Rush | 
| Artist: Rush
Label: Island / Mercury
Category: Music
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $5.66
You Save: $4.32 (43%)
New (45) Used (23) from $4.14
Rating:  122 reviews
Sales Rank: 3975
Format: Original Recording Reissued, Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 534623
UPC: 731453462328
EAN: 0731453462328
ASIN: B000001ES9
Release Date: May 6, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Finding My Way | | • | Need Some Love | | • | Take a Friend | | • | Here Again | | • | What You're Doing | | • | In the Mood | | • | Before and After | | • | Working Man |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 117 more reviews...
 Under- rated classic June 25, 2006
Jeffrey D. Elsenheimer (Lake Hamilton,FL USA)
20 out of 21 found this review helpful
I won't pretend that this recording can come close to the majesty of Moving Pictures or the groundbreaking progressive metal of 2112, but I have a soft spot in my heart for this album. It was my introduction to all things Rush. I ordered it "cold" from Columbia House after reading a brief description (no sound bytes back in those days.) After turning- on some friends, before you know it, there was a Rush explosion in my high school! Sure there was no heroic, inimitable drumming per Neal Peart, but the compositions were some of the tightest pure rock songs I had ever heard (naturally Led Zeppelin came to mind.) I loved the ringing open chords and imaginative solos used by Alex Lifeson, that added a different dimension from the ordinary power chords so commonly used at this time (I quickly adopted this style of playing.) I personally think Alex was the most creative soloist since Jimmy Page, not relying solely on blues scales. This is a great rock album. It is raw and powerful,and contains NO weak moments, but don't expect the grandeur of their later epic releases. Still one of my favorites!
 A straightforward rocker! January 29, 2003
Shawn Sutherland (Dallas, TX United States)
18 out of 33 found this review helpful
As time goes by, I find that this (the band's first album) is really the only Rush CD that I play with any regularity. That's because it is the band's most straightforward rock album. It's an effort by a young and raw band - heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin and Yes - aching to prove to the world what it can do!
At this point in the band's history, John Rutsey was the drummer. Consequently, absent from the album is Neil Peart's "flash" percussion style. However, also absent are Peart's self-indulgent and pretentious lyrics which, as time moves forward, become more and more embarrassing! No songs about snow dogs battling demons, necromancers, tyrants, space age priests, trees caught in a class war or battling clouds. Instead, titles such as "Finding My Way", "Need Some Love", "Take a Friend", "In the Mood" and "Working Man" prevail.
It's worth buying!
true working men May 3, 2005
Black Cat de La Bear (those dark halls)
17 out of 23 found this review helpful
before Peart, Rush had a hard time getting anything done. It was hard/nearly impossible to get these songs out to the people at the time. This is a blast as far as listening to but the band worked damn hard to get it out and have every right to write a song called "Working Man". Working man has a breif bass solo(well more a start to the interlude) and some good John Rutsy drum/cymbol mashing. An often overlooked song is "Before and After", although starts out slow, as it picks up, Alex's gitar work is awsome with the similar style as in a much later 1993 song called "Cold Fire". "Before and After" is better though. Although Peart made the group, Rutsy has good strait foreward drumming as in most Hard Rock/Heavy metal bands. Rush was good even before Peart. Geddy and Alex wrote both the lyrics and the music, which was very dynamic and not at all amaturish or raw. They also formed 'Moon Records' to release this albumn without the beaurocracy of major record companies. These guys were not professionals, they were just kids in a band at the time, but they wrote, played and sung like pros.(even before the omni-presence of Neil Peart).
