Just to put things into context - Rush was prolific back in this period. They released 3 albums in just over 12 months. Fly By Night was released 2/15/75, Caress of Steel was released on 9/24/75 and then 2112 was released 4/1/76. Alex and Geddy were 22 and 23 at the time. By the time they were 25, they had also released A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres.
There are not many that would react to The Necromancer, so full credit for that. And yes, Neil is a God....lol! The song is off Caress of Steel, a criminally underrated album, and one of my favorites from Rush, an album that predates 2112. Thank you.
This is still one of my favorite rush albums, I can always go back to this one. The production is a bit murky, the songwriting is not quite as concise as 2112, but all those little factors are what makes it unique for me they really were sharpening their craft and getting ready to unleash the follow-up album that would give them artistic independence from the record labels and finally secure an audience for them to grow with. Caress of Steel and the layout being all faux medieval and darker colors and whatnot is just a wonderful atmosphere to the songs and it is its own unique thing for sure
This was awesome! Now you guys need to flip the album over, because The Fountain Of Lamneth is a side long, 20 minute epic in the style of 2112. It’s a real adventure for sure.
So the Fountain of Lamneth is almost a warm-up exercise to what 2112 would achieve and secure the band their musical independence by finding a very loyal fan base. At the time of this album.. Caress of Steel. They band was almost about to get dropped because they refused to become the next Canadian Badfinger or whatever the label wanted them to do to sell out and move product... so they really felt that Carress Of Steel had pretty much sunk their career, but instead of giving in they had one more time with the table to go out guns blazing and they wrote 2112 which finally did the trick., by comparison though, Caress of Steel is a much more varied work, decidedly medieval in intent,, I think Smokey very much had it right when he envisioned. Neil And the rest of them being D&D dorks that's what I can you imagine you'll. Being your dungeon master? Think of the tales he can spend that the vet anyway I do highly recommend the multi song epic that is the Fountain of lamneth that occupies all of side two of Carress of Steel. It is not quite as refined a work or as concise as 2112 but you can definitely see what they were aiming for
Whoa Hoo! I love you guys and I am so glad you came back to Rush! That wasn't a violin, that was Alex's guitar and Alex won your poll on greatest guitarist for good reason. That snarling sound was Geddy's bass. Three musical geniuses for certain! Now you need to do part one of the Prince Bytor story, Bytor and the Snow Dog and after then The Fountain of Lamneth which is on the flip side of the Necromancer. Both fantastic story teller songs.
Neil was a voracious reader, and the idea for this may have been his reading of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings", as The Necromancer is a character in his book The Hobbit. Oh, and now you have to listen to "By-Tor and The Snowdog" by RUSH. Neil was a genius. RIP
Rush epics include... - By-Tor and the Snow Dog -> The Necromancer - The Fountain of Lamneth - 2112 - Xanadu - Cygnus X-1 Book 1 (The Voyage) -> Book 2 (Hemispheres) - La Villa Strangiato (instrumental about a nightmare) - Natural Science - The "Fear" Series (four songs about fear, on different albums) - Clockwork Angels
Wow, I'm surprised and impressed you two actually reacted to this Rush tune, you know that you have to do a reaction to Bytor and the snow dog now, from the fly by night album, you will be happy you did
The guitar work on this song - especially in the middle section - is just off the charts. Alex Lifeson is amazing! And Geddy and Neil just keep laying it down as only they could do. It's actually the 2nd longest epic journey song on that album Caress of Steel, and the 2nd song featuring By-Tor (Check out "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" on Fly By Night). That's Neil's voice doing the intro narration of the three parts.
Geddy said they were high af when they made most of Caress of Steel and honestly, I wish they made another LP high as a kite lmaooo some of the most underrated work by one of the greatest bands of all time
Nah, Rush wasn't any single one of them's band, they were just so tight knit and all three of them were just stunning beyond belief, all of them were triple threats. And they just interfaced so perfectly. And don't sleep on Geddy Lee's bass guitar work in this one, it's a huge part of the drive as well and the way it plays off the guitar solo in that really intense part is just incredible. I saw them do this live once and it was just beyond belief.
Don't worry, Neil is definitely considered a music God. A lot of early songs in their discography was inspired by the works of Tolkien. Neil was a HUGE reader all his life. Also Alex is the most underrated guitarist in history. Thanks for reacting to this one!
Not five hours ago a friend and I were discussing the gate fold sleeve to this album and how it's pseudo medieval stylings are so atmospheric and truly fit with this rather dark Proto prog-metal album. They hadn't quite become the band they were going to be yet. They're definitely in transition here and a very much a hard rock almost metal band by the measure of the day. They have aspirations of progressive achievements but it's not quite in place yet. Really in the book of Rush, this is a rare chapter and I highly recommend the album that this track is from... caress of Steel. To anyone who is interested in seeing how truly heavy Rush could be. Cheers gentlemen, love what you cats do.
This is the album that caused me to buy some quality headphones so I could listen to this at the volume I felt it deserved without my parents yelling at me to turn it down.
