Rush (band)
Rush is a
Canadian progressive rock band comprising
bassist,
keyboardist and
vocalist Geddy Lee,
guitarist Alex Lifeson, and
drummer and
lyricist Neil Peart. Rush formed in the summer of 1968, in
Willowdale, Ontario (now part of Toronto) by Lifeson, Lee, and
John Rutsey. Peart (from
St. Catharines, Ontario) replaced Rutsey on drums in July of 1974, two weeks before the group's first US tour, to complete the present lineup. Since the release of their
eponymous debut in 1974, the band became well-known for their instrumental virtuosity, complex compositions, erudite lyrics, and inspirational camaraderie. Rush's three decades of continued success under their current lineup of Lee, Lifeson, and Peart has earned the band the respect of their musical peers, and their supporters are often cited as some of the most intensely loyal in rock. Rush has influenced such artists as
Dream Theater,
Metallica,
Smashing Pumpkins,
Primus,
Soundgarden,
Van Halen,
Symphony X,
Shadow Gallery,
Tool, fellow Canadian rockers
Triumph,
The Tragically Hip and
Barenaked Ladies.
Rush has been awarded the
Juno Award[Juno Award Juno Archives Accessed 16 March 2006] several times and was inducted into the
Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1994
[Canadian Music Hall of Fame CMHF Accessed 16 March 2006]. They have also been nominated four times for a
Grammy Award. (
Complete list of awards.) Additionally, Lee, Lifeson, and Peart are all Officers of the
Order of Canada[The Order of Canada member list NNDB Accessed 16 March 2006], the first rock musicians so honored. Over the course of their career, the individual members of Rush have been recognized as some of the most proficient players on their respective instruments. Each member has won several awards in magazine reader's polls
[Individual awards list Rush Archives Accessed 17 March 2006]. As a whole, Rush boasts 23 gold records and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records making them one of the best selling rock bands in history. Rush currently place fifth behind
The Beatles,
The Rolling Stones,
KISS and
Aerosmith for the most consecutive gold and platinum albums by a rock band
[RIAA certifications Recording Industry Association of America Accessed 16 March 2006].
*
Geddy Lee - Bass guitar, Mini-Moog, Oberheim Polyphonic, Taurus Pedals, synthesizers, lead vocals (1968â€"present)
*
Alex Lifeson - Six and twelve string acoustic and electric guitars, mandola, bass pedals, backing vocals (1968â€"present)
*
Neil Peart - Drums, electronic and acoustic percussion (1974â€"present)
*
John Rutsey - Drums (1968â€"1974)
 |
The "starman" logo (by artist Hugh Syme) first appeared on the back cover of the 1976 album, 2112. Neil Peart explained in 1982, "All it means is the abstract man against the masses. The red star symbolizes any collectivist mentality." |
Rush's musical style has changed substantially over time. Their debut album is strongly influenced by British-Blues rock: an amalgam of sounds and styles from such rock bands as
Cream,
Led Zeppelin,
Black Sabbath, and
Deep Purple. Over the first few albums their style remained essentially
hard rock, with heavy influences from
The Who [Alex Lifeson Interview, March 2006 Guitar Player Magazine Accessed 30 March 2006] and Led Zeppelin
[Allmusic: Rush album AllMusic.com Accessed 18 March 2006], but also became increasingly influenced by the British
progressive rock movement
[Geddy Lee Interview, March 2006 Bass Player Magazine Accessed 30 March 2006]. In the tradition of progressive rock, Rush wrote long songs with odd meters and fantasy-inspired lyrics, but they did not soften their sound. This fusion of hard and progressive rock continued until the end of the 1970s. In the 1980s, however, Rush successfully merged their trademark sound with the trends of this period, experimenting with
New Wave music,
reggae, and
pop rock[Allmusic: Signals AllMusic.com Accessed 18 March 2006]. This period included the band's most extensive use of instruments such as
synthesizers,
sequencers and electronic percussion. It is largely agreed that the culmination of this era of Rush was in 1987 after the release of
Hold Your Fire[ ProgArchives Accessed 18 March 2006]. With the approach of the early '90s and Rush's character sound still intact, the band transformed their style once again to harmonize with the
alternative rock movement
[Allmusic: Counterparts AllMusic.com Accessed 18 March 2006]. The new millennium has seen them return to a more rock-n-roll roots sound, albeit with modern production
.