RUSH BEGINS FINDING THEIR WAY December 25, 1999
J. Humphreville (Antioch, TN)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful
As I write this review, I am holding the L.P.(that's vinyl for you younger folks) in my hands and just looking at the song titles and thinking how good this album actually is. There is no Neil Peart on drums and he is not there to write the deep lyrics we have all come to expect from Rush. However, John Rutsey is a very good drummer in his own right and lyrically, there is a hint of what Rush would go on to do even before Neil was in the picture. The album kicks off with the hard rocking "Finding My Way". This song is often compared to Led Zeppelin which if you are speaking guitars, I can understand. The Bass line on this song is really solid and very well played(Great early job Geddy). The next two songs, "Need Some Love" and "Take A Friend" are more or less throwaway tracks as far as Rush fans are concerned. There is not much to them lyrically and musically, I have heard better. "What You're Doing" is a classic song that sounds great even today. It is also heavier and lyricaly an interesting track for this album. "In The Mood" follows that one up and this is a song that Rush played live until recently. It is a song that you can hardly picture Rush playing nowadays but it is still fun. The album ends with "Working Man". This is a seven minute song which begins to show where the boys would be going in the future. Check out the cool bass solo from Geddy Lee and great guitaring by Alex Lifeson. This is the real gem on this cd. For their first album, Rush made quite an impression. Looking back, half of the songs are weird for a later Rush fan to hear but still interesting and the other half, will please the ears of old and new Rush fan alike. They are the songs that helped Rush find their way.
An Excellent Debut Album April 12, 2005
S. Fuentes
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Rush - First formed of Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, and John Rutsey - put out this album which most Led Zeppelin fans thought of as Led Zeppelin's newest album at the time. Many of the hard-core Rush fans today, like myself, see this album as an apparent lack of something. Something's missing from this album. And what would that be? Neil Peart. He had not yet arrived to the band, but would during the same year as this album was released. The obvious absence of Neil Peart leaves us with "Ooh" and "Baby" lyrics that both Alex and Geddy composed at the time - some in only five minutes. While Alex and Geddy show their skill, John Rutsey is the odd man out. He's no Neil Peart, that's for sure, but he'll remain in the band until Mr. Peart arrives. At this time, a general description of the band is that they were kids, having fun and with no certain forward direction of progress.
The hard-rockin' debut album opens up with Finding My Way, an anthem that is great to listen to. Alex is on the guitar, and he would rival Jimmy Page. The music flows smoothly throughout this whole song, and it's a great way to kick off a one-time-only album.
Need Some Love is next on the playlist. Played often during their first tour, but has been forgotten over time. It is the shortest track on the album, and is just as good as Finding My Way.
The third track in this Zeppelin-esque album is Take A Friend, which is among the very few Rush songs to have never been played live. This is full of guitar, and is an awesome song to listen to. You'll get this stuck in your head for hours - maybe even days. Just remember, "Take yourself a friend, keep 'em 'till the end..."
This is where side one of the album comes to a close, with perhaps the deepest song on the entire album. Here Again is one of two extended tracks (the other being Working Man) that would pave the way for future epics such as By-Tor & The Snow Dog, The Necromancer, The Fountain Of Lamneth, and so on. This seven-minute plus ballad is surprisingly excellent. Played often in the band's early touring days, and was a crowd favorite.
Side two of the album kicks off with a furious hard-rocker, titled What You're Doing. This song became a popular live show closer well into the late 80's of the band's touring years. The lyrics are fun to sing and listen to, and is a simple song which is just great to hum.
In The Mood is another live show closer for the Power Trio, often played in a medley form. Accompanied by Fly By Night on the All The World's A Stage album, this song was one of the band's earliest written, going back two to three years before the debut album was released. Like What You're Doing, this song stuck in the setlist well into the 80's tours and the lyrics are composed entirely by Geddy Lee.
Before And After is very Led Zeppelin-like, and is another song that has never been played live. It is almost like a cut-down version of Here Again, but just as good. The track kicks off with an acoustic intro, then plunges into hard-rockin'.
And finally, the album closes with what quite possibly could be the best song on the entire album, Working Man. This song appealed to the midwest of the United States, and with good reason. This is a serious hard-rocker, and it's not hard to imagine Jimmy Page at the guitar of this one. The middle of the track contains a kick-ass solo, which displays Alex's best guitar work. Good luck trying to play this song by yourself!
This album is an excellent way to begin a long career in the music industry. This is what built their fan base that stuck with them through more of their early albums. John Rutsey would leave the band before touring began, due to diabetes and the sheer workload of the extensive touring schedule. However, this would prove to be a blessing in disguise as the world's most talented drummer would grace the presence of Alex and Geddy - which we shall see on the next album to come - Fly By Night.
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