Customer Reviews

Rush

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(30)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I won't pretend that this recording can come close to the majesty of Moving Pictures or the groundbreaking progressive metal of 2112, but I have a soft spot in my heart for this album. It was my introduction to all things Rush. I ordered it "cold" from Columbia House after reading a brief description (no sound bytes back in those days.) After turning- on some friends, before you know it, there was a Rush explosion in my high school! Sure there was no heroic, inimitable drumming per Neal Peart, but the compositions were some of the tightest pure rock songs I had ever heard (naturally Led Zeppelin came to mind.) I loved the ringing open chords and imaginative solos used by Alex Lifeson, that added a different dimension from the ordinary power chords so commonly used at this time (I quickly adopted this style of playing.) I personally think Alex was the most creative soloist since Jimmy Page, not relying solely on blues scales. This is a great rock album. It is raw and powerful,and contains NO weak moments, but don't expect the grandeur of their later epic releases. Still one of my favorites!

I mainly bought this album for the song "Working man". It took me a long time to hear that song because all the other tracks on this incredible debut album are awesome and I kept playing them over and over. I liked Rush when I was in high school back in the early 80's but I was not a big fan. I first bought this cd back in the mid 90's and was impressed by the raw sound of this album. It has a very different sound than their latter stuff. It's not so refined which makes it very good listening. This album really rocks. Alex is awesome on guitar and Geddy's vocals kind of remind me of early Glen Hughes (Trapeze) and John Rutsy is pretty good on the drums. This is one of my all time favorite CD's.

1. "Finding My Way" A great introduction song with a cool fade in.
2. "Need Some Love" A good tight solid rocking song.
3. "Take A Friend" A good drum fade in and great guitar intro.
4. "Here Again" My all time favorite. A good bluesy tune that really rocks. Great vocals, Great guitar, Great Bass, Great drums. This song is absolutely awesome.
5. "What Your Doing" Cool catchy tune.
6. "In The Mood" Cool bluesy classic rock song.
7. "Before And After" Slow and Mellow for the first two minutes and then it kicks in and rocks.
8. "Working Man" This albums big hit. It rocks.

All the songs on this album have very good guitar works on them. If you are into guitar's like me you will love this classic album.

I`m a BIG Rush fan. Alex, Geddy and first John Rutsy have started one of the many sestions of their career. What better way to start it then "Finding My Way". EXELLENT DRUMWORK only to be picked up, and a little bit MORE added by Neil Peart. "What You`re Doing" is, and shall always be, a LEGEND in the Rush archives. "Before And After" starts out real slow, and picks up. "Working Man" STILL gets played on the radio!

Many will think Zeppelin after their first listen of this album which is not a bad thing at all , but poor David Coverdale is still looked at as a Rober Plant rip-off with no identity whatsoever ; Geddy Lee does a great Plant impersonation in this one before entering the fascinating prog-rock rock world flapping his own wings.
This is a true work of rock 'n' roll art with a great opener, catchy middle which keeps anticipated for more and more and an ending that will absolutely blow up your mind making you wanting to replay it.Surely, the L.A. scene which was in its high during the late eighties based their edge and style on such albums.

"Rush" is a decent debut album. If you read the "authorized" book "Contents Under Pressure", you'll learn that Rush had been playing these songs for 3 or more years before recording this album, so that means they were teenagers when they wrote these originally (they were 20 when they recorded this). I think if you take that into account, this is actually a surprisingly good album, but obviously nowhere near what they would become, even on the next album "Fly by Night". The "baby baby" lyrics can be annoying, but the music is decent. "Working Man" is a classic song and sounds good even today. Every true Rush fan will own this album, but it's still worthwhile for any fan of 70's hard rock.

Rush often get tagged in their first few albums as being little more than a Canadian rip-off of Led Zeppelin. The Zep influence can certainly be heard, but the album is more energetic and raw. It is a worthy addition to any Rush collection, but more for its historic value than for it sounding as Rush does 30 years later. This band progressed so fast over its next few albums, that this one seems left far behind; but still plenty of fun to listen to.

Rush(1974). Rush's debut studio album.

Normally, when you mention the band Rush to any casual fan, they might point out some of their bigger radio hits such as 'Tom Sawyer' 'The Spirit Of Radio', and 'Closer To The Heart. Huge fans will point you in the direction of their most famous albums like 'Moving Pictures'(1981) and the cult classic '2112'(1976). Most every album Rush has ever made has defined them clearly as a progressive rock band, and by listening to them, it's easy to see what makes this band interesting to hear. However, only the debut album lacked the inventive songwriting talents of drummer Neil Peart, and as a result, most fans will disregard the debut upon the mere mention of it. Even being a huge Rush fan, I waited a long time before listening to the debut, fearing that it would never live up to the other albums. So I finally decide to give it a chance. Does it hold up well to the rest of the Rush albums?

