- Moving Pictures (Remastered) · 1981
- A Farewell to Kings (40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) · 1977
- Moving Pictures (Remastered) · 1981
- Fly By Night (Remastered) · 1975
- Rush (Remastered) · 1974
- Permanent Waves (Remastered) · 1980
- Permanent Waves (40th Anniversary) · 1980
- Permanent Waves (Remastered) · 1980
- Permanent Waves (Remastered) · 1980
- Moving Pictures (Remastered) · 1981
- A Farewell to Kings (Remastered) · 1977
- Roll the Bones (Remastered) · 1991
- A Farewell to Kings (Remastered) · 1977
Essential Albums
- There’s an elvish spirit at play in Rush’s cascading prog rock. “Freewill” has a gleeful off-kilter skip, and the evergreen “Spirit of Radio” seethes with joyful ideas, from the much-sampled guitar twiddles to the reggae ‘n’ riffs latter sections. Their strident dynamics are lethally sharp, but poppy on “Jacob’s Ladder”, while Geddy Lee’s voice takes on a lower, more gnomish tone (“Entre Nous”) that even verges on outright eerie in the opening movements of the blistering epic “Natural Science”.
- Hemispheres is Rush at their imperial best. It's a supremely confident album of pinwheeling prog rock, bookended by two long tracks—“Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres” and “La Villa Strangiato”—that skip through musical themes, tumbling pell-mell from languid calm to folky innocence (“The Trees”) to rapid-fire, stop-start riffing of remarkable nimbleness. Their trademark blazing interplay of instruments is particularly notable in the gonzo “Circumstances”, which condenses the assault into one frenzied scattershot attack.
- How do you follow up a landmark prog-rock magnum opus like 2112? For Rush, it meant simultaneously pushing their music to heavier, more cerebral and melodic realms. A Farewell to Kings boasts two of Rush’s most elaborate set pieces in “Xanadu” and “Cygnus X-1: Book 1: The Voyage”, whose extended ambient intros gradually erupt into proto-metal pyrotechnics. But in between lies the immortal “Closer to the Heart”, a lighter-waving acoustic anthem that accelerates into a hair-raising finale.
- The 1970s proved to be an era for hard rock bands to explore the further reaches of their ambitions. Canada’s Rush were among the groups who locked into a successful new formula that eschewed the conventions of the hit single for instrumental diversions and lyrical adventures that helped them stand out within the burgeoning scene. 2112 is Rush’s fourth album and the first to consistently capture their emerging vision. All accomplished musicians, the trio emphasized dynamics and thrilling trills to accentuate their epic musical vision. Arena rock was only beginning to find its place and Rush’s blend of progressive rock’s slow-building moods and their own anthemic powerchords proved to be an enlightening mixture. The title track is a seven-part, 20 minute epic where drummer Neil Peart’s Ayn Rand inspired lyrics are passionately expressed by bassist Geddy Lee’s shrieking delivery. The shorter selections that made up side two of the original album – “A Passage to Bangkok,” in particular – pointed up the band’s strengths as succinct writers as well. Rush became the exemplary power trio, every member finding their distinctive niche without sacrificing the collective power of the group sound.
- The 1975 arrival of drummer Neil Peart transformed Rush’s sound, adding prog sharpness to their heavy blues and offering insightful lyrics. The confidence is clear from the start: “Anthem” and “Best I Can” push Peart’s intricate precision to the fore and prepare the ground for the shuffling dynamics of “Beneath, Between and Behind”. And while “Fly By Night” suggests an alternate career in power pop, it’s the furiously compact rock epic “By-Tor and the Snow Dog” that points to the band’s future.
- 2022
- 2020
- 2012
- 2012
- 2012
Artist Playlists
- The Canadian prog-rockers dazzle with technical wizardry and fantastical lyrics.
- Underneath all the prog complexity is serious hard-rock heft.
- The young trio consumed tons of early prog, hard rock and metal.
- The trio's legacy reaches beyond prog to metal and alt-rock.
Compilations
More To Hear
- Songs from the prog band and artists they’ve inspired.
- Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson stopped in at the House of Strombo.
About Rush
Although rightfully considered prog icons, Rush were a testament to what happened when bands refused to rest on their laurels. In a career that spanned over four decades, the Toronto trio pushed hard rock into new and futuristic territory via an embrace of cutting-edge musical trends (think the zooming keyboards propelling “Tom Sawyer”) and elaborate concert staging. Guitarist Alex Lifeson and bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee started playing together as Rush in the late ’60s, initially favouring a sound heavily indebted to Led Zeppelin. However, after drummer Neil Peart joined the band in summer 1974, weeks before Rush were scheduled to tour the U.S., the group began to explore more sophisticated arrangements and complex songwriting. An acolyte of the jazz great Buddy Rich, Peart took a methodical approach to drumming; in fact, his flashy live solos exhibited masterful rhythmic artistry. As a lyricist, Peart was equally meticulous and unafraid to challenge the status quo, whether he was crafting fantasy epics (“By-Tor and the Snow Dog”), critiquing suburban homogeneity (“Subdivisions”) or encouraging people to live in the moment (“Time Stand Still”). Accordingly, Rush also kept their sound updated, adding New Wave-friendly synthesisers during the ’80s, dabbling in hulking grunge grooves and funk rock in the ’90s, and concluding their studio recording career with 2012’s eclectic opus Clockwork Angels. The band retired from the road in 2015 after a successful R40 Live tour, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of their self-titled debut LP, and disbanded in 2018. Peart’s 2020 death from brain cancer effectively ended any hope of a reunion, but Rush remain the world’s biggest cult band, their music a source of solace for those who carve out a unique life path.
- ORIGIN
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- FORMED
- August 1968
- GENRE
- Hard Rock