Rush lyrics and Rush guitar tabs, Rush pictures and biography

This Canadian heavy rock band comprised Geddy Lee

(b. Gary Lee Weinrib, 29 July 1953, Willowdale, Toronto,
Canada; keyboards, bass, vocals), Alex Lifeson
(b. Alex
Zivojinovich, 27 August 1953, British Columbia, Canada;
guitar) and John Rutsey
(drums). From 1969-72 they
performed in Toronto playing a brand of Cream -inspired
material, honing their act on the local club and bar circuit.
In 1973, they recorded a version of Buddy Holly's Not
Fade Away as their debut release, backing it with You
Can't Fight It , for their own label, Moon Records. Despite
failing to grab the attention as planned, the group pressed
ahead with the recording of a debut album, which was remixed
by Terry Broon Brown. Brown would continue to work
with the band until 1984's Grace Under Pressure. With no
bite from the majors, once again this arrived via Moon, with
distribution by London Records. However, at least the quality
of the group's live appointments improved, picking up support
slots with the New York Dolls in Canada and finally crossing
the US border to play gigs with ZZ Top. Eventually Cliff
Burnstein of Mercury Records
(who would later also sign Def
Leppard ) heard the band, and his label would reissue the group's
debut. At this point Neil Peart
(b. 12 September 1952, Hamilton,
Ontario, Canada; drums, ex-Hush), who was to be the main
songwriter of the band, replaced Rutsey, and Rush undertook
their first full tour of the USA. Rush's music was typified by Lee's
oddly high-pitched voice, a tremendously powerful guitar sound,
especially in the early years, and a recurrent interest in science
fiction and fantasy from the pen of Neil Peart. Later he would
also conceptualize the work of authors such as John Barth,
Gabriel Garcia Marquez and John Dos Passos. This approach
reached its zenith in the band's 1976 concept album, 2112, based
on the work of novelist/philosopher Ayn Rand, which had as its
central theme the concept of individual freedom and will. Including
a 20-minute title track that lasted all of side one, it was a set that
crystallized the spirit of Rush for both their fans and detractors.
However, the band's most popular offering, A Farewell To Kings,
followed by Hemispheres in 1978, saw Peart finally dispense with
his epic songwriting style. By 1979 Rush were immensely
successful worldwide, and the Canadian Government awarded
them the title of official Ambassadors of Music. As the 80s
progressed Rush streamlined their image to become sophisticated,
clean-cut, cerebral music-makers. Some early fans denigrated
their determination to progress musically with each new album,
though in truth the band had thoroughly exhausted its earlier style.
They enjoyed a surprise hit single in 1980 when The Spirit Of
Radio broke them out of their loyal cult following, and live shows
now saw Lifeson and Lee adding keyboards for a fuller sound.
Lee's vocals had also dropped somewhat from their earlier
near-falsetto. The best recorded example of the band from this
period is the succinct Moving Pictures from 1981, a groundbreaking
fusion of technological rock and musical craft that never relies on
the former at the expense of the latter. However, their career
afterwards endured something of a creative wane, with the band at
odds with various musical innovations. Despite this, live shows were
still exciting events for the large pockets of fans the band retained all
over the world, and in the powerful Hold Your Fire in 1987 they
proved they were still able to scale former heights. In 1994 the band
agreed to a break for the first time in their career, during which Lifeson
worked on his Victor side project. They returned in 1996 with Test
For Echo. Often criticized for lyrical pretension and musical
grandstanding - unkind critics have suggested that Rush is exactly
what you get if you let your drummer write your songs for you - they
nevertheless remain Canada's leading rock attraction.