Rush: Heavy Prog or Prog Metal?

It really boils down to personal opinion of what is metal and what is progressive rock. Do these two interplay and can they be mixed...? I think we all would agree they can.
Last night I saw the segment of Sam Dunn's Metal Evolution-Progressive Metal. As we know, he is looking for the evolution of metal, where did it come from.

This segment started with Rush and ended with Rush, much of it features Rush and even interviews of all three. Geddy kinda summed it up, they liked playing the long, structural, involved pcs..the prog epics, the Genesis, Yes stuff...but he said they also like to rock.

I still say that in 1974, not today, in 1974 that Working Man was a hard heavy song that had a lot of metal flavor. In 1974 people considered Led Zeppelin metal and Rush had that sound initially. Alex was consumed by how Jimmy Page just let it flow and how hard and distorted the sound was...Remember, you are talking about Rush just starting out and trying to emulate their influences of LZ, The Who, Cream..early on.
Once Neil came on board they began to explore the psychedelic/prog/art side of Yes, Genesis, PF. It was not till 2112 where that hard heavy rock came in with a strong progressive flavor. Heavy prog and also prog metal has been tagged to that album...I think Sam Dunn would agree.

Rush are/were part of the Metal Evolution.....Are they 100% metal like Judas Priest, of course not.

We have this vision of what Prog Metal is, but that vision was different in 1974-76. Again, there were some people that called Schizoid Man metal, in 1970ish sure why not...Today never!

Today Rush is not prog metal, it was in some of their albums...but in general overall to me they are a progressive rock band, because of how their songs progressed into mini epics versus long 20 min epics. Alex said it, they cannot get much shorter than 5-6 min long. The songs still have the elements of prog played hard and heavy, with some metal tones.

Heavy Prog works to answer this thread. But to me they are a progressive rock band.

To be honest, I was kind of surprised to see people consider Rush as proper progressive metal ather than just influential to the genre until I saw that the Metal-Archives have included them... and that site is notoriously exclusive towards bands in ambiguous genres. (Led Zeppelin and Uriah Heep aren't included, for case of comparison)

As far as I can gather, what differentiates heavy metal from "normal" hard rock is the riffs being based overwhelmingly or exclusively on power chords. I guess that is what differentiates Budgie, Deep Purple and Rush from LZ, UH etc. I also think there's something of a cultural difference between the two, though, in the underlying ethos behind the aesthetic choices and that's where I think Rush are closer to the prog-rock side of the spectrum. It's a distinction of guitar-dominated songwriting vs. more dynamic group-oriented instrumental interplay, deliberate moral ambiguity in the lyrics vs. systematized ideological worldviews expressed in the band concept, maybe also a sociological differentiation of artschool/conservatory/university students vs. more self-taught street jammers etc.

Catcher10 wrote: Today Rush is not prog metal, it was in some of their albums...but in general overall to me they are a progressive rock band, because of how their songs progressed into mini epics versus long 20 min epics. Alex said it, they cannot get much shorter than 5-6 min long. The songs still have the elements of prog played hard and heavy, with some metal tones. Heavy Prog works to answer this thread. But to me they are a progressive rock band.

Indeed. Songs like "Vital Signs" and "The Weapon" are as "prog" as anything on Drama.

"Freeze" kicked my arse when I first got VT. Hell, even the short preview MP3 the band released damaged me. It became my favorite 'Fear' chapter after "The Enemy Within."

Heavy Prog

rdtprog wrote: AtomicCrimsonRush wrote: Heavy Prog Atomic has the final word, Amen!

^ When did Crimson went lovey dovey?

ProgMetaller2112 wrote: Sagichim wrote: ^ When did Crimson went lovey dovey? I said cheesy or lovey dovey    I need to feel your heart beat, heart beat

ProgMetaller2112 wrote: Sagichim wrote: ProgMetaller2112 wrote: Sagichim wrote: ^ When did Crimson went lovey dovey? I said cheesy or lovey dovey    I need to feel your heart beat, heart beat  Ok the lyrics on that one yes, but the music is miles away from being cheesy or commercial like Yes, Genesis or even Rush. Say what you want Sagi and it's perfectly fine that you voice your opinions even though I might disagree with you

I believe that the so called metal side to Rush...and or the speculated and curious theory is often mistaken by people for the 60's heavy type sound the band was influenced by. The sound began with Blue Cheer and a few others attempting to add a frightening or scary "dark" sound in Psychedelic music. Upon first hearing it, I got the impression that something was deadly wrong. Not many people were ready for this sound. Rush were influenced by this sound, but they created something more modern which sometimes surrounded oddball time signatures and quick stops/breaks within the pieces. The original attempt in the mid to late 60's based on applying more distortion to guitar, influenced Rush and keep in mind that styles were developing when the members of Rush were kids in school, rehearsing, and performing at a dancehall. The term "Heavy Metal" did not exist in reference to a style of music during that time. The first Black Sabbath album 1970, was innovative to Metal music, however..the style of playing is still along the lines of 60's distorted guitar of the heavies. If anything , it contributed to the act of bands becoming even more heavier than that. When Metal, or what most of us define in sound stylistically to be Metal, ..was born, it took on a new role for the guitarist. It was important to master the notes in a Paganini piece..for example..the 24 caprices..because it meant the writing was based off the piece to a great degree. Many Metal guitar harmonies played by 2 guitarists on stage were emulating the music of an 18th century composer and fusing it with the most hard and even offensive volumes. Rush didn't seem likely to follow this path. 

Edited by TODDLER - October 07 2014 at 10:26