It's absolutely soul crushing to learn about the passing of one of my biggest musical heroes. We knew Neil wasn't well hence the Rush saying farewell during their 40th anniversary tour last show on August 1st 2015. But, it's still shocking. Rush's music, Neil's lyrics and playing mean a lot to me. I was lucky enough to see them live 3 times in 3 different continents: In 2002 in Sao Paulo, 2007 in Atlanta and 2011 in Rotterdam. In 2002 my brother and I briefly met the band at their hotel, unforgettable. In 2007 I was living in Chicago and I flew to Atlanta by myself to see Rush on the Snakes & Arrows Tour. Because of it, I lost my graduation party and I have no regrets whatsoever. Neil's dedication, commitment and positive attitude will remain an inspiration forever. RIP Neil, you will always be remembered as one of the greatest drummers of all times. My tribute to Neil and this band was to listen and review all of Rush's studio albums. It's an amazing collection of 19 great discs. Some are better than others and sometimes difficult to compare the different phases the band had. But all in all, I do enjoy every albums in their own way. So here it is.
This first release shows much of the hard rock sound typical of many of the popular rock bands in the early 70's. Original drummer John Rutsey performed all drum parts on the album. The lyrics were entirely composed by Geddy Lee (lead vocals, bass) and Alex Lifeson (guitars, backing vocals). I find the self-titled debut album already a strong record. It's a straight forward hard rock album with highlight to the heavy opener "Finding My Way" and the amazing closer "Working Man". The song has been part of the set list of many tours, including the last one R40. "Here Again" demonstrates the progressive tendencies those young guys already had. Rush had from the start a great sound, fantastic guitar solos and even the drums were also quite good.
Soon after the release of the debut album Rutsey was replaced by Neil Peart. Peart obviously remained the band's drummer as well as its primary lyricist until his passing in 2020.With Fly by Night Rush found their 70's sound, but the music writing was not yet as progressive as it would become. With that said, songs like "By-Tor & the Snow Dog" and "In the End" were already a step further in that direction. "Anthem" and "Fly by Night" are other two celebrated hits to this day.
Caress of Steel marked a jump forward in the bands's sound, moving almost 100% into progressive rock. The first three songs "Bastille Day", "I Think I'm Going Bald" and "Lakeside Park" are more in the line of the first two records: Short hard rockers. While "I Think I'm Going Bald" is a bit silly, the other two are just amazing rock songs. But the leap forward happened with the last two songs. While their longest song previously was the 8-min "By-Tor & the Snow Dog", here we have "The Necromancer" and "The Fountain of Lamneth" with 12 and 20 minutes respectively. Not only that but both songs are full of tempo changes, solos (including drum solo), instrumental build-ups and overall amazing musicianship. Caress of Steel was not only a blueprint for the next album, but a guide to most prog metal bands from the 90's. The world was not even ready for such a masterpiece, sales-wise it was considered a disappointment. Nowadays, I bet any true fan loves this album, if not, I would say it's under-rated.
Believing in yourself and having courage make all the difference. Despite the commercial failure of Caress of Steel, the band did not back down from the sound they wanted to create. 2112 is a natural follow-up to Caress of Steel, going further deep into progressive rock. The title track is their longest song ever. It's not only my favorite Rush song, but one of my top songs of all times. It's basically the first prog metal song ever. The 20 minutes fly by and the different parts combine many tempos, moods, instrumental passages and melodies. It's super heavy, but also beautiful and melodic. The shorter songs on the B side are all quite good, but they are more hard rock songs like in the early albums. The highlight being the riffy "A Passage To Bangkok". 2112 was a huge success and remains the band's second-highest-selling album (behind Moving Pictures).
While the predecessor had a futuristic theme, A Farewell to Kings has a medieval feel. The album is a good mix between the last two albums. Four short songs and two 10-minute epics, one being the fantastic "Xanadu". The title track is only 6 minutes, but very progressive and heavy. "Closer To The Heart" is a cool song as well and became a fan favorite. "Cygnus X-1" is a very good song but the bar was set very high, and it ended up falling a bit shy of expectations. The album features a lot of experimentation (e.g. synthesizers) and would be crucial for forming their 80's sound.
