Permanent Waves is the seventh studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on January 1, 1980. It was recorded at Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec, and mixed at Trident Studios in London, UK. Permanent Waves became Rushs first US top five album hitting #4 and was the bands fifth gold (eventually platinum) selling album. The album also marks a distinct transition from long, conceptual pieces, into a more accessible, radio-friendly style and consequently, a significant expansion in the bands sales with hits such as The Spirit of Radio and Freewill seeing considerable radio airplay. The writing of the album began in July 1979, at a farmhouse at Lakewoods Farm in Ontario on Georgian Bay, Lake Huron while Neil Peart started his lyrics in a cottage near there. Rush began with an instrumental jam, which they nicknamed Uncle Tounouse. Parts of this were used in the songs on the album. While Peart worked on lyrics, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson would work on musical ideas in the basement. Within a few days they had put together The Spirit of Radio, Freewill and Jacobs Ladder, which came very naturally to them, and it was recorded on a Slider JVC mobile unit. Entre Nous was the only lyric completed ahead of time. Peart was working on making a song out of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the medieval epic from King Arthurs time. Based on the story written in the 14th century, he was trying to keep its original style. It was deemed too out of place with the other material and was discarded. They moved into Sound Kitchen studio in Toronto to record demos, joined by producer Terry Brown. The Spirit of Radio, Freewill and Jacobs Ladder were further polished on the warm-up tour during soundchecks. The album was the first to be released in the 1980s, being released on the first of January and its opening track warmly greeting listeners with the lyrics Begin the day with a friendly voice.... In 1982, Lee told Rolling Stone magazine that the albums title referred to a theory that was going [within the band] about, like, culture waves; and there was a night when Neil said that a big album was like a permanent wave and I told him, thats our title. Rush headed to Le Studio in Morin Heights, Quebec and began tweaking the settings of instruments and positioning of microphones. They recorded basic tracks with multiple takes until they captured the best performance. While Lee, Lifeson and Brown began overdubs, Peart began attempting to write another epic song to replace the discarded Green Knight, and after enduring three days of writers block, Natural Science was born. Fin Costello was then brought in to photograph the band in the studio. Cover art director Hugh Syme was also brought in and added a piano solo to Different Strings. Music was composed for Natural Science, with some leftover parts from Green Knight. The tide pool effects for the song were created by splashing oars in the private lake, performed by Brown and studio assistant Kim Bickerdike, and the natural echo outside was used to record various instruments. The rough mixes on the album were complete, and the final mix was completed in a week at Trident Studios, London.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 16:00:51 +0000