Permanent Waves

This week, we're exploring seven things hiding in plain sight.

And today we are talking about Rush's album, Permanent Waves.

Now, have you ever reached the end of a long piece of music and thought that could not have ended any other way? Not because you knew what was coming, because after everything you've heard, the ending feels earned.

And that's what I want to get at today with Rush and Natural Science.

We've talked about records that matter to me, and we've talked about playing Tom Sawyer with my band.

These are not those stories again.

I'm pulling out permanent waves because I want to examine the construction of one piece of music.

How do you take a listener through several different musical environments and still make the ending feel like it belongs? Natural science closes out the album, and that position matters to our physical listening experience.

Yeah, but Moving Pictures was the jazz bass.

So Permanent Waves.

So the first record was like that P that he made into a teardrop.

Right.

It's a great record.

It's amazing.

And then he gets to obviously Permanent Waves, but then tries out the jazz bass for all of

Moving Pictures.

Yeah.

Uh, then you've got Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, and Signals, which is, like, a transition into the '80s while still being, like, really progressive.

Then you've got Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, Hold Your Fire.

That's their peak '80s era.

And in fact, a real Rush fan would know, they made seven studio albums in the '80s.

So right in January of '80, Permanent Waves, February of '81, Moving Pictures, into '82, Signals, which we talked about this before we came on camera.

What a run.

[laughs] It's insane.

Uh, Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, Hold Your Fire, and then, not to be forgotten, Presto, also an '80s era Rush album.

Great album.

So when we're talking about '80s era Rush, yes, we recognize the synth era is its own thing, which is also, like, kinda silly, 'cause there was synth on Permanent Waves, there was synth on Moving Pictures.

But, you know, they obviously moved into a place where Alex was playing a little less on the guitar, and it was a little less the focus.

All right.

I'm, I'm gonna, um, if the wife's away this weekend, I'm gonna saddle up with Permanent Waves instead of-

Oh

...

but it's a great album

...

Permanent Waves is so good, and you know, Permanent, the last track of Permanent Waves-

Oh, yeah

Of salesmen.

and that was Rush from 1980 from Permanent Waves that was Spirit of Radio we kicked off that little 2026 collection with Confusion Field that sounds like I am at the moment the album was Resilience Remains and it's actually not out till the 25th of September and the track was Maintain the Uncertainty Then we had Nils Larsen, Lost and Found from Rain, Steam, Speed, and that came out on the 4th of September.

Also Eden Followed, that came out on the 31st of August, Countless Millions Part 2.

That was some holy books and credit cards.

Um, Partly because it was the first tour I ever saw.

It was Permanent Waves, and that record was such a deep one for me and remains so.

But this is him breaking new ground for me because that song is hyper-progressive.

It's still got a lot of the hemispheres stuff going on in it, the cool time signatures.

Oh, I don't need to listen to Moving Pictures.

I know that album like the back of my hand.

I don't need to listen to Permanent Waves.

I know that album like the back of my hand.