The early days (1968–1976)
The original lineup formed in September 1968, consisting of Jeff Jones on bass and vocals, John Rutsey on drums and Alex Lifeson on guitars. Geddy Lee, a schoolmate of Lifeson, quickly replaced Jones. After this point the band experienced rapid personnel changes and lineup reformations before finally settling on its first officially recognized incarnation in May 1971, comprising Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and John Rutsey. The band was managed by local Toronto resident Ray Daniels, a frequent attender of Rush's early shows.
After gaining stability in the lineup and honing their skills on the local bar/high school dance circuit, the band came to release their first single "Not Fade Away", a cover of the
Buddy Holly song, in 1973. Side B contained an original composition, "You Can't Fight It", credited to Rutsey and Lee. The single generated little reaction and due to record company indifference the band formed their own independent record label,
Moon Records. With the aid of Daniels and the newly enlisted Terry Brown working in an unofficial capacity, the band released their self-titled debut album in 1974. Highly derivative of Led Zeppelin
,
Rush had limited local popularity until the album was picked up by
WMMS, a radio station in Cleveland, Ohio. Donna Halper, a DJ working at the station, selected "Working Man" for her regular play list. The song's blue collar theme resonated with hard rock fans and this new found popularity led to the album being re-released by
Mercury Records[Donna Halper, and the Rush Discovery Story RushWeb Accessed 5 March 2006] [History of Rush History of Rush Accessed February 2006] in the US.
Immediately after the release of the debut album, Rutsey resigned due to his affliction with
diabetes and a distaste for touring. Rush held auditions and eventually selected
Neil Peart as Rutsey's replacement. In addition to becoming the band's drummer, Peart assumed the role of principal lyricist as Lee and Lifeson had very little interest in writing, contributing to only a handful of song lyrics over the rest of the band's career. Instead, they focused primarily on the musical aspects of Rush.
Fly By Night (1975), Rush's first album after recruiting Peart, saw the inclusion of the band's first mini-epic tale "By-Tor and the Snow Dog", replete with complex arrangements and multi-section format. Lyrical themes also underwent dramatic changes after the addition of Peart due to his love for fantasy and science-fiction literature. However, despite these many differences most of the music still closely mirrored the style found on Rush's debut
[Banasiewicz, Bill (1990). Rush Visions: The Official Biography. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0711911622].
Following quick on the heels of
Fly By Night, the band released
Caress of Steel (1975) a five track hard/art rock album featuring two extended multi-chapter songs, "The Necromancer" and "The Fountain of Lamneth".
Caress of Steel was considered an audacious move for the band due to the placement of two protracted numbers back-to-back, as well as a heavier reliance on atmospherics and story-telling, a large deviation from
Fly by Night. Intended to be the band's first "break-through" album,
Caress of Steel sold below expectations and the promotional tour consisted of small venues which led to the moniker the "Down the Tubes Tour"
[Tour Archive 2112.net Accessed 18 March 2006]. In light of these events, Rush's record label pressured them into molding their next album in a more commercially friendly and accessible fashion. However, in spite of such urges, the band ignored the requests and developed their next album,
2112. It was the band's first taste of commercial success and their first platinum album in Canada, although it would not be certified in the US until after the release of their 1981 album Moving Pictures
[Rush Highlights Official Rush Website Accessed 16 March 2006]. It is widely considered to be the pinnacle of early period Rush. The lyrics of this time (most of them written by Peart) were heavily influenced by classical poetry, fantasy literature, science fiction and, in a few cases, the writings of
novelist and
philosopher Ayn Rand, as exhibited most prominently by their
1975 song "Anthem" from
Fly By Night and a specifically acknowledged derivation in 1976's
2112[2112 and Ayn Rand Rush FAQ Accessed 16 March 2006]. After the breakthrough of
2112, the band released their first US Top 40 album, a double live album titled
All the World's a Stage in 1976.
