Rush (band)

Rush are a Canadian rock band comprised of bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee (formerly Gary Weinrib), guitarist Alex Lifeson (real name Alex Zivojinovic), and drummer Neil Peart (pronounced: 'Peert') who recorded their first album in 1974. The band was formed in the summer of 1968, in Toronto by Lifeson, Lee, and John Rutsey (who played drums for Rush on the first album but resigned for health concerns). Peart joined in 1974, to complete the present lineup. Lee and Lifeson usually write the music and Peart writes the lyrics, although every once in a while they will collaborate on lyrics or music.

Rush are considered to be virtuosos on their respective instruments, and the 30-year lifespan of the current classic incarnation of the band is something rarely achieved in hard rock.

Rush have been awarded the Juno Award (Canada's equivalent of the Grammy Award) on numerous occasions. Additionally, Lee, Lifeson, and Peart are all Officers of the Order of Canada.

Contents

1 History 2 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Debate 3 Discography 3.1 Original studio albums 3.2 Other studio records 3.3 Official live albums 3.4 Compilations/interviews 4 Books 5 Awards list 5.1 Juno awards 5.2 Grammys 5.3 Magazine awards 5.3.1 Alex 5.3.2 Geddy 5.3.3 Neil 5.4 RIAA platinum certifications 6 See also 7 External Links

History

Rush's musical style has changed substantially over the lifetime of the group. Their debut album is heavily 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. The lyrics of that time were heavily influenced by 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) 1976's 2112 and 1978's Hemispheres. Many of their early songs received limited airplay because of their extended length (in some cases exceeding ten minutes) which were deemed unprofitable by station managers. 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.

1980's Permanent Waves changed things dramatically. Rush felt they had taken the genre of lengthy, progressive-influenced music as far as they could or wanted, and began to opt for shorter, more compact, less grandiose compositions. 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.

At this point, Rush began to receive frequent airtime on rock radio stations. As a result, the album cracked Billboard's Top 10 and went platinum. One song in particular, "Spirit of Radio" (named for the Toronto-local groundbreaking radio station, CFNY), went on to become a huge hit on the alternative circuit.

Rush's popularity hit its zenith with the release of Moving Pictures in 1981. The lead track, "Tom Sawyer", is perhaps 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 accessible style that began with Permanent Waves, even to the point that their recordings in the later 1980s and 1990s have sometimes been derided as being too mainstream.

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.

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 Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. Rush later said that they came very close to disbanding during this period.

The band returned in 2002 with a surprisingly heavy and modern Vapor Trails album, their first without keyboards in over twenty years. The album contains the song "Ghost Rider", describing Peart's motorcycle journey. 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.

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.

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. In the summer of 2004, Rush again hit the road for a successful 30th Anniversary Tour, playing dates in the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. It is rumored that the band is to go back into the studio to record a new album in early 2005.

Rush were nominated for a Best Rock Instrumental Performance Grammy Award in 2005 for Neil Peart's drum solo, “O Baterista” 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.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Debate

Rush themselves have noted that people "either love Rush or hate Rush." There doesn't seem to be much middle ground. The result is strong detractors and an intensely loyal fan base. Despite having completely dropped out of the public eye for five years following Peart's loss of his wife and daughter, and the band's being relegated almost solely to classic rock stations in the U.S., the 2002 Vapor Trails release shot up to #6 on the Billboard Chart in its first week of release. The subsequent Vapor Trails tour grossed over $24 million and included the largest audience ever to see a Rush show - 60,000 fans in Sao Paulo. The following year, the band released Rush in Rio, which the RIAA has certified gold, marking the fourth decade in which a Rush album had been released and certified at least gold.

With such a fan base, it is not surprising that they were not pleased to learn that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame passed over Rush for induction in 1999, Rush's first year of eligibility. Since that time, the Hall of Fame has not nominated Rush for induction, causing more and more frustration as time goes by. The debate has become one of the hot debates involving the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as fans clamour extensively for the band's induction while the Hall of Fame voters steadfastly refuse. At one point, in an ESPN.com article introducing basketball star LeBron James to Cleveland just before James' rookie season in 2004, the writer suggested James be up to speed on the latest rumblings from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: "U2-definitely yes, REM-maybe, Rush-definitely no."

Some of Rush's detractors associate the band with the progressive rock era of the 1970s, which they view as overblown and pretentious. Rush's supporters note that their music was only of the true "prog" school from 1975-1979, a small portion of their thirty year history, if perhaps one of the most important phases of their career. Additionally, these supporters note, Rush has influenced countless musicians and bands, from inspiring numerous people to learn to play their instruments to bands that have openly declared such influence, notably Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, and Primus.

Discography

Original studio albums

• Rush (March 1974)
• Fly by Night (February 1975)
• Caress of Steel (September 1975)
• 2112 (February 1976)
• A Farewell to Kings (September 1977)
• Hemispheres (October 1978)
• Permanent Waves (January 1980)
• Moving Pictures (January 1981)
• Signals (September 1982)
• Grace Under Pressure (April 1984)
• Power Windows (October 1985)
• Hold Your Fire (September 1987)
• Presto (November 1989)
• Roll the Bones (September 1991)
• Counterparts (October 1993)
• Test for Echo (September 1996)
• Vapor Trails (May 2002)

Other studio records

• Not Fade Away (1973 - 7" single)
• Feedback (June 29, 2004)
• Closer to The Heart (1977 - single)

Official live albums

• All The World's a Stage (September 1976)
• Exit...Stage Left (October 1981)
• A Show of Hands (December 1988)
• Different Stages (November 1998)
• Rush in Rio (October 2003)

