It may be that the only term loose enough to encompass anything of the concept of Rush, is simply "progressive rock", for it is to this ideal of enjoyment, integrity, and freedom of expression that we have dedicated ourselves. Our music is aimed at the head, at the heart, and at the abdomen. We hope that it finds it's mark in yours.

THE PAST -- Rush came to be in a basement in suburban North Toronto during the first wave of progressive hard rock in the late sixties. This was the era of the Who, Cream, Jeff Beck, Zeppelin, Hendrix and the first truly free and creative period of popular music. This was to have a profound effect later on. The origin of the name is now uncertain, but it would seem to express a basic ingredient of the band even then; energy.

It was Alex, Geddy, and original drummer, John Rutsey, and at times with a temporary fourth on rhythm guitar, or keyboards, but fundamentally always as a trio. They appeared in the endless succession of drop-in centres, parties, dances, high schools, hockey arenas, and finally bars, bars and more bars which can prove so frustrating to a young band in Canada, usually spelling disaster in the form of a downward spiral towards security and a "real job".

(A brief aside) During this period yours truly was engaged in exactly the same endless succession with a variety of small time bands near the Niagara Peninsula, eventually leaving to live in England for a year and a half, playing in more bands and doing a bit of unglamorous session work. It was just as difficult there as it was here to get anywhere, so I returned home the proverbial sadder and wiser man, only to find success unlooked-for in some band I'd never heard of from Toronto, but that's another story.

(Back to the story) In 1974, the first album, simply entitled "Rush" was recorded, independently financed and released on Moon Records by the band's long-time manager Ray Daniels and his partner Vic Wilson, because no record company in Canada would take them for free, (No Commercial Potential, you see). The sessions were late at night, often after gigs, with limitations of Time and money. The material was raw and immature, from the band's repertoire of years past. The production was a patch-up job, rescued at the last minute by the saving grace of Terry Brown (a.k.a. Broon), who was our co-producer, objective Ear, and fourth member in the studio at the time. Still, a dream had been realized; there was an album!

During that summer of 1974, many important things occurred which were to alter the whole concept of Rush before the year was out. A radio station in Cleveland began playing the album, resulting in the importation and sales of a few boxes of albums. There was interest. An American booking agency, (ATI), began discussing the possibility of some American dates for the band, thereby triggering the interest of Mercury Records, who signed them to a lucrative long-term contract. There was an international release.

Next Mercury and ATI got together and came up with a promotional tour which would cover much of the United States, and allow the band to play before many thousands of people. There was an American tour. Then suddenly, after a long period of fragile health and musical frustration, John announced that he was going to leave the band, only weeks before the album was to be released, and the tour to commence. There was no drummer.

It is at this point in the story that I cease to speak in the third person, and "they" becomes "we". I joined the band on Geddy's twenty-first birthday, June 29, 1974, with scant two weeks remaining in which to assemble enough material to hit the road. Somehow we did it, and played our first show together in front of 18,000 people opening for Uriah Heep in Pittsburgh. This was the first night of an endless touring. So, we toured.

During this time we were putting together much of the material that which would form our first album together, pooling our creative resources, and exploring each others aptitudes and personalities. Somehow I found myself writing many of the lyrics, probably because neither Alex or Geddy were interested in doing it, and it seemed to me like it would be fun. We were getting to know each other better, and the personal chemistry and unity of purpose began to develop, which has sustained and inspired us against all adversity.

In January of 1975, we went into Toronto Sound to record the album "Fly By Night". We set many standards and directions for ourselves with this album, venturing into a broader thematic and dynamic range, concentrating on composition, musicianship, and more interesting arrangements. It was very well received, earning us a gold record in Canada, and very respectable sales in the U.S., as well as the Juno award as the most promising new group in Canada. These things helped to reinforce our belief in what we were trying to accomplish, and we became dedicated to achieving success without compromising our music, for we felt it would be worthless on any other terms.

In July of that year, we again entered the familiar other-world of Toronto Sound, to record our third album, "Caress of Steel". We went in serene and confident, and emerged with an album that we were tremendously proud of, as a major step in our development, and featuring a lot of dynamic variety and some true originality. Hugh Syme's artistic gifts were first displayed here, a man who since has been responsible for all of our covers. Many things conspired against us, and the album sold poorly. The ensuing tour was half jokingly referred to as the "Down the Tubes Tour", and it was a pretty depressing string of small towns and small clubs, and pressure from certain quarters about making our music more accessible and more saleable. Fight or fall? We got mad! We came back with a vengeance with "2112", perhaps our most passionate and powerful album yet. We were talking about freedom from tyranny, and we meant it! This was the first real blend of our diverse and schizophrenic influences, and it was also our first really successful album. We felt at the time that we had achieve something that was really our own sound, and hopefully established ourselves as a definite entity. The side long title piece itself became a featured part of our live shows, as much fun for us as for our audiences, and the trend was all upwards from that point on. It was again recorded at Toronto Sound, in the cold winter of 1976. At last we had learned how to get our sound across on record, and how to strike the balance between what we could do in the studio, and what we could do on stage.