Are RUSH actually Prog?

Peter Hammill and VDGG also rejected the label of 'Prog' that the press had attached to them, indicating that the band thought of themselves as 'underground'. There is an important distinction here I think. When you describe yourself as 'underground ' you are implying that you are free from commercial concerns and happy to be relevant and important to a small number of people only. Read the notes on Gentle Giant' s masterpiece ' Aquiring The Taste' for example..." it is our goal to expand the frontiers of popular music at the risk of being very unpopular". That is in my opinion the true spirit of what we call 'Prog'. 'Underground Pop' would probably be more accurate but it' s too long!

I must admit that I find the question are Rush prog ? Comes up quite a lot on FB sites, normally next to the disclaimer that the poster does'nt like Rush.
It seems to me people who have'nt heard or enjoyed say, A farewell to Kings but have heard some later,Rush albums and have'nt liked those either are guilty of spouting this drivel.
However I also might be generalizing. I have been drinking.

Un Amico wrote: It's just something about myself as a music lover of 50 years or so that I would like to understand a little better...there are hundreds of bands on PA, and I am ok with all of them being here. When Rush come up, however, something makes me think "hang on a second, do they really qualify as Prog?". I enjoy listening to Moving Pictures as much as the next man, and Roll The Bones and Presto are excellent powerpop albums...so what is it about Rush that makes me squirm? The wine is ok, could be the label is wrong. I dont know. I am reading some interesting comments, though. Keep them coming, my learned friends!

It's just something about myself as a music lover of 50 years or so that I would like to understand a little better...there are hundreds of bands on PA, and I am ok with all of them being here. When Rush come up, however, something makes me think "hang on a second, do they really qualify as Prog?". I enjoy listening to Moving Pictures as much as the next man, and Roll The Bones and Presto are excellent powerpop albums...so what is it about Rush that makes me squirm? The wine is ok, could be the label is wrong. I dont know. I am reading some interesting comments, though. Keep them coming, my learned friends!

I don't what other category that an album like 2112 could fit in. Prog it is.

progaardvark wrote: Un Amico wrote: because to me they sound like HR musicians with a bigger bag of tricks, for the most part. Gee, that Human Resources department must've been a hell of a place to work.

Manuel wrote: Cristi wrote: Manuel wrote: Since there's not an actual definition of prog, it's very hard to draw the line in some cases. If Rush is not Prog, then most of the prog metal is also out of the picture. The only thing I care about is the music, and I love Rush's music. Progressive metal is more than just Rush influenced. Put any kind of experimentation or just going beyond the verse-chorus-verse pattern (for lack of a better word) on any metal subgenre, I will call that progressive. Never meant to say that all prog metal is Rush influenced, but is the same case as you mentioned. Rush went beyond the verse-chorus-verse patter, with a lot of experimentation. In any case, most prog rock fall into this category (again, not all cases are the same), and having no real definition for prog rock, makes things a little difficult to determine.

Lol.... yes. Maybe not if you squint really really hard but I mean.... Xanadu, Hemispheres, La Villa Strangiato, Natural Science..... these just are not hard rock songs.

lazland wrote:   ExittheLemming wrote: BaldFriede wrote: Barbara Dennerlein, for example. Her album "Hot Stuff" is definitely a jazz-rock/fusion album, yet she was rejected from the archives. Like I said previously, I'm talking exclusively about artists who have already been admitted to PA. Barbara Dennerlein has NOT been admitted to PA but if she were, her entire discography would be listed. I own several of her albums and enjoy them hugely but have to agree with the genre team decision(s) that she does not warrant inclusion on PA. Such a decision does not diminish or undermine her music in the slightest Personally, I remain hopeful that we will admit the Uber talented Jason Donovan one day, owing to his exceptional proggy turn as that chap with the multi-coloured jacket, who also had the advantage of appearing in the world’s first concept album, namely The Six Books of Torah. Regrettably, as you indicate, this would also lead to his stunning work with Kylie also being included, but she is nice to look at

siLLy puPPy wrote: BaldFriede wrote: siLLy puPPy wrote: BaldFriede wrote: Barbara Dennerlein, for example. Her album "Hot Stuff" is definitely a jazz-rock/fusion album, yet she was rejected from the archives. There are many jazz-rock / fusion artists missing. The scope of the category isn't exhaustive and is reserved only for the MOST PROGRESSIVE artists that qualify therefore those who are more jazz oriented than rock are usually rejected. All of these artists are easily found on RYM or JMA so i assume the reason for this rule to prevent jazz artists who released a fusion album or two from being admitted (and some of them have well over 50 albums.) It took me many suggestions getting shot down before this made sense. Barbara is awesome whether she is here or not! But Barbara is extremely progressive and innovative. She equipped her Hammond B-3 with MIDI-technology back when that technology just came up, she plays on pipe organs on a regular basis, she has done albums with extremely experimental tracks that border on prog electronic, she has played with orchestras and big bands. And her six albums from 1989-1999 have lots of very rocky tracks on them, even if there are also tracks on them that are clearly in the jazz-field. This track, although having some jazz elements, nevertheless sounds more like a prog rock track that is outside of jazz-rock/fusion, even if there are some elements in it. But it is definitely a rock track: many jazz artists blurred many distinctions but overall they are still jazz artists that experiment. When we evaluated her i really did try to sample a wide spectrum of her works and just didn't find it to suit the intent of the jazz-fusion category for a prog rock site. I understand there are MANY artists who probably shouldn't be here. I would like to see Santana, Chicago, Steely Dan and many others kicked off the site even though i love many albums from all three. It's an imperfect site but almost every biographical description i've encountered lists Barbara as a jazz artist, not a jazz-fusion artist. On the other hand there are many artists that i think SHOULD be here as well but they were rejected. oh well! Unforunately just a few crossover tracks isn't enough.