Chronicles - Rush

Rush are classed as a ‘progressive’ rock band. Over the last 20 or so years they have produced dozens of albums; their music has progressed from simple heavy rock to a more mixed rock that mixes ballad, heavy rock and rock anthem.

Rush are a three man band from Canada, although the sound they produce sounds as good if not better than many four or five bands.

Alex Lifeson is the lead guitarist, ...
...guitar work is impressive; his style is instantly recognizable to most.

Geddy Lee the vocalist and bassist is the inspiration of Rush, his skills at writing unique and powerful introspective songs stamp out a style that is recognizable even in his own solo album.

Neil Peart is an exceptional drummer who is up there with the best. Unfortunately due to personal tragedies in his life, Rush haven’t produced music for ... more

Rush are classed as a ‘progressive’ rock band. Over the last 20 or so years they have produced dozens of albums; their music has progressed from simple heavy rock to a more mixed rock that mixes ballad, heavy rock and rock anthem.

Rush are a three man band from Canada, although the sound they produce sounds as good if not better than many four or five bands.

Alex Lifeson is the lead guitarist, his mix of classical, six string lead and twelve string guitar work is impressive; his style is instantly recognizable to most.

Geddy Lee the vocalist and bassist is the inspiration of Rush, his skills at writing unique and powerful introspective songs stamp out a style that is recognizable even in his own solo album.

Neil Peart is an exceptional drummer who is up there with the best. Unfortunately due to personal tragedies in his life, Rush haven’t produced music for several years, but rumors surface that there is a new album being produced.

Chronicles, as the names suggests chronicle the life of Rush. With music from many different albums, the ‘Chronicles’ gives a great cross section of their music, and also guises you through the bands career.

I will not review every track on the album, suffice it to say that they are all very good and many different styles are inherent in the recordings, however I will review several of the key tracks….

Fly by Night
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This is typical of the early Rush style; a no nonsense rock ballad that is very catchy and has superlative drumming and guitar work. When in doubt about Rush, play this!

Lakeside Park
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Lakeside park will appeal to many with another catchy tune combining with Rush’s power to produce a great song. This song appeals to people who like to get caught up in childhood memories.

Bastille Day
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A sad and dark song that portrays the fury and anger of the French revolution. Similar in style to many other rush songs it features strong chord work and much heavy guitar. It is a powerful example of early Rush rock!

2112
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Perhaps on of the most important Rush songs; with a sci-fi theme this song (and the album) started to show the transition of rush from a pure rock band to a progressive rock band that combines many different styles in one song.

The trees
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Rush began to develop a style that evolved over the course of several albums. Many songs started quietly, almost Ballad like, and then with the same tune, turned into a heavy rock ballad.
This song metaphorically portrays the struggle in the forest between the Oaks and the Maples, the song is direct, starting with the following lines:-

‘There is unrest in the forest,
There is trouble in the trees,
For the maples want more sunlight,
And the Oaks ignore their pleas.’

this simple verse somehow epitomize the struggles we all have when trying to get equality. This track is a very fast song that has deep lyrics and wonderful guitar solos. This song also shows how talented the band really are with some excellent examples of quality music.

Tom Sawyer
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Probably the bands most famous song, and my wife’s personal favorite. This song is fascinating in that it seems to be slightly off beat; this rhythm combined with the intriguing words make this a very stimulating and exciting song. Again this song represents a transition for Rush as they begin experimenting with interesting beats and rhythms.

The Big Money & Time Stand Still
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Although I am not a great fan of later rush, there are several good songs. As the band attempted to move into the 80s and 90s they produced a few albums that somehow lost Rush – trying to be perhaps to commercial or add a kind of ‘big band’ sound they became over produced and the music became poor in comparison to early Rush. However, The Big Money and Time Stand Still are a couple of good tracks that seem to have a similar feel and sound to early rush even if they are a little synthesized. In this period the band experimented by adding keyboards and other instruments to their sound.

Conclusion
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This album has an excellent cross section of Rush’s songs giving a new listener a good indication of what Rush are all about. Many existing Rush fans won’t really need to buy this as they already have all the albums!! I bought this as all my albums are vinyl and I didn’t have any Rush to play on CD!

The future
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As Rush have had an sabbatical, both Geddly Lee and Alec Lifeson have produced solo albums. While Lifeson’s attempt was interetig, and was an attempt to break away from the Rush sound it was not particularly awe inspiring (The solo album was actually produced by a band called Victor). Lee’s album however was very good. Although Lee didn’t really move from the tried and tested Rush formula, it does give us hope that when Rush return it will be in the old 70s type of sound!

 

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