The progressive rock era (1977–1981)
After the highly acclaimed and well-received
2112, Rush followed up and delivered 1977's
A Farewell to Kings (which became the band's first US Gold selling album) and 1978's
Hemispheres. These albums saw the band pushing the prog rock envelope even further than before by expanding their use of progressive elements. Trademarks such as increased synthesizer usage, extended length concept songs, and highly dynamic playing featuring complex time signature changes became a staple of Rush's compositions. In order to achieve a broader, progressive palette of sound, Alex Lifeson began to experiment with twelve- and six-string classical guitars, and Geddy Lee added bass-pedal synthesizers and
Mini-Moog. Likewise, Peart's percussion became diversified in the form of
triangles,
glockenspiel, wood-blocks, cow-bells, tympani, gong and chimes. Beyond instrument additions, the band kept in stride with the progressive rock movement by continuing to compose long, conceptual songs with science fiction and fantasy overtones. However, as the new decade approached, Rush gradually began to dispose of their older styles of music in favor of shorter, and sometimes softer, arrangements.
1980's
Permanent Waves shifted Rush's style of music dramatically via the introduction of
reggae and
new wave. Additionally, although a hard rock style was still evident, more and more
synthesizers were introduced. Moreover, due to the limited airplay Rush's previous extended-length songs received,
Permanent Waves included shorter, more radio-friendly songs such as "
The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill", two songs which helped
Permanent Waves become Rush's first US Top 5 album. Both songs continue to make appearances on classic rock radio stations in Canada and the United States to this day. Meanwhile, Peart's lyrics shifted toward an expository tone with subject matter that dwelled less upon fantastical or allegorical story-telling and more heavily on cerebral topics that explored humanitarian, social, emotional, and metaphysical elements.
 |
Rush
(Permanent Waves session photo 1979) |
Rush's popularity reached its pinnacle with the release of
Moving Pictures in 1981.
Moving Pictures essentially continued where
Permanent Waves left off, extending the trend of highly accessible and commercially friendly pop-progressive rock that helped thrust them into the spotlight. The lead track, "
Tom Sawyer", is probably the band's best known song, while "Limelight" also received satisfactory responses from listeners and radio stations. Furthermore,
Moving Pictures was the very last album to feature an extended song, the 10-and-a-half-minute "The Camera Eye". Incidentally, the song also possessed the band's heaviest usage of synthesizers up to that point hinting that Rush's music was shifting directions once more.
Moving Pictures reached #3 on the
Billboard 200 album chart and has been certified quadruple platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
[Moving Pictures Certification Recording Industry Association of America Accessed 16 March 2006].
Following the success of
Moving Pictures (and the completion of another four studio albums) Rush released their second live recording,
Exit...Stage Left, in 1981. The album delineates the apex of Rush's progressive period by featuring live material from the band's successful
Permanent Waves and
Moving Pictures tours. As with their first live release,
Exit...Stage Left identified the margin of a new chapter of Rush's sound. The band underwent another radical stylistic transmutation with the release of
Signals in 1982.
The synthesizer period (1982–1989)
While Geddy Lee's synthesizers had been featured instruments ever since the late 70s, 1982's
Signals arguably represented Rush's most drastic stylistic transformation up to that point. Keyboards were suddenly shifted from a contrapuntal background to the melodic frontlines
[Signals Rate Your Music Accessed 6 May 2006] [Signals Review Rolling Stone Accessed 6 May 2006]. Traditional guitar solos also became less of a focal point as seen in both "Countdown" and the lead-off track "
Subdivisions," the latter track featuring a short solo using natural harmonic accents for minimalism.
|
Rush
(The Body Electric Music Video, 1984) |
Signals contained Rush's only US top-40 pop hit, "New World Man"
[New World Man Rush Archives Accessed 6 May 2006], while, musically, other more experimental songs such as "Digital Man", "The Weapon", and "Chemistry" expanded the band's use of
ska,
reggae, and
funk[Signals Musical Style Visions, the Official Rush Biography, Chapter 10 Accessed 6 May 2006]. More specifically, Alex Lifeson's guitar tone and playing style on
Signals were very reminiscent of contemporary acts of the time who were well known for incorporating such rhythms into their music. Although the band members consciously decided to move in this overall direction, they felt dissatisfied with long-time producer
Terry Brown's studio treatment of
Signals and parted ways with him in 1983. These diverse styles would come into further play on their next studio album.
