tempo music that Lee & Lifeson had arranged. And finally we have the album closer and second single from the album, Mystic Rhythms. As described by Lee, is “the most synthetic track on the record” with each instrument being fed through “a synthesized something The song was used as the opening song of the NBC news program 1986. The single charted at number 21 on the US Mainstream Rock chart.
The pictures on the front and back covers were painted by Hugh Syme, from reference photos taken by photographer Dimo Safari, and the model is Neill Cunningham from Toronto.
Seven Rock Albums Turning 40 In 2025
Aerosmith, ‘Done With Mirrors’
In a better world, this album would have launched Aerosmith’s comeback. After a half-decade apart, guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford returned to to the fold and help the group record the most underappreciated album in their career. Done With Mirrors was a lean, mean return to form for one of America’s best ’70s rock bands, but the album failed to capture the public’s attention. Two years later, the band reclaimed their commercial stature with the use of outside songwriters and more ’80s-friendly production on the massively successful Permanent Vacation.
Motley Crue, ‘Theatre of Pain’
Motley Crue solidified their status as one of metal’s biggest acts with the follow up to their 1983 commercial breakthrough Shout at the Devil. Although the band themselves are rather critical of the album, Theatre of Pain’s increased emphasis on pop hooks helped the band break through to a more mainstream audience with the help of the hit singles “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” and “Home Sweet Home.”
Phil Collins, ‘No Jacket Required’
Already a star both as a solo artist and as Genesis’ frontman, Phil Collins exploded into megastardom with No Jacket Required, which sold over 25 million copies worldwide on the strength of singles such as “Sussudio,” “One More Night” and “Take Me Home.”
Heart, ‘Heart’
The Wilson sisters jumped head first into the ’80s with their self-titled album, using outside songwriters, pop-friendly keyboards, hairspray and high-budget MTV videos to pull themselves out of a commercial slump. Though they’d express regret over the commercial concessions in later years, the plan certainly worked, giving the band a five-times platinum album and their first-ever No. 1 single, “These Dreams.”
Ratt, ‘Invasion of Your Privacy’
Ratt proved that 1984’s “Round and Round” wasn’t a fluke with their 1985 follow-up Invasion of Your Privacy, which boosted the band’s unique mix of sleazy rock guitars and pop-smart hooks with higher production values. “Lay It Down” and “You’re in Love” were the big hits here, but the overall quality showed that Ratt would be a force to deal with going forward.
AC/DC, ‘Fly on the Wall’
Never a band to follow trends, AC/DC stuck to their straight-ahead winning formula on 1985’s Fly on the Wall. The album didn’t rack up the sales or acclaim of their earlier ’80s work, but contains a handful of gems for true believers including “Sink the Pink,” “Shake Your Foundations” and “Playing With Girls.”
Rush, ‘Power Windows’
Rush’s experiments with futuristic musical instruments continued on 1985’s Power Windows, as they added sampling and electronic drums to their palette on songs like “The Big Money” and “Mystic Rhythms.” The result was their eighth straight platinum album.
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Slide It In – Whitesnake
Slide It In is the sixth studio album by English rock band Whitesnake. Originally released on 30 January 1984 in Europe, by Liberty/EMI, it was remixed for the American market, later issued on 16 April 1984 in North America by Geffen. In Japan, it was issued a “European” Mix release date on 23 March 1984, and an “American” remix on 21 December 1984 by CBS/Sony. Widely regarded as a moderate success, it helped open the American market to the band’s sound and breakthrough throughout the later 1980s. Historically, it was the final Whitesnake recording to use the band’s original “snake” logo. The album peaked at number 9, marking their fourth Top 10 appearance in the UK & In the US, it peaked at number 40 at Billboard 200, eventually going double platinum.
Give Me More Time was the second single released on 3 January 1984 in Europe and 9 January in Germany. The song was written by David Coverdale and Mel Galley. Musically it reminds me of more of AC/C. The song reached number 29 in the UK and number 27 in Ireland. Standing in the Shadow is a song by the English hard rock band Whitesnake as the 3d single from Slide It In. While it does not have a music video, it was released as a single by Liberty Records with the B-Side American version of “All or Nothing.” The single only charted No. 62 in the UK Singles chart and stayed for three weeks. Slow an’ Easy easily the best song on the record, which was released as a promo single, became a hit on rock radio and reached #17 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Love Ain’t No Stranger which is a power ballad is onne of the group’s best known songs, it’s been included in multiple multi-artist compilation albums as well as in various media from Whitesnake’s own labels. Due to its popularity among fans, Whitesnake has performed the song over eight hundred times as of December 2022, making it one of the group’s top five most played pieces. The song charted at number 44 on the UK Singles Chart and 34 on the U.S. Mainstream rock charts. But my favourite song off the record, and which introduced me to the band, is Slow n Easy which was released as a promo single, became a hit on rock radio. Slow an’ Easy has a cool lead guitar licks and reached #17 in Billboard’s Rock Charts.