Hemispheres is the perfect Rush album. It was the first one not to have a ballad and to feature an instrumental track. With only 4 tracks, the album is to the point. The 18-min epic "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres", the heavy short track "Circumstances", the catchy short journey "The Trees" and the 10-min instrumental extravaganza with "La Villa Strangiato". It's a concise, consistent and perfectly executed album. A masterpiece of Prog Rock/Metal.
Permanent Waves is a transitional record. Their progressive metal/rock blueprint is still evident with the nearly 8 and 10-minute amazing songs "Jacob's Ladder" and "Natural Science" respectively. At the same time Rush perfected their short songs so that "The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill" became big hits and generated a radio friendly channel for the band. But in this case, it's not a bad thing as those songs are truly amazing. The only hiccup and why this is not the best Rush album is the return of the ballads with "Different Strings".
Moving Pictures remains Rush's highest-selling album, it was an immediate success. They continued the path set by the shorter more radio-friendly songs from the predecessor. For the first time since Fly by Night they had more than 6 tracks in a studio album. All 7 songs except of the 11-min "The Camera Eye" are between 4 and 6 minutes. Actually "The Camera Eye" was the last song they ever wrote that crossed the 8 minute mark. The production is modern and more polished. Another big change was the more emphatic use of synthesizers. The song writing is just perfect and the musicianship jaw dropping. All songs are amazing, but I highlight the perfect "Red Barchetta" and the second ever instrumental "YYZ". "Tom Sawyer" became one of the best-known songs by Rush and "Limelight" is not far behind. "The Camera Eye" feeds our progressive desires. I hate to be cliche but given this new framework, it's another masterpiece.
Album opener "Subdivisions" is a statement. We are in a new decade and a new era for the Rush sound and synthesizers are here to stay. The good news is: It's a great song. Signals is a different album for many reasons, but carries some of the flavor from Moving Pictures. The band learned how to be progressive in shorter songs. It's the first time they didn't cross the 7-minute mark with any of the 8 songs. And numbers like "The Analog Kid" while very good are much more rock than anything they had ever done before. If the early albums can be argued to be the birth of Prog Metal, we are now far from that heaviness and weirdness from the 70's. With that said, Rush were still great song writers, superb musicians and it's a very good album.
Grace Under Pressure follows the steps of its predecessor with lots of synthesizers, and very polished production that was typical at the time. It's the first time they didn't cross the 6-minute mark with any of the 8 songs. Consequently song structures are simpler, but the good news is that we have a bit more guitar on the foreground. The album features some gems and deep Rush cuts such as my album favorite "Distant Early Warning" but also "Red Sector A" and "Between the Wheels"
Power Windows is borderline a pop rock album, the synthesizers are even more prominent and the guitars are mostly secondary. I don't think there's any guitar riff with overdrive during the whole album. While there are some good songs in here, it's the first Rush album without a super memorable standout song. The highlights include "The Big Money", "Manhattan Project" and my album favorite "Marathon". Within the frame of a 80's rock album, it's a decent one.
As most with previous albums, it feature songs on the 5 min mark, but it's the first album to have ten tracks. The synthesizers are still there but the guitars are a bit more prominent and crunchy. It's a betters album than the previous two, heavier production, better composition and more memorable songs such as the amazing "Time Stand Still" and "Mission".
With 11 songs and 52 minutes Presto was the longest Rush album to date. Opener "Show Don't Tell" is a breath of fresh air as we can hear that the guitar took a more dominant role in the writing process. Meaning, a reduction in synthesizers and a return towards more guitar-driven arrangements. That also includes the return of acoustic guitars and guitar solos. While I love this new direction in music writing and production in comparison with the last 3 albums, the quality of the songs was still below their potential.
The direction of the predecessor is accentuated with Roll the Bones, less synthesizers, more guitars and a simple hard rock sound. It sounds a lot like the 80's albums but replace synths with guitars. The songs are very short and they returned to 10 tracks. It's a cool rock album with some moments of brilliance such as the first two tracks. Another cool feature, "Where's My Thing?" was the band's first instrumental since "YYZ". The album is partially underrated because of the weird Geddy Lee rapping on the title track. Luckily that was a one-time experiment. Roll the Bones is not perfect but it was another step in the right direction.