The style and production of
Signals were patently augmented and taken to new heights on 1984's
Grace Under Pressure. Although Geddy Lee's use of sequencers and synthesizers remained the band's cornerstone, his focus on new technology was complemented by Neil Peart's adaptation of electronic drums and percussionâ€"-a sonic evolutionary step similar to
A Farewell to Kings. Alex Lifeson's contributions on the album were decidedly enhanced to act as an overreaction to the minimalistic role he played on
Signals [Grace Under Pressure "Success Under Pressure" Accessed 7 May 2006]. Even still, many of his trademark guitar textures remained intact in the form of open reggae chords and funk and new-wave rhythms; "Red Lenses, "
Red Sector A", and "The Enemy Within" serving as prime examples.
Grace Under Pressure also featured several popular MTV music videos, including the anti-nuclear anthem "Distant Early Warning." "The Body Electric" would prove a staple of AOR and classic rock radio.
1985's
Power Windows was followed by
Hold Your Fire in 1987, both of which were produced by
Peter Collins. The music on these two albums gives far more emphasis and prominence to Geddy Lee's multi-layered synthesizer work. However,
Power Windows still builds somewhat upon the momentum from
Grace Under Pressure, even as it involves more sophisticated usage of sequencers and guitar minimalism. Alex Lifeson's presence is still palpable on "The Big Money," (the album's modest-charting single) with spotlights on "Grand Designs," "Middletown Dreams," and "Marathon." Lifeson, like many guitarists in the late 1980s, experimented with processors that reduced his instrument to echoey chord colorings and razor-thin leads.
Hold Your Fire represents both a modest extension of the guitar stylings found on
Power Windows, and the culmination of this era of Rush. Whereas the previous five Rush albums sold platinum or better,
Hold Your Fire only went gold in 1987. The group changed record labels from Mercury to
Atlantic in 1989.
A third live album and video,
A Show of Hands (1989), was also released by Mercury following the
Power Windows and
Hold Your Fire tours, demonstrating the aspects of Rush in the 80s.
A Show of Hands met with strong fan approval, but
Rolling Stone critic Michael Azerrad dismissed it as "musical muscle" with 1.5 stars, claiming Rush fans viewed their favorite power trio as "the holy trinity"
[Rolling Stone A Show of Hands Review Accessed 6 June 2006]. Nevertheless,
A Show of Hands managed to surpass the gold album mark. After Rush's departure in 1989,
Polygram also released a gold-selling two-volume compilation of their Rush catalog,
Chronicles (1990).
Returning to their roots (1989–1997)
Rush started to deviate from their 1980s style with the albums
Presto and
Roll the Bones. Produced by record engineer and musician
Rupert Hine, these two albums saw Rush shedding much of their keyboard-saturated sound. Beginning with 1989's
Presto, the band opted for arrangements that were notably more guitar-centric than the previous two studio albums. While synthesizers were still used in many songs, the instrument was no longer featured as the centerpiece of Rush's compositions. Continuing this trend, 1991's
Roll the Bones extended the use of the standard three instrument approach with even less focus on synthesizers than its predecessor. While, musically, these albums do not deviate too much from a general pop rock sound, Rush stuck to their creative approach of incorporating traces of more exotic musical styles. "Roll the Bones", for instance, exhibits
funk and
hip hop elements, while the instrumental track "
Where's My Thing?" (the band's first instrumental piece in a decade) features several jazz components
[Roll the Bones Allmusic: Accessed 18 March 2006]. This return to three piece instrumentation helped pave the way for future albums in the mid 90s, which would adopt a more straightforward rock formula.
