Rush

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Rush
from left: Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart
from left: Alex Lifeson , Geddy Lee and Neil Peart
General information
Genre (s) Progressive rock , hard rock , heavy metal , blues rock , AOR
founding 1968
resolution 2018
Website http://www.rush.com/
Founding members
Jeff Jones (1968)
Alex Lifeson
John Rutsey (until 1974; † 2008)
Last occupation
Vocals, bass, keyboard
Geddy Lee (since 1968)
guitar
Alex Lifeson
Drums
Neil Peart (1974-2015; † 2020)

Rush was a Canadian rock band consisting of bassist, keyboardist and singer Geddy Lee , guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart . It existed from 1968 to 2018.

Band history

On the first album, John Rutsey (1953-2008) played drums, he then dropped out for health reasons. Peart followed in 1974, then the line-up didn't change. Lee sang all of the tracks, almost all of the lyrics were written by Peart.

Peart announced in December 2015 that he would be leaving the band for personal reasons. The resolution was announced by Lee and Lifeson in January 2018. Neil Peart died of glioblastoma on January 7, 2020 .

Albums

Rush's style of music has changed a lot over time. The albums prior to Permanent Waves (1980) are a mix of hard rock and emerging heavy metal as well as progressive rock . The lyrics of this time were shaped by science fiction and partly philosophical influences by Ayn Rand , which is clear in the albums 2112 (from 1976) and Hemispheres (1978).

The biggest changes began with Permanent Waves : Although the music was still based on hard rock, the trio increasingly built in keyboard sounds . The songs got shorter, but also got to the point faster. Although Rush's songwriting fell, i. H. Music and lyrics, now a bit more conventional and therefore more accessible, the style of the trio remained progressive, albeit with a portion of alternative rock . In particular, the song Spirit of Radio , named after the pioneering local radio station CFNY from Toronto, became a huge hit in the alternative scene. Another favorite of American classic rock radio stations of the time is Tom Sawyer from the 1981 album Moving Pictures . Some of their most complex songs and a number of classics such as B. Subdivisions , Distant Early Warning and Force Ten come from the time between 1982 and 1987. However, the band itself found the mechanization of the sound, especially during live performances, as an increasing impairment. On the following albums, Rush therefore slowly turned away from the synth-heavy sound of the 80s, without neglecting the songwriting. With Roll the Bones , the band released an extremely successful album in 1991 that was enthusiastically received by both critics and fans, which includes Dreamline , Bravado and the title track, three songs that developed into live classics. Counterparts appeared in 1993 . This album is very hard rock oriented.

After the 1996 album Test for Echo , the band took a six-year hiatus, which was triggered by personal tragedies in Peart's life: Peart's daughter Selena died in a car accident in August 1997, followed by his wife Jacqueline's cancer death in June 1998. For a long time it was questionable whether the band would ever get back together. Peart eventually embarked on a self-directed healing journey by motorcycle , driving thousands of miles through North America and Mexico. He published the experiences in the book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road .

The band returned in 2002 with the surprisingly tough album Vapor Trails , the first album without keyboards in more than 20 years. On it is the song Ghost Rider , which describes Peart's motorcycle journey. From then on, Peart increasingly left public appearances such as press conferences or interviews to his two bandmates.

From May 2006, the three Canadians worked on new songs. In November 2006, Rush were with co-producer Nick Raskulinecz at Allaire Studios, NY, to produce the new album. It is titled Snakes & Arrows and was released on April 27, 2007.

The single Caravan was released on June 1, 2010 . On June 8, 2012, the album Clockwork Angels was released in Europe and Rush toured with it from September 2012 in North America and from May 2013 in Europe, u. a. with performances on June 4, 2013 in Cologne and June 6, 2013 in Berlin. The "Clockwork Angels Tour" was accompanied by strings for the first time in the band's history. The album Clockwork Angels entered the Billboard charts with number 2 and 103,000 units sold.

The film Beyond The Lighted Stage was also released and was shown in selected cinemas from June 7th. The film describes the development of the band - it was produced by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn , who were also responsible for films such as Metal - A Headbanger's Journey or Global Metal .

Rush live

Geddy Lee, live with Rush in Milan 2004

Rush is considered a notable live band. On the one hand, the band only appeared in the core line-up and did without guest musicians. Since the proportion of electronic elements had increased since the early eighties and Geddy Lee was supposed to play bass and keyboards at the same time and had to sing, large parts of the music had to be played via computer; the technical effort involved in performing live at Rush reached a level that otherwise only electronic bands like Depeche Mode knew. It is noteworthy, however, that Rush still do not use any accompanying samplings, but instead all effects are triggered by the musicians via keyboards, pedals or drum pads.

Vapor Trails served as the material for the first tour since 1996, including first appearances in Mexico City and Brazil , where the legendary live DVD "Rush in Rio" was made.

The band was among other things one of the famous bands that played at the "SARS Relief Concert" in Downsview Park in Toronto in August 2003, which was attended by over half a million spectators.

Several live albums have been released over the years, the first with the title All The World's a Stage in September 1976, Exit Stage Left in 1981, the third Show of Hands around 1989; the three-CD album Different Stages followed in 1998, the second three-CD album Rush in Rio was released at the end of October 2003. A companion DVD is also available.

In November 2005 the DVD R30 - 30th Anniversary Tour was released , a recording of the concert from Frankfurt / Main on September 24, 2004 with eight songs. The DVD took second place on the Billboard charts behind Green Day. The background music for the menus on this DVD was personally contributed by Alex Lifeson.

Even in their most commercially successful times, the band was far less well known in continental Europe than in North America and Great Britain. Concerts on the European continent are therefore rare.

