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Rush (Rush album)

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Rush
Studio album by
Rush
ReleasedMarch 18, 1974 (1974-03-18)[1]
RecordedNovember 1973[2]
StudioEastern Sound and Toronto Sound, Toronto
Genre
Length39:51
LabelMoon
ProducerRush
Rush chronology
Rush
(1974) 		Fly by Night
(1975)
Singles from Rush
  1. "Finding My Way"
    Released: August 1974
  2. "In the Mood"
    Released: December 1974[4]

Rush is the debut studio album by Canadian rock band Rush. It was released on March 18, 1974, in Canada by Moon Records, the group's own label, before it was released internationally by Mercury Records later that year. Recorded five years after the band's formation, this first release shows much of the hard rock sound typical of many of the popular rock bands emerging earlier in the decade. Rush were fans of such bands as Led Zeppelin, Yes and Cream, and these influences can be heard in most of the songs on the album.

Original drummer John Rutsey performed all drum parts on the album, but was unable to go on extended tours because of complications with his diabetes and so he retired from the band after the album was released. Rutsey worked on lyrics for the album, but never submitted them to the other members of the band. The lyrics were instead entirely composed by vocalist/bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson.[5][6] Rutsey was soon replaced by Neil Peart, who served as both drummer and primary lyricist on all subsequent Rush albums.

Recording and production

"Working Man"
"Working Man" from Rush.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

The initial recording sessions were produced by Dave Stock at Eastern Sound Studios in Toronto in two days during the Summer of 1973. They were scheduled late at night during the 'dead' time in studios because of the band's low budget and the rates during this period were the cheapest.[7] By request of the band's management, Rush included their version of "Not Fade Away", a staple of the band's live-set during that time, for a possible single-release. The song was eventually released as Rush's debut single in September 1973,[8] backed with "You Can't Fight It", a song originally planned for inclusion on the album, but that idea was scrapped in favour of new songs. From this original recording session, "In the Mood" and "Take A Friend" would be included in the final album.[9]

However, Rush were unhappy with the quality of the first sessions. They moved to Toronto Sound Studios in November 1973 and produced these sessions themselves while achieving a significant improvement in recording quality, with the help of engineer Terry Brown.[10] They added new overdubs to existing backing tracks of "What You're Doing", "Before and After" and "Working Man" from the first session. In the meantime, the band had written new songs that were recorded entirely at Toronto Sound: "Finding My Way", "Need Some Love" and "Here Again". These new songs took the place of songs from the earlier sessions.[11] Both studios used 8-channel multitrack recorders, which was quite primitive for 1973, but the group quickly learned to make the best use of the technology that was available.

In July 2008, Rush discovered a version of "Working Man" with an alternative guitar solo. They allowed the makers of the popular rhythm game Rock Band to use the master tapes for the song's inclusion.[12]

Distribution and release

The band and its management formed their own company, Moon Records, and released the album in Canada. Only 3,500 copies of the original Moon Records LP, catalogue number MN-100, were pressed. The first version of the LP has a cream-coloured label with a blue Moon Records logo and black type.

The album was soon picked up by WMMS, a radio station in Cleveland, Ohio. Donna Halper, a DJ working at the station, selected "Working Man" for her regular play list. Every time the song was played the station received phone calls asking where to buy the record. Copies of the Moon Records album were imported to the Cleveland area and quickly sold out. In the 2010 documentary film Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Halper says that "Working Man" was the perfect song for the Cleveland rock audience, as it was still mostly a factory town in 1974. WMMS later sponsored one of Rush's first performances in the United States, in Cleveland on August 26, 1974.

The record's popularity in Cleveland quickly led to the re-release of the album by Mercury Records. The first Canadian Mercury release on the standard red Mercury label is nearly as rare as the Moon version. It also had the Moon number MN-100 between the run-out grooves, indicating that it was pressed from the same metal stampers as the Moon disc. "A special thank you to Donna Halper for getting the ball rolling" was added to the album credits of this and all later versions.

At this point manager Ray Danniels scraped together an additional $9,000 for producer Terry Brown to professionally re-mix all of the recordings for better sound quality. This remix version was used for later releases, most of which used the Mercury "skyline" record label instead of the red label. A later Moon Records version of undetermined origin has a pink label with grey moon craters.

The original album logo was red, but a printing error made it appear more magenta in colour. This is one of two Rush albums where the cover artwork had printing errors, the other album being Caress of Steel.