 |
Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee of Rush
(Roll The Bones tour photo 1991) |
The transition from synthesizers to more guitar-oriented and organic instrumentation continued with the 1993 album
Counterparts and the follow-up 1996's
Test for Echo. Musically,
Counterparts and
Test For Echo are two of Rush's most guitar-driven albums. While the music in general did not meet the criteria for "progressive rock", some of the songs could be considered more adventurous than what one might expect from a standard modern rock band. For instance, "Time and Motion" possesses multiple time signature changes and heavy organ, while the instrumental track, titled "
Limbo", consists of several distinct, and relatively complex, musical passages repeated throughout the duration. Musically,
Test For Echo still retained much of the hard rock/alternative stylings already chartered on the previous record. Lifeson and Lee's playing remained more or less unchanged; however, a distinct modification in technique became apparent in Peart's playing due to formal
Jazz and
Swing training under the tutelage of jazz drummer
Freddie Gruber during the interim between
Counterparts and
Test For Echo. In October 1996, in support of
Test For Echo, the band embarked on an extensive and very successful North American tour, the band's first without an opening act and dubbed "An Evening with Rush". The tour was broken up into two segments spanning October through December, 1996 and May through July, 1997 with the band taking a respite between legs.
Hiatus and comeback (1997–present)
After wrapping up the tour promoting
Test for Echo in 1997, the band entered a five-year hiatus mainly due to personal tragedies in Peart's life. Peart's daughter Selena died in a car accident in August 1997, followed by his wife Jacqueline's death from
cancer in June 1998. Peart embarked on a self-described "healing journey" by motorcycle in which he traveled extensively across North America. He subsequently wrote about his travels in his book
Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. Rush later stated that they had nearly broken up during this period due to Peart's situation. During this abeyance of activity as Peart recuperated, a triple CD live album entitled
Different Stages was released in 1998. It contained two discs packed with recorded performances from the band's
Counterparts and
Test for Echo tours, marking the fourth officially released live album by the band.
|
Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart of Rush
(30th Anniversary tour photo 2004) |
After sufficient time to grieve and reassemble the pieces of his life, Peart married photographer
Carrie Nuttall in September of 2000. In early 2001 he announced to his band mates that he was ready to once again enter the studio and get back into the business of making music. The band returned in May 2002 with
Vapor Trails. In order to herald the band's comeback, the single and lead track from the album, "One Little Victory" was designed to grab the attention of listeners due to its rapid guitar and drum tempos
[Vapor Trails news archive Power Windows website Accessed 16 March 2006]. While mostly heavy rock, the album displayed a fair share of musical eclecticism ranging from standard modern-riff rock and poppy numbers to songs that display a fresh smattering of progressive flavor.
Vapor Trails also marks the first studio recording not to include a single synthesizer, organ, or keyboard part since the early 1970s. While the album is almost completely guitar-driven, it is mostly devoid of any conventional sounding guitar solos, a conscious decision made by Alex Lifeson during the writing process. According to the band, the entire developmental process for
Vapor Trails was extremely taxing and took approximately fourteen months to complete, by far the longest the band has ever spent writing and recording a studio album
. The album debuted to moderate praise and was supported by the band's first tour in six years, including first-ever
concerts in
Mexico City and
Brazil, where they played to some of the largest crowds of their career
A triple CD
live album and dual
DVD,
Rush in Rio, was released in late October 2003, an entire concert performance on the last night of their
Vapor Trails tour, recorded
November 23,
2002, at Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In order to celebrate their 30th anniversary, June 2004 saw the release of
Feedback, a
studio EP featuring eight
covers of such artists as Cream, The Who, and
The Yardbirds, bands which the members of Rush cite as inspiration around the time of their inception
[ Feedback new archive Power Windows Website Accessed 28 April]. This marks the first official studio release of the band covering the music of other artists. That same summer, Rush again hit the road for a very successful 30th Anniversary Tour, playing dates in the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. On
September 24,
2004 a
Frankfurt, Germany concert was recorded for DVD (titled
R30: Live in Frankfurt), which was released
November 22,
2005.
A new DVD box set, called
Rush Replay X 3, was released on
June 13 2006. It consists of the three original home videos (
Exit...Stage Left,
Grace Under Pressure and
A Show of Hands) completely remastered on DVD. Also included is a previously unreleased soundtrack CD to the
Grace Under Pressure disc
[Replay x3 Rush Official Website Accessed 13 April 2006].
