 | Rush (1974)Genres: hard rock |
review by thomas
Their first album and the only one with drummer John Rutsey. This is hard and rough rock with strong Led Zeppelin influences (especially – it seems – the early Zeppelin), and traces of Mountain and the Jimi Hendrix Experience can also be heard. Just like on “Fly By Night” there are two standout tracks, namely “Working Man” and “Here Again”, the former a furious long rocker and the latter a long and calmer song, still with heavy outbursts. These two songs are good ones but not classics as is the case with “Anthem” and “By-Tor and the Snowdog”, the two standout tracks from “Fly By Night”. And this is also the difference between the two albums, they achieve the same grade but “Fly By Night” is still stronger.
The other six songs on “Rush” are noting that I hold high, but they are not lousy or bad songs, well some are rather bad, but often run of the mill songs and very uninteresting. Of interest only to die-hard Rush fans and maybe for those lovers of 70’s hard rock in style with the bands I mentioned before.
 | Caress of steel (1975)Genres: heavy progressive, hard rock, progressive metal |
review by thomas
Things started to improve on their third release. Geddy Lee (bass, vocals), Alex Lifeson (guitars) and the amazing Neil Peart (percussion) moves on towards the hard powerprog that they almost created (no, no, I don't mean powerprog á la Magnum, Saga or Styx. These are softrockers with a few progressive tendencies. Perhaps prog-metal are a more proper tag). Anyway, this album kicks off with the hardrocker "Bastille Day" about the French Revolution, followed by the weak spots of the album, "I Think I'm Going Bald" and "Lakeside Park". Then comes the 12-minute "The Necromancer" divided into three parts; this is clearly the highlight of the album. The last song is their first attempt at a wholeside epic - "The Fountain of Lamneth" also divided into several parts. It's a good song, but it doesn't hold together that great. Finally: don't be alarmed by Geddy's high-pitched falsetto voice, you will get used to it.
 | Fly by night (1975)Genres: rock, hard rock |
review by thomas
Second album by the Canadian trio and the first one with drummer Neil Peart. Slightly better than their first effort but this is still a weak album. It starts off good though, with the Rush classic "Anthem". A killer! Only "By-Tor and the Snowdog", a nine minute mini-epic, holds the same class. The drumming on these two songs are really amazing, this is how the drums should sound like all the time. "Beneath, Between and Behind" are a decent rocker. This album is still - like their first - primarily influenced by Led Zeppelin but Rush were beginning to carve out their own sound on "Anthem" and "By-Tor and the Snowdog", just listen to the bass work on the latter!
Not an essential album, but on the other hand "Anthem" and "By-Tor..." are worth the album on their own.
 | 2112 (1976)Genres: progressive rock, heavy progressive, hard rock, progressive metal |
review by thomas
Starts with the legendary side-long title track that's classic Rush. Certainly, it holds together much better than the previous "The Fountain of Lamneth". They also started to use some keyboards on this album, especially the mini-Moog, to great satisfaction. The "2112" suite are probably the hardest Rush track ever, still it holds calmer, acoustic moments within the walls of heavy power.
Side B consists of five short songs that - in retrospect - aren't that great, compared to the title track, but they are decent or rather good in their own. The exception being the final song "Something for Nothing" that goes beyond the average or rather good field. A good album and maybe a good place to start your voyage into Rush-land.
review by daniel
The first two parts of the title track open the album with a blast of hard-hitting progressive rock. During six minutes you are treated with themes that are so tight you get the feeling that Rush rehearsed for years to get it just right. Unfortunately, the remaining 14 minutes of the title track never reach the same heights, nor does any of the five shorter songs on the second half of the album. These short songs are basically decent 70s hard rock with some silly tendencies. The guitar riff on “A Passage to Bangkok" is, for example, quite catchy, but the chorus is downright silly. This is the problem with Rush; they go for drama and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. On this album it works frequently enough, though.
The lyrics of the title track are based on writings by Ayn Rand, the advocate of "the virtues of selfishness”, and the last track, "Something for nothing", reveals similar sources of inspiration:
"What you own is your own kingdom
What you do is your own glory
What you love is your own power
What you live is your own story".
And taxation is theft, right?
 | A Farewell to Kings (1977)Genres: progressive rock, heavy progressive, hard rock, progressive metal |
review by thomas
6 songs, three longish and three shorter. The shorter songs are the beautiful "Madrigal", complete with acoustic guitar and mini-Moog, and the single hit "Closer to the Heart" with a variety of percussion sounds from Peart. Although it became a minor hit it's not a commercial nonsense song, it's a good rocking song. The third short song is "Cinderella Man" which is a half-acoustic/half-electric kind of thing, and the guitars delivered by Alex Lifeson are the highlights of the piece. Otherwise it's quite forgetable and the album's only real weakness.
