RUSH

The debut album of what would end op as the greatest band ever is actually more of curiosity than a really good album. Partly this is due to Neil Peart not yet being in the band, but I think this 'part' is a bit overestimated when just looking at why this album sounds the way it sounds. From a lyrics point of view, it's still fair enough (Peart just would not come up with lyrics like "hey baby, it's a quarter to eight, I feel I'm in the mood"), but from a musical point of view, this album is not that much different from most non-epic tracks on Fly By Night, Caress Of Steel and 2112. Even though John Rutsey is not the tasteful virtuoso drummer Neil Peart is, this at most makes difference in form, not that much in substance.

Even though the album contains quite some mediocre hard rock, some tracks stand out. This goes for the opener Finding My Way, the blues ballad Here Again, the closer Working Man and, to a lesser extent, Before And After. While not on par with the later classics, these tracks are interesting enough for Rush fans (out of curiosity) and for late 60's / early 70's hard rock fans in general. By casual listeners, this record is best avoided.