Permanent Waves is the seventh studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on January 14, 1980, through Anthem Records.
After touring to support their previous album, Hemispheres (1978), the band began working on new material for a follow-up in July 1979.
This material showed a shift in the group's sound towards more concise arrangements and radio-friendly songs (such as "The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill"), though their progressive rock blueprint is still evident on "Jacob's Ladder" and the nine-minute closer "Natural Science."
Bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee also employed a more restrained vocal delivery compared to previous albums. Permanent Waves was recorded at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec with production handled by the group and Terry Brown.
"The Spirit of Radio" featured the band's early experiments with a reggae style in its closing section, which was explored further on the band's next three albums, Moving Pictures, Signals, and Grace Under Pressure.
The group had experimented with reggae-influenced riffs in the studio and had come up with a reggae introduction to "Working Man" on their tours, so they decided to incorporate a passage into "The Spirit of Radio," as Lifeson said, "to make us smile and have a little fun."Peart wrote the lyrics with Toronto radio station CFNY-FM in mind which had adopted the title as its slogan.
"Jacob's Ladder" uses multiple time signatures, and possesses a dark, ominous feel in its first half. Its lyrics are based on a simple concept: a vision of sunlight breaking through storm clouds.
The title is a reference to the natural phenomenon of the sun breaking through the clouds in visible rays, which in turn is named after the Biblical ladder to heaven on which Jacob saw angels ascending and descending in a vision.
Early in Rush's 2015 R40 Live Tour, Geddy Lee incorrectly stated that the song had never been played live before, but was corrected by fans on the internet (the song had been performed during the Permanent Waves tour and a live recording of the song was featured on Exit... Stage Left).
"Entre Nous", French for "Between us", did not receive heavy radio airplay and was not performed live until the Snakes & Arrows Tour in 2007.
While the band began stepping back from the epic song format on this album, the closing track "Natural Science" is more than nine minutes long and is composed of three distinct movements: I) Tide Pools, II) Hyperspace, and III) Permanent Waves. The lyrics are driven by concepts of natural science.
Tracklist
1. The Spirit of Radio - 4:58
2. Freewill - 5:23
3. Jacob's Ladder - 7:50
4. Entre Nous - 4:37
5. Different Strings - 3:50
6. Natural Science - 9:27
I: Tide Pools
II: Hyperspace
III: Permanent Waves
All lyrics by Neil Peart except "Different Strings" by Geddy Lee. All music by Lee and Alex Lifeson.
Rush
- Geddy Lee – lead vocals, bass guitar, Oberheim polyphonic synthesizer, Minimoog synthesizer, Taurus pedal synthesizer, Oberheim OB-1 synthesizer
- Alex Lifeson – electric and acoustic six- and twelve-string guitars, Taurus pedals
- Neil Peart – drums, timpani, timbales, orchestra bells, tubular bells, wind chimes, bell tree, triangle, crotales, cover concept
Additional personnel
- Terry Brown – arranger, producer, mixing
- Fin Costello – photography
- Robert Gage – hairdresser to the cover girl
- Bob Ludwig – remastering
- Adam Moseley – mixing assistant
- Craig Milliner – mixing assistant
- Paul Northfield – engineer
- Deborah Samuel – photography
- Flip Schulke – photography
- Ray Staff – mastering on original album
- Hugh Syme – piano, art direction, design, cover concept
- Paula Turnbull – cover girl (credited as "Ou La La")
- Robbie Whelan – assistant engineer
Notes
Released: January 14, 1980
Recorded: September–October 1979 Studio Le Studio (Morin-Heights, Quebec)
Genre: Progressive rock
Length: 36:05
Producer(s): Rush, Terry Brown
Label: Anthem Records
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