RUSH

Apparently Rush used to be balls-to-the-wall screamin' rock and rollers! Yayeh! They utilize lots of Led Zeppelin ripoffery on here, but not as blatantly so as Whitesnake or Kingdom Come would a decade later (which is a shame because Whitesnake and Kingdom Come are two of the most intelligent and creative rock and roll outfits making music). At the very least, they don't sound like fantasy/sci-fi nerds yet. Here they're blues-influenced white boy long hair guitar rockers. With some drummer named John Rutsey, of all incredible fantasies! "Finding My Way" is one hell of an enthusiastic opener, "Working Man" is a totally killer closer, and the six songs in the middle are... well... good enough. I don't love it, but it's certainly more fun and less pretentious than their '80s output.