You can laugh all you want at Geddy Lee’s (at times) insanely over-the-top vocals, but the inescapable fact remains that “Permanent Waves” is a well-done and wildly catchy album, laden with happy, feel-good anthems in the style of arena/prog. rock. Actually Geddy tones down his voice a bit for the record, making it more likable and accessible to an even wider audience. Way! One of the main criticisms of Rush no longer counts!

Kicking off with two of the best songs on the album, classic “The Spirit of Radio”, a sugar-coated tribute to Toronto radio station CFNY, the band then take the listeners into similarly endowed (i.e. wonderful) “Freewill”. Following these two champions comes “Jacob’s Ladder”, a seven-and-a-half minute-long giant of a Satrianiesque epic (anno “Surfing With the Alien”). It’s odd to find “Different Strings” coming after all this mastery, but I suppose one dud is excusable in the midst of all these gems, particularly with the closer “Natural Science”.

Rush do a good job of making progressive, classic rock more than just musical ownage, and “Permanent Waves” is actually a fun prog. record to listen to. There’s not a note too many played, truly delightful considering many of the competitors in the genre. Of course, living in the 21st century, you may get a few strange looks from your friends when at first putting this on, but, don’t worry, they’ll be singing along soon enough. If not, they must be fools and should be…uh…no longer your friends! No doubt one of Rush’s Finer Moments ™.

Year Released: 1980
Label: Universal Records
Related Link: Rush Official Site
Date Reviewed: 2003-12-27
Author: Andreas