Future plans
During promotional interviews for the
R30 Live In Frankfurt DVD, the band confirmed their intention to return to the studio in early 2006 with a view to releasing a new album later in the year, with yet another tour to follow. Lifeson has confirmed that the writing and recording processes for the new album are being executed differently than how they were in the past. Instead of writing all of the songs first followed by recording, mixing and mastering sessions, small groups of songs will be written and recorded in procession.
In a
January 20,
2006 post on his own website, Peart stated that "the actual work" of recording a new album "is sure to take most of 2006 to accomplish," and that "any tour dates in 2006 are unlikely â€" maybe next year". In a further post on
April 26,
2006 Peart wrote of a meeting the band held at his house in Quebec in March. Neil had given Lee and Lifeson lyrics for five songs in January, which was put to music during the interim. Pleased with what his fellow musicians had come up with, Peart described the songs as having a "spiritual" feel
[Neil Peart Neil Peart's Official Website Accessed 17 March 2006].
Over 30 years of activity has provided Rush with the opportunity for musical diversity across their discography. Like many bands known for experimentation, such changes have inevitably resulted in strong dissent among critics and fans. The bulk of the band's music has always included synthetic instruments in some form or another, and this, more than anything else, is a great source of contention in the Rush camp, especially in regards to the band's heavy reliance on synthesizers and
keyboards during the 1980s
[Grace Under Pressure All Music Accessed 18 March 2006] [Rush Profile Music.com Accessed 28 March 2006]. Still, many saw this as nothing less than artistic growth and support for the band remained unwavering through each transitional phase
.
Due to this ongoing controversy over Rush, they have yet to be inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The members of Rush have themselves noted that people "either love Rush or hate Rush", resulting in strong detractors and an intensely loyal fan base.
Rolling Stone has often been blamed for their inability to enter the Hall
[Rush and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame About.com Accessed 18 March 2006]. The Hall's refusal to induct Rush may also be a consequence of the band's insistence on remaining outside the mainstream of rock when it comes to self-promotion, in favor of maintaining a high degree of independence
[Vapor Trails Interview: "R30 Interviews"]. To this day fans earnestly clamor for the band's inclusion into the hall by citing noteworthy accomplishments including longevity, proficiency, and influence, as well as commercial sales figures and
RIAA certifications. Also, despite having completely dropped out of the public eye for five years after
Test for Echo and the band being relegated almost solely to classic rock stations in the U.S.,
Vapor Trails reached #6 on the Billboard Chart in its first week of release in 2002. The subsequent
Vapor Trails tour grossed over $24 million and included the largest audience ever to see a Rush show — 60,000 fans in
São Paulo. However,
Vapor Trails remains the band's poorest selling album release to date. The following year, the band released
Rush in Rio, which the RIAA has certified gold, marking the fourth decade in which a Rush album had been released and certified at least gold. Moreover, in 2004,
Feedback cracked the top twenty on the Billboard 200 chart, in addition to receiving radio airplay.
Geddy Lee
Apart from prolific writing, musical influence, and instrumental prowess, Geddy Lee's high-register vocal style has always been a main signature of the band -- and often a focal point for criticism, especially during the early years of Rush's career when Lee's vocals were high-pitched, with a strong likeness to British hard-rock singers
Robert Plant and
Steve Marriott. In fact, his voice is often described as a "wail"
[Allmusic: Geddy Lee Biography AllMusic.com Accessed 18 March 2006][East Rutherford, N.J., 16 December 1996, Concert Review New York Times Accessed 5 April 2006]. Nevertheless, Lee's vox has softened significantly over the years and still remains distinctive, and even somewhat unique in the
Rock & Roll genre. His instrumental abilities, on the other hand, are rarely criticized. An award-winning musician, Lee's style, technique, and virtuosity on the bass guitar have proven very influential in the rock and
heavy metal genres, inspiring such players as
Steve Harris of
Iron Maiden,
John Myung of Dream Theater,
Les Claypool of Primus, the late
Cliff Burton of Metallica, and countless others. His main schtick, particularly during the 1980s, was his ability to competently operate several different pieces of instrumentation simultaneously. This was mostly evident during live shows when it was necessary for Lee, as the frontman, to play bass, supply lead vocals, manipulate keyboards, and trigger footpedals during the course of a performance, as in the song "
Tom Sawyer"
. Obviously this restricted his movement significantly, as he was required to remain in one place during songs which contained complex instrumentation. Lifeson and Peart were, to a lesser extent, responsible for similar actions during live shows. Besides cuing various guitar effects, Lifeson's duties have also involved the use of bass-pedal synthesizers.
