Rush's Alex Lifeson Looks Back At Fun 'Permanent Waves' 40 Years Later

Keavin Wiggins | 06-02-2020

Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson reflected on the 40th anniversary of their 1980 album "Permanent Waves", remembering making the effort as "fun and positive."

Lifeson spoke to Classic Rock recently about the album's anniversary. He remembered, At times, Hemispheres was soul crushing.

"On the other hand, Permanent Waves was so positive and fun. We had come some way as a touring band, playing to larger and more supportive audiences, and all the touring made us better players.

"Individually we were all in a good space, and it showed in the way we treated each other and those around us. Life was fun and exciting."

He also reflected on a couple of the songs. He said, "Freewill stands out the most for me. It was such a challenging song to play for all of us, but I remember being so excited on the day we recorded it.

"I can still remember clearly sitting on the tall stool directly behind engineer Paul Northfield, with producer Terry Brown at the console to my right smoking Gitanes.

"I'm sure we did The Spirit Of Radio in the control room too, because that's how we worked: on a stool, sitting behind Paul, with Terry there giving Paul a kick in the back of his chair every so often when he drifted away!"