This time around, we're joined by Party World Rasslin's Tim Faust as we embark on the first of a two-part excursion through Rush's fourth studio album, 2112. The entirety of side a of this record is one song, divided into seven parts, and is nothing if not ambitious in its scope. It's also worth noting that the album functions surprisingly well as fanfiction about Rush, by Rush.

The song (or "suite", depending on how many of your jackets have patches on the elbows) tells the story of our hero, Canadian Future Boy Gord, and his brave fight to re-introduce rock and roll to a future dystopia as he comes head-to-head with Father Tom and the Priests of Syrinx. Only some of that sentence is made up. Only like two words, really.

LINKS AND REFERENCES:

• "How to Play Guitar" -- David Fair

It's always darkest before the dawn, and while next episode's album will showcase Rush in the act of defining their legacy, this time around we're dealing with a glaring misstep that even the band doesn't like -- 1975's "Caress of Steel".

This record has a misprinted cover which has been frozen in time. It also has a metric shit-ton of "hobbit-humping bullshit" in the lyrics, and contains exactly three songs (plus two very lengthy hodge-podges of half-finished ideas). Not an impressive deal, but an arrested spiel.

Put on your robe and wizard hat and get ready to "rock" in a decidedly beard-stroking fashion.

LINKS AND REFERENCES:

• the "One Electronic Sound for 5 Minutes" Podcast
• The World According to Sound
• "The Son Of A Disgruntled X-Postal Worker Reflects On His Life While Getting Stoned In The Parking Lot Of A Winn Dixie Listening To Metallica" -- Alice Donut

"Fly By Night" is Rush's second album and includes a lot of lyrics about elves and elf shit. There's also some hobbits. Tune in for all the hottest elf and hobbit-related discussion in the world of rock and roll podcasting.

This episode is somewhat non-canonical; an introduction to the show and a review of 1974's almost-Rush debut album, misleadingly entitled "Rush", despite sounding like a completely different band than what comes later.