Rush - The Hard Side of Progressive

In the young world of rock, there exists an isolated enclave, ignored or treated with condescension by critics, which nevertheless has a widespread, loyal, cross-generational audience, with a reach and following that have never known crisis or decline. This is the world of hard rock and metal. Crude, coarse music, unchanging in its patterns? In part that may even be true, but it's a phenomenon that cannot be ignored or dismissed with hasty analysis and judgments. Of course, when we talk about Led Zeppelin the attitude changes, and partly too when Deep Purple are mentioned, and more recently there's been critical reappraisal of Black Sabbath and Motorhead, but after that, is there nothing left worth hearing? While we wait for the reassessment of Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden and Ac/Dc too, perhaps it's worth shining the spotlight on a band that does have a vast following and reputation (less so in Italy than elsewhere) and that stands as not only one of the supreme expressions of "hard rock", but one that brought an entire genre into being — progressive metal, or hard progressive: Rush.

Rush, the most famous Canadian band, debuted in 1974 with their self-titled album. From the very start the group presented itself as a trio: Geddy Lee (vocals and bass), Alex Lifeson (guitar) and John Rutsey (drums). Rush offers a sound heavily indebted to Led Zeppelin, though without their pathos or their acoustic touches, with moderately driving tracks, decent instrumental excursions, good melodic choices, but little more. Lifeson already stands out on electric guitar, Lee begins his dress rehearsals with his bass used in a harmonic role and serves as singer with his high, falsetto voice, somewhat reminiscent of a possessed Jon Anderson. The compositions are good but not particularly interesting or innovative, though a few effective tracks remain, revived for years in their live sets ("Working Man", "Finding My Way", "In the Mood"). The problem is a very marked derivativeness from the Led Zeppelin model, so much so that it almost sounds like a cover band, with abundant references to the Zeppelin scattered throughout the album.

The following year saw the release of Fly By Night, with Rutsey replaced on drums by Neil Peart. With Peart's arrival, the line-up reached the definitive balance that would last to this day. The new drummer was technically far more gifted and brought a more original, inventive style of drumming, as well as being a respected lyricist who would from then on handle all of the band's lyrics.

The new album marks a decisive step forward both in the songwriting and in the definition of the band's own style and sound. Echoes of Led Zeppelin can still be heard here and there, but overall the band shines with its own light, with a first attempt at an extended track ("By-Tor and the Snow Dog") and a splendid acoustic gem like "Rivendell". The group also grows considerably as performers: Peart's approach to drumming is powerful and imaginative and drives a clear growth in Lee's bass playing, also used harmonically, and in Lifeson's guitar work. Fly By Night is still essentially a pure hard rock album, albeit with more evolved songwriting and embryonic hints of greater complexity and ambition.

That same year Rush released their third album, Caress of Steel, which includes both callbacks to the very recent past ("Bastille Day") and thinly veiled progressive ambitions, especially in the suite "The Fountain of Lamneth", actually a false suite in that it's a collage of distinct parts rather than an organic piece, alternating proper hard rock riffs with melodic sections led by acoustic guitar, which often rises to the role of protagonist.

Caress of Steel is at once a transitional album and an important step in moving beyond the hard rock stylistic devices the band had started out with.

That shift accelerated with the following year's album, 2112, the magnum opus of the band's first phase and one of their most famous and celebrated works. The album contains the title suite, which takes up the entire first side, and still plays on the alternation of hard sections with acoustic detours. Compared to the previous album there is certainly greater overall cohesion and a stronger emphasis on epic tones and progressive flourishes. The instrumental impact is also significant, backed by excellent musicianship, with driving riffs and progressions, Lifeson's guitar to the fore, and a rhythm section that already proves to be among the most powerful and creative in all of rock. The five tracks on side two are also very good, with the catchy "Passage to Bangkok", a live highlight, and the poignant "Tears".

The double live album All the World's a Stage closes out the band's first phase, which resumes in 1977 with A Farewell to Kings.

A great deal had changed. The album is unmistakably progressive from the beautiful allegorical cover onward, with the significant introduction of keyboards, played by Lee though almost never in a solo capacity, used to expand the tracks and broaden the sonic texture of the melodies.

A Farewell to Kings loses much of the impact of the earlier period, standing as one of the least heavy records in the entire Rush discography; the hard rock of their early days remains in the background, as the band favours more celebratory atmospheres, with interlocking themes, as in the two mini-suites "Xanadu" and "Cygnus X-1", with their spacey tones, not to mention hushed pieces ("Madrigal") or easily catchy ones ("Cinderella Man", the famous "Closer to the Heart"). A Farewell to Kings is a blatantly progressive album, at times close to certain Yes material, by now far removed from the Led Zeppelin roots the band had started from.

Perhaps in reaction to an album of undoubted instrumental and compositional value, but a bit too restrained for the band's standards, 1978 saw the release of Hemispheres, in which, while retaining an evident progressive foundation, certain hard rock sonorities were recovered, so much so that it is Hemispheres rather than A Farewell to Kings that feels like the true successor to 2112, with effective guitar breaks and long instrumental progressions in which the great technical control and virtuosity of all three members emerge more than ever. The title suite occupies the entire first side, but perhaps the best material is on side two, with "The Trees", which opens acoustically before launching into a driving instrumental middle section, and the entirely instrumental "La Villa Strangiato", nine thrilling minutes that are not lacking in great atmosphere and refinement, with digressions bordering on jazz-rock.