If you like stories, Rush is your band. So many more epic stories, from stories about growing up, to two dogs at a party, a car chase, and a space voyage that ends in a mythological setting. The entire final album is a story about a steam punk world. Get ready, your adventures are just getting started.
So glad you came back to Rush! FYI - "The three travelers, men of Willowdale" reference, there is a suburb of Toronto named Willowdale. I have always loved the way they kept themselves interjected into their stories. 😉 Also, did you catch the reference to By-Tor? Great job!
Like others have said, time for Rush's Cygnus X-1 - Book 1: The Voyage (about 10 min. long) and Cygnus X-1 - Book 2: Hemispheres (about 18 min. long). Progressive rock at its best.
Alex founded Rush in '68 and John Rutsey's brother actually named the band,"You guys are always on the go you should call the band Rush". I believe was the way it came about. After Jeff(original bassist) kept missing rehearsals and gigs Alex asked Geddy to join. Once Neil came to the group Alex and Geddy both saw the opportunity to try writing more progressive songs and neither of them liked writing lyrics. Neil, being very well read, had no problem with that aspect and took on lyrical duties.
By-Tor and the Snowdog is a song from Fly By Night. In that song, By-Tor was the villain. “The Necromancer” is his redemption story. Neil also wrote a story about a guy who flies a spaceship into a black hole, only to end up becoming one of the Ancient Greek gods … and the whole thing is an allegory on hubris and the need to balance reason and emotion in all of us. It’s called Cygnus X-1. Part one is The Voyage, the final track on A Farewell to Kings. Part two is Hemispheres, the entire first side of the Hemispheres album. Highly recommended!!
Love it! Keep the Rush coming! Another band to check out is Extreme they came out with a new album after 15 years! They have three singles out and the first one has a solo that's dedicated to Eddie Van Halen called Rise!
I can remember my middle brother playing this and my oldest brother arguing with him on how much he's sick of listening to rush lol. Ahhh the memories.
The prequel to the Necromancer is By-tor and the snow dog from Rush's previous album. I'd also check out The Fountain of Lamneth. Yeah, Peart being an avid reader was a big Tolkien fan and was probably reading The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings around this time. In the intro the narrator mentions the three travelers from Willowdale. Alex and Geddy grew up in Willowdale, a suburb of Toronto.
Morning guys! Well didn't we go on an adventure? Lol..(.I know I sure did back in the day on some shrooms and with rush!) Lol. Glad you did this one! Great choice guys!🙂❤️🤓
Ironically, By-Tor is the villain in the song that he makes his only other appearance in, which is called "By-Tor and the Snow Dog". With the help of some aromatic herbs, the guys came up with the story of the Devil's Prince (By-Tor) who comes from the Underworld with his army to attack the Overworld, which is guarded by Snow Dog and his men. Neil penned the lyrics, while Alex and Geddy "battle" musically with each one representing one of those two characters. The same "growl" noise you heard briefly in this song was (I think) produced via Geddy's synthesizer, and is supposed to be the voice of By-Tor (I guess some alien sounding language or just a war cry...) This sound was also used much more prominently in "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" and represents the two rivals going at it in battle. SIDE NOTE: the whole thing was inspired by two actual dogs that roamed the studio while recording. The shepherd-ish dog tended to bite if I recall the story correctly, and since he was a BITER, they just changed that to a more "Lord of the Rings" type spelling: By-Tor. The other dog was white, therefore the rival became Snow Dog. Rush is well-known for their goofy sense of humor. THAT SAID: now you gotta do THAT song. LOL.
Hey guys love your love for Rush they always made music to take you on a journey and send a message. It’s to bad we will never hear more from them. 😊🥁🇨🇦
MAN!!! It's been a minute since I've listened to this song. The instrumentation is a bit different on this song compared to a lot of their stuff, which makes it even more special.
Now, you just need to hear the continuation of this with "By-Tor and The Snow Dog"... another epic by RUSH to check out would be "The Fountains of Lamneth"
@@erikboris5029 I was never really sure. The story seems to go from Necromancer into By-Tor but I could be wrong. I know By-Tor came out first, but Rush has done a few released out of order like Fear, part 3: Witch Hunt was released first, part 2: The Weapon was 2nd and part 1: The Enemy Within was released last... So. I'm really not sure
AHHHHHH YES, VERYYYYY COOL GUYS! 😊 SO THIS IS PART 2, THE 1ST PART IS : BY TOR AND THE SNOW DOG WHICH IS OFF OF THE FIRST ALBUM WITH NEIL ( FLY BY NIGHT ) 😊 ENJOY THIS GEM!
Full disclosure, I'm a Rush fanatic since "Rush." But I think Rush were developing their song writing on this track and later perfected their approach to delivering longer thematic musical odysseys. Lol. just read Mars...below. We're saying similar things. "Love Bastille Day" and "Lakeside Park" from C.O.S. My vote would be for Natural Science from this realm of Rush.
