I'll do my best to come back here and read up on the posts, but yea sometimes these threads go to fast for me, although sounds like you are trying to slow it down. Rush has been a massive part of my music life since about '78 as a young teen, and quickly going back to their debut so I feel I had a good upbringing.........From there I never skipped a beat, Rush will always be a huge part of my music life, nothing can change that. So many forums and threads about what Rush era is best, some don't like the synth era or don't care for the return to the hard rock base of 3 instruments preferring only the more progressive themes, writing, long song structures....but that is the mastery of Rush, they did it their way. Just for the record, my response is all the Rush eras are the best, it's Rush music, a genre of its own. The music industry is terrible for producing nice people.....Rush is the true exception to this rule.
Rush Studio album by Rush Released March 1, 1974 Recorded March–November 15, 1973[1] Studio Eastern Sound Studios & Toronto Sound Studios, Toronto, Canada Genre Hard rock heavy metal Length 39:51 Label Moon Mercury Producer Rush Rush is the debut studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released on March 1, 1974, by the band's own label Moon Records in Canada and by Mercury Records in the United States and internationally. This first release shows much of the hard rock sound typical of many of the popular rock bands emerging earlier in the decade. Rush were fans of such bands as Led Zeppelin and Cream, and these influences can be heard in most of the songs on the album. Original drummer John Rutsey performed all drum parts on the album, but was unable to go on extended tours because of complications with his diabetes and so he retired from the band after the album was released. Rutsey contributed to the album's lyrics, but never submitted the work to the other members of the band. The lyrics were instead entirely composed by Lee and Lifeson.[2][3] Rutsey was soon replaced by Neil Peart, who remained the band's drummer as well as its primary lyricist. Geddy Lee – lead vocals, bass Alex Lifeson – guitars, backing vocals John Rutsey – drums, percussion, backing vocals 1. "Finding My Way" 5:03 2. "Need Some Love" 2:16 3. "Take a Friend" 4:27 4. "Here Again" 7:30 5. "What You're Doing" 4:19 6. "In the Mood" (Lee) 3:36 7. "Before and After" 5:33 8. "Working Man" 7:07 ------------------------------------------- Well i was going to wait another day, but I see a little impatience/enthusiasm to get started, so lets go. Rush's debut album is a solid album, that shows their roots, and hints at their direction. I think it important to not judge this album based on what came after. A Lot of latter day reviewers seem to knock this album based on Hemispheres and Moving Pictures and such, which isn't very realistic. This is a young band, searching for direction, full of enthusiasm, and giving it all they have got. Even in this thread, we can already see the growth from the early songs we have record, of to this album. By the time they record their second, the speed of that growth is very evident. By the time we get to 2112, there is a certain wow factor that creeps into the picture, as the band have fully realised what they want to be, and shown quite clearly that they can achieve it. Then over the coming years we have growth and redirection that really does shine a light on how seriously they took their craft, and the ability they had to execute their thoughts and musical directions. Here we have a raw album, and certainly one can make comparisons to other huge bands of the time. We have some obvious Zeppelin influence, via the riffing, and the style of singing, but I think the guys manage to have an identity of their own in spite of that. Geddy's vocals on here actually surprised me, you can hear the youthfulness of his voice, and he carries off the vocals really well. Lifeson, as described earlier, is already sounds like a pro, and even though he moves on in leaps and bounds over the years, he has a certain completeness to his playing. Rutsey does a very good job on the drums. I think this is a solid debut that I would imagine at the time, would have had a lot of folks interested in where these guys were going to end up, and I doubt that anyone could have foreseen how far that would actually be. Please give us your thoughts and feelings on the album. What did you think of it then (obviously if you were around) What do you think of it these days. Please give us your hearts and minds on this album, and try to focus on the album itself, as we will be going through the individual songs, one day at a time, from tomorrow. Cheers Mark
I first got into this album via the tracks represented on ATWAS and it was the last Rush studio album that I purchased of those available at the time (1984). This record to me has always sounded like more of a farewell to the pre-history bar days of Rush than a proper debut -- with Fly By Night being that proper debut. But I agree with the above that there are already signs of genius here, particularly in the solo section to "Working Man". On an episode of That Metal Show, Geddy himself ranked this album very high (like third, I think) among their first eight studio albums, mainly citing the fun they had making the record.
Like Ron2112, The ATWAS versions were what I heard first. When I finally did purchase it, I was surprised at how much I liked pretty much every song on the album. A couple of the songs, I really love (more on that as we wind through the songs individually). However, I don't get how people could mistake Geddy' s vocals for those of Robert Plant. Geddy's voice was very unique from the beginning. BTW - It's very cool that they established their own record label from the start.
