Permanent Waves by Rush

Permanent Waves, Rush's seventh album, came out on Anthem in January 1980, and it's where the Canadian trio learned to say more in less time. After the Hemispheres tour wound down in the summer of 1979, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart holed up on a farm near Flesherton, Ontario to write, then cut the record at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec, producing alongside Terry Brown.

"The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill" are the proof of the new discipline: tight, punchy and built for the airwaves, with Lee reining in his high-flying vocals for a cooler, more controlled delivery. The prog appetite hasn't gone anywhere, though; "Jacob's Ladder" and the nine-minute closer "Natural Science" still stretch out. It was their fastest seller yet, and the tour that followed was the first to turn them a profit.

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