Alex Lifeson
Instrumentally, Lifeson is regarded as a master guitarist, a pioneer of electronic effects and chord structures who is seen by many to be the "Heart and soul of Rush"
[Alex Lifeson profile Dinosaur Rock God Accessed 31 March 2006]. During his adolescent years, he was influenced primarily by
Jimi Hendrix,
Pete Townshend,
Jeff Beck,
Eric Clapton and
Jimmy Page[Alex Lifeson profile Epiphone Accessed 31 March 2006]. For versatility, Lifeson was known to incorporate touches of Spanish and classical into Rush's guitar driven sound of the 1970s. Taking a backseat to Lee's keyboards in the 1980s, Lifeson's guitar returned to the forefront in the 1990s and has remained there ever since. Despite this high esteem, he is often regarded as being overshadowed by his band mates due to Lee's on-stage multi-instrumental dexterity and Peart's iconic status
[Alex Lifeson profile All Classical Accessed 31 March 2006].
Neil Peart
Peart is widely regarded by music fans, drummers and fellow musicians as one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock, this high esteem continuing today as it has throughout his playing career
[Neil Peart profile Drummer World Accessed 30 March 2006]. He is also regarded as one of the finest practitioners of the in-concert drum solo
[Modern Drummer Magazine April 2006 Article "Soloing in the Shadow of Giants". Modern Drummer Publishing Inc. NJ, USA.]. Initially inspired by
Keith Moon, Peart absorbed the influence of other rock drummers from the 60's and 70's, such as
Ginger Baker,
Carmine Appice and
John Bonham[Anatomy of a Drum Solo DVD, Neil Peart (2005)accompanying booklet. (Republished in Modern Drummer Magazine, April 2006) ]. Incorporation of unusual instruments (for rock drummers of the time) such as cow bells,
glockenspiel, and
tubular bells, along with several standard kit elements, helped create a highly varied setup. Continually modified to this day, Peart's drumkit allows an enormous array of percussion instruments for sonic diversity. For two decades Peart honed his technique, and with each new Rush album introduced an expanded percussive vocabulary. In the 90's he surprised many fans by reinventing his style, with the help of drum coach Freddy Gruber. At this time Peart began emulating
jazz drummer
Buddy Rich.
Due to his esteem as a multi-percussionist, a staple and highlight of Rush's concerts is a drum solo by Neil Peart. All of Peart's drum solos include a basic framework of routines connected by sections of improvisation, leaving each performance unique. Each successive tour sees the solo more advanced, with some routines dropped in favor of newer, more complex ones. Since the mid-late 1980s Peart has utilized
MIDI trigger pads to trigger sounds sampled from various pieces of acoustic percussion that would otherwise consume far too much stage area, such as a
marimba,
harp,
temple blocks,
triangles,
glockenspiel,
orchestra bells,
tubular bells, and
vibra-slap as well as other, more esoteric percussion. Some purely electronic, description-defying sounds are also used. All are incorporated into each drum solo.
Peart also serves as Rush's primary lyricist, attracting much attention over the years due to his eclectic style. Known for penning concept albums and songs inspired by literature, opinions of his writing have varied greatly running the gamut of cerebral and insightful to overly pretentious and preachy
[Rush profile John Mcferrin's Rock and Prog Reviews Accessed 18 March 2006]. Nonetheless, his lyrical contributions provide a compelling case study. Polygram distributed a poetry packet to high schools in 1986 in conjunction with the release of
Power Windows with the intent of stimulating student interest in poetry and teaching about metaphors, similes, and personifications as used within the lyrics of that album.