This was fantastic watching you guys discover this song. I've been listening to this since the late 1970s and i still get the same thing you guys just went through. Brilliant... rich from the UK 🇬🇧
One of my favourite tunes. But then again, listen to any Rush song enough and it can become a favourite. Have you guys done Cygnus X1 book I and book II, Hemispheres? If not, you gotta do them. Hemispheres is another concept album. Awesome tunes. Book I is on the album A Farewell to Kings. By-Tor is from By-Tor and the Snow Dog off of Fly by Night. Their first real attempt at progressive rock. By-Tor is actually the bad guy in this song. By-Tor or"biter" comes from a party thr boys went to. I think it was a producer's party, and there were two dogs there. One was a shaggy white dog that was friendly, and the other dog was mean and would try to bite people, thus By-Tor and the Snow Dog.
Easily one of my all time favorite Rush tracks ever. I love everything about it … and also love watching you guys discover it! Been following you guys for a while now, and really appreciate how much you appreciate it. Watching you ‘oh’ and ‘whoa’ with every Alex guitar squeal or unexpected transition - you are totally in sync where I’m having the exact same reaction, even though it’s my 1,000 listen, not my first. Keep it going. Fountain of Lamenth next.
Poor people who don't know this fabulous band! Want another story? Try The Fountain of Lamneth from the same album! Only bad thing about Rush is, when someone asks me, what my favourite Rush song is, I always tell him about a hundred songs...and Neil WAS a god, no doubt about that ! R.I.P Professor!
Great reaction and commentary!!! It's not exactly the next chapter...but The Fountain of Lamneth is another epic song, that takes you on a journey. A very deep cut, but much appreciated by true Rush fans. I'd love to see you check this out...see what you think.
Neil was a consummate and voracious reader of all things current and very old. From the early Greek writers, the Bible, Renaissance & Enlightenment poets and philosophers, to current science fiction and scientific (naturalistic) writings, it can be said he was up on ALL of these, and can explain the wide breath of topics he covers in his lyrics. I once heard him say an interview that he had read 10,000 books, and it was his life’s mission to reread them all… in case he missed something the first time around. His lyrics are always layers deeper than the words depict, and is what made him so respected and lived by his fans. He was the consummate thinker-write-reader-poet- musician; a true renaissance man. Having enjoyed Necromancer, you must give Hemispheres side 2 a listen, it’ll blow you away, as it borrows from the didactical musings commonly applied in ancient Greek mythology. Enjoy! And great reactions!!
You should check out The Big Money official video, another brilliant but more modern commercial song from Rush but still appealing as always. I appreciate your reaction cause you guys are passionate about music with instruments, like my friends and I used to grow up in our late teens listening to these bands Rush, The Police, Pink Floyd, Genenis, Supertramp, Yes, Jon Anderson and Vangelis, Boston, Led Zeppelin and early Van Halen with their album Diver Down etc etc Keep it up with more Rush cause you haven’t listened to half of their great songs yet. To this day I consider them the greatest rock band of all time. Thx for posting classic 80s rock music
This is a great song but on the other side of the album is another great song and it will definitely take you on a journey it’s called “the fountain of Lamneth“ it’s the entire side of the album and you will love it. Please do it.
Yo it's Anthony from AmP. Old channel was hacked. This is one of my all time favorites from Rush. They are my by far my all time favorite band. Alex kills it 👏 on this
By-Tor is from a song from their previous album Fly by night. In the song "By-Tor and the Snow dog" he plays the "bad guy". It's my favorite RUSH song of all time. Y'all gotta check it out.
If you're into the Rush stories, I highly suggest Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres. It's basically side one of the Hemispheres album. By far my favorite Rush album.
Fun Facts: Prince By- Tor is the one who lost to the snow dog in fly by night. Rush's record manager named his German shepherd bit-tor because the dog would bit anyone who came in the house. The first bass player that Geddy replaced before the bands record deal was Jeff Jones "put your hand in my hand" and "lunatic fringe "
You know, guys, as it turns out, the first Dungeons and Dragons game was released a year before this album cane out, so maybe... Here's another "whoa moment" I recently had about Neil Peart. My seven-year-old - being a few years above his academic pay grade - can tell you everything you ever wanted (and really didn't care to learn) about black holes, from event horizons to Hawking radiation to string theory. One day he was describing to me what it would feel like to fall into a black hole and I told him about Rush's classic song "Cygnus X-I, Book I," in which the protagonist flies his ship into a black hole. It was certainly amazing to hear how Geddy and Alex set the experience of having every one of your atoms stretched beyond the breaking point as you entered the black hole, the fact that they were even writing fiction about this topic in 1977 was nothing short of astounding. That's because scientific consensus wasn't even achieved in support of the claim that humans had identified their first black hole (which they named Cygnus X-1) until sometime around 1975. Keeping in mind the fact that there was no World Wide Web at the time, I marvel at the fact that Peart had nonetheless somehow read about the discovery and written a song about voyaging to Cygnus X-1. How intelligent and well-read did Peart have to be to be capable of writing about the characteristics of the very first black hole, just discovered a few years earlier, at a time when the only way to research anything was to spend hours going through index cards and microfiche at a large library? Amazing! PS - Here's a thought: why don't you focus your next Rush reaction on Cygnus X-1, books 1 and 2? ; }
Prince By-tor is a play on words. Some one in their circle had 2 dogs(which later became the name of one of their songs) The owner called it bighter(by-tor) the other was the snow dog. Fly By Night album, By-Tor and The Snow dog
Geddy was makin that monster sound. Detuned the E string so it was just loosely flappin about fed it through a Fuzztone pedal then retracked it through a wah wah pedal and of course sound engineer did the left right panning
One of my favorites. To me it is almost about the 3 band members coming to America to try and make it. The 3 travelers , men from Willowdale, which is in Canada. Just a thought.
