I remember hearing about this album long before it was released in the press. I remember getting very excited about it. I remember my sons getting excited about it too because even though they weren’t exactly into Rush at the time, they were very much into steampunk, and the album was to be a steampunk concept LP. Rush’s very first, and only complete concept album. I pre-ordered it and avidly waited for it’s release. When it finally arrived and we all listened to it for the first time, we all loved it, and were even more delighted that Rush were going to tour the album in the UK. We bought four tickets to see them at the O2 Arena in London. When the day finally came we got to the arena early and had lunch there, bought merchandise and waited patiently to be let in. The concert itself was one of the most memorable moments of my life. I was watching the most magnificent band in the world with my family. I had finally converted my wife and my two boys into Rush fans!

I will never ever forget that day.

Now onto the album itself. Rush seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves performing on this record and it is a total blast to listen to. It felt a bit like listening to 2112 all over again, that’s how good it is! Major highlights include BU2B, the title track and the magnificent song The Wreckers, as well as the two I’ve chosen as names for the final ships. Little did we know, however, that not only was that the last time Rush would play in the UK, it was also to be their final album. Not long after their final tour Neil announced his retirement from performing. Even so we all thought there might be a chance the boys would get back together for one more album. Yet that was all put to bed when Neil’s death from a glioblastoma (brain cancer) was announced to a shocked and distraught fanbase on Friday January 10th 2020. Rush’s story was over.

Caravan
BU2B
Clockwork Angels
The Anarchist
Carnies
Halo Effect
Seven Cities Of Gold
The Wreckers
Headlong Flight
BU2B2
Wish Them Well
The Garden

The Problem With Getting All 38 Ships

So, remember I mentioned the flaw with the plan of getting all 38 ships? Well, the upshot is, there is one ship I will never own. And that ship is the Cobra Mk IV. It was only available to backers of the original kick-starter for the game. And that is how it should remain. I have no desire to own one, and neither should anyone else who wasn’t an original backer. It must remain an exclusive ship for those people without whom Elite Dangerous may never have happened. So how have I actually managed to get a 38th ship? Well, if you are familiar with the game you’ll have worked it out. For everyone else – you’ll have to just keep reading.

Federal Corvette

Had my eye on this death machine ever since I first learned of the “Big Three” (Anaconda, Imperial Clipper and this – although the Type 10 ought to be included to make it the “Big Four”). Always wanted one, never got around to buying one. Until now. An there she is! The Federal Corvette is one of the few ships in the game that actually takes my breath away every time my gaze falls upon one. But it’s not until you get inside the cockpit and sit in the pilot’s seat that it really begins to feel like it could be every NPC pilots’ worst nightmare.

I went with the name Anarchist, My favourite track on the album. And when I took her out for some intensive bounty hunting she more than lived up to her name! Two huge (uh-huh – two) hardpoints, one large, two medium and two small. Devastating!

I wanted to stay out there popping pirates for a long as I could, so I went with all lasers. Two oversized pulse for the huge, a kinetic burst for the large, two phase sequencing bursts for the mediums and two long range thermal vent turreted beams for the smalls. All fully engineered. Then fully engineered shields and six boosters pushed the shield strength to over 4000! No need for a strong hull. After some advice I decided it wasn’t really needed and that a longer jump range was probably better, And it was much cheaper. Even though she’s a massive ship, with G5 engineered dirty drag thrusters she can manoeuvre surprisingly well too. All that was left was to take her to the nearest high risk resource site for some carnage.

As you can see from those three screenshots above she made mincemeat out of an Anaconda almost before we’d even started. Even with the two small beams constantly firing the other lasers still continued to charge. It was shocking how quickly I was tearing pirates to bits with this ship. If the enemy released chaff, it would give me an excuse to recharge my guns and then as soon as it wore off I could pile the damage back on again. Once I’d had enough, I decided to do what I did with the Type 10 and fly to Mu Ceti to do some combat there.

Basically the same, only in a much prettier location. Nothing stood a chance, even when several of them ganged up on me. And the Anarchist didn’t even get a scratch! When it was time to finish, I headed home to Valtys. I’d had a lot of fun, but there was still one more vessel to buy.

Fleet Carrier

The first time I dropped in on the carrier I shed a tear. I’ve wanted one of these for such a long time, but had to wait until I’d bought every other ship and ground the credits to be able to afford one and keep it running for a while. It was an incredible moment for me.

It will be a place that will hold my entire fleet. A place to look after all those wonderful ships. Even the Type 7! And that is why I decided to name her the Garden. Such a wonderful song that comes right at the very end of the very last album.

Once I ‘d landed on her and docked, I switched accounts and travelled there with one of my PC ships, the El’ahrairah’s Request. One of the few player owned things that exists across all platforms.

I landed, disembarked and made my way to the front of the viewing area to see the show. I then switched back to PS to take the ship into hyperspace.

Such a wonderful experience! It felt amazing to finally be able to see a hyperspace jump from inside my own fleet carrier!