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The Canadian band Rush first formed way back in 1968 in
Toronto, Ontario.
The trio initially consisted of members Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and
John Rutsey (Neil Peart would replace John as drummer in 1974 due to
John's health issues). Initially, Rush covered the Buddy Holly
song "Not Fade Away" and released it as a single in 1973, but it
garnered little fain fare. For their
self-titled
debut in 1974, Rush decided to operate as their own record label.
Locally they did not receive air play, but after a couple of radio
stations began playing the hit song "Working Man" from this album in the
USA, Mercury records re-released the album in the USA. You may
also remember "Finding My Way" from this release.
With things looking up for the band, Rush released Fly
By Night in 1975, which featured the hit title track. It was
also the first release to feature a "mini-tale", which is best described
as a very, very long song that tells a protracted story (Kansas was also
known for this). Caress of Steel, also released in 1975,
was considered to be somewhat of a departure for the band, and it did
not fair as well (it featured two back to back mini-tales). It
did, however, bring us the great Rush songs "Bastille Day" and "Lakeside
Park". In 1976, Rush released 2112, which is considered by
many to be their greatest album. They bucked the recommendation
from record execs and created another mini-tale on the album (called
"2112 Overture/Temples of Syrinx"). "A Passage to Bangkok" is
another song from this album you may remember.
For Rush's next two albums, they decided to move to the
United Kingdom and began expanding their eclectic musicianship by adding
a variety of new instruments to their repertoire and additional fantasy
centric lyrics. A Farewell to Kings, released in 1977,
featured the title track as well as "Closer to the Heart". The
band's 1978 release, Hemispheres, featured the song "The Trees".
By 1980, Rush decided it might be a good idea to release a few more
radio friendly songs that the previous mini-tales that were too long for
radio, and Permanent Waves featured the radio friendly songs "The
Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill". This album was the band's first
US top 5 release. It was 1981's Moving Pictures that
brought Rush its greatest success. You may remember the songs "Tom
Sawyer", "Red Barchetta", "XYZ", and "Limelight" from this album
(charted at no. 3 on the Billboard Top 200). Other songs from the
1980's that you might remember from Rush include "Subdivision" and "New
World Man" from Signals (1982), "Distant Early Warning" and "Red
Sector A" from Grace Under Pressure (1984), "The Big Money"
from Power Windows (1986), "Time Stand Still" from Hold Your
Fire (1987), and "Show Don't Tell" from Presto (1989).
By the 1990's, Rush began moving back towards a more rock
oriented sound. Since then, they have continued to produce new
material and tour. Rush has had so many great songs over the
years, we recommend the 2 CD
set called
Chronicles or one of the other boxed sets. At the time of
this writing, the Rush Discography was as follows:1974: Rush
1975: Fly By Night
1975: Caress of Steel
1976: 2112
1976: All the World's a Stage Live
1977: A Farewell to Kings
1978: Hemispheres
1978: Archives
1980: Permanent Waves
1981: Moving Pictures
1981: Rush Through Time
1981: Exit...Stage Left Live
1982: Signals
1984: Grace Under Pressure
1985: Power Windows
1987: Hold Your Fire
1989: Presto
1989: A Show of Hands Live
1990: Chronicles
1991: Roll the Bones
1993: Counterparts
1996: Test for Echo
1997: Retrospective I
1997: Retrospective II
1998: Different Stages Live
2002: Vapor Trails
2003: Rush in Rio Live
2003: The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987
2004: Feedback
2005: R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour
2006: Grace Under Pressure Tour Live
2006: Gold
2007: Snakes & Arrows
2008: Snakes and Arrows Live
2009: Retrospective III: 1989-2008
2009: Working Men
2010: Time Stand Still the Collection
2011: Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland
2011: Icon
2012: Clockwork Angels |