Compilations/interviews

• Archives (April 1978) – Repackage of the first three albums (Rush, Fly by Night and Caress of Steel)
• Chronicles (September 1990) – Essentially a "Greatest Hits" release
• The Story of Kings - Interview (1992) – Interview with Alex Lifeson
• The Interviews - Vol 2 (October 1995) – Interview with Geddy Lee
• Retrospective I 1974-1980 (1997) – Repackaging of best songs from their first decade.
• Retrospective II 1981-1987 (1997) – Repackaging of best songs from their second decade.
• The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987 (February 2003) – Repackaging of Mercury/Polygram-held songs up to Hold Your Fire (1987), not endorsed by band

Solo efforts of band members:

• Burning for Buddy, Volume 1 (Buddy Rich tribute album) – (Solo), Peart, et al (1994)
• Burning for Buddy, Volume 2 (Buddy Rich tribute album) – (Solo), Peart, et al (1994/-5?)
• Victor – (Solo), Lifeson, et al (1996)
• My Favorite Headache – (Solo), Lee, et al (November 2000)

Books

• Drum Techniques of Rush – Peart (1985) – ISBN 0769250556
• More Drum Techniques of Rush – Peart, Wheeler (1989) – ISBN 0769250513
• Mystic Rhythms: The Philosophical Vision of Rush – Price, et al. (1999) – ISBN 1587151022
• The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa – Peart (1999) – ISBN 1895900026
• Ghost Rider (book)|Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road – Peart (2002) – ISBN 1550225464 (hardcover), ISBN 1550225480 (paperback)
• Rush: Merely Players – Telleria (2002) – ISBN 1550822713
• Rush: Success Under Pressure – Steve Gett (1984) – ISBN 0895242303
• Traveling Music: Playing Back the Soundtrack to My Life and Times – Peart (2004) – ISBN 1550226649
• Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years of Rush at Home and Away – Popoff, Martin. Publisher: Ecw Press (June 28, 2004) ISBN: 1550226789

Awards list

Rush has received many awards during their career.

Juno awards

Rush has been awarded the following Juno awards:

• 1974 Most promising group of the year
• 1977 Group of the year
• 1978 Group of the year
• 1991 Best Heavy Metal Album
• 1991 Best album cover - Presto
• 1992 Best Hard Rock Album
• 1992 Best album cover - Roll the Bones
• 2004 Music DVD of the year - "Rush in Rio"

Grammys

• 1982 nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
  • "YYZ" -- lost to The Police's "Behind My Camel"
• 1992 nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
  • "Where's My Thing" -- lost to Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover"
• 2004 nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
  • "O Baterista" from Rush In Rio -- lost to Brian Wilson's "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow"

Magazine awards

Alex

• 1983 - "Best Rock Talent" - Guitar for the Practicing Musician
• 1991 - Inducted into the Guitar for the Practicing Musician Hall of Fame

Geddy

• Bass Hall of Fame - Guitar Player Magazine
• 6 time winner: "Best Rock Bass" - Guitar Player Magazine
• 1993 - "Best Rock Bass Player" Bass Player readers' poll

Neil

From Modern Drummer magazine reader's polls:

• Hall of Fame: 1983
• Best Rock Drummer: 1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985
• Best Multi-Percussionist: 1983,1984,1985,1986
• Best Percussion Instrumentalist: 1982
• Most Promising New Drummer: 1980
• Best All Around: 1986
• 1986 Honor Roll: Rock Drummer, Multi-Percussion

(As a member of the Honor Roll in these categories, Neil is no longer eligible for votes in the above categories.)

• Best Recorded Performance:
  • 1981: Moving Pictures
  • 1982: Exit... Stage Left
  • 1983: Signals
  • 1985: Grace Under Pressure
  • 1986: Power Windows
  • 1988: Hold Your Fire
  • 1989: A Show of Hands
  • 1990: Presto
  • 1992: Roll The Bones

RIAA platinum certifications

• Fly by Night
• 2112 - 3x
• All the World's A Stage
• A Farewell to Kings
• Hemishperes
• Perment Waves
• Moving Pictures - 4x
• Signals
• Power Windows
• Exit...Stage Left
• A Show of Hands
• Chronicles - 2x
• Roll the Bones
• Chronicles - (video)
• Rush in Rio - (video) 4x
• Archives

See also

• Best selling music artists

External Links

• www.rush.com
• Power Windows (http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/) - a Rush tribute site
• Counterparts Rush Fan Website (http://www.rushweb.net)
• www.rushmessageboard.com
• Rush Archives (http://www.rusharchives.com) - News and Information Site
• By-Tor.com (http://www.by-tor.com)
• The Rush Forum (http://www.therushforum.com)
• Rush Tablature Project (http://www.cygnusproductions.com/rtp/)
• RushRadio.org (http://www.rushradio.org/) - a 24/7 Rush Internet radio station
• Rush MIDI (http://www.jgeoff.com/rush/)
• All Music Guide (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:4ubyxd0bjolk)
• RushTour.com (http://www.rushtour.com/2004/)

Rush
Geddy Lee | Alex Lifeson | Neil Peart | John Rutsey
Original studio albums
Rush | Fly by Night | Caress of Steel | 2112 | A Farewell to Kings | Hemispheres | Permanent Waves | Moving Pictures | Signals | Grace Under Pressure | Power Windows | Hold Your Fire | Presto | Roll the Bones | Counterparts | Test for Echo | Vapor Trails
Other studio records
Not Fade Away | Feedback
Live albums
All The World's a Stage | Exit...Stage Left | A Show of Hands | Different Stages | Rush in Rio
Compilations
Archives | Chronicles | Retrospective I | Retrospective II | The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987
Side projects
Burning For Buddy | Burning For Buddy, Vol. 2 | Victor | My Favorite Headache

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