Rush - Fly by Night

1. Anthem
2. Best I Can
3. Beneath, Between, & Behind
4. By-Tor & The Snow Dog
I. At The Tobes Of Hades
II. Across the Styx
III. Of the Battle
IV. Epilogue
5. Fly By Night
6. Making Memories
7. Rivendell
8. In The End

“Fly By Night” marks the platinum-certified beginning of Rush as nearly every fan would later come to know them: a powerful band consisting of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart. Released in 1975, the album was recorded only four months after Mercury had signed the band’s self-titled debut for international distribution. It already hints at the emotional contrasts, complexity and multilayered character that would soon become trademarks of the Canadian trio.

Rush once again joined forces with producer Terry Brown at Toronto Sound, the studio where the group had attempted to rescue its debut album from a multitude of production flaws. The close connection between Brown and the band is evident in just how cohesive “Fly By Night” sounds and feels.

Working under intense time pressure, Rush capitalised on the momentum the band had gained after “Working Man”conquered the airwaves and Peart joined the line-up only a few weeks before the group returned to the road in August 1974. During the relentless tour through major and smaller North American cities, which continued until the end of November, a chemistry developed between the band members that carried over into “Fly By Night.”

With Peart, the band found not only a virtuoso drummer, but also a storyteller whose literary abilities were every bit the equal of the group’s musical ambitions. The newcomer contributed to the creation of six of the eight songs on “Fly By Night.”

Based on Ayn Rand’s novel of the same name, “Anthem” brims with assertiveness and self-empowerment. The band performs the same riffs that Lee and Lifeson had played with Peart during his original audition. His desire to examine them in meticulous detail made it clear to Lee and Lifeson that they had found their man.

The group’s newfound complexity did not escape the attention of certain executives at Mercury, who expressed concern about the trio’s development away from being a straightforward hard-rock band. Little did they know what was still to come…

MFSL now presents “Fly By Night” in audiophile reference quality for the very first time. Mastered from the original tapes at MoFi’s California studio and manufactured at Fidelity Record Pressing, this numbered 180-gram, 45 RPM double LP is housed in a luxurious Stoughton Printing gatefold jacket and delivers the finest sound quality the album has ever received on vinyl.

This highly collectible reissue features the iconic cover artwork as well as a bonus photographic print and establishes new standards in terms of spaciousness, transparency and dynamics. No previous version offers the warmth, clarity and impact of this new MoFi edition.

Rush fans will be able to enjoy details as never before, including the detuned E string on Lee’s bass, routed through a fuzz-tone pedal and repeated through an Echoplex on “By-Tor & The Snow Dog.”