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The Rush Mini-Guide

-> What is this?
This is a miniature guide to a few things Rushly. This is written by Lolita Screwtape, and so has said writer's bias. Most of this is only important to new fans.

-> How should I get into Rush?
Difficult to say. But here's probably the most recommended order:

1. Moving Pictures
2. Permanent Waves
3. Snakes & Arrows
4. Grace Under Pressure
5. Fly by Night
6. Counterparts
7. Signals
8. 2112
9. s/t
10. Hemispheres
11. A Farewell to Kings
12. Power Windows
13. Presto
14. Hold Your Fire
15. Roll the Bones
16. Caress of Steel
17. Vapor Trails
18. Test for Echo

What about Feedback? Put that in at any time after 2112. I can't think of a good place to put it. The order of live albums is unimportant; base it on what cuts each record contains and your preferences of songs.

-> Rush's Studio Discography

1974 - Rush (s/t)
Probably best known today for "Working Man," an extended piece highlighted by a virtuoso guitar performance by Alex Lifeson, this is a bit of an oddball in the band's discography, being less prog and more blues/metal-inflected. The album is probably less needed for the new initiate, however "Working Man" is a necessity, a live staple, with an awesome guitar solo. Notable for being the only album recorded with John Rutsey on drums.

1975 - Fly by Night (FbN)
Neil Peart's drumming debut with Rush, and definitely one of the stronger albums, Fly by Night features powerhouse performances on every song, but especially the title track (which features some of Rush's best early-era songcraft) and "Anthem," which is a massively-powerful, er, anthem, based on Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead," as well as the band's first true epic, "By-Tor and the Snow Dog," which still gets played on stage occasionally to this day! A strong album all-around, definitely worth buying.

1975 - Caress of Steel (CoS)
It may be way down the list, but Caress of Steel is still a fairly strong album, largely from a more progressive standpoint, featuring two epics, one a side long, and the other over half a side long! The songwriting is a bit weaker, but some songs, especially "Bastille Day," are still great. "The Fountain of Lamneth" is an excellent epic piece, and "The Necromancer" is unforgettable, as well.

1976 - 2112
A widely-loved album, not only for the excellent rocker "A Passage to Bangkok" and early live staple "Something for Nothing," but for the epic side-length title track. Without a doubt this song, above all others, is the best epic that Rush has ever put out, a fan favorite forever, an impressive epic loosely based on Ayn Rand's "Anthem." Unfortunately, it's a bit inaccessible otherwise, but it features one of the greatest songs ever, not only in Rush's canon. Its difficulty in accessibility is what pushes it so far down the list; it's still very much a worthwhile album.

1977 - A Farewell to Kings (AFtK)
Immediately, 26 minutes worth of music on this record are amazing, but this album, one of the proggiest the band ever put out, is very inaccessible. The strongest song on the album is definitely "Xanadu," eleven minutes based on Coleridge(?)'s "Kubla Khan." It's been an on-again-off-again live staple for the group. You'll have some difficulty getting into it, but it will probably soon become one of your favorite albums.

1978 - Hemispheres
A fan favorite, powered by another side-long epic, a ten-minute instrumental, and two of the bands stronger short songs, Hemispheres is otherwise inaccessible and engineered largely to gain no airplay ever, it seems. It continues the story of "Cygnus X-1" that began on the previous album for a whole eighteen minutes, then follows this up with two four-minute songs, "Circumstances" and "The Trees," both excellent. "La Villa Strangiato," one of the band's best instrumentals, rounds off the album. Definitely worth getting.

1980 - Permanent Waves (PeW)
This may be one of the finest overall albums that Rush ever put out, with expert songcraft on both the short and long songs. This is the first album that got Rush serious airplay with hits "The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill," as well as album track "Entre Nous." As well, the album included "Jacob's Ladder," a seven minute mini-epic, and long-time favorite "Natural Science," which, while absent from a lot of 80s setlists, enjoyed a revival in the 90s and has appeared at almost every show since. The closest thing the album has to filler is probably "Different Strings." Overall, a fine album, and a worthy success.

