As the 1980s begin to come to a close, so does Rush’s synth period in a big way with Hold Your Fire. Following the success of Power Windows, the band took a short break after the Power Windows tour was complete on May 26th, 1986 at the Pacific Amphitheater in California before beginning work on their follow up album, Hold Your Fire. As a complete work, much like how Signals … [Read more...] about 25 Days of Rush: Hold Your Fire (1987)
25 days of rush
25 Days of Rush: Power Windows (1985)
The spirit of Rush’s musical epic rearranged for 1985. In just under 5 years, Rush underwent another notable transformation. The band completely traded in their rock roots took up a synthy, lushly layered musical mantle instead. Anthems that defined the band through the 70s and early 80s seem to have gone by the wayside for a series of albums that sound more like they could … [Read more...] about 25 Days of Rush: Power Windows (1985)
25 Days of Rush: Grace Under Pressure (1984)
In 10 years, Rush turned from a Led Zeppelin cover band into a progressive U2 sounding project. I’ll be perfectly honest. I did not like Grace Under Pressure for a number of years. Back when I was getting into Rush many years ago, this album just lacked...everything to me. None of the songs, with the exception of ‘The Enemy Within’ seemed to have any real punch or grit to … [Read more...] about 25 Days of Rush: Grace Under Pressure (1984)
25 Days of Rush: Moving Pictures (1981)
Rush’s masterwork: the perfect balance of classic rock, classic songwriting and progressive rock at it’s most accessible. This is the album that converted so many people over to the gospel of Rush. As a whole, the album is the band’s most complete sounding and their most accessible. 3 of the songs on this 7 song album, ‘Limelight’, ‘Tom Sawyer’ and ‘YYZ’, have become classic … [Read more...] about 25 Days of Rush: Moving Pictures (1981)
25 Days of Rush: Permanent Waves (1980)
The door begins to close on epic multi-part rock opera Rush and the door begins to open for classic-rock-staples-and-1980s Rush. Rush’s 1980 release, Permanent Waves, marked another shift in Rush’s musical direction and would telegraph the band’s musical direction for the next 2 releases. On Permanent Waves, and the two following Moving Pictures and Signals in the coming … [Read more...] about 25 Days of Rush: Permanent Waves (1980)
25 Days of Rush: A Farewell to Kings (1977)
The next step beyond 2112 looks bright. Let me open with a personal thought. While Moving Pictures got me into Rush, it was A Farewell to Kings that I studied day in and day out. For me, this album brings back vivid memories of playing bass quietly in my room late Saturday nights trying to learn ‘Xanadu’ and the album’s title track and generally the album that kept me loving … [Read more...] about 25 Days of Rush: A Farewell to Kings (1977)
25 Days of Rush: 2112 (1976)
The band’s first hit record with one of rock’s most celebrated epics. 1976 was an important turning point for Rush. The hard rock years seemed to be fading behind them and the progressive rock Rush was taking up the reigns. Rush’s 1976 rock opera epic, 2112, was the first of what would be a slew of albums, A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves and Moving … [Read more...] about 25 Days of Rush: 2112 (1976)
25 Days of Rush: Caress of Steel (1975)
Utter failure or diamond in the ruff? Depends who you ask. But one thing is for sure: this is definitely the boldest, rawest, most honest album in the entire Rush discography. Caress of Steel was released a few months later the same year as Fly by Night. Fly by Night was February and Caress of Steel was September of 1975. Upon release, the album was a massive flop upon … [Read more...] about 25 Days of Rush: Caress of Steel (1975)
25 Days of Rush: Rush (1974)
We kick off 25 Days of Rush with a look at the band’s first album, Rush, a collection of songs where the band sounds more like their musical influences than the band we know today. Musically, it’s a pretty bare bones album. The music is what you would expect a 1970s rock band to sound like and the lyrics are not reflecting any profound or deep themes that the band would be … [Read more...] about 25 Days of Rush: Rush (1974)