YYZ (Rush, 1981)

 This is one of my favourite instrumental tracks ever. It comes from Rush's eighth studio album Moving Pictures. The title is just the identification code of Toronto Pearson International Airport, the one the band reached when leaving their homes and where apparently Alex Lifeson was inspired for the song's rythm by the morse code translation of YYZ (that's - . - - / - . - - / - - . .  and that's the opening sound of the track). This is a highly dynamic piece of music, incorporating both groove and melody, full of changes and pauses the stop and go way that Yes liked so much. 

This track is a real flight, IMHO...

The main theme comes in at well studied intervals and - as usual with Rush - the rythm section provides a rich palette of bridges, progressions and variations. The song's pattern is so unpredictable and sought after that you hardly believe it can be confined in a track of just over 4 minutes. Enthralling and ever changing, YYZ is a manifesto of this band's idea of progressive rock, an idea I like very much... and I daresay I'm not the only one!

Red Barchetta (Rush, 1981)

"Moving Pictures" is an excellent album by Rush, IMHO, full of thick and coherent compositions, among which I introduce today "Red Barchetta", a live favourite of the Canadian powerful trio (and of their fans of course). There are many changes and different themes in this song, full of stingy sounds and irregular rythms. The short electric guitar solo is rightly famous, but I highly recommend Geddy Lee's bass lines throughout the track... well my mention is likely useless, as we all know how great Lee is.

Imagine this song, a convertible car and the wind in your hair...

Maybe the moment I better like is the final reprise of the opening chords, that's when the tempo goes down announcing the end of the song and the volume slowly fades away, leaving a persistent memory in the listener's ears and the will to restart the player. This is another song by Rush featuring an original pattern, a good melody, brilliant sounds and a series of smart variations. That's why they belong here.

Presto (Rush, 1989)

This is the title track of an album released by Rush in 1989 and playing a special role in the band's musical evolution: the strong presence of synths characterizing their '80s production gets more discreet and the typically rock instruments are once again in the foreground, even if the trio don't come back to their early heavy sound. The resulting mix is however a very interesting one, as this song will prove: fresh rythm guitars, airy and light keyboard backgrounds, strong a neat vocals. 

 

"Presto" is the thirteenth studio album by Rush.

But what I especially like in "Presto" (mainly the song, but also the entire album) is the ever changing and unpredictable plot: when you're sure the tempo will raise up, it actually goes down and when you're expecting a melody, here comes a rock riff. This is exactly what a prog song should be, so... enjoy "Presto" and let the music vivify your lives!

By-Tor And The Snow Dog (Rush, 1975)

This mini-suite by Rush is often quoted as a band's early progressive effort and a model for following and longer compositions. Also the main character of this epic, By-Tor, will come back in a later song, but I don't think we should label such a rich and diversified song as a sketch for succeeding masterpieces. In fact, the four movements of "By-Tor And The Snow Dog" (that's to say: I. At the Tobes of Hades; II. Across the Styx; III. Of the Battle; IV. Epilogue) are accomplished examples of heavy prog and - despite their tricky and mythologic concept - are a solid, neat and coherent set.

 

The lyrics as they appeared in the original LP.

Hard riffs, wide open melodies, atmospheric passages and graceful links follow one another to describe the fierce battle between two powerful and fantastic enemies. This is a kind of prog that simply didn't exist in 1975, a clever mix of toughness and refinement, simplicity and complexity. Something bound to become a classic. And yes, one of the Rush-est Rush tracks!

Subdivisions (Rush, 1982)

This song opens "Signals", the album Rush released in 1982 and it's one of the band's more captivating tracks, also released as a single. The strongest point in it is the very well found melody Geddy Lee sings with his usual strength. But the arrangement, including some very interesting instrumental sections, adds an additional value to the big picture. The airy guitar riffs - a trademark of Rush sound - are less commen here and you'll find instead a constant presence of keyboards, providing kind of a plastic and claustrophobic background to the song. Nonetheless, the double keys then guitar solo toward the end of the track is tipically Rush and gives to "Subdivisions" a slightly optimistic touch. The lyrics are about the rigid rules and limited sense of communion in modern urban life, well represented by housing subdivisions, so common in our suburbs.

"Signals" was the ninth studio album of Rush.

The band depicts such a pityful but comfortable lifestyle adopting a stressing rythm and some electronic effects. They describe youth's life in those geometric boundaries with strong accents. Here you are:

Growing up it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass production zone

Nowhere is the dreamer
Or the misfit so alone

 

And prog is for the dreamer, isn't it?

In The End (Rush, 1975)

Thaken from Rush's second album "Fly by Night", this song perfectly represents the music they used to do in the first part of their long career. No keyboards at all, but a special taste for tempo changes and emotional peaks. The song consists mostly in a beautiful ballad and we appreciate it in two different arrangement: the first is acoustic and peaceful, the second electric and vigorous. Geddy Lee's vocals switch from a sensitive tone to a screechy one, according to the changing strength and volume of the song.