Now to the long ones. The title track begins with a part played on the classical guitar - wonderful. Then the rest comes in with full force. Quite hard this one, and maybe a little underrated, it's a Rush classic. The most well known piece from this album - apart from "Closer to the Heart" - are without a doubt the mighty "Xanadu". Lyrically based on the Coleridge poem "Kublai Khan". Starts off with various sound-effects and bells (such as orchestra bells and tubular bells) building up a mood and then goes into the main part with great vocals (great sounding) from Geddy Lee. Then the mood from the intro comes back before the finale. Next we have "Cygnus X-I" maybe THE best Rush song so far. It's a bit spacier than the others, due to heavy use of the mini-Moog and bass pedal synthesizer. Also, the lyrics are clearly set in space. Geddy's bass are the heart of this song together with some fine drumming from Neil. It begins with an instrumental movement before the vocals comes in. This movement, and the whole song, gives me gooseflesh each time I listen to it, it's hard to come closer to bliss than when listening to this song.
All-in-all this is the most even Rush work up to that date (1977). Together with "2112" a good place to start for those unfamiliar with Rush.
 | Hemispheres (1978)Genres: progressive rock, heavy progressive, hard rock, progressive metal |
review by thomas
Rush returned to the studio after ”A Farewell to Kings” and came out with their best album, the closest they have reached masterpiece status so far. It begins with their third side-long epic “Cygnus X-1, Book 2: Hemispheres” and like the two others divided into several parts but unlike them this time it holds together perfectly; it feels like one long song. Musically it’s typical Rush – hard prog-metal, or what one should call it – only they have matured another inch, quite naturally I think. This and the ten minute instrumental “La Villa Strangiato” are quite complex works, still with the heavy touches intact. “La Villa Strangiato” is truly a masterpiece. Rush didn’t do that many instrumentals but this and “YYZ” (from “Moving Pictures”) are masterpieces. ”Villa “ has so many different moods and structures that the song seems to be like a couple of minutes only… leaving you crying for more. It’s spellbinding; one of the best Rush songs I dare to say. Where’s that damn remote control?
“Circumstances” are a short rocker, a very good one, featuring Geddy Lee’s really high-toned screams in the chorus – in French! Also on the album are the concert- and fan classic “The Trees” with a famous percussion section from Peart.
If you like anything by Rush or the prog-rock genre, then there’s no time for hesitation; get it as quickly as possible… if you don’t already have it; as I suspect.
 | Permanent Waves (1980)Genres: rock, progressive rock, hard rock |
review by thomas
Rush altered their sound a bit with this one, the heaviness of the past was partly replaced with a more melodic and with it they became more radio-friendly. The hit single “The Spirit of Radio” being the obvious (and very ironic) example. Gone were also Lee’s shrieking voice which is now kept under more control, he sings more restrained and doesn’t go up that high anymore and even if you liked when he did you can’t deny that his new singing mode quite nicely fits the material. But one get the feeling these things progressed naturally, so it wasn’t Rush decidedly trying to be more commercial or less heavy.
Along with “Moving Pictures” this album to me highlights their “non-seventies” work and, might I add, beating a few of those seventies records along the way. Although not as strong song-per-song as “Moving Pictures” (which is one of their definitive career highpoint) it nevertheless showcases very strong material with few fillers. The two epics “Jacob’s Ladder” and “Natural Science” preserved that heaviness of old in a new context while “The Spirit of Radio” and “Freewill” gave you tastes of the new sound, to be perfected a year later.
“Permanent Waves” is considered a classic among fans and critics alike and it’s not hard to understand why. It’s a well balanced album; the soft, gentle, mellow bits blending nicely with the heavy, fast, rockier parts. The playing and the song writing are inspired and perfectly staged and I like it a lot. However, the filler for me is “Entre Nous” with an overall AOR-feeling to it which takes down the grade a little, but in the end a very good album from Rush; again.
 | Moving Pictures (1981)Genres: rock, progressive rock, hard rock |
review by thomas
Rush ventured into more rock-oriented material with “Permanent Waves” and they continued that with “Moving Pictures”. But the style was not exactly the same as on “Permanent Waves” it was perhaps even a little more accessible but at the same time extremely skilfully and masterfully done. You understand after listening to “Moving Pictures” where Rush would end up in the future; the signs were all there. But nevermind what Rush did after this one because you will not need to get any album after this one. If you like digital synths, AOR and eighties rock you should certainly explore beyond this one but if you don’t like it (but like Rush) you should get “Moving Pictures” and stop there.
After the success of the “Spirit of Radio” single the year before Rush continued their flirt with reggae rhythms in “Vital Signs”, and the result was perfect. “Tom Sawyer” and “Witch Hunt” are two strong, hard and eerie tracks. The most slim and accessible tracks are “Limelight” and “Red Barchetta”. Oddly enough the longer “The Camera Eye” is one of the most straightforward songs on the album. Included also is, as I have already mentioned, the instrumental masterpiece spelled “YYZ” with many changes in tempo and mood, a complex song pressed down into four minutes. Geddy Lee’s voice is a little different from the seventies; he doesn’t go up in the high scream notes anymore. I don’t know if this is a bad thing since the material that go with that voice wasn’t made anymore, so the “new” voice is probably very fitting with the new material.
An extremely good record and a HUGE surprise! I didn’t know you could make such good albums in the otherwise lousy eighties, on the other hand the decade had only begun and there are some good albums from this decade out there, although not many.