On November 17, 2009, the first “Best Of” live compilation entitled Working Men was released, followed two years later by the live album Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland . The album contains a. the piece Caravan , which was already offered in advance for the announced new album in 2010 for exclusive download.

In early December 2015, Neil Peart said in an interview that he would retire from the band. The reason he gave was to want to spend more time with his family. According to Alex Lifeson, however, health impairments may also have contributed to this, as Lifeson itself has increasingly had to struggle with psoriatic arthritis and Peart with chronic tendinitis over the past few years .

Lifeson indicated that further (smaller) concerts and soundtrack works were conceivable; the band itself, however, would neither perform in its old composition nor record further productions. On January 7, 2020, drummer Neil Peart died of complications from a brain tumor .

Discography

Studio albums

EP Feedback (June 2004)

Solo projects of the band members

  • Burning for Buddy, Volume 1 - (Solo), Peart, et al. (1994)
  • Burning for Buddy, Volume 2 - (Solo), Peart, et al. (1994 / -5?)
  • A Work in Progress - (DVD - Drums on "Test for Echo"), Peart (2002)
  • Victor - (Solo), Lifeson, et al. (1996)
  • My Favorite Headache - (Solo), Lee, et al. (November 2000)
  • A Work In Progress - (DVD), Peart (2002)
  • Anatomy Of A Drum Solo - (DVD), Peart (2006)

Movies

  • Beyond the Lighted Stage (2010) - Music Documentation - In their music documentary, directors Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn present over 40 years of rock history, from the band's beginnings to the present day, peppered with previously unreleased archive material and many rock 'n' roll anecdotes and numerous interviews with celebrity fans and contemporaries.

Documentaries

  • Dinner With Rush - At a Hunting Lodge (2010) - Rush dines in a restaurant, as completely private, normal people, with a lot of interesting small talk.

Interviews

  • The Story of Kings - Interview (1992) - Interview with Alex Lifeson
  • The Interviews - Vol 2 (October 1995) - Interview with Geddy Lee

Books

Awards

Rush have received numerous awards throughout their career.

In 1994 the band was honored with the induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame .

On June 25, 2010 the band was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in recognition of their band history, which has been going on since 1974 . I.a. present at the award ceremony were Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. Neil Peart was meanwhile with the motorcycle on the way to Albuquerque, where on June 29, 2010 the current tour should start. Donna Halper and Billy Corgan ( Smashing Pumpkins ) acted as laudators . "Rush always stayed true to themselves and true to their music, and never lost their integrity." (Donna Halper)

On March 5, 2012, Rush was awarded Canada's highest order for artists, the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement .

On April 18, 2013, Rush was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .

Juno Awards

Rush won the following six Juno awards out of 38 nominations :

  • 1975 Most promising band of the year
  • 1978 band of the year
  • 1979 band of the year
  • 1991 Best Hard Rock / Metal Album - Presto
  • 1992 Hard Rock Album of the Year - Roll the Bones
  • 2004 Music DVD of the Year - Rush in Rio
  • 2011 Music DVD of the Year - Beyond The Lighted Stage
  • 2013 Rock Album of the Year - Clockwork Angels

and was also elected to

  • 1990 Artist of the Decade ( 80s )

Furthermore, they were nominated a total of 14 times as Band of the Year (1977-1984, 1986, 1989-1992, 1994).

Grammys

  • 1981 nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental"
  • 1992 nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental"
  • 1995 nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental"
  • 2004 nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental"
  • 2008 nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental"
    • Malignant Narcisissm - was beaten by Once Upon A Time In The West by Bruce Springsteen
  • 2009 nominated for "Best Rock Instrumental"
    • Hope (Live for the Art of Peace) - was beaten by Peaches En Regalia by Zappa Plays Zappa
  • 2011 nominated for "Best Music Video Long Form"
    • Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage - was beaten by the documentary The Doors When You're Strange

Prizes awarded by magazines

  • Geddy Lee is in the Bass Hall of Fame for Guitar Player magazine
(He won "Best Rock Bass" more than 5 times).
  • Geddy Lee won "Best Rock Bass Player" in 1993 in the readers' choice of "Bass Player".
  • Alex Lifeson won Best Rock Talent in 1983 (presumably in the same magazine) and in May 1991 he was inducted into the Guitar for the Practicing Musician Hall of Fame.

Neil Peart received the following awards in Modern Drummer magazine's readers' polls :

  • Hall of Fame: 1983
  • Best Rock Drummer: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985
  • Best multi-percussionist: 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986
  • Best percussion instrumentalist: 1982
  • Most Promising New Drummer: 1980
  • Best All Around: 1986
  • Best Recorded Performance: 1981: Moving Pictures
  • 1982: Exit… Stage Left
  • 1983: Signals
  • 1985: Grace Under Pressure
  • 1986: Power Windows
  • 1988: Hold Your Fire
  • 1989: A Show Of Hands
  • 1990: Presto
  • 1992: Roll The Bones
  • 1986: Honor Roll: Rock Drummer, Multi-Percussion

Web links

Commons : Rush  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b RUSH Guitarist ALEX LIFESON: 'We Have No Plans To Tour Or Record Any More. We're Basically Done ' . In: BLABBERMOUTH.NET . January 19, 2018 ( blabbermouth.net [accessed January 21, 2018]).
  2. ^ Neil Peart | Rush.com. Retrieved January 11, 2020 (Canadian English).
  3. "WORKING MEN (LIVE)"
  4. Rush's Neil Peart says he's retired from music. Consequence of Sound, December 7, 2015, accessed December 8, 2015 .
  5. [1]
  6. Dinner With Rush on Youtube
  7. ^ Canadian Music Hall of Fame - Inductees. Canadian Music Hall of Fame , accessed August 6, 2017 .
  8. ^ Rush inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. CTV News, April 18, 2013, accessed April 29, 2013 .