Well, yes and no.

Surely it does lack much of the appeal of later Rush, but I find that there is still a lot to like from the debut. The original lineup is comprised of vocalist/bassist/songwriter Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer John Rutsey, and judging by the photos, they were all just kids wanting to rock it out. The band had nothing to live up to yet and didn't have a real fanbase, so they just concentrated on making good hardrock music. True, many comparisons can be made to Led Zepplin here, but they are by no means just clones of that band. The production is typical of most early 70s classic rock bands, and the guitar tone is generally heavy for the time, complete with lots of 70s psychadelia. Instrumentally, it's a very good album. Geddy's voice is at its highest here, which is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your taste. Rutsey is decent on the drums, though certainly no Neil Peart. Alex definitely steals the show on this album, with some excellent riffs and solos throughout. At this point, Alex's playing is probably the only foretelling of the future Rush. While the debut is instrumentally outstanding, it's the lyrics that really suffer here. I won't lie, this is lyrically the worst Rush album, and Geddy writes them all in typical AOR fashion. Neil Peart thankfully took over in the lyrical department from then on, although Geddy did write some excellent hardrock songs on the debut. Perhaps the cliched lyrics do have some charm, as they do fit in with the classic hardrock songwriting style of the songs. So as long as Rush fans can remember that these songs are meant to be fun rockers as opposed to heady rockers, then they can enjoy the album for what it is.

It starts out with Alex's awesome classic rock riff in 'Finding My Way', followed by the brief fast rocker 'Need Some Love'. 'Take A Friend' features some excellent guitar work and a catchy chorus. 'Here Again' is the album's long ballad. Not a wimpy ballad by any means, but more along the lines of a blues based ballad. The pace picks right back up with 'What You're Doing' and the infectious 'In The Mood'. 'Before And After' starts off light but turns into another good rocker. The one track that sticks out in my mind the most is of course 'Working Man'. The other rockers on the album are just as good, but 'Working Man' is extremely memorable, fortelling Rush's later songwriting style greatly, and featuring a lot of excellent axework by Alex. To date, this song and also 'In The Mood' are the only songs played off the album, and they both stand the test of time very well.

How does the debut album fare in the context of Rush's other albums? Well, it has great songs, but I'd be lying if I said that this was one of the band's best albums. Still, any real fan of Rush should NOT pass this one up. It gives you the insight on what started Rush in the beginning. So how does one rate this album? I give it 4 stars in comparison to other Rush albums, but as just a hardrock disc it deserves 4.5 stars. I actually really like this album and I'm glad I didn't skip it. Any enthusiast of hardrock music will find the debut a worthwhile investment. Fans of Led Zepplin, Eric Clapton, and Cream may find themselves in familiar territory here. It's probably not the best place for new fans to start, as it may confuse people on what Rush is really all about, but it's a great purchase after you've explored the band's other 70s albums. DEFINITELY WORTH A LISTEN.

...is an album filled up with straight ahead rock in the vein of their idols, Cream, Hendrix, Zeppelin, and the Who. And while this album has some sub-par drumming by lame original drummer John Rutsey, it's still a hell of an enjoyable album and one I pull out to listen to quite often. Geddy's voice is in prime condition, Alex is nuts on guitar and Geddy is great on bass. Rutsey's drumming is very simple and solid, but not spectacular. The best songs on here are Finding My Way, Working Man, Here Again, Need Some Love, and In the Mood. After the release of this album, right before their first tour of the USA, Rutsey quit the band due to his poor health (diabetes) and was replaced by Neil Peart and the rest is history. These songs sounded WAY better on bootlegs from 1974-1975 and official live releases when Neil drummed on them live, but this is still a fun and good album. I just wouldn't buy it first if you're just getting into Rush.

I love this album. It's just a downright fun, low-key, non-preachy rock debut. I see a lot of people have a problem with this album. To me, there's not a clunker in the bunch. I think I like the album so much because it comes across to me as a band just having fun. My favorites include some songs that don't get the attention that others do. Need Some Love, Before and After, and Here Again are my favorites. This was the beginning of phase 1 and I will always remember it fondly. What makes Rush so interesting is the evolution of the band. Take this for what it's worth. A debut album with a band just starting to find their identity. Honestly, I never get tired of listening to this.

If there were any justice in the world, this would rank in the same class as Led Zeppelin IV, Deep Purple's Machine Head, and other classic hard rock albums of the era.

True Rush fans usually completely ignore the first album, before drummer Neil Peart joined the band. True, John Rutsey was just a drummer and not a huge influence on the band, but to my mind Rush's first album remains a virtually ignored classic. Called the "poor man's Led Zeppelin" when it was released, it nonetheless remains a gold standard in bone-crunching heavy metal music. Several tracks showcase the virtuoso playing ability of the band, and the album did manage to produce one classic song: "Working Man."