To elaborate on how this will flow. We will post an album run down. Discuss the hows, and when's we came across it. What we thought at the time. What we think now. Just an overview of what the album means to us ... possibly anecdotes about buying it or whatever. The next day we will start going through the tracks one by one, and assess them, give impressions on what we think about the song then - now etc. It should be a pretty easy going thing. There aren't really any right or wrong statements, just sharing personal impressions and experiences
RUSH - RUSH Fantastic, heavy metal blues album. Alex Lifeson is the star of the band at this point, and I wonder if Rutsey hadn't quit if Alex's guitar virtuosity would have been spotlighted more and he became a "guitar god" re: M. Schenker; Alex is the focal point of the music on this album and he carries the band with him. My favorite tracks: Finding My Way, Take A Friend, and Working Man.
I first learned of Rush with Moving Pictures, but quickly acquired all their back catalog. I remember buying the self titled debut and seeing the picture of someone not named Neil Pert on the back cover. Expectations immediately lowered. Then I played the album. Expectations then greatly exceeded! This was still kick ass rock and roll album!!! Sure, it bore little resemblance to A Farewell to Kings through Moving Pictures, but so what? For what it is, it certainly rocks and rocks hard. It often gets slammed for either: 1. being to primitive or lacking polish 2. not having Peart or 3. being the product of just another bunch of Zeppelin wannabes. But those critiques are so superficial. Okay so, they've got a virtuoso guitarist, a high pitched guy who can shriek on vocals, a bassist tossing out some very active and non-standard bass lines, and a sound that is distorted hard rock bordering on metal.... so superficially, they could be likened to Zep, and no doubt Zep was an influence. But at the same time, they were quite unique and you could tell these were serious musicians rather than mere copycats. I love the album to this day, and actually rank it higher than a few of the later albums (no disrespect to the Professor intended).
Good debut. Has this kind of straight ahead kick ass hard rock vibe that they never really channeled again for mostly an entire album. Basically, with the lyrics and drumming both being pretty ordinary, it’s a hard rock album with nothing too fancy. Nothing wrong with that.
Rush (1974) You can hear the Zeppelin influence in this record, but there's also equal parts Black Sabbath (especially the best known track "Working Man"). Rush was still trying to find their footing here and were kind of a stock hard rock band during this time. A lot of people don't care for it as it's not "prog" and doesn't have Neil Peart's fantastic drumming or lyrics, but I like it just fine. There are a few dogs on this one, but most of it is good. I don't know if this was mentioned but John Rutsey wrote the lyrics for these tunes, but at the last minute, decided to destroy them forcing Geddy Lee to come up with them himself. So, many of the songs have fairly generic lyrics and titles thus that's why. Lee didn't get a lot of time to think about them. Edit: Ha! The lyrics thing was mentioned in the initial post! Doh
I’ve grown to appreciate and love this album more and more through the years, and adore it now for what it is. A debut crackling with youthful energy and committed exuberance. A great measuring point for how incredibly far and wide their career, music and accomplishments would reach. While the songwriting may not have the sophistication they would grow to achieve, the riffs, arrangements and interplay are full of vigor and promise. I enjoy the basic, natural production, and even if Rush never made it past their debut, I would consider this a cool lost gem of the transition from post garage, english blues to hard rock bombastic 70s arena era. Other influences have been mentioned already, but I think Blue Cheer was also a big influence. I love it! The Sean McGee hi res digital is my go to source. These songs are also great live - from the unchained early Peart era live versions of 1974-1975 to all of the times they would include any of these songs in the set throughout their career. Geddy’s performance is on fire, but Alex is the raging lion on this one for me. I love his strong no-fuss tone - it’s all in his fingers and phrasing. John Rutsey’s accompaniment totally fits, but no drummer in the same frame as Peart even stands a chance. Neil’s early live versions of these songs are berserk - he attacks the songs as though it’s his one chance and he’s going to take it for all it’s worth. One hallmark of Rush is their ambition and effort. They may be young and growing, but in the debut they work as hard as they can with what they have. They’re not trying to posture or play it cool - they are using the full force they have. I believe this album deserves reassessment and is a much better record than it gets credit for, standing in the shadow of the towering monolith that would ascend from it.
I read somewhere that Peart never liked playing the songs from the s/t. He found them to be too ordinary and predictable. He'd, of course, put his own spin on the drum parts, but it still was a chore for him to get through when the songs were played in concert.
I also first learned of Rush with the release of Moving Pictures. I was in fifth grade, and often would bring my boombox to school; the teachers would let us play it during lunch. One day someone said "Here, pop this in".... Tom Sawyer comes blaring out.. it was this sound I'd never heard before. wow.. that drummer.. and those guitars.. and what's with the singer that sounds a little like Brunhilda?! But I loved it. The track that really made me fall for the band was Limelight, but we played the heck out of that cassette in 1981, especially side 1. My first Rush album was the follow-up, Signals. I actually didn't buy Moving Pictures until years later, because all my friends had it, and they were often still playing it! Anyway... First album....one word ::: ROCK!!!!! Great opening cut, great closing cut, some cool tunes in the middle (Here Again, Before and After).