Always liked this Eraldo Carugati's cover... you can't skip the owl's stare!

Rush have their own special waay to caapture your attention and riveting you till the very end of the track: all seems so easy and so plain the first time you listen to it, then you discover little by little how carefully the song is set up.That's exactly what occured to me with this "In The End": see how the drums come in at the right point, see how the guitar solo acts as a bridge and lights up the song, see how the acoustic guitar closes up the song and Lee's voice fades away. A what about the closing cymbals? Great.

The Big Money (Rush, 1985)

Can a song be both typically '80s and undoubtedly prog? Many tried, Rush succeded with "The Big Money", the opening track and first single of their album "Power Windows", released in 1985. The arena rock style electric guitars, the pulsing bass and some synth effects are certainly the sons of their decade, but the creative drumming work, the intricate guitar / keys interplays, the bass line (with a taste of Yes) and the solos are the proggest thing you could imagine.

 

"The Big Money" single was released in october 1985.

The song plot is cleverly set up, with a strong guitar-driven intro, a tough vocal theme and the beautiful instrumental section, including some delicious tempo changes. The finale resumes the main vocal tune and treats the listener with some extra riffs. A well balanced piece of work in an album including many cold-hearted tracks, an enjoyable song, but not at all a plain melodic rock piece. Something to warm up a progger's dull day.

Tow Sawyer (Rush, 1981)

This song amazes me. It comes from the album "Moving Pictures", released in 1981, and it's somewhere in between prog rock and mainstream rock. Somewhere doesn't mean a steady point, because this track is in perpetual change. From traditional rock measures to keyboard progressions, from a guitar solo to an electronic insertion, from Neil Peart's stunning drums (from 4/4 to 7/8, and even to 13/16 !) to Geddy Lee's double sided vocal performance.

"Tom Sawyer" was also released as a 7" single. This one.

As usual for them, Rush expand the real time and when you read this song only lasts 4:43 minutes you wonder how on earth they could put so many things in such a short duration. Well, they could. It's interesting to know that the lyrics for this song are a Lifeson's re-writing of the poem "Louis the Lawyer" by the Canadian lyricist Pye Dubois. They're about freedom and indepencence, that's why the titled changed in "Tom Sawyer" recalling the young hero from Mark Twain's book. A good song with a ton of good ideas in it, as you can see.

Xanadu (Rush, 1977)

This formidable 11 minute track is from "A Farewell to Kings", released by Rush in 1977. It desplays all you're expecting in a Rush song: power, sudden tempo changes, lush guitars, beating bass, plenty of percussions. I could roughly divide "Xanadu" in three parts, the first one being a 5 minute instrumental section - almost a track by itself - in which all the main riffs and themes are presented or sketched and many changes occur in tempo, instrumentation and mood. You'll find here atmospheric moments and also epic tunes, acoustic sounds along with electronic experimentations: this song introduced synths in Rush music, anticipating the band's further evolution.

 

One of the best Rush albums...

 ...and one of their strangest covers.

 

Then the sung segment comes in, with a very passionate Geddy Lee's performance, also graced by short and effective epic walls of sound. The last part begins with a long and beautiful electric guitar solo and ends up with a weird, slow tempo finale. I won't forget the lyrics - written by Neil Peart - inspired by Coleridge's opium influenced poem Kubla Khan, describing Xanadu, the summer palace of the famous Mongol king Kublai Khan. The band try to depict in words and music this fanciful place, in the wake of Romantic era symphonic poems, an attempt that will return in their following records. There's a bit of everything in this track, but even so you'll find an inner coherence and an original sound in it... in short, you'll find Rush in it. 

2112 (Rush, 1976)

Here's a very old question: can you do prog rock without a single keyboard? Well, Rush did. And they even played an entire suite, a 20 minutes, seven-part composition. Balancing hard rock and very quiet moments, this wonderful piece of work also features space rock athmospheres and lyrical ballads, in a series of musical surprises, so that you don't even perceive time passing by. The lyrics are about a future in which music is forbidden by a repressive theocracy ruling the galaxy. But one fine day a man finds out a forgotten guitar... and a real civil war begins.

 

A promo advertising for 2112.

 

The story is based on a novel titled Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, an American novelist. The three members of Rush are at their heights here: Alex Lifeson's guitars interwine with Neil Peart's drums and Geddy Lee's bass guitar in a thick wall of sound and Geddy's squeaky voice hits the peaks of sorrow, gets down to a peaceful stillness, then rises once again. Believe me, this is not just one more track, this is one of the deepest and strongest emotional experiences prog rock can provide.