Album of the Day

Victor, by Victor (1996): Victor was the solo project by Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson. Along with Geddy Lee's My Favorite Headache, it's th only solo projects to emerge from the Canadian trio's 30+ year career. The contrast between the two is interesting and goes to why Rush fandom tends to favor Geddy's disc. Victor, except in a couple places ("Promise" and "Start Today," with Lee-like vocals from Lisa Dalbello), doesn't sound a whole lot like Rush. It's layered with programmed synths and percussion. For a guitar player's album, there's not a whole lot of show off soloing (the title track doesn't have any guitar on it at all!). It's also fairly dark, angry, and cynical, from a lyrical standpoint. All of those are reasons why I really like the album, but why I think most Rush fan's prefer Geddy's disc - it's much more Rush-like and accessible.

UPDATE: The "Victor" of the title track is a 1937 poem by W.H. Auden that serves as the lyrics for that song. Prowling around the web, I found this interesting analysis of the poem and the album. A quote from Lifeson about the project:

Although 'Victor' the poem is very, very long, I condensed it for the song. It really caught the essence of what the record was about, dealing with the dark side of love and how it can push you to do things that are pretty horrific. So, it seemed to suit the record quite well.

I'd agree with that.

FURTHER UPDATE: OK, having read the whole analysis now, it's not quite as interesting as I suspected. The critic takes what Lifeson said about "Victor" (that it was a late on addition to the album), throws it out, and then promptly bashes other songs on the album for not fitting the concept he wants to impose on them. I'm not persuaded, but what do I know?