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Rush were a power-trio (guitarist Alex Lifeson, vocalist Geddy Lee, and
drummer Neal Peart, who replaced original member John Rutsey)
from Toronto (Canada), formed in 1969, that managed to fuse pop melodies,
heavy-metal riffs and progressive-rock ambitions.
Thus they re-invented the power-trio, which so far had been modeled on the
Cream.
They debuted with Rush (Mercury, 1974),
Fly By Night (1975) and Caress Of Steel (1975)
in a vein that borrowed from
Black Sabbath and
Kiss as well as from
progressive-rock (What You're Doing, 1974;
Fly By Night, 1975) with the addition of mythological themes
(the four-movement suite By-Tor And The Snowdog on
Fly By Night, the three-movement suite The Necromancer on
Caress Of Steel).
Caress Of Steel is the best of the three, thanks to the
extended suite The Fountain of Lamneth.
Rush matured with the sci-fi concept 2112 (1976):
the side-long title-track is a complex and magniloquent suite that weds
Yes and Led Zeppelin, while emphasizing the virtuoso performances of
Pearl's pyrotechnic drumming (which owes a debt to the Who's Keith Moon),
Lee's petulant, castrato shrill and Lifeson's epic riffs.
Synthesizers increased the level of sophistication on
A Farewell to Kings (1977), which contains the simple
Closer To The Heart and the ambitious Cygnus X-1,
and
Hemispheres (1978), which contains the catchy The Trees and
the elegant La Villa Strangiato (and a lengthy sequel to
Cygnus X-1).
Their glacial and cybernetic "metal muzak" had reached a terminal point.
Rush then made an abrupt aboutface.
Permanent waves (1980) turned them into stars via
shorter and catchier numbers such as
Spirit Of The Radio, Jacob's Ladder and Free Will.
However, they remained faithful to the ethos (if not to the sound) of
progressive-rock by focusing on albums rather than on singles.
Moving Pictures (1981) sold even more copies, despite the fact
that the material was weaker
(Limelight, Red Barchetta,
Tom Sawyer, the instrumental YYZ).
Another highlight of their career was
Signals (1982), with the mellower New World Man and
Subdivisions, and with the harder
Digital Man and Analog Kid.
On the other hand,
Grace Under Pressure (1984) had only pomp to commend itself
(Distant Early Warning), and
Power Windows (1985) offered Big Money and little else.
Hold Your Fire (1987) marked the nadir of this phase.
These albums were played by competent (and a little self-indulgent) musicians,
but were, ultimately, full of fillers.
A more straight-forward pop-metal approach surfaced with
Presto (Atlantic, 1989), that contains Show Don't Tell,
Roll The Bones (Atlantic, 1991), that contains Dreamline,
Counterparts (Atlantic, 1993), that contains
Stick It Out and Animate,
Test For Echo (1996).
Vapor Trails (2002) marked a return to the heavy sound of the origins without synthesizers.
Chronicles (Mercury, 1991) is an anthology of the classic years.
Retrospective I 1974-1980 (1997) and
Retrospective II 1981-1987 (1997) focus on the shorter pieces.
Lifeson has a solo project called Victor (1996).
Lee released the solo album My Favorite Headache (Atlantic, 2000),
a bad imitation of Rush's pomp-rock.
Rush's Snakes And Arrows (2007), probably the best work in a decade,
is a virulent display of monster craftmanship with impeccable production
quality.
No heart though.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Gianluca Mantovan)
Il power-trio dei Rush (chitarrista Alex Lifeson, vocalist Geddy Lee, batterista Neal Peart
al posto del fondatore John Rutsey) di Toronto (Canada), formatosi nel 1969, fuse melodie pop,
riff heavy-metal e velleita' progressive-rock.
In tal modo reinvento' il power-trio, il cui modello era fino ad allora rappresentato dai Cream.
Debuttarono con Rush (Mercury, 1974), Fly By Night (1975) e Caress Of Steel (1975) nei quali
si ispirarono a Black Sabbath e Kiss ma anche al prog-rock (What You're Doing, 1974; Fly By Night,
1975) cui aggiunsero temi mitologici (la suite in quattro movimenti By-Tor And The Snowdog su Fly
By Night, la suite in tre movimenti The Necromancer su Caress Of Steel).
Caress Of Steel e' il migliore dei tre, grazie alla lunga suite The Fountain of Lamneth.
I Rush maturarono con il concept sci-fi 2112 (1976): la title-track, della durata di una
facciata, e' una complessa e magniloquente suite che getta un ponte fra Yes e Led Zeppelin,
oltre a porre l'accento sui virtuosismi di Pearl, il cui pirotecnico drumming
deve molto a Keith Moon degli Who, i petulanti acuti di Lee e gli epici riff di Lifeson.
I sintetizzatori aumentarono il quoziente di sofisticazione su A Farewell to Kings (1977),
che contiene la semplice Closer To The Heart e l'ambiziosa Cygnus X-1, e Hemispheres (1978),
con l'accattivante The Trees e l'elegante La Villa Strangiato
(e una lunga prosecuzione di Cygnus X-1).
La loro glaciale e cibernetica "metal muzak" era arrivata al capolinea.
I Rush ebbero successivamente una svolta improvvisa. Permanent waves (1980)
li consacro' star grazie a numeri piu' brevi e accattivanti come Spirit Of The Radio,
Jacob's Ladder e Free Will. Comunque, rimasero fedeli all'ethos (se non al suono)
del progressive-rock focalizzandosi piu' sull'album che sul singolo.
Moving Pictures (1981) vendette ancor meglio malgrado materiale piu' debole
(Limelight, Red Barchetta, Tom Sawyer, lo strumentale YYZ).
Un altro evento della loro carriera fu Signals (1982), con le suasive New World Man e
Subdivisions e le piu' dure Digital Man e Analog Kid. D'altro canto, Grace Under Pressure (1984)
fu piuttosto pomposo (Distant Early Morning) e Power Windows (1985) offri' Big Money e
poco altro. Hold Your Fire (1987) segno' il nadir di questa fase.
Musicisti competenti (e un poco auto-indulgenti) suonano questi album pieni tuttavia di riempitivi.
Un approccio piu' direttamente pop-metal emerse con Presto (Atlantic, 1989),
contenente Show Don't Tell, Roll The Bones (Atlantic, 1991), con Dreamline,
Counterparts (Atlantic, 1993), con Stick It Out e Animate,
Test For Echo (1996), Vapor Trail (2002) costitui' il ritorno ai suoni duri
e senza sintetizzatori delle origini.
Chronicles (Mercury, 1991) e' un antologia del loro periodo classico.
Retrospective I 1974-1980 (1997) e Retrospective II 1981-1987 (1997)
si focalizzano su pezzi piu' brevi.
Il progetto solista di Lifeson e' Victor (1996). Lee pubblico' l'album
My Favorite Headache (Atlantic, 2000), una cattiva imitazione del pomp-rock dei Rush.
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