Rush (album)

Rush
Studio album by Rush
Released	March 1974 (Moon Records) July 1974 (Remix) May 6, 1997 (Remaster)
Recorded	1973
Genre	Hard rock
Length	40:07 40:04 (Remastered Version)
Label	Moon Records Anthem/Mercury Records
Producer	Rush
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Rush chronology
Rush (1974) Fly by Night (1975)

Rush is the first studio album by the Canadian band Rush, released in 1974 (see 1974 in music) and remastered in 1997. Rush's first release shows much of the hard rock/blues sound typical of many of the popular rock bands emerging from Britain earlier in the decade. Rush were fans of bands such as Led Zeppelin and Cream and these influences can be heard in most of the songs on this debut. Due to a limited budget, the sessions were scheduled during the late night 'dead' time in studios which, due to lack of activity at those times, had lower rates. This is a common theme among rising rock stars (Queen was forced to do the same for their debut album). Originally the sessions were produced by Dave Stock at Eastern Sound in Toronto. Stock had also worked on the band's debut single (a cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" with an original composition "You Can't Fight It" on the B-side). These songs (plus what may be the unrecorded original song "Fancy Dancer" and/or "Garden Road" with "Fancy Dancer" being more likely) were going to be included on the album but were scrapped. Two of the Eastern Sound recordings, "In the Mood" and "Take a Friend" were included on the final album. However the band was unhappy with the quality of the first sessions. They moved to Toronto Sound Studios and produced the next sessions themselves. They added new overdubs to the existing backing tracks of "What You're Doing", "Before and After" and "Working Man." Three new songs were recorded entirely at Toronto Sound Studios, "Finding My Way", "Need Some Love", and "Here Again." These new songs took the place of songs from the earlier sessions.^[1] Both studios used 8-channel multitrack recorders which was somewhat primitive for 1973, but the group quickly learned to make the best use of the technology that was available. The album was first released on Moon Records in Canada. Only 3,500 copies of the original were pressed. The album was picked up by WMMS, a radio station in Cleveland, Ohio. Donna Halper, a DJ working at the station, selected "Working Man" for her regular play list. Copies of the Moon Records album were imported to the Cleveland area and quickly sold out. The song's blue collar theme resonated with hard rock fans and this new found popularity led to the album being re-released by Mercury Records in the U.S. Manager Ray Danniels scraped together an additional $9000 for producer Terry Brown to re-mix all of the recordings to improve the sound quality. The remix version was used for later releases. Original drummer John Rutsey was unable to go on extended tours and left the band after the first album was released. Rutsey wrote some lyrics for the debut, but never submitted them to the band and some new lyrics had to be thrown together.^[1] Rutsey's departure was pivotal for the band, as his replacement Neil Peart's distinctive drumming technique and flair for lyric writing proved to be crucial to the band's evolution as evidenced by their second album, Fly by Night. The original logo was red, but a printing error made it appear more pink in colour. [1] This is one of two Rush albums where the cover artwork had printing errors (the other album is Caress of Steel). There appear to be two different label designs for pressings on Moon Records. One is a cream colored label with a blue logo and black type. The other is a pink label with black type and gray "moon craters." The pink Moon Records label appears to be a later pressing. Some early Mercury label pressings have standard Mercury red labels, but the majority have the later "skyline" Mercury labels.

Track listing

All tracks by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, except where noted.

1. "Finding My Way" – 5:06
2. "Need Some Love" – 2:19
3. "Take a Friend" – 4:24
4. "Here Again" – 7:35
5. "What You're Doing" – 4:22
6. "In the Mood" (Lee) – 3:34
7. "Before and After" – 5:34
8. "Working Man" – 7:10

Personnel

• Geddy Lee – Lead vocals and bass
• Alex Lifeson – Guitars and vocals
• John Rutsey – Drums and vocals

Chart Positions

Sales Certifications

Singles

All chart positions are U.S. Billboard - Mainstream Rock Tracks unless otherwise stated.

Discography

Remaster details

A remaster was issued in 1997.

• The tray has a picture of star with man painting with THE RUSH REMASTERS printed in all caps just to the left. All remasters from Rush through to Permanent Waves are like this. This is just like the cover art of Retrospective I.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/DEBUTlyrics.htm Power Windows