The complete album, along with Fly by Night and Caress of Steel, was included as part of the 1978 Anthem release Archives. [13]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[15]

Rush received positive reviews upon its 1974 release. Writing for the Ottawa Citizen, Bill Provick gave praise on the band's "immediate acceleration" and "driving, crisp sound", although he felt that "the energy needs a bit more channeling and the arrangements need a touch more refining".[16] Billboard wrote that it "serves up a dose of good hard rock highlighted by the often Robert Plant-like lead vocals of Geddy Lee and the powerful guitar work of Alex Lifeson and solid drumming from John Rutsey."[17]

However, critical reception in later years has been more negative. Greg Prato of AllMusic stated in his review of the album that it was weaker than some of the band's later works, such as Hemispheres and Moving Pictures, because Neil Peart was not yet a part of the band. He finished his review by saying, "While longtime Rush fans can appreciate their debut because they never returned to this style, newcomers should stick with their classics from later years."[14]

Remaster

A remaster was issued in 1997.

  • The tray has a picture of the star with man painting (mirroring the cover art of Retrospective I) with "The Rush Remasters" printed in all capital letters just to the left. All remasters from Rush through Permanent Waves are like this.

Rush was remastered again in 2011 by Andy VanDette for the "Sector" box sets, which re-released all of Rush's Mercury-era albums. The album is included in the Sector 1 set.[18]

The album was remastered and re-released on vinyl in April 2014 as part of a box set to celebrate its 40th anniversary. The 2014 vinyl version included a replica of the original Moon Records label on the LP.

Rush was remastered for vinyl in 2015 as a part of the official "12 Months of Rush" promotion.[19] The high definition master prepared for this release was also made available for purchase in 24-bit/96 kHz and 24-bit/192 kHz formats, at several high-resolution audio online music stores. These masters have significantly less dynamic range compression than the 1997 remasters and the "Sector" remasters by Andy VanDette.[citation needed]

Track listing

All songs written by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Finding My Way"5:03
2."Need Some Love"2:16
3."Take a Friend"4:27
4."Here Again"7:30
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."What You're Doing" 4:19
2."In the Mood"Lee3:36
3."Before and After" 5:33
4."Working Man" 7:07

Personnel

Rush

Technical personnel

  • Terry Brown – engineer, remixing
  • Paul Weldon – album cover
  • BIC Photography – photography
  • SRO Productions – executive production

Release history

Overview of release formats for Rush
Country Label Format Catalog Year
Canada Moon Vinyl MN 100 1974
Canada & US Mercury Vinyl SRM 1-1011 1974
Canada Anthem Vinyl ANR 1-1011
US Mercury CD 534623 1987
Canada Anthem CD ANC 1-1001 1977
Canada Anthem CD WANK 1001
Canada Anthem CD ANMD 1001
Canada Anthem CD ANMD 1075 1997
Canada & US Mercury 8 Track MC8 1-1011 1974
Canada Anthem 8 Track 8AN 1-1001 1977
Canada & US Mercury Cassette MC4 1-1011 1974
Canada Anthem Cassette 4AN 1-1001
Canada Anthem Cassette 4AN 1-106

Charts

Chart performance for Rush
Chart (1974) Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[20] 86
US Billboard 200[21] 105

Certifications

Certifications for Rush
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[22] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[23] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Rush 1974".
  2. ^ Popoff 2020, p. 85.
  3. ^ Greenwald, David. "Rush's 'Clockwork Angels' Hits June 12". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 27, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
  4. ^ "Rush singles".
  5. ^ Grow, Kory (March 29, 2016). "Rush's Alex Lifeson on 40 Years of '2112': 'It Was Our Protest Album'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 17, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  6. ^ "Power Windows...The Album Art of Rush (And more)". Archived from the original on June 12, 2002. Retrieved March 30, 2013. Power Windows
  7. ^ Popoff 2020, p. 79.
  8. ^ Lee, Geddy (2023). My Effin' Life (1st ed.). HarperCollins. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-06-315941-9.
  9. ^ Popoff 2020, pp. 91–93.
  10. ^ Popoff 2020, p. 81.
  11. ^ Lee, Geddy (2023). My Effin' Life (1st ed.). HarperCollins. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-06-315941-9.
  12. ^ Working Man in NY Times Archived September 21, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, accessed July 21, 2008.
  13. ^ "Rush – Archives (1978, Vinyl)". Discogs. Archived from the original on February 20, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  14. ^ a b Prato, Greg. "Rush – Rush". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on June 11, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  15. ^ "Rush: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 4, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  16. ^ Provick, Bill (May 30, 1974). "Rush Rock Sound Crisp And Strong". Ottawa Citizen. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
  17. ^ "Rush Album Review". Billboard. August 24, 1974. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
  18. ^ "Andy VanDette On Remastering 15 Rush Albums | The Masterdisk Record". themasterdiskrecord.com. Archived from the original on August 23, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  19. ^ "12 MONTHS OF RUSH: 14 ALBUMS FROM MERCURY ERA FOR RELEASE IN 2015". Rush.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  20. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5022b". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  21. ^ "Rush Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  22. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Rush – Rush". Music Canada.
  23. ^ "American album certifications – Rush – Rush". Recording Industry Association of America.

Sources

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