1981 - Moving Pictures (MP)
The band's biggest hit, and definitely the best starting point for those wanting to get into the group, Moving Pictures include hits "Limelight" and "Tom Sawyer." "Red Barchetta generated some airplay, too. We also see the Fear saga start here at Part III, "Witch Hunt." The album also includes "The Camera Eye," another favorite epic and one of the most-requested songs for the band to play live, as well as "YYZ," widely regarded as one of the best instrumentals (even if it lost the Grammy to "Behind My Camel" (I think it was "Behind My Camel" wink ). "Vital Signs" also has appeared on many setlists off and on.

1982 - Signals
A minor hit record, driven upward in sales by twin singles "Subdivisions" and "New World Man," Signals is a fairly good record, mostly because of album tracks, though, including "The Analog Kid" and "Digital Man" -- both of which have had live revivals in the past few Rush tours. Elsewhere, "The Weapon," Part II of Fear, incorporates a four-on-the-floor beat and other dance-music features to the song -- rather a mismatch to the lyrics, but which makes the song a bit of a guilty pleasure. If you want to buy this on CD, get the newest remaster! The old master has muddy sound.

1984 - Grace Under Pressure (GUP, p/g)
With hit single "Distant Early Warning" leading the album, the record generally gets better and better as it goes on, so while "Afterimage" and "The Enemy Within" (Part I of Fear) are a bit more lackluster compared to some songs on the album, "Kid Gloves" and "Between the Wheels" surely rate among the band's best achievements. The synths are on the rise here, but it's still pretty damn good.

1985 - Power Windows (PoW)
Largely trading guitars for synths, the album has some very interesting parts, especially "Mystic Rhythms" and "Marathon," with "Middletown Dreams" being a small favorite among fans. However, it could probably have been a lot better, with such a synth drive to it. However, for the large part, this opportunity is lost. Where it works, it works well, though; of course, where it falters, it truly falls flat.

1987 - Hold Your Fire (HYF)
Similar to Power Windows, largely. So, apply all the complaints about that to this one. However, the album usually has better compositions. Hard to listen to at first, but actually fairly strong. You might want to try out other albums first.

1989 - Presto
Ooooh. What to do with this one? This album suffers from a lot of the issues of the other 80s Rush albums, in that the strong bits (which last through the first five songs of the album and parts of the end) are very strong, while the weak parts (which is almost everything not at the very beginning of the album) truly fall flat. If you're going to pick one song to listen to, you should probably make it "Scars."

1991 - Roll the Bones (RtB)
Rush propels themself into the 90s with... actually, a pretty good album, but it's decidedly an acquired taste, particularly the title track, which was a fairly big hit for the band, but stands as one of the most divisive moments in Rush's canon, thanks to a rather silly-sounding rap in the middle. Difficult to listen to at first, but probably one of the strongest albums of the band's recent history. The instrumental "Where's My Thing?" is quite welcome.

1993 - Counterparts (CP)
In their 1993 album Counterparts, Rush had quite a contender, a powerhouse record with not a single piece of filler. The album had a fairly great alternative influence, since the genre was becoming popular in the 90s. Rush used this to fuel the album, which made it more digestible to modern audiences but still very powerful -- even though sometimes one would think such traits are mutually exclusive. Rush sing about a number of social issues here, making the album maybe seem like a proggier Vs. (Pearl Jam's 1993 album) -- it had another instrumental, which also lost the Grammy it was nominated for; this time, it lost to Pink Floyd's "Marooned."

1996 - Test for Echo (T4E)
Chances are, the album will leave you asking whatever happened to what was present on Counterparts. The songs are well-arranged, but the lyrics are often downright silly, as if the group is having difficulty adjusting to the modern world. The album has another instrumental, "Limbo," which is great, showing that the band still has compositional skill, but the sampling of "The Monster Mash" may well constitute the biggest musical faux-pas Rush has ever committed. Again, you should get the new remaster, since the old master is kind of muddy.

2002 - Vapor Trails (VT)
After six years, Rush returns to making music, producing a new album, fress of synthesizers but full of engaging compositions, excellent lyrics, reasonable accessibility AND listenability, which rarely exist in harmony, and exceptional performances all around. So, why's this album so far down the above list? It sounds terrible! The master is a train wreck, almost rivalling the abomination of Metallica's St. Anger master! You'll have to turn down the volume to listen to this well. A remaster is expected eventually, but no-one knows when.

