:: RUSH :: The 40th Anniversary Edition of ‘Signals’ is out in 2023.

 

Rush was a Canadian rock band that primarily comprised Geddy Lee (bass, keyboards, vocals), Alex Lifeson (guitar), and Neil Peart (drums, percussion, lyricist). The band formed in Toronto in 1968 with Lifeson, drummer John Rutsey, and bass guitarist/vocalist Jeff Jones, whom Lee immediately replaced. After Lee joined, the band went through several line-ups before arriving at its classic power trio line-up with the addition of Peart in July 1974, who replaced Rutsey four months after the release of their self-titled debut album; this line-up remained intact for the remainder of the band’s career.

Rush achieved commercial success in the 1970s with Fly by Night (1975), 2112 (1976), A Farewell to Kings (1977) and Hemispheres (1978). The band’s popularity continued throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with albums charting highly in Canada, the US and the UK, including Permanent Waves (1980), Moving Pictures (1981), Signals (1982), Grace Under Pressure (1984) and Counterparts (1993). Rush continued to record and perform until 1997, after which the band entered a four-year hiatus due to personal tragedies in Peart’s life. The trio regrouped in 2001 and released three more studio albums: Vapor Trails (2002), Snakes & Arrows (2007), and Clockwork Angels (2012). Rush ceased touring at the end of 2015, and Lifeson announced in January 2018 that the band would not continue, which was cemented by Peart’s death from glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer, on January 7, 2020, at the age of 67.

Rush were known for their musicianship, complex compositions and eclectic lyrical motifs drawing heavily on science fiction, fantasy and philosophy. The band’s style changed over the years, from a blues-inspired hard rock beginning, later moving into progressive rock, then a period in the 1980s marked by heavy use of synthesizers, before returning to guitar-driven hard rock at the end of the 1980s. Their final work from 2012, Clockwork Angels, marked a return to progressive rock. The members of Rush have been acknowledged as some of the most proficient players on their respective instruments, with each winning numerous awards in magazine readers’ polls over the years.

As of 2022, Rush ranks 84th in the US with sales of 26 million albums and industry sources estimate their total worldwide album sales at over 42 million. Rush have been awarded 14 platinum and 3 multi-platinum albums in the US, plus 17 platinum albums in Canada. Rush were nominated for seven Grammy Awards, won several Juno Awards, and won an International Achievement Award at the 2009 SOCAN Awards. The band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

Rush released its eponymous debut album in March 1974. 24 gold and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records later, the band is only third behind The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for the most consecutive gold or platinum albums by a rock band.

The album that started it all. Original drummer John Rutsey performed all drum parts on the album. The recording sessions were produced by Dave Stock at Eastern Sound in Toronto, recorded late at night because the studio rates were the cheapest (they recorded the album on their own dime). The band was unhappy with the quality of the first sessions, so they moved to Toronto Sound Studios and produced the next sessions themselves to get a better sound.

“The first stab at the album was done in eight hours following a gig. We were warmed up after the show, and it came very easy. Then it was recut in November in about three days, including mixing time. We were lucky in that most of the songs came in two or three takes.” – Alex Lifeson, 1974

Rather than sign with an existing label, Rush created their own, Moon Records, and pressed a few thousand copies. Cleveland DJ Donna Halper at WMMS was instrumental in making “Working Man” a cult hit and helped bring the band to the attention of Mercury Records.