10 Best Album Finales In Rock History
7. Cygnus X-1 - Rush
Not many albums are known to really leave you on a cliffhanger. Unless you know for sure that there's going to be some kind of sequel or new musical idea on the horizon, there's really no use in leading your listener on if you're not going to resolve it. Then again, before any of the Marvel movies started to do post-credit teasers, Rush found a way to leave you aching for more just when you started to get going.
On the surface, A Farewell to Kings is a great record, showing this power trio coming into their own after winning over their fanbase on 2112. Though we had gotten used to the more extravagant tales on something like Xanadu, Cygnus X-1 is where things start to get even more interesting. Starting with a vast array of synths, this song is a tale of a spaceman's journey, as he goes to investigate a black hole on the horizon.
Just as the black hole comes into view, the gravitational pull sucks our hero in further and further until...nothing. In one of the more creative moves in prog rock, the ending of our hero is left ambiguous, which would eventually be resolved when the band continued the story at the start of the next album Hemispheres. While most rock bands like to leave their albums off on a high note, this is one of the few albums in rock history that can sport a "to be continued..." at the finale.