Genres: Progressive Rock

Vocalist and bass guitar player Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer John Rutsey began Rush, inspired by early heavy metal bands Cream, Iron Butterfly, and later Led Zeppelin. In 1974, Rush released a self-titled debut album, which was followed by Rutsey's leaving the band due to health reasons. Enter, Neil Peart on drums. Peart, Lifeson and Lee were all excellent musicians, as well as extrememly intelligent. Peart had a flair for writing lyrics, and Peart began pumping out poetry, which Lee and Lifeson would later ad music to. In 1975, Rush put out two more LP's, Caress of Steel and Fly by Night. They followed these two phenomenal progressive rock albums with a tour, and then went back to the studio to produce the excellent 2112 in 1976. 2112 set the standard for progressive rock albums in the 70's, and was such an in-depth concept album, it laid the groundwork for many more Rush albums in the following years. Throughout the rest of the 70's, Rush was a permanent and consistent stadium draw, steadily pushing out top-quality prog rock albums. It was half a decade later, however, with 1980's Permanent Waves, that Rush would enjoy mainstream success. The following year, Moving Pictures produced the smash-hit "Tom Sawyer," which remains their most recognizable song. As the 80's progressed, Rush began to adopt a new, more high-tech sound, and die-hard Rush fans were not disappointed, although critics were not nice to Rush during this period. By the early 90's, Rush decided to shed their synthesizer and saturated guitar sound for a more stripped-down, rocked out sound. The band remains on that same course, still consistently putting out albums that sound great. Rush is one of the most critically underated rock bands of our time. Even though they get virtually no credit for being innovators, their sound has influenced countless musicians. The band has had 23 consecutive gold and platinum records, only behind the Beatles and the Rolling Stones for the most consecutive gold and platinum albums of all time.