The intro to Spit It Out reminds me of All Right Now by Free. The more upbeat and fun loving Hungry For Love which is reminiscent of a lot of 70s rock n roll bands is a good song. Guilty of Love was release as a single in 1983, well before the actual album was released Written by vocalist David Coverdale, he described the track as a “very simple and honest love song”. It has frequently been compared to Thin Lizzy for its dual lead guitars. It reached number 31 on the UK Singles Chart and a music video was also shot at the Monsters of Rock show on 20 August 1983. On the Japanese release also had a cover of Need Your Love So Bad a song first recorded by Little Willie John in 1955.
Neil Peart : 5 Years Since We Lost The World’s Best Ever Drummer
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ROSHAN’S ELEVEN: FIRST 11 SONGS LISTENED TO IN 2025
Every year on January 1st, I post about the first 11 songs that I listen to on my Mp3 player on my system. I pick them at random or like today when I specifically selected a couple of songs because I was thinking about them. This year, like the last few, I listened to them on Youtube instead of from my mp3 collection.
- The Final Countdown – Europe
- Always The Last To Know – Del Amitri
- Send Me On My Way – Rusted Root
- Don’t Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas) – Regina Spektor
- Big City Nights – Scorpions
- Hazard – Richard Marx
- Torn – Natalie Imbruglia
- Beds Are Burning – Midnight Oil
- We Didn’t Start The Fire – Billy Joel
- Horizon – Nickelback
- Hands Clean – Alanis Morissette
A Farewell To Kings – Rush
A Farewell to Kings is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on Anthem Records on August 29, 1977. The album reached No. 11 in Canada and marked a growth in the band’s international fanbase, becoming their first Top 40 album in the US and the UK. After reaching a critical and commercial peak with 2112 and touring the album, Rush decided to record the follow-up outside Toronto for the first time and settled in Rockfield Studios in Wales after their debut European tour.
The title track starts things off with an acoustic interlude by Alex Lifeson before Geddy Lee’s keys is added and then segues into the full band and lyrically is about dealing with hypocrisy, and finding your own way by looking within yourself. And then there is the grand 11:05 minute Xanadu – beginning with a five-minute-long instrumental section before transitioning to a narrative written by Neil Peart, which in turn was inspired by the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem Kubla Khan. In Peart’s lyrics, the narrator describes searching for a place called “Xanadu” that will grant him immortality. After succeeding in this quest, a thousand years pass, and the narrator is left “waiting for the world to end”, describing himself as “a mad immortal man”.
One of my favourite songs of Rush from the first time I heard it back in the late 1990s is Closer To The Heart. It was released in November 1977 as the lead single off the album It was the first Rush song to feature a non-member as a songwriter in Peter Talbot a friend of Neil Peart’s. It was Rush’s first hit single in the United Kingdom, reaching number 36 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1978. It also peaked at number 45 in Canada and number 76 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and has been a live favourite in the US, Canada, the UK & Brazil. Cinderella Man is a song based on one of Lee’s favourite films, the 1936 romantic comedy drama Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and the themes that it portrays.
The short 2:35 minute Madrigal is up next; a rare love song and ballad. The album closes with “Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage”, a science-fiction song that tells the story of an unnamed explorer who travels to the centre of Cygnus X-1, a real black hole, in a spaceship named the Rocinante, believing there may be something beyond it. Upon approaching the centre the protagonist loses control of the ship and is drawn into it by the pull of gravity, its body destroyed. This song was inspired by an article on black holes that Peart had read. Lee thought the science-fiction genre presented limitless musical ideas which inspired the band to “use all your goofy, weird sounds because that’s what’s happening out in space.” The song has a part II which came out in the next album.
A Farewell to Kings received a generally positive reception from critics. Rush supported the album with their most extensive tour at the time, headlining major venues across North America and Europe for over 140 dates. A 40th anniversary remastered edition with bonus tracks and a 5.1 surround sound mix was released in 2017.