RUSH

I would rate this as a "four" star album, except for the fact that the criterian for rating an album as four star states that this album is "essential to any prog rock collection. I can't say that about this album. However, I do think that the album is worthy of a four star rating.

This album shows off an ambitious young band who were basically, for all intents and purposes, metaphorically "recording in their garage." Heavy rock like Zeppelin and Black Sabbath were the order of the day. Lifeson and Lee are EXCELLENT hard rock instrumentalists, and John Rustey is a strong hard rock drummer. I doubt the band had written much material before this album came out. So what is a young, ambitious, but inexperienced band going to do in the early days of heavy rock? Why, they'll bash out their own heavy rock album.

"Finding My Way" is a strong way to start the album. A distant sounding riff opens the song. It shows off an unusually talented guitarist. The riff is rooted in blues and rock, but there is a flavor to the riff that is still distinctly Rush. The song builds, and Geddy shouts "ooooooh yeah!" This is when the Rush flavor comes in heaviest. Some people hate Geddy's vocals. I can understand. I know people who, not knowing better, asked me who this "chick band" was, and a friend of mine has called Geddy a "great female vocalist." His vocals don't bother me. They're distinct and he's actually a really good singer, in my opinion.

Without going song by song, I'll just say that the band bashes and crashes through the album and seems to be having the time of their lives. The album closes with "Working Man" the one song that every review mentions, and a song they still play. It's an eight minute monster, but not of the epic prog type. No, this song is long because Lifeson and Geddy take time to solo, and they do it in a more upbeat and hard rocking fashion then they would later. It's a head spinning moment, after all these years later, through the synth period, through the 90's rock period, to go back to the first album and hear these moments of rock and roll fun.

It's important to remember that about this album. It's fun. It's the only Rush album that I can call "fun." The lyrics here were written mostly by Geddy and Lifeson (if I'm not mistaken) and they are very down to Earth. "I get up by seven, yeah, and I go to work by nine..." "I've been here, I've been there..." Very prosaic. Very working class Canadian. If Rutsey had stayed in the band, who knows what would have happened. Would they have went progressive any ways, and tried to write their own "deep philosophical lyrics" or would they have stayed in this hard rock direction? We'll never know, because by the next album, Neil Peart entered, and helped transform Rush into one of the most infamous progressive rock bands in history through his exceptional drumming and his controversial lyrics. Onward and upward!