Rush were a power-trio (guitarist Alex Lifeson, vocalist Geddy Lee, and
drummer Neal Peart, who replaced original member John Rutsey)
from Toronto (Canada), formed in 1969, that managed to fuse pop melodies,
heavy-metal riffs and progressive-rock ambitions.
Thus they re-invented the power-trio, which so far had been modeled on the
Cream.
They debuted with Rush (Mercury, 1974),
Fly By Night (1975) and Caress Of Steel (1975)
in a vein that borrowed from
Black Sabbath and
Kiss as well as from
progressive-rock (What You're Doing, 1974;
Fly By Night, 1975) with the addition of mythological themes
(the four-movement suite By-Tor And The Snowdog on
Fly By Night, the three-movement suite The Necromancer on
Caress Of Steel).
Caress Of Steel is the best of the three, thanks to the
extended suite The Fountain of Lamneth.
Rush matured with the sci-fi concept 2112 (1976):
the side-long title-track is a complex and magniloquent suite that weds
Yes and Led Zeppelin, while emphasizing the virtuoso performances of
Pearl's pyrotechnic drumming (which owes a debt to the Who's Keith Moon),
Lee's petulant, castrato shrill and Lifeson's epic riffs.
Synthesizers increased the level of sophistication on
A Farewell to Kings (1977), which contains the simple
Closer To The Heart and the ambitious Cygnus X-1,
and
Hemispheres (1978), which contains the catchy The Trees and
the elegant La Villa Strangiato,
a lengthy sequel to Cygnus X-1,
with a celebrated guitar solo.
Their glacial and cybernetic "metal muzak" had reached a terminal point.
Rush then made an abrupt aboutface.
Permanent waves (1980) turned them into stars via
shorter and catchier numbers such as
Spirit Of The Radio, Jacob's Ladder and Free Will.
However, they remained faithful to the ethos (if not to the sound) of
progressive-rock by focusing on albums rather than on singles.
Moving Pictures (1981) sold even more copies, despite the fact
that the material was weaker
(Limelight, with
Alex Lifeson's best solo,
Red Barchetta,
Tom Sawyer, the instrumental YYZ).
Another highlight of their career was
Signals (1982), with the mellower New World Man and
Subdivisions, and with the harder
Digital Man and Analog Kid.
On the other hand,
Grace Under Pressure (1984) had only pomp to commend itself
(Distant Early Warning), and
Power Windows (1985) offered Big Money and little else.
Hold Your Fire (1987) marked the nadir of this phase.
These albums were played by competent (and a little self-indulgent) musicians,
but were, ultimately, full of fillers.
A more straight-forward pop-metal approach surfaced with
Presto (Atlantic, 1989), that contains Show Don't Tell,
Roll The Bones (Atlantic, 1991), that contains Dreamline,
Counterparts (Atlantic, 1993), that contains
Stick It Out and Animate,
Test For Echo (1996).
Vapor Trails (2002) marked a return to the heavy sound of the origins without synthesizers; the production was ridiculously loud.
Chronicles (Mercury, 1991) is an anthology of the classic years.
Retrospective I 1974-1980 (1997) and
Retrospective II 1981-1987 (1997) focus on the shorter pieces.
Lifeson has a solo project called Victor (1996).
Lee released the solo album My Favorite Headache (Atlantic, 2000),
a bad imitation of Rush's pomp-rock.
Rush's Snakes And Arrows (2007), probably the best work in a decade,
is a virulent display of monster craftmanship with impeccable production
quality. No heart though.
Clockwork Angels (2012) offered more of the same for those who didn't
have enough.
Neal Peart died in 2020.
