Rush

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Rush

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I won't pretend that this recording can come close to the majesty of Moving Pictures or the groundbreaking progressive metal of 2112, but I have a soft spot in my heart for this album. It was my introduction to all things Rush. I ordered it "cold" from Columbia House after reading a brief description (no sound bytes back in those days.) After turning- on some friends, before you know it, there was a Rush explosion in my high school! Sure there was no heroic, inimitable drumming per Neal Peart, but the compositions were some of the tightest pure rock songs I had ever heard (naturally Led Zeppelin came to mind.) I loved the ringing open chords and imaginative solos used by Alex Lifeson, that added a different dimension from the ordinary power chords so commonly used at this time (I quickly adopted this style of playing.) I personally think Alex was the most creative soloist since Jimmy Page, not relying solely on blues scales. This is a great rock album. It is raw and powerful,and contains NO weak moments, but don't expect the grandeur of their later epic releases. Still one of my favorites!

"Rush" is a decent debut album. If you read the "authorized" book "Contents Under Pressure", you'll learn that Rush had been playing these songs for 3 or more years before recording this album, so that means they were teenagers when they wrote these originally (they were 20 when they recorded this). I think if you take that into account, this is actually a surprisingly good album, but obviously nowhere near what they would become, even on the next album "Fly by Night". The "baby baby" lyrics can be annoying, but the music is decent. "Working Man" is a classic song and sounds good even today. Every true Rush fan will own this album, but it's still worthwhile for any fan of 70's hard rock.