Rush (band)

Rush is an acclaimed Canadian progressive rock band comprising bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee (formerly Gary Weinrib), guitarist Alex Lifeson (real name Alexander Zivojinovich), and drummer Neil Peart (pronounced: 'Peert') who recorded their first album in 1974. The band was formed in the summer of 1968, in Sarnia, Ontario by Lifeson, Lee, and John Rutsey. They soon moved to Toronto to further their career. Peart replaced Rutsey on drums in 1974, to complete the present lineup.

History

As time has passed, Rush's musical style has changed substantially. Their debut album is somewhat derivative of the British rock band Led Zeppelin, but over the first few albums their style progressed eclectically, influenced by the British progressive rock movement in particular, but maintaining a hard rock ethos at its core.

Related Topics:
Led Zeppelin - Progressive rock

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The original lineup of Rush formed in September 1968, consisting of Jeff Jones (bass and lead vocals), John Rutsey (drums and backing Vocals) and Alex Zivojinovich, better known by his stagename Alex Lifeson (guitars and backing vocals). Rutsey's older brother suggested the name Rush. In September 1968, Jones was replaced by Lifeson's friend Gary Lee Weinrib, who adopted the stage name of Geddy Lee. After a number of personnel changes in the intervening years, Lee, Lifeson, and Rutsey reunited as Rush and released their first album in 1974, the self-titled Rush. Highly derivative of Led Zeppelin, Rush had limited local popularity until the original release, distributed by Moon Records, was picked up by a Cleveland radio station. This popularity led the album to be redistributed by Mercury Records, Rush's record label until 1987.

Related Topics:
John Rutsey - Alex Lifeson - Geddy Lee - Rush - Mercury Records

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The same year, drummer John Rutsey resigned due to health concerns and a distaste for touring. Rush held auditions for a replacement drummer before finally selecting Neil Peart, who led Rush to a more progressive ethos over the course of the next few albums, Fly by Night, Caress of Steel, and 2112. The lyrics of that time were heavily influenced by classical poetry and literature, science fiction and, in a few cases, the writings and philosophy of Ayn Rand, as exhibited most prominently by 1975's Anthem (named after Rand's novel) and 1976's 2112. Many of their early songs received limited airplay because of their extended length (in some cases exceeding ten minutes); one notable exception was the 3-minute "Closer To The Heart" from their 1977 album A Farewell To Kings, which was played widely on Canadian radio. Also from A Farewell to Kings, Xanadu (one of the said 10 minute songs) became a common fan favorite.

Related Topics:
Neil Peart - Fly by Night - Caress of Steel - 2112 - Science fiction - Philosophy - Ayn Rand - 1975 - 1976 - 2112 - 1977 - A Farewell To Kings

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1978's Hemispheres would follow A Farewell to Kings progressive rock style, including a second part to the song "Cygnus X-1". Rush would produce multichapter songs throughout the rest of their career. However, as the new decade approached, Rush would begin to dispose of their older styles of music in favor of softer (some might say sterile) arrangemements.

Related Topics:
1978 - Hemispheres

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1980's Permanent Waves changed Rush's style of music dramatically. Rush felt they had taken the long-form song format as far as they could or wanted, and began to opt for shorter songs that still retained their trademark musicianship and complexity. Although a hard rock style was still evident, more and more keyboards were introduced. Lyrical themes changed markedly, beginning to rely much less on science-fiction imagery. Other styles, such as reggae and new wave, were starting to sneak into Rush songs throughout the early 1980s. Lengthy songs did make a few final appearances in this period, in the form of Jacob's Ladder, Natural Science and The Camera Eye. It should be noted, however, that many of the band's songs would continue to clock in at five or six minutes, still just outside of mainstream music convention.

Related Topics:
1980 - Permanent Waves - Keyboards - Themes - Reggae - New wave

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Even though the majority of their music was over the usual radio time limit, Rush began to receive frequent airtime on rock radio stations in the early 1980s, thanks to the release of some of the shorter and popular songs. As a result, Permanent Waves cracked Billboard's Top 10 and went platinum. One song in particular, "The Spirit of Radio" (named for the Toronto-local groundbreaking radio station, CFNY), went on to become a huge hit on the alternative circuit.