Thanks enjoyed your reaction. first time checking you guys out and Ill be back/ especially for Rush. Sabbath. Skynyrd Steve Miller Police bad company the Cars and many other hard-hitting bands but there will never be another lineup like the guys in Rush- many imitators though.. thanks again
THEIR 1ST 20 SONG YOU GUYS WAS ON THIS SAME ALBUM ( CARESS OF STEEL ) AND IT'S CALLED : THE FOUNTAIN OF LAMNETH 😊 AND AGAIN ( BY TOR AND THE SNOW DOG ) IS THE FIRST PART OF THE NECROMANCER 😊
If you guys haven't seen their induction to the rock n roll hall of fame, I highly recommend it. The bigwigs were about knocked over by the cheering and applause. One of my favorite things about Rush is how egalitarian they are/were. They decided in the '70s to split the publishing credits 3 ways (AKA residuals, AKA the biggest money a band gets over their lifetimes, every time their song is on the radio). Also, they made decisions as a group. If one guy disagreed about doing something, they didn't do it.
One other thing, play the live version of 'Bytor and the snow dog' from the 'All the worlds a stage ' album. This is another story where 'Bytor is the bad guy. You will never hear anything like the final part of this song. Amazingly brilliant.
Everytime I hear this I cannot help thinking it is Budgie!!!@ the similarities are astounding. Then again Budgie are known as the "Welsh Rush".....Great reaction guys🤟👍
good analysis Smokey. By-tor was actually one of two dogs they had . the song BY-AND THE SNOW DOG is another battle story but features there dogs. check it out. that was a bad description but RUSH fans know what i’m talking about
Just to put things into context - Rush was prolific back in this period. They released 3 albums in just over 12 months. Fly By Night was released 2/15/75, Caress of Steel was released on 9/24/75 and then 2112 was released 4/1/76. Alex and Geddy were 22 and 23 at the time. By the time they were 25, they had also released A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres.
There are not many that would react to The Necromancer, so full credit for that. And yes, Neil is a God....lol! The song is off Caress of Steel, a criminally underrated album, and one of my favorites from Rush, an album that predates 2112. Thank you.
My fav rush album.
This is still one of my favorite rush albums, I can always go back to this one. The production is a bit murky, the songwriting is not quite as concise as 2112, but all those little factors are what makes it unique for me they really were sharpening their craft and getting ready to unleash the follow-up album that would give them artistic independence from the record labels and finally secure an audience for them to grow with. Caress of Steel and the layout being all faux medieval and darker colors and whatnot is just a wonderful atmosphere to the songs and it is its own unique thing for sure
indeed, this is the real Rush here, some of the soul and DNA of Rush- and a great album, amazing really
This was awesome! Now you guys need to flip the album over, because The Fountain Of Lamneth is a side long, 20 minute epic in the style of 2112. It’s a real adventure for sure.
Yes! Fountain of lamneth is great and it's often overshadowed by 2112, undeservedly so in my opinion.
Awesome!! But are you ready for The Fountain of Lamneth?
So the Fountain of Lamneth is almost a warm-up exercise to what 2112 would achieve and secure the band their musical independence by finding a very loyal fan base. At the time of this album.. Caress of Steel. They band was almost about to get dropped because they refused to become the next Canadian Badfinger or whatever the label wanted them to do to sell out and move product... so they really felt that Carress Of Steel had pretty much sunk their career, but instead of giving in they had one more time with the table to go out guns blazing and they wrote 2112 which finally did the trick., by comparison though, Caress of Steel is a much more varied work, decidedly medieval in intent,, I think Smokey very much had it right when he envisioned. Neil And the rest of them being D&D dorks that's what I can you imagine you'll. Being your dungeon master? Think of the tales he can spend that the vet anyway I do highly recommend the multi song epic that is the Fountain of lamneth that occupies all of side two of Carress of Steel. It is not quite as refined a work or as concise as 2112 but you can definitely see what they were aiming for
Fountain of Lamneth and Cygnus X-1: Books 1&2.
@@MARSHOMEWORLD The Caress of Steel tour was named "Down the Tubes Tour" by the group!
Whoa Hoo! I love you guys and I am so glad you came back to Rush! That wasn't a violin, that was Alex's guitar and Alex won your poll on greatest guitarist for good reason. That snarling sound was Geddy's bass. Three musical geniuses for certain!
