“Permanent Waves” by Rush

A prog rock classic that brought Rush's sound fully into their peak period.

This album review looks back at a prog-rock classic that propelled Rush into its most divisive and, in many ways, fascinating creative period on record.

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Genre: Prog Rock, Hard Rock, New Wave

Label: Anthem

Release Date: January 14, 1980

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Like so many wannabe drummers, my Rush fandom begins and ends with the late Neil Peart. From 1975 until his death in 2020, he was one of a handful of musicians who helped push the art form forward. His technical chops and power were unmatched in his prime, as was his penchant for adding new technology to his drum kits. I remember seeing a “slimmed down” version of his live setup in a TV interview that still contained over 20 pieces. I counted. But it wasn’t simply the enormity of his sound. It’s how he created it. Watching him execute a drum solo is enough to make you consider the laws of physics or, as critic Amanda Petrusich put it, “[give] the impression that he might possess several phantom limbs.” If I practiced for a couple of lifetimes, I’d never get anywhere close to Neil’s level. Plain and simple.

I suppose his virtuosity is still the main draw for me when it comes to the pre-Permanent Waves records. There’s the eponymous overture on 1976’s 2112, “Cygnus X-1, Book I: the Voyage” from 1977’s A Farewell to Kings, and “La Villa Strangiato” on 1978’s Hemispheres—all towering, operatic compositions that exemplify the nerdier, artier packaging a lot of prog rock was wrapped in during the second half of the 70s. However, as Genesis did during a similar timeframe, pop-centric sensibilities occasionally peek out from behind that prog curtain. Modest radio hits like “Fly By Night” and “Closer to the Heart” weren’t necessarily anomalies when compared to those longer, denser compositions but rather a glimpse into a future where Rush’s sound became more (gasp!) commercially accessible.

Fast-forward to Permanent Waves, and you arrive at a fascinating sliding doors moment for the band. It was released during the second full week of 1980, making it one of that decade's first genuinely great rock records. It also came out a little over a year before Moving Pictures, which you could argue was Rush’s creative apex and their best-known record. You have to wonder what would’ve happened to the band’s approach had they not charted the specific creative path they do here. Would they have enjoyed the same financial success they did through the rest of the decade, even in the face of up-and-down critical responses (spoiler: a lot of rock critics hated their synth-forward mid-to-late-80s material)? Or would history have swallowed them as 70s prog rock fell out of fashion with a large segment of the music-buying public?

That push into uncharted waters stemmed from several other smaller but no less significant changes the band made to its recording process. According to Peart’s account (which is a joy to read, so carve out a few minutes to go through it if you can—the man could write a sentence!), the recording sessions came after a six-week break following their previous tour supporting Hemispheres. After an initial jam session that got the wheels turning, the trio laid down most of the new album’s material in a relatively short period despite not being in the same room for a lot of it.

From Peart:

“After a huge breakfast from Alex, I would gather my things and walk down to the cottage, to spend the afternoon working on lyrics, while Alex and Geddy would descend to the basement to work on musical ideas. Within the first few days we had put together ‘The Spirit of Radio,’ ‘Freewill,’ and ‘Jacob's Ladder,’ the ideas flowing in such a smooth and painless way that it almost seemed too easy! The only complete lyrics I had brought with me were ‘Entre Nous,’ and neither Alex nor Geddy had brought more than a few incomplete ideas, just having clear and relaxed minds had made all this difference.”

The band was also playing the first half of Waves live before they set foot in Le Studio, located in Morin Heights, Quebec, Canada, about sixty or so miles north of where I grew up. You can hear it in how well the commercial and experimental elements coexist, particularly on the first two tracks. “Spirit of the Radio,” a tribute to radio station CFNY in Toronto, crackles with playful intensity from the first note. It’s also a terrific example of the group’s underrated ability to shift gears multiple times in a song to keep you guessing as to what’s coming next. After an opening guitar lick from Alex Lifeson that has more in common with an Eddie Van Halen vamp than it does with a lot of their previous material up to that point, the trio settle into a muscular groove that’s tailor-made to be blasted out of open car windows as they race down empty highways. They reuse a lot of the same tricks on the excellent “Jacob’s Ladder,” but instead of grabbing you by the figurative shirt collar, they make you wait for that first gear change. There’s also an extended synth sequence from Geddy Lee that leads into a devastating, militaristic finale. It’s a little all over the place but in the best way.

Of all the Permanent Waves songs that got heavy radio rotation when I was a teen and initially got into the band, “Freewill” made the biggest impression on me. It’s been described as “explicitly atheistic,” a take that misses the mark, I think. When Lee talks about choosing “a ready guide in some celestial voice,” he’s not necessarily putting that decision below ones taken by non-believers. Atheists can still latch onto the “phantom fears” he mentions in the chorus, but instead of the bad karma coming their way from a higher power, it could be the nihilism that often gets misrepresented as “realism.” today. What if your god is your ideal version of fame and fortune? The band hints at this in the final bridge, its most powerful lyrical moment, one that comes on the heels of a jaw-dropping Lifeson solo:

Each of us, a cell of awareness Imperfect and incomplete Genetic blendsWith uncertain ends On a fortune hunt that's far too fleet

Permanent Waves was a near-instant sensation in Canada, the UK, and the US. It peaked at No. 3 on the former two album charts and No. 4 on the latter, a response that helped it sell a million copies in a mere two months in America. The ensuing tour was also the most grandiose the band had mounted in their history, costing an estimated $12,500 daily. The best part of all this is that the music more than holds up. A handful of these songs are still among Rush’s best material, signaling a turning point for them as a more niche rock act to one that was primed to take over the world, one rock anthem at a time.