A Farewell to Kings

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A Farewell to Kings

Studio album by Rush
Released	September 1977
Recorded	June 1977 at Rockfield Studios in South Wales, UK
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	37:13
Label	Anthem Records (Canada) Mercury Records
Producer(s)	Rush and Terry Brown
Rolling Stone link All Music Guide link
Rush chronology
All the World's a Stage (1976)	A Farewell to Kings (1977)	Hemispheres (1978)

Rush (A Farewell to Kings)

A Farewell to Kings is the fifth studio album by the Canadian band Rush, released in 1977 (see 1977 in music). The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales and mixed at Advision Studios in London.

A Farewell to Kings would become Rush's first US Gold selling album going Gold in almost two months of its release and eventually Platinum.

Geddy Lee played his bass lines on acoustic while writing them and came up with guitar lines also.

1 A Farewell to Kings
2 Xanadu
3 Closer to the Heart
4 Cygnus X-1
5 Other Tracks
6 Track listing
7 Personnel
8 Charts
9 Remaster Details

[edit] A Farewell to Kings

The name of the album itself is clearly derivative of Ernest Hemingway's classic novel A Farewell to Arms. It often deals lyrically with the theme of departure, and through departure, a sort of ascension to a state of better being; this can be said to echo the evolution of society from the days of medieval feudalism and autocratic monarchy, hence "a farewell to kings".

[edit] Xanadu

The lyrics for the epic "Xanadu" were inspired by the 56-line poem Kubla Khan, written about 1797 by British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Lee, Lifeson, and Peart all worked overtime in this track, each utilizing a number of instruments to affect the performance. "Xanadu" also marks a rare occurrence of Geddy Lee on rhythm guitar. Other tracks with Lee on guitar include "A Passage to Bangkok" and "Resist" (live).

[edit] Closer to the Heart

"Closer to the Heart" is one of Rush's most popular songs, seeing a fair bit of radio airplay during a time when the band was in the middle of its 'epic song' days. It was their first hit in the United Kingdom, reaching No.36 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1978. The acoustic guitar intro was written by Geddy Lee. The song has also been part of the set list on nearly every tour since 1977. The band dropped "Closer To The Heart" for the bulk of their recent tours in support of Vapor Trails and their 30^th Anniversary because, according to Peart, "we got sick of it."

[edit] Cygnus X-1

The final track is another epic about a fictional space voyage to "Cygnus X-1". Inspiration for the story within the song was found in the observation of an X-ray source in the constellation Cygnus. Considered to be one of the most likely black hole candidates in the universe, Cygnus X-1 was discovered in the early 1970s by Canadian scientist Tom Bolton, using the facilities of the David Dunlap Observatory at the University of Toronto. The theme of the track would be continued in "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres", the lead and title track of Rush's next album, Hemispheres.

[edit] Other Tracks

The lyrics of "Cinderella Man" are based on the Frank Capra film Mr. Deeds Goes to Town.

"Madrigal" is perhaps one of the band's softest songs of this time period.

[edit] Track listing

Side 1

"A Farewell to Kings"(Peart) – 5:51
"Xanadu"(Peart) – 11:08

Side 2

"Closer to the Heart"(Peart/Talbot) – 2:53
"Cinderella Man" (Lee)– 4:21
"Madrigal" (Peart)– 2:35
"Cygnus X-1"(Peart) – 10:25

Credits for song lyrics are noted above. All music is by Lee/Lifeson.

[edit] Personnel

Geddy Lee - bass guitar, twelve string guitar, Mini-Moog and bass pedal synthesizers, vocals
Alex Lifeson - electric, acoustic and classical guitars, bass pedal synthesizer
Neil Peart - drums, cowbells, orchestra bells, wind chimes, triangle, bell tree, vibra-slap, tubular bells, temple blocks

Terry Brown - engineer
Pat Moran - engineer
Hugh Syme - art direction and graphics
Yosh Inouye - cover photography
Roger Stowell - sleeve photograph
Fin Costello - liner photographs
George Graves - mastering on original album
Bob Ludwig - remastering

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1977	Billboard's Pop Albums	33

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1977	Closer to the Heart	Pop Singles	76

[edit] Remaster Details

A remaster was issued in 1997.

The tray has a picture of star with man painting with THE RUSH REMASTERS printed in all caps just to the left. All remasters from Rush through to Permanent Waves are like this. This is just like the cover art of Retrospective I.
The remaster has all of the original vinyl packaging including the back cover(all black with puppet strings) and inner sleeve photos of the band on stage and star with man logo reinstated(which were missing on the original CD issue).