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Second Hand, heavily used, not new.

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A Farewell to Kings is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1977. The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales and mixed at Advision Studios in London.
A Farewell to Kings would become Rush first US Gold-selling album, receiving the certification within two months of its release and was eventually certified Platinum.
Geddy Lee played his bass lines on acoustic bass while writing them and also came up with guitar lines. The birds heard on “”A Farewell to Kings”” and “”Xanadu”” were recorded outside near Rockfield Studios.

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Check the exclusive video showing this LP for sale

Check the exclusive video showing this LP for sale

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All lyrics written by Neil Peart except where noted, all music composed by Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee except where noted.

check whole LP, 6 videos:

Rush ‎– A Farewell To Kings
Label: Mercury ‎– 9100 042
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Gatefold
Land: UK
Sep 1977
Genre: Prog Rock, Hard Rock

1. “”A Farewell to Kings”” Lee, Lifeson, Peart 5:51
2. “”Xanadu”” 11:08
3. “”Closer to the Heart”” Peart, Peter Talbot 2:53
4. “”Cinderella Man”” Lee 4:21
5. “”Madrigal”” 2:35
6. “”Cygnus X-1″” Lee, Lifeson, Peart 10:25

A Farewell To Kings was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales, and mixed at Advision Studios in London. The album took three weeks to record and two weeks to mix. It was the band’s Rush’s first US gold-selling album, receiving the certification within two months of its release, and was eventually certified platinum. The band was happy with how it turned out. Geddy recalled in 1978:

“It’s the only one of our albums apart from ‘2112‘ that I can really live with. I’ve yet to look at it and start finding fault with it, pick it apart, you know…it still sounds so positive.”

And with respect to Rockfield Studios, Geddy said:

“We were very happy with the sound we got there for ‘Kings’, also it’s got so much to offer… Rockfield is so good if you want to experiment–you know, you can go outside to record, use their weird echo room…that’s the kind of environment we like…”

The birds heard on “A Farewell to Kings” and “Xanadu” were recorded outside near Rockfield Studios.

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

The name of the album itself may be derivative of Ernest Hemingway 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””.

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

“”Closer to the Heart””
“”Closer to the Heart”” is one of Rush 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. After a couple of near-misses earlier in the decade with “”Fly By Night”” and “”Bastille Day””, “”Closer to the Heart”” finally landed them their first hit single in the United Kingdom, reaching #36 in the UK Singles Chart in February 1978. The acoustic guitar intro was written by Geddy Lee. Peter Talbot, a friend of the band (who is also mentioned in the credits for All the World a Stage) wrote the first four lines and Neil Peart wrote the remainder of the lyrics. The song has 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 30th Anniversary because, according to Peart, “”we got sick of it.””

“”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 next album, Hemispheres.
Like “”The Necromancer”” (and the end of Caress of Steel), “”Cygnus X-1″” has an added synthesized voice at the beginning of the song.

Other Tracks
The lyrics of “”Cinderella Man”” are based on the Frank Capra film Mr. Deeds Goes to Town. It is also notable as one of the few Rush songs for which Neil Peart did not write the lyrics since his entry into the band.
“”Madrigal”” is perhaps one of the band softest songs of this time period. It is also one of Rush shortest songs at 2:35.

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, cymbals, cowbells, orchestra bells, wind chimes, triangle, bell tree, vibra-slap, tubular bells, temple blocks

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Check the www.yperano.com site for more RUSH vinyl records, CDs (and T-shirts, tour programs)

Check the www.yperano.com site for more RUSH vinyl records, CDs (and T-shirts, tour programs)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Add this one to the list of “”Rush best.
While 2112 was the first Rush song I ever heard, A Farewell To Kings was the first Rush album I owned (the store didn’t have 2112 at the time). Sentimentally, it a favorite because it was among my first progressive rock albums. I still love this album because it great music.
For a band that critics hated, Rush had quite a following at this point, picking up numerous fans who’d been dazzled by the band stunning musicianship, philosophical reflection typically disguised as fantasy/sci-fi stories (but not always…sometimes it was just a story), and the fact that they freakin’ rocked. A Farewell To Kings produced one of the band most popular songs, “”Closer to the Heart,”” which continues to receive the attention of classic rock radio stations all over the place. I don’t use superlatives too much, but I must say that this is the best song under three minutes EVER. The socially conscious title track squeezes a lot of “”progression”” into a 5 minute song. The highlights of this album are the mesmerizing “”Xanadu”” and the rockin’ space adventure known as “”Cygnus X-1, Book I.”” Even though the latter is best appreciated as a precursor to the phenomenal “”Hemispheres,”” it a great song even on its own. The first movement is ominous, the second is catchy and exciting, and the third is an insane rhythmic assault underscoring Lee screaming vocals.
Finally, like most of Rush work, this really doesn’t sound dated at all, despite being released in the late 70s. Timeless music is great music!”

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Closer to the Heart.  What Makes This Song Great? Here’s what:

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Second Hand, heavily used, not new.

Second Hand, heavily used, not new.

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