Now you need to do part one of the Prince Bytor story, Bytor and the Snow Dog and after then The Fountain of Lamneth which is on the flip side of the Necromancer. Both fantastic story teller songs.
La Villa, Xanadu, 2112, Natural Science and now Necromancer... I think you fellas are ready for the Cygnus X1 Suite ;)
Neil was a voracious reader, and the idea for this may have been his reading of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings", as The Necromancer is a character in his book The Hobbit. Oh, and now you have to listen to "By-Tor and The Snowdog" by RUSH. Neil was a genius. RIP
Rush epics include...
- By-Tor and the Snow Dog -> The Necromancer
- The Fountain of Lamneth
- 2112
- Xanadu
- Cygnus X-1 Book 1 (The Voyage) -> Book 2 (Hemispheres)
- La Villa Strangiato (instrumental about a nightmare)
- Natural Science
- The "Fear" Series (four songs about fear, on different albums)
- Clockwork Angels
Wow, I'm surprised and impressed you two actually reacted to this Rush tune, you know that you have to do a reaction to Bytor and the snow dog now, from the fly by night album, you will be happy you did
It is awesome to see others hear this for the first time. I had the same reaction decades ago. Neil 4 Ever
The guitar work on this song - especially in the middle section - is just off the charts. Alex Lifeson is amazing! And Geddy and Neil just keep laying it down as only they could do. It's actually the 2nd longest epic journey song on that album Caress of Steel, and the 2nd song featuring By-Tor (Check out "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" on Fly By Night). That's Neil's voice doing the intro narration of the three parts.
The Fountain of Lamneth should be next . Its a long one like this one but i think better Not taking anything away from this one I love all old Rush
Geddy said they were high af when they made most of Caress of Steel and honestly, I wish they made another LP high as a kite lmaooo some of the most underrated work by one of the greatest bands of all time
Nah, Rush wasn't any single one of them's band, they were just so tight knit and all three of them were just stunning beyond belief, all of them were triple threats. And they just interfaced so perfectly. And don't sleep on Geddy Lee's bass guitar work in this one, it's a huge part of the drive as well and the way it plays off the guitar solo in that really intense part is just incredible. I saw them do this live once and it was just beyond belief.
Favorite Rush song. You can mellow out and reminisce. Also love to be on the drum set playing along.
I think this is why I keep coming back to you guys
Don't worry, Neil is definitely considered a music God. A lot of early songs in their discography was inspired by the works of Tolkien. Neil was a HUGE reader all his life. Also Alex is the most underrated guitarist in history. Thanks for reacting to this one!
Not five hours ago a friend and I were discussing the gate fold sleeve to this album and how it's pseudo medieval stylings are so atmospheric and truly fit with this rather dark Proto prog-metal album. They hadn't quite become the band they were going to be yet. They're definitely in transition here and a very much a hard rock almost metal band by the measure of the day. They have aspirations of progressive achievements but it's not quite in place yet. Really in the book of Rush, this is a rare chapter and I highly recommend the album that this track is from... caress of Steel. To anyone who is interested in seeing how truly heavy Rush could be. Cheers gentlemen, love what you cats do.
My favorite Rush album with my least favorite Rush song; I Think I'm Going Bald.
This is the album that caused me to buy some quality headphones so I could listen to this at the volume I felt it deserved without my parents yelling at me to turn it down.
Shit yeah!!! And crank it up!!!🤘 Neil Peart forever 🤘
Rush is actually Alex's band .. he formed it.
3 musicians who were always at the top of the game - RUSH! 🤍🤍🤍
If you like stories, Rush is your band. So many more epic stories, from stories about growing up, to two dogs at a party, a car chase, and a space voyage that ends in a mythological setting. The entire final album is a story about a steam punk world. Get ready, your adventures are just getting started.
So glad you came back to Rush!
FYI - "The three travelers, men of Willowdale" reference, there is a suburb of Toronto named Willowdale.
I have always loved the way they kept themselves interjected into their stories. 😉
Also, did you catch the reference to By-Tor?
Great job!
Like others have said, time for Rush's Cygnus X-1 - Book 1: The Voyage (about 10 min. long) and Cygnus X-1 - Book 2: Hemispheres (about 18 min. long). Progressive rock at its best.
Alex founded Rush in '68 and John Rutsey's brother actually named the band,"You guys are always on the go you should call the band Rush". I believe was the way it came about. After Jeff(original bassist) kept missing rehearsals and gigs Alex asked Geddy to join. Once Neil came to the group Alex and Geddy both saw the opportunity to try writing more progressive songs and neither of them liked writing lyrics. Neil, being very well read, had no problem with that aspect and took on lyrical duties.
Wow man. Your comments were honest and heartfelt.. You have matured into one of the best reactions channels.
Not for your top-40 set, but true Rush fans, prog fans, know greatness when they hear it. Got to love those early years of metal Rush.
Not only did Neil write the lyrics and drum on this track (and 95% of their songs) but hes also the narrator!
