Rush
Early Rush has a much different style then any of their other albums, which is understandable, seeing as they needed time to find their footing. But the thing that makes this album most different from other Rush albums is that the drummer was John Rutsey, as opposed to Neil Peart, whom most Rush fans are familiar with.
Finding My Way - The first Rush album starts off with a reasonable start. Giddy Lee's vocal style is established in this song, being one of the most recognizable parts of Rush. The music is good throughout the whole song, which is enough to get you hooked. 6.5/10
Need Some Love - The shortest non-instrumental Rush song ever. It jumps straight into the Lyrics at the beginning about needing a girl. Short and sweet is perfect to describe this song, as it plays at a reasonably fast pace with uppity lyrics. 7/10
Take a Friend - One of the things about Rush songs that I like a lot is that many of them have messages, morals for people, or interesting insight on society. This song points out the obvious, while providing music that matches the lyrics, combining both to make a good song. 6.5/10
Here Again - Yawn. The music in this song is pretty repetitive so as to focus on the lyrics, which don't stand out too much. In addition, this song is 7 minutes, so it gets pretty repetitive. Lastly, it is one of their slowest songs, which is far from the style that newer Rush fans are used to. 4/10
What You're Doing - The lyrics of this song are interesting to listen to. It sounds like rebellious teenagers talking to the man trying to put them down. The music seems to be sort of defiant as well, but the lyrics seem to leave an incomplete story. 6/10
In The Mood - Cowbell! But seriously, this song is one of the more memorable on this album. The theme is easily to relate to, plus it contains more of the music that seems to repeat itself. Thankfully, it isn't as bad as Here Again, and is actually a better sounding song. 6.5/10
Before and After - This song manages a nice transition from being soft and slow in the beginning to being a lot harder and faster midway through, and it all seems natural. The echo effect is rather nice too. Besides those however, nothing exceptional with this song. 6.5/10
Working Man - The best is saved for last. A lot harder than the rest of the album, closer to the style of the rest of their music. Guitar solos, and just all around good music highlight the song that started their career. A long musical section is part of the highlight of this song. 8/10
Bonus Song: Working Man (Vault Edition) - This is the version of the song used in Rock Band. It was a copy of the original song with a slightly different Guitar solo. This is only available from iTunes, and should only really bought for completion purposes, since it is practically the same song. 8/10
Overall - Rush (the album) differs greatly from the rest of their albums, a fact which could be attributed solely to Neil Peart's addition in Fly by Night. Anyone who has a big fan of Rush and has all their other albums should add this to their collection, but anyone who is just getting into Rush would be better off with one of their later albums, but downloading Working Man is still a necessity, as it represents the main reason that Rush got the chance to make a second album. 6.5/10
Trivia:
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Note: I planned on doing all 22 albums but didn't....
Early Rush has a much different style then any of their other albums, which is understandable, seeing as they needed time to find their footing. But the thing that makes this album most different from other Rush albums is that the drummer was John Rutsey, as opposed to Neil Peart, whom most Rush fans are familiar with.
Genre - Hard Rock
Finding My Way - The first Rush album starts off with a reasonable start. Giddy Lee's vocal style is established in this song, being one of the most recognizable parts of Rush. The music is good throughout the whole song, which is enough to get you hooked. 6.5/10
Need Some Love - The shortest non-instrumental Rush song ever. It jumps straight into the Lyrics at the beginning about needing a girl. Short and sweet is perfect to describe this song, as it plays at a reasonably fast pace with uppity lyrics. 7/10
Take a Friend - One of the things about Rush songs that I like a lot is that many of them have messages, morals for people, or interesting insight on society. This song points out the obvious, while providing music that matches the lyrics, combining both to make a good song. 6.5/10
Here Again - Yawn. The music in this song is pretty repetitive so as to focus on the lyrics, which don't stand out too much. In addition, this song is 7 minutes, so it gets pretty repetitive. Lastly, it is one of their slowest songs, which is far from the style that newer Rush fans are used to. 4/10
What You're Doing - The lyrics of this song are interesting to listen to. It sounds like rebellious teenagers talking to the man trying to put them down. The music seems to be sort of defiant as well, but the lyrics seem to leave an incomplete story. 6/10
In The Mood - Cowbell! But seriously, this song is one of the more memorable on this album. The theme is easily to relate to, plus it contains more of the music that seems to repeat itself. Thankfully, it isn't as bad as Here Again, and is actually a better sounding song. 6.5/10
Before and After - This song manages a nice transition from being soft and slow in the beginning to being a lot harder and faster midway through, and it all seems natural. The echo effect is rather nice too. Besides those however, nothing exceptional with this song. 6.5/10
Working Man - The best is saved for last. A lot harder than the rest of the album, closer to the style of the rest of their music. Guitar solos, and just all around good music highlight the song that started their career. A long musical section is part of the highlight of this song. 8/10
Bonus Song: Working Man (Vault Edition) - This is the version of the song used in Rock Band. It was a copy of the original song with a slightly different Guitar solo. This is only available from iTunes, and should only really bought for completion purposes, since it is practically the same song. 8/10
Overall - Rush (the album) differs greatly from the rest of their albums, a fact which could be attributed solely to Neil Peart's addition in Fly by Night. Anyone who has a big fan of Rush and has all their other albums should add this to their collection, but anyone who is just getting into Rush would be better off with one of their later albums, but downloading Working Man is still a necessity, as it represents the main reason that Rush got the chance to make a second album. 6.5/10
Trivia:
- Only 3,500 copies of this CD were printed in its first run.
- The album cover was supposed to be Red, but in some early printings, it is more Pink.
- The reason John Rutsey left the band was due to personal reasons, namely, the fact that he had diabetes, which prevented him from spending long amounts of time on tours.
- Despite being from Canada, Rush made their big break in Cleveland Ohio, thanks to the fact that the local DJ liked Working Man and played it regularly.
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Note: I planned on doing all 22 albums but didn't....