|
Rush has produced numerous albums over the course of three decades |
Studio albums
G = 500,000, P = 1 million, M=Multiplatinum. For example, M(2) = 2 millionOther studio records
*
Not Fade Away (
1973 - 7" Single)
*
Closer to The Heart (
1977 - Single)
*
Feedback (
June 29,
2004 - Cover Album)
Live albums
*
All The World's a Stage (September
1976)
*
Exit...Stage Left (October
1981)
*
A Show of Hands (December
1988)
*
Different Stages (November
1998)
*
Rush in Rio (October
2003)
*
R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour (November
2005)
Videos
*
Exit...Stage Left (VHS, Laserdisc) (1981
PolyGram)
*
Through the Camera Eye (VHS, Laserdisc) (1985 PolyGram)
*
Grace Under Pressure Tour (VHS, Laserdisc) (1985/1986 PolyGram)
*
A Show of Hands (VHS, Laserdisc) (1989 PolyGram)
*
Chronicles (VHS, Laserdisc, DVD) (1990 PolyGram)
*
Rush in Rio (DVD) (October 2003)
*
R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour (DVD) (November 2005)
*
Rush Replay X3 (DVD/CD) (June 2006)
Compilations and interviews
*
Archives (April
1978) – Repackage of the first three albums (
Rush,
Fly by Night and
Caress of Steel)
*
Chronicles (September
1990) – Essentially a "Greatest Hits" release
*
The Story of Kings - Interview (
1992) – Interview with
Alex Lifeson*
The Interviews - Vol 2 (October
1995) – Interview with
Geddy Lee*
Retrospective I 1974-
1980 (
1997) – Repackaging of best songs from 1974-1980.
*
Retrospective II 1981-
1987 (
1997) – Repackaging of best songs from 1981-1987.
*
The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987 (February
2003) – Repackaging of
Mercury/
Polygram-held songs up to
Hold Your Fire (
1987)
*
Gold (
April 25,
2006) - Repackaging of
Retrospectives I &
II with the replacement of "Something for Nothing" with "Working Man"
Solo efforts
*
Burning for Buddy, Volume 1 (
Buddy Rich tribute album) – (Solo), Peart,
et al. (
1994)
*
Burning for Buddy, Volume 2 (
Buddy Rich tribute album) – (Solo), Peart,
et al. (
1997)
*
Victor – (Solo), Lifeson,
et al. (
1996)
*
My Favorite Headache – (Solo), Lee,
et al. (November
2000)
*
A Work In Progress – (Solo), Peart, (April
2002)
*
Anatomy of A Drum Solo – (Solo), Peart, (December
2005)
*
Rush: Visions: The Official Biography – Banasiewicz, Bill. (1988), Omnibus Press – ISBN 0711911622
*
Rush Tribute: Merely Players – Telleria, Robert (2002) – ISBN 1550822713
*
Rush: Success Under Pressure – Gett, Steve. (1984) – ISBN 0895242303
*
Rhythm & Light – Nuttall, Carrie, (2005), Rounder Books, ISBN 1579400930
*
Drum Techniques of Rush – Peart (1985) – ISBN 0769250556
*
More Drum Techniques of Rush – Peart, Wheeler (1989) – ISBN 0769250513
*
The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa – Peart (1999) – ISBN 1895900026
*
Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road – Peart (2002) – ISBN 1550225464 (hardcover), ISBN 1550225480 (paperback)
*
Traveling Music: Playing Back the Soundtrack to My Life and Times – Peart (2004) – ISBN 1550226649
*
Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years of Rush at Home and Away – Popoff, Martin. Publisher: Ecw Press (
June 28 2004) – ISBN 1550226789
*
Mystic Rhythms: The Philosophical Vision of Rush – Price, et al. (1999) – ISBN 1587151022
*
Rush: Chemistry : The Definitive Biography – Collins, Jon. (2006) Helter Skelter Publishing – ISBN 1900924854 (Hardcover)
*
Rush instrumentals*
Rush awards list and RIAA certifications*
Rush in popular culture*
*
*
*
* â€" 2500 members
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Audio Samples Universal-Rock 2112*
Audio Samples Universal-Rock Permanent Waves*
Audio Samples Universal-Rock Moving Pictures*
Audio Samples Universal-Rock Signals*
Audio Samples Universal-Rock Test For Echo*
Audio Samples Universal-Rock Vapor Trails*
Rush Videos*
2112.net - Rushable Kingdom
