Rush – Permanent Waves album art
The connected lettering for the album title was drawn based on chrome badges from 1950s Chevrolets, such as the BelAir. In 1998, Stuart Sandler of Font Diner has transformed and expanded the letterforms into a font named Permanent Waves.
Rush.com:
Permanent Waves is the band’s seventh studio album, released on January 14th, 1980. It was recorded at Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec, and mixed at Trident Studios in London. The tracks were laid down just shy of four weeks, in part attributed to the idyllic working conditions of Morin Heights.
The album marks a transition from long, conceptual pieces, into a more accessible, radio-friendly style. “The Spirit Of Radio” is one of the most commercial songs Rush has ever produced, containing several different musical elements, even a touch of reggae. At the time, Alex recalled:
“We’ve always played around with reggae in the studio and we used to do a reggae intro to Working Man onstage, so when it came to doing Spirit Of Radio we just thought we’d do the reggae bit to make us smile and have a little fun.”
The waving man in the background of the album cover is actually Hugh Syme, the band’s long time design collaborator.