Related Topics:
Toronto - Radio station - CFNY

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Rush's popularity hit its zenith with the release of Moving Pictures in 1981. The lead track, "Tom Sawyer", is the band's best known song, and Geddy Lee has referred to it as "the quintessential Rush song." Moving Pictures shot up to #3 on the Billboard Album Chart and has been certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). "Tom Sawyer" can be heard frequently on American classic rock stations to this day. From that point on, their albums of the 1980s tended to incorporate more keyboards and stuck to the style that began with Permanent Waves, such that their recordings in the later 1980s and early 1990s are markedly different from their earlier work. 1985's Power Windows and 1987's Hold Your Fire could be considered the peak of this chapter of Rush. Rush began to move away from their 1980s style with the albums Presto and Roll the Bones, but Neil Peart remained the key songwriter. After the "synthesizer period" of 1982-1991, the band largely dropped synthesizer-style keyboard sounds from their studio recordings in favor of more organic keyboard sounds such as strings and organ. This transition, coupled with a return of more heavily guitar-driven songs, began with the well-received 1993 album Counterparts.

Related Topics:
Moving Pictures - Recording Industry Association of America - 1980s - 1990s - 1985 - Power Windows - Hold Your Fire - Presto - Roll the Bones - Synthesizer - 1982 - 1991 - 1993 - Counterparts

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Each of the three individual artists has produced and released work independent of the band's structure, to varying degrees of commercial and critical success.

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After 1996's Test for Echo, the band entered a six-year hiatus due mainly 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 travelled thousands of kilometers across North America. He subsequently wrote about his travels in his book '. Rush later said that they came very close to disbanding during this period.

Related Topics:
1996 - Test for Echo - Daughter - Car accident - August - 1997 - Death - Cancer - June - 1998 - Motorcycle - Thousand - Kilometer - North America - Book

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The band returned in 2002 with the surprisingly heavy, modern and progressive Vapor Trails album. The album contains the song "Ghost Rider", describing Peart's "self-healing" motorcycle journey after the tragic death of his daughter in 1997 and his wife in 1998. September 11th was also addressed in the song "Peaceable Kingdom." It 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.

Related Topics:
2002 - Vapor Trails - September 11th - Concert - Mexico City - Brazil

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The band was one of a number of hometown favourites to play the SARS relief concert (dubbed SARStock) at Downsview Park in Toronto in August 2003, with an attendance of over half a million people. Also in 2003, Alex Lifeson appeared in the highly successful Canadian mockumentary Trailer Park Boys. Rush also played for CBC's 2004 tsunami relief telethon, along with Ed Robertson (of the Barenaked Ladies) and Mike Smith (Bubbles) from Trailer Park Boys.

Related Topics:
Hometown - SARS - Downsview - Toronto - August - 2003 - Million - Alex Lifeson - Mockumentary - Trailer Park Boys - CBC - Tsunami - Barenaked Ladies - Mike Smith

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A live album, Rush in Rio, was released in late October 2003. The DVD which it accompanied won the 2004 Juno for best music DVD. June 2004 saw the release of Feedback, a studio EP featuring eight covers of such artists as Cream and The Who. Several songs, including "Summertime Blues," "Crossroads," and "The Seeker" were played on modern and classic rock radio stations across North America, thus introducing Rush to some new audiences. In the summer of 2004, 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. According to a May 2005 interview with Lee, the band plans to go back into the studio to record a new album beginning in late 2005.

Related Topics:
Live album - Rush in Rio - October - DVD - 2004 - June - Feedback - Studio - EP - Covers - Cream - The Who

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Rush was nominated for a Best Rock Instrumental Performance Grammy Award in 2005 for Neil Peart's drum solo, “O Baterista” (portuguese for The Drummer) from the album Rush in Rio, but lost to Brian Wilson's "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow". The band has so far had three Grammy Award nominations, all for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

Related Topics:
2005 - Brian Wilson

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Although Rush has usually been shunned by critics, the group's fanbase remains fairly strong throughout North and South America. The group played to crowds in the latter half of 2003 and 2004 that set personal records, adding fuel to the popular belief that Rush may be around for several years to come.

Related Topics:
2003 - 2004

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