If you're "in the mood" for a raw recording that "needs a little love" by a "working band" who are just "finding their way", "take a friend" and listen to it "before and after" having a beer or two and you'll find that "what you're doing" is rocking out to some great riffs and incredible guitar and bass work. Just don't listen too closely to the words. I'll come "here again" when we're talking about individual songs.
Ah--so overall comment about the album first, then afterwards we'll do each song individually. Cool. Rush debut A very underrated album in my opinion (with one complaint that I'll get to in a minute). The Led Zeppelin comparisons always annoyed me because I think that's very overstated. Yes, they had some Zeppelin influence, but Rush do not sound at all like Zeppelin (and partially the comparisons annoy me because it always seems like people making the comparisons are missing a lot of crucial aspects of Zeppelin's music that makes them unique--it's almost like they must not be able to hear all of that other stuff in Zeppelin's music). The fact that they were doing riff-oriented hard rock tunes and had a high-pitched singer isn't enough to say they sound like Zeppelin. The debut was one of the first two Rush albums I listened to--the other was Fly by Night. Both of which I bought at or very near the same time, without knowing anything about Rush beforehand, solely because they were going to open for KISS when I went to see KISS in Akron, Ohio in 1975. I was 12 years old. Fly by Night had just been released. From the time I was a kid, I always used to buy opening artists' albums prior to seeing a concert, because I enjoyed concerts more when I knew the songs beforehand. This is something I still do. (And it was a pain in a way when I was going to shows like Ozzfest--sometimes I needed to pick up a LOT of albums to be familiar with everything, but on the positive side, that turned me on to a lot of artists I wouldn't have dove into otherwise.) I'm not positive which album I listened to first, the debut or Fly by Night. I actually think John Rutsey does a solid job on the debut, but he's also the source of my one complaint. On every song except for "Finding My Way" and "In the Mood"--so on six out of the album's eight tunes, Rutsey plays the same groove for at least part of the song. I should avoid making a Led Zeppelin comparison, but the easiest way to tell you what the groove is is that it's basically the "Immigrant Song" groove--1 &a 2e a 3 &a 4e a (1 and 2 are the same as 3 and 4 there), with 2 and 4 on the snare, of course. Remember to listen for this if you never noticed it before as we go song-by-song. In a couple bands I was in as a drummer in the later 70s/early 80s, I used to joke with the other guys and yell "John Rutsey!" and start playing that groove on any arbitrary song.
Rush is an album that I can appreciate more in the context of their overall career, as opposed to on its own merits. I first heard it along with all of the early Rush albums in around 1980, but didn’t own it until much later. There is impressive musicianship on the album, but the lyrics are generic and largely unappealing to me, and I’m not a big fan of Geddy’s early voice. It’s more in the power trio hard rock format than any of their other albums, and that’s not a musical style that I’m all that fond of in general. It’s not an album that I revisit very often outside of a couple of songs. Just curious - for those who have heard the original mix, how does it differ from the remix?
Alex is an early Billie Eilish in that picture. (Eilish almost always looks grumpy/kind of pissed off in photos so far):
Wish I could tell you, but I never even realized there were different mixes floating around. I had the original US release (on Mercury), and then I had it on CD in the later 80s or early 90s--I don't know if that would have been a remix, and now I listen to it via streaming. I no longer own the vinyl or CD (I got rid of most of my vinyl and CDs), though I do have a rip of my CD that I made. I'm presuming the stream is the remix (I listen via Amazon streaming), but I never noticed anything sounding remarkably different, really.
I was at Red Rocks for the Vapor Trails tour. What happened was, I lived in St. Louis at the time, when they came to St. Louis I was in Tulsa at a convention. So I worked in a trip to Colorado to visit a friend of mine who had been married to my best friend. She had died the year before. He was a long time Rush fan like me. He had read Neil's book to try to get some inspiration to cope with being widowed. It was a bittersweet time for us. It was the first time for me visiting their house after my friend was gone. The widowed husband worked nights, and on the way home from work brought me a copy of Feedback which he had bought after his shift. (Their house was out in the country so no record stores by the house but there were some where he worked). While he slept during the day to get ready for the concert, I drove around listening to Feedback in the rental car. The lines in Heart Full of Soul, "where is she, tell me where", and "if I could have her back again" made tears run down my face. Even though the song was romantic and not exactly fitting the situation those lines were like a gut punch. They played the song that night. It was great to hear the audience sing "oohhh oh ohh ohh". A beautiful night. Lightning in the distance. The only concert I've ever been to at Red Rocks. It was very exciting to hear them play some brand new songs released that morning even if they were covers. I think it comforted my friend and myself at the show that at least one band member knew what a great loss was like and was still going on with things. As we all have to do in life unless we die way too young.
I was 14 when I first heard Rush... they were on "Don Kirschner's Rock Concert". I was just getting into rock/FM radio/buying albums... within the next week or two I purchased their debut album (which instantly became a favorite of mine). A little internet research shows Rush played DKRC on October 9, 1974 with the setlist: Best I Can, In The Mood, and Finding My Way: I loved the songs, image and virtuosity from the beginning!