By-Tor and the Snowdog is a song from Fly By Night. In that song, By-Tor was the villain. “The Necromancer” is his redemption story.
Neil also wrote a story about a guy who flies a spaceship into a black hole, only to end up becoming one of the Ancient Greek gods … and the whole thing is an allegory on hubris and the need to balance reason and emotion in all of us. It’s called Cygnus X-1. Part one is The Voyage, the final track on A Farewell to Kings. Part two is Hemispheres, the entire first side of the Hemispheres album. Highly recommended!!
Well said!
Rush are the number one best progressive rock band of all time take care guys
plus first prog mental band
@@freddiejohn7829 metal I don't hear the singer screeming
Love it! Keep the Rush coming! Another band to check out is Extreme they came out with a new album after 15 years! They have three singles out and the first one has a solo that's dedicated to Eddie Van Halen called Rise!
I never really reaalized how much you dudes Rock!!!
My bad.....
I can remember my middle brother playing this and my oldest brother arguing with him on how much he's sick of listening to rush lol. Ahhh the memories.
So amazing
Your middle brother is a pretty cool guy!! 😎
@@ResilientOne2112 facts
An absolutely amazing song. Especially Part III Return Of The Prince. Such triumphant music!
You guys should check out The Fountain Of Lamneth, also from this album. That was their first side-long epic.
The prequel to the Necromancer is By-tor and the snow dog from Rush's previous album. I'd also check out The Fountain of Lamneth. Yeah, Peart being an avid reader was a big Tolkien fan and was probably reading The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings around this time. In the intro the narrator mentions the three travelers from Willowdale. Alex and Geddy grew up in Willowdale, a suburb of Toronto.
Morning guys! Well didn't we go on an adventure? Lol..(.I know I sure did back in the day on some shrooms and with rush!) Lol. Glad you did this one! Great choice guys!🙂❤️🤓
The sonic panning is awesome.
Ironically, By-Tor is the villain in the song that he makes his only other appearance in, which is called "By-Tor and the Snow Dog". With the help of some aromatic herbs, the guys came up with the story of the Devil's Prince (By-Tor) who comes from the Underworld with his army to attack the Overworld, which is guarded by Snow Dog and his men. Neil penned the lyrics, while Alex and Geddy "battle" musically with each one representing one of those two characters. The same "growl" noise you heard briefly in this song was (I think) produced via Geddy's synthesizer, and is supposed to be the voice of By-Tor (I guess some alien sounding language or just a war cry...) This sound was also used much more prominently in "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" and represents the two rivals going at it in battle. SIDE NOTE: the whole thing was inspired by two actual dogs that roamed the studio while recording. The shepherd-ish dog tended to bite if I recall the story correctly, and since he was a BITER, they just changed that to a more "Lord of the Rings" type spelling: By-Tor. The other dog was white, therefore the rival became Snow Dog. Rush is well-known for their goofy sense of humor. THAT SAID: now you gotta do THAT song. LOL.
The world still has salvation!!! Show this album to your kids!!! A true Masterpiece!! The Music hails this BAND!
Hey guys love your love for Rush they always made music to take you on a journey and send a message. It’s to bad we will never hear more from them. 😊🥁🇨🇦
Rush! I missed you, TT guys!
Rush is my second favorite behind Led Zeppelin. You guys are killing it. Thanks.
Not many would react to this, thanks for doing so.
I love Rush, so whatever you react to would be awesome.
May I suggest....
Camera Eye or Witch Hunt
MAN!!! It's been a minute since I've listened to this song. The instrumentation is a bit different on this song compared to a lot of their stuff, which makes it even more special.
Now, you just need to hear the continuation of this with "By-Tor and The Snow Dog"...
another epic by RUSH to check out would be "The Fountains of Lamneth"
Technically this would be the continuation of by-tor, would it not? Either way I agree, they need to hear it!
@@erikboris5029 I was never really sure. The story seems to go from Necromancer into By-Tor but I could be wrong. I know By-Tor came out first, but Rush has done a few released out of order like Fear, part 3: Witch Hunt was released first, part 2: The Weapon was 2nd and part 1: The Enemy Within was released last... So. I'm really not sure
@@WolfFX13 I guess there's not really enough information in the lyrics to make a definitive answer, it could be either
The og's of progressive metal, the high priests of high concept.
AHHHHHH YES, VERYYYYY COOL GUYS! 😊 SO THIS IS PART 2, THE 1ST PART IS : BY TOR AND THE SNOW DOG WHICH IS OFF OF THE FIRST ALBUM WITH NEIL ( FLY BY NIGHT ) 😊 ENJOY THIS GEM!
Full disclosure, I'm a Rush fanatic since "Rush." But I think Rush were developing their song writing on this track and later perfected their approach to delivering longer thematic musical odysseys. Lol. just read Mars...below. We're saying similar things. "Love Bastille Day" and "Lakeside Park" from C.O.S. My vote would be for Natural Science from this realm of Rush.