2004 - Feedback
Rush's covers EP. It's short, consists of classic rock favorites and, as expected, includes very strong performances. Probably one of the better covers albums issued in a long time, even if there are better songs that Rush could have chosen to cover. It's short, though, which is one of its major downfalls.

2007 - Snakes & Arrows (S&A)
Rush's strongest studio album in almost thirty years, the band called in the Foo Fighters' producer, who gives it a stripped-back production which sounds nice and raw, but not as crappy as the "stripped-back" production of Vapor Trails. The songs are all excellent, and the album includes three instrumentals, the sprawling "The Main Monkey Business," the acoustic-guitar solo "Hope," and the mini-jam that should have been a monster in concert, "Malignant Narcissism." The band perfects their ability to craft engaging and complex songs that are short enough to gain airplay.

-> Why is "p/g" rendered as such?
It looked like that on Neil's kick on the 1984 tour.

-> What are the remasters? When are they due out? How hard are they to find? Do they contain extra material?
The remasters are just that -- digital remasters of the albums. The CDs have transparent trays, which allow you to see the callout "THE RUSH REMASTERS" on the package before buying. The remasters of Rush up through Hold Your Fire were issued in 1994. The Atlantic Records albums Presto, Roll the Bones, Counterparts, and Test for Echo were also remastered, the remasters issued in 2004. A Vapor Trails remaster has been expected since the album came out, but nobody knows when it'll be coming out. According to the rumors, it was to come out when Snakes & Arrows did, but this was not to be. The new remasters, understandably, are the versions now commercially available outside of used record stores. None of them contain extra material, so none are necessary except for Signals and Test for Echo, for reasons outlined above.

-> Will there be a Vapor Trails remaster? When will it come out?
Nobody knows. Stop asking.

-> What's this Snakes and Arrows MVI thing? Do I need it?
Unless you listen to audio in the format the MVI disc is in (I think it's DVD Audio), you don't really need this. It does look pretty, though, and, if you can find a copy new, it's probably only around twenty bucks.

-> What live albums has the band released?
1976 - All the World's a Stage (2112 tour)
1982 - Exit... Stage Left (Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures tours)
1988 - A Show of Hands (Power Windows and Hold Your Fire tours)
1998 - Different Stages (Counterparts and Test for Echo tours)
2003 - Rush in Rio (Vapor Trails tour, the audio is a soundtrack of the DVD)
2005 - R30 (R30 tour, the audio is a soundtrack of the DVD)
2008 - Snakes & Arrows Tour (DVD awaiting release, Snakes & Arrows tour, the audio is a soundtrack of the DVD)

-> What DVDs has the band released?
Most of these were VHS or LaserDisc before DVD.
1982 - Exit... Stage Left
1984 - Grace Under Pressure Tour
1984 - Through the Camera Eye (music video compilation, not on DVD, out of print)
1988 - A Show of Hands
1990 - Chronicles (music video compilation)
2003 - Rush in Rio
2005 - R30
2008 - Snakes & Arrows Tour (upcoming)

-> What is Replay X3? Why is it not on the DVD list?
Because it's not just a DVD. It also includes a CD soundtrack to Grace Under Pressure Tour and, in certain editions only (I think?), miniaturized versions of the tour programs from the Moving Pictures, Grace Under Pressure, and Hold Your Fire tours. It was released in 2006.

-> Are there any Rush songs not on records?
There's at least one, called "Fancy Dancer." There may be others, though. They covered "Bad Boy" a few times in the past, too.

-> Feedback is pretty cool... did Rush do any other covers?
Besides the aforementioned "Bad Boy," it doesn't seem so.

-> Are bootlegs available?
Yes. Lots of them.

-> Where can I get them?
We don't know. We probably wouldn't tell you, either.

-> I found something claiming to be Rush demos. Are they?
Probably not. Same goes for Caress of Steel bootlegs. They're probably not real.

-> Wait, what genre are Rush, anyway?
Things Rush are: Prog rock, rock
Things Rush might be: Metal, prog metal
Things Rush probably aren't: Neo-prog

They're a prog band. That's all that really needs to be said.