Counterparts marks a continuation in the band's transition from synthesizers to guitar-oriented music which had started on Presto. It's a much heavier album than Roll the Bones and the longest Rush album to date with 11 songs and almost 55 minutes. Following the return of instrumental tracks in the previous album "Leave That Thing Alone" is an even better one, an album highlight.
Test for Echo marks the final Rush work prior to the tragic events in Neil Peart's life that put the band on hiatus from the studio until Vapor Trails. The evolution that started with Presto was completed and Rush didn't sound this good and concise since Moving Pictures. I love this album and have a special connection to it. It's impressive to say but Neil Peart was playing at his peak. With the help of a drum teacher, he re-worked his technique to be more jazz-like. Overall Test for Echo sounds just great, organic and raw. It's a diverse record combining different influences and eras of the band.
Vapor Trails marks the longest gap between two Rush albums. It is one of the heaviest albums since Permanent Waves. It's clear from the opening track "One Little Victory" that the boys were back into some angrier playing. For the first time since Caress of Steel, the group did not incorporate a keyboard into their music. On its disadvantage, it's a very long album, actually the longest RUsh studio album ever. For the first time the band went beyond one hour of music featuring 13 songs in 67 minutes. I never fully embraced this album, it could be because of a bad first impression. Vapor Trails was criticized for its loud production but it was remixed by David Bottrill and released in 2013 as Vapor Trails Remixed. While the albums has some excellent moments, it suffers from its length and inevitable fillers.
Snakes & Arrows is another long album with again 13 tracks, but for the first time for a Rush album, it contains three instrumentals. Overall the album sounds great, much better production than the predecessor. There are a few heavy moments, but the guitar tone is not as distorted and heavy. In fact, there's a a lot of acoustic guitars which helps the bass to shine. Snakes & Arrows features complex rhythmic and melodic patterns that remind us of their albums from the 1970s. It's all in all the most progressive album since the early 80's.
After 5 years, many live albums and compilations, the 19th and last Rush album which is also the best since Test for Echo was released on 12 June 2012. Clockwork Angels is the band's only true concept album. It is culmination of everything the band stood for and a perfect sendoff. The production is great and the musicianship amazing. The and song writing is a mix of heaviness and emotions, being more progressive and diverse than latest records. For the first time since Moving Pictures the band wrote songs crossing the 7 min mark. Looking back "The Garden" is a beautiful swansong for this amazing band. It's emotional and experimental as for the first time the band added string arrangements composed of six violins and two cellos. A fantastic album to say goodbye!
If I had to rank them today, it would look like this:
1 - Hemispheres
2 - 2112
3 - Permanent Waves
4 - Moving Pictures
5 - Caress of Steel
6 - A Farewell To Kings
7 - Rush
8 - Test For Echo
9 - Fly by Night
10 - Clockwork Angels
11 - Signals
12 - Hold Your Fire
13 - Counterparts
14 - Snakes & Arrows
15 - Grace Under Pressure
16 - Presto
17 - Roll the Bones
18 - Vapor Trails
19 - Power Windows
And here a playlist with my favorite Rush songs.
Rush (1974) - 9.0
Fly by Night (1975) - 9.0
Caress of Steel (1975) - 9.5
2112 (1976) - 9.5
A Farewell to Kings (1977) - 9.0
Hemispheres (1978) - 10
Permanent Waves (1980) - 9.5
Moving Pictures (1981) - 9.5
Signals (1982) - 8.5
Grace Under Pressure (1984) - 8.0
Power Windows (1985) - 7.5
Hold Your Fire (1987) - 8.5
Presto (1989) - 8.0
Roll the Bones (1991) - 8.0
Counterparts (1993) - 8.5
Test for Echo (1996) - 9.0
Vapor Trails (2002) - 7.5
Snakes & Arrows (2007) - 8.0
Clockwork Angels (2012) - 8.5
If I had to rank them today, it would look like this:
1 - Hemispheres
2 - 2112
3 - Permanent Waves
4 - Moving Pictures
5 - Caress of Steel
6 - A Farewell To Kings
7 - Rush
8 - Test For Echo
9 - Fly by Night
10 - Clockwork Angels
11 - Signals
12 - Hold Your Fire
13 - Counterparts
14 - Snakes & Arrows
15 - Grace Under Pressure
16 - Presto
17 - Roll the Bones
18 - Vapor Trails
19 - Power Windows
And here a playlist with my favorite Rush songs.
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