In 1980, with Rush at the peak of their fame and creativity, Permanent Waves was released. While the two previous albums were hard-prog records, stylistically tied to the Seventies, Permanent Waves considerably modernizes the sound, partly abandoning the long suites in favour of more immediate, less convoluted dynamics, and instead playing on the refinement of certain harmonic choices.

Permanent Waves still keeps the band's virtuosic instrumental approach intact, backed by songwriting of the highest order, only slightly held back by a certain rigidity and formulaic quality in the arrangements, a trait the group would never quite shake off. In this sense, Rush seem to be paying tribute to their North American roots.

The following year came Moving Pictures, considered by many to be the band's best record, which builds on the sound of the previous album with several excellent tracks such as “Tom Sawyer”, “Red Barchetta”, “Limelight” and the dazzling “YYZ”, an indulgent but gripping showcase of instrumental technique built on alternating solo parts.

Moving Pictures closes out Rush's progressive-rock quadrilogy, sealed by the live album Exit Stage Left, and with it the band's finest artistic hour.

The following Signals opens a new chapter: the songs get shorter, favoring synthesis over analysis, and the keyboards' role becomes not just supportive but thoroughly dominant, partly replacing the guitar in the overall balance of the band's sound. This marks a move away from both hard rock and progressive rock, in favor of a cold, technological, less forceful sound. Many longtime fans turned up their noses, accusing the band of excessive coldness, but in truth Signals is a well-crafted, genuinely inspired record, with excellent tracks like the opening “Subdivisions, Losing It”, enriched by electric violin, and “New World Man”, which even features a reggae-rock groove.

In 1984 came Grace Under Pressure, a very catchy record, less polished than its predecessor but also less successful, followed in the ensuing years by Power Windows and Hold Your Fire, more accomplished albums, especially the latter, still following a vein of power-rock backed by great technique and strong songwriting, even if somewhat monolithic in their arrangements and stylistic choices.

The live album A Show Of Hands closes out this phase of the band, who returned in 1989 with Presto, a rather disappointing record, and in 1991 with Roll The Bones, which is only slightly better.

As a response to a hint of creative crisis, 1993 saw the release of Counterparts, which recovers a certain underlying toughness, though with songs not quite up to even the band's recent past, followed in 1996 by Test For Echo, a very polished but not particularly significant record. These later albums, while still retaining a strong sense of dignity, show a clear downward arc in the band's creativity, with its very existence called into question by family troubles afflicting Peart.

But in 2002 Vapor Trails arrived to shake things up. The record may or may not appeal — this writer isn't a fan — but after thirty years of career it marks a clear break from previous phases, presenting a very hard-edged sound, at times bordering on “noise”, with Lifeson's guitar venturing into the harshest territory. Whether it was a new beginning or the last desperate response to a crisis, perhaps a prelude to a breakup, there's no way to know; what's certain is that Vapor Trails is both a questionable and a courageous record, in the hope that it wouldn't be the final chapter of a band so significant both as a stylistic statement and as a body of work.

The 2007 comeback with Snakes & Arrows presents a calmer, more sunlit sound, starting with the single “Far Cry”. Alex Lifeson's granite riffs power “Armor And Sword”, while “Workin' Them Angels” unfolds over more bluesy, acoustic cadences, as does “The Larger Bowl”, electric only in its refrain. And while “The Way The Wind Blows” reaffirms the band's harder-edged roots, “Hope” once again harks back to folk, while “Good News First” and “Bravest Face” boast perhaps the finest melodies of the bunch.

Snakes & Arrows is essentially a record built on craft, yet it confirms the stature and tightness of a band that shows no intention whatsoever of lowering the flag.

In 2012, after five years of waiting and a long gestation period, including live shows and full-fledged tours, the new album finally arrived. It's a concept record in which fantasy elements and references to the current state of the world blend with music of strongly hard rock character. The title, Clockwork Angels, points to the figures who control time, to whom the protagonist must answer during his long journey in search of a lost dream. It's a technically flawless work, though the wall of sound seems to conceal a lack of ideas. There's little trace of the melodies, the verve, the imagination that defined the three Canadians' career for at least fifteen years (from the mid-Seventies to the end of the Eighties). Meanwhile, rumor has it that a novel may be drawn from Neil Peart's new prose, to be written by the drummer's friend Kevin J. Anderson.

On January 7, 2020, Neil Peart passed away at just 67 years old. The band announced the news only three days later, inviting anyone who wished to express condolences to make a donation to a cancer research group of their choice. The cause of death was in fact a malignant brain tumor, glioblastoma, which he had been fighting for three years. In Italy, the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC) is active in this field. What can be said in his memory after such a spectacular, top-tier career? Neil Peart was one of the greatest drummers in the history of rock, celebrated and respected by countless musicians around the world for his extraordinary technique and compositional skill. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. In his 45 years with Rush, alongside bandmates Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, he helped create one of the most beloved and admired bands of all time. Besides being the band's drummer since 1974, he was also the principal lyricist, ranging with intelligence and depth across the most varied subjects, from science fiction to history, from politics to philosophy, from odes to freedom to the hardships of life.

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