Not violin. That's Alex playing guitar - adjustments in volume, etc, creating swells.
For me, the ending solo is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard.
This was fantastic watching you guys discover this song. I've been listening to this since the late 1970s and i still get the same thing you guys just went through. Brilliant... rich from the UK 🇬🇧
This was their 3rd album, the 2nd with Neil. 2112 was their 4th.
One of my favourite tunes. But then again, listen to any Rush song enough and it can become a favourite.
Have you guys done Cygnus X1 book I and book II, Hemispheres? If not, you gotta do them. Hemispheres is another concept album. Awesome tunes. Book I is on the album A Farewell to Kings.
By-Tor is from By-Tor and the Snow Dog off of Fly by Night. Their first real attempt at progressive rock. By-Tor is actually the bad guy in this song. By-Tor or"biter" comes from a party thr boys went to. I think it was a producer's party, and there were two dogs there. One was a shaggy white dog that was friendly, and the other dog was mean and would try to bite people, thus By-Tor and the Snow Dog.
Easily one of my all time favorite Rush tracks ever. I love everything about it … and also love watching you guys discover it! Been following you guys for a while now, and really appreciate how much you appreciate it. Watching you ‘oh’ and ‘whoa’ with every Alex guitar squeal or unexpected transition - you are totally in sync where I’m having the exact same reaction, even though it’s my 1,000 listen, not my first. Keep it going. Fountain of Lamenth next.
Not just a great songwriter. He was a poet.
Poor people who don't know this fabulous band! Want another story? Try The Fountain of Lamneth from the same album! Only bad thing about Rush is, when someone asks me, what my favourite Rush song is, I always tell him about a hundred songs...and Neil WAS a god, no doubt about that ! R.I.P Professor!
First time I've ever heard anyone just mention Hearthstone out of thin air. 😀 Been playing for about 4 years now. Love it!
Great reaction and commentary!!! It's not exactly the next chapter...but The Fountain of Lamneth is another epic song, that takes you on a journey. A very deep cut, but much appreciated by true Rush fans. I'd love to see you check this out...see what you think.
We wore this album out. Burned a lot of tumbleweeds. Glad you're wearing headphones!
Neil was a consummate and voracious reader of all things current and very old. From the early Greek writers, the Bible, Renaissance & Enlightenment poets and philosophers, to current science fiction and scientific (naturalistic) writings, it can be said he was up on ALL of these, and can explain the wide breath of topics he covers in his lyrics. I once heard him say an interview that he had read 10,000 books, and it was his life’s mission to reread them all… in case he missed something the first time around. His lyrics are always layers deeper than the words depict, and is what made him so respected and lived by his fans. He was the consummate thinker-write-reader-poet- musician; a true renaissance man.
Having enjoyed Necromancer, you must give Hemispheres side 2 a listen, it’ll blow you away, as it borrows from the didactical musings commonly applied in ancient Greek mythology. Enjoy!
And great reactions!!
You should check out The Big Money official video, another brilliant but more modern commercial song from Rush but still appealing as always.
I appreciate your reaction cause you guys are passionate about music with instruments, like my friends and I used to grow up in our late teens listening to these bands Rush, The Police, Pink Floyd, Genenis, Supertramp, Yes, Jon Anderson and Vangelis, Boston, Led Zeppelin and early Van Halen with their album Diver Down etc etc
Keep it up with more Rush cause you haven’t listened to half of their great songs yet. To this day I consider them the greatest rock band of all time.
Thx for posting classic 80s rock music
This is a great song but on the other side of the album is another great song and it will definitely take you on a journey it’s called “the fountain of Lamneth“ it’s the entire side of the album and you will love it. Please do it.
I think it's quite funny that I'm watching people listening to Rush. . That's what we did when we went to a Rush concert. . Blows my mind.
Thank you David. It’s always a great time for Rush. If your band doesn’t have a good drummer your band will suck. RIP Neil.
This is the album that cemented my love of RUSH. And it kept getting better from there.
Superb reaction to the best band in the Galaxy 👍
Yo it's Anthony from AmP. Old channel was hacked. This is one of my all time favorites from Rush. They are my by far my all time favorite band. Alex kills it 👏 on this
By-Tor is from a song from their previous album Fly by night. In the song "By-Tor and the Snow dog" he plays the "bad guy". It's my favorite RUSH song of all time. Y'all gotta check it out.
Fuk yeah 😎👌
One of my all time favorite songs. The louder I play it the better it sounds. It’s almost frightening when played really loud.
If you're into the Rush stories, I highly suggest Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres. It's basically side one of the Hemispheres album. By far my favorite Rush album.
Fun Facts: Prince By- Tor is the one who lost to the snow dog in fly by night. Rush's record manager named his German shepherd bit-tor because the dog would bit anyone who came in the house. The first bass player that Geddy replaced before the bands record deal was Jeff Jones "put your hand in my hand" and "lunatic fringe "
Favorite song, on my favorite album, from my favorite band......
Soooooo Great !! Rush forever ❤️❤️❤️
RUSH and DnD go hand in hand.
