Gene Simmons as soon as stated, “What sort of band is Rush? It’s Rush.” That could be essentially the most correct description of this seminal band out of Toronto.
Feb. 12 marked the fortieth anniversary of Rush’s eighth studio album “Transferring Photos,” a document that bought over 4 million copies in america and was additionally licensed quadruple-platinum in Canada. The album stays the band’s hottest and recognizable entries of their in depth discography.
Whereas Rush had steadily constructed their following for the reason that late ‘60s and commanded a heavy presence on the airwaves of their house nation, the trio reached worldwide prominence and ascended the throne of business and creative rock mastery with “Transferring Photos.” The document, the band’s first to achieve No. 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart alongside a No. 3 peak on the U.S. Billboard 200, helped catapult Rush into the mainstream rock scene and without end altered the way in which future bands would method the thought of progressive rock.
Rush has lengthy been recognized with the songs from this album, from enormously standard hits like “Tom Sawyer” and “Limelight” to the wild journey of musical experimentation discovered on “YYZ.” The album really confirmed how fearless the group was when it got here to transferring their sound and music ahead.
A band that was by no means a prisoner of the second, Rush was capable of transcend the rock style by way of their resistance to rock and roll traditionalism adherence.
They substituted the easy guitar riffs and repetitive lyrics endemic to a lot of their technology with new wave synthesizers and lyrics that learn extra like a science fiction or fantasy novel than a pop track. Neil Peart, the band’s late drummer and chief lyricist, possessed a love for literature, and it was this love that guided the lyrics he penned.
Peart was additionally the driving drive behind the band’s finest rhythms and is considered one of many nice rock drummers of his period, with Rolling Stone rating him fourth on their “100 Greatest Drummers of All Time.”
“Tom Sawyer,” the album’s bombastic opening observe, was Peart’s reimaging of the well-known Mark Twain character as a modern-day insurgent who’s wracked with the identical sort of protection mechanism that’s mirrored within the society round him. In Peart’s model of Sawyer, he’s his personal man who can’t be purchased or bought to any individual, god or authorities.
“Pink Barchetta” was impressed by a brief story written by Richard S. Foster entitled “A Good Morning Drive.” Given an Orwellian twist, the track’s lyrics focus on a younger man who takes his uncle’s sports activities automobile out for a drive. Regardless of the legal guidelines on this dystopian future banning excessive vehicular speeds, the protagonist flys down nation roads as they’re pursued by hovering legislation enforcement automobiles.
Not your typical rock track.
However the one track that really captures the essence of the album and the lyricist who introduced it to existentialist life is the observe “Limelight.”
The track, a deeply private assertion on Peart’s experiences with fame, centered on his discomfort with the thought of being a celeb and the way it intruded into his private life. Maybe the one line within the track that finest sums this up is, “I can’t faux a stranger is a long-awaited pal.”
Peart’s lyrics, nevertheless mystical and thought-provoking, could be incomplete if it weren’t for the musical expertise that each he and his two bandmates possessed.
Geddy Lee, along with his distinctive voice and unmistakable rhythmic — and sometimes hypnotic — bass traces.
Alex Lifeson and his fearless, creative guitar riffs and solos.
And at last Peart, along with his legendary stamina and skill to make you’re feeling each drum strike by way of your audio system.
Collectively, the trio represented musical purity the likes of those that grew up on Zeppelin-esque onerous rock and oft-banal Summer time of Love folks serenades had by no means seen earlier than. Their tireless devotion to their craft and mastery of their respective devices allowed them to change into greater than only a rock band — they turned pioneers.
“Transferring Photos” helped set the stage for Rush to change into the world-renowned group we all know at the moment. On the fortieth anniversary of their best musical accomplishment and scarcely a yr faraway from Peart’s tragic dying, we owe it to ourselves to once more hearken to this really once-in-a-lifetime album.
Gino Gutierrez is the managing editor on the Day by day Lobo. He could be contacted at managingeditor@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @GGutierrez48
