9/15: Wake Up (JR Flood)

The conversational solo in this song gives me Working Man vibes.

Well, you seem to be quite happy
When you’re out among your friends.
But you live in isolation
Of which there is no end.

I kinda like reserving the weekends for the weirder stuff, don’t you? The solo pieces, the deep cuts, the tracks you might otherwise never hear.

“Wake Up” is one of those weird jams. I like it a lot: It’s energetic, with a killer opener and great guitar work. Generally, Neil is much better than this album, but on this song in particular he’s an absolute beast, wailing the crap out of that kit with precise, gunfire-like beats and a syncopated rhythm that keeps me on the edge of my seat.

Something about “Wake Up” gives me “Working Man” vibes—I think it’s the way the drum and guitar have a conversation during the solo, each instrument pushing the other in different “angles,” as Neil might say. Geddy and Alex of course do a lot of “conversation” during solos, and that back-and-forth musical volley defined much of Rush’s early sound, especially on Fly By Night. So it’s cool to see Neil trying it out, even before he joined forces with Alex and Ged.

You can navigate to individual songs on this video using the time stamps. “Wake Up” starts at 11:22.