Listening to my vinyl this morning! Yes, Neil wrote the lyrics and most all their lyrics!
One of my favorites very underrated
Rush so versatile amazing band no doubt my favorite.
Have you guys done Cygnus X1 Book 1? It's on the Fairwell to Kings album. It's one of if not the hardest metal tune they ever recorded.
You know, guys, as it turns out, the first Dungeons and Dragons game was released a year before this album cane out, so maybe...
Here's another "whoa moment" I recently had about Neil Peart. My seven-year-old - being a few years above his academic pay grade - can tell you everything you ever wanted (and really didn't care to learn) about black holes, from event horizons to Hawking radiation to string theory. One day he was describing to me what it would feel like to fall into a black hole and I told him about Rush's classic song "Cygnus X-I, Book I," in which the protagonist flies his ship into a black hole.
It was certainly amazing to hear how Geddy and Alex set the experience of having every one of your atoms stretched beyond the breaking point as you entered the black hole, the fact that they were even writing fiction about this topic in 1977 was nothing short of astounding. That's because scientific consensus wasn't even achieved in support of the claim that humans had identified their first black hole (which they named Cygnus X-1) until sometime around 1975. Keeping in mind the fact that there was no World Wide Web at the time, I marvel at the fact that Peart had nonetheless somehow read about the discovery and written a song about voyaging to Cygnus X-1.
How intelligent and well-read did Peart have to be to be capable of writing about the characteristics of the very first black hole, just discovered a few years earlier, at a time when the only way to research anything was to spend hours going through index cards and microfiche at a large library? Amazing!
PS - Here's a thought: why don't you focus your next Rush reaction on Cygnus X-1, books 1 and 2?
; }
Prince By-tor is a play on words.
Some one in their circle had 2 dogs(which later became the name of one of their songs)
The owner called it bighter(by-tor) the other was the snow dog.
Fly By Night album,
By-Tor and The Snow dog
Epic. Neil is now a God.
Neil wrote all the lyrics to this. He was truly a treasure
Geddy was makin that monster sound. Detuned the E string so it was just loosely flappin about fed it through a Fuzztone pedal then retracked it through a wah wah pedal and of course sound engineer did the left right panning
One of my favorites. To me it is almost about the 3 band members coming to America to try and make it. The 3 travelers , men from Willowdale, which is in Canada. Just a thought.
"Who plays that instrument?'"
That was Geddy on the bass at 14:05.
Flashback to being a kid in my room, reading Marvel comic books with my bologna sandwich and this album playing in the background.
This was there last album before they became mega stars
...great album....love
The story line😊😊😊
Love the TOOL shirt dudes!
Thanks enjoyed your reaction. first time checking you guys out and Ill be back/ especially for Rush. Sabbath. Skynyrd Steve Miller Police bad company the Cars and many other hard-hitting bands but there will never be another lineup like the guys in Rush- many imitators though.. thanks again
This is why i love Old Rush After the 80s The Synth took over their sound and Alexes guitar gets lost in the mix
Not true. Only in the 80s. If you were a true fan you would know that.
@@julien2231 Exactly. 90s rush and after turns back into more heavy metal. They haven't even touched that era yet.
@@michaelmccombs2959 not heavy netal but yes, more hard rock and its great. Every era of rush are great!
I agree, even Alex admitted it. They got back to themselves on counterparts!
THEIR 1ST 20 SONG YOU GUYS WAS ON THIS SAME ALBUM ( CARESS OF STEEL ) AND IT'S CALLED : THE FOUNTAIN OF LAMNETH 😊 AND AGAIN ( BY TOR AND THE SNOW DOG ) IS THE FIRST PART OF THE NECROMANCER 😊
If you guys haven't seen their induction to the rock n roll hall of fame, I highly recommend it. The bigwigs were about knocked over by the cheering and applause. One of my favorite things about Rush is how egalitarian they are/were. They decided in the '70s to split the publishing credits 3 ways (AKA residuals, AKA the biggest money a band gets over their lifetimes, every time their song is on the radio). Also, they made decisions as a group. If one guy disagreed about doing something, they didn't do it.
One other thing, play the live version of 'Bytor and the snow dog' from the 'All the worlds a stage ' album. This is another story where 'Bytor is the bad guy. You will never hear anything like the final part of this song. Amazingly brilliant.
My favorite album Caress of Steel ;-) It's RUSH's rendition of the Hobbit " the 3 men from Willowdale" ;-)
Everytime I hear this I cannot help thinking it is Budgie!!!@ the similarities are astounding. Then again Budgie are known as the "Welsh Rush".....Great reaction guys🤟👍
good analysis Smokey. By-tor was actually one of two dogs they had . the song BY-AND THE SNOW DOG is another battle story but features there dogs. check it out. that was a bad description but RUSH fans know what i’m talking about
Alex and Geddy are from the Toronto suburb of Willowdale.
This album was dedicated to Rod Sterling, passing away. I loved the album when it came out. Critics hated it.
My personal favourite RUSH album....great pick!