Rush Is Finally Putting Out A Compilation That I’m Stoked For
Let me start by saying that this essay is not disparaging Rush: Rush is one of my favorite bands. In fact, they were probably my first “favorite” band. By that, I mean that they are the first band where I wanted to figure out how to get their entire discography.
Back in the early ‘80s, it wasn’t easy to figure out what albums were in an artist’s discography: this was the pre-internet era; back then, you couldn’t look it up! Bookstores didn’t have full sections for rock fans. Record stores could be confusing: which are the legit albums? What do you get if you’re a “serious” fan? As a pre-teen and then a teenager with a limited budget, every purchase needed to count, but all the older kids (and grownups!) hanging out in record stores seemed to know what they were doing.
Luckily, back then, Rush’s discography was pretty easy to follow. It was 1981, and Rush’s latest studio album was the classic Moving Pictures. They had eight studio albums and one live album (soon to be followed by Exit… Stage Left). Eventually, I collected all of their albums (on cassette!) and bought each subsequent album as it was released: I was a “real” fan and knew the release dates!
Within a few years, record labels were pushing CDs, as everyone was upgrading their record or tape collections to keep up with technology (myself included). Soon enough, the labels began digging through their archives. What material had been left off of older albums that could entice fans to buy archival collections?
Everyone, it seemed, was putting out previously unreleased rarities on box sets or reissues. When I learned that Rush was putting out their first best of, 1990’s Chronicles, I was excited. Then I saw the track list: it was all previously released studio and live tracks. It was the first Rush release that I would ignore. It went double platinum – clearly, music fans loved Rush’s hits – but I didn’t need to make room in my collection or my budget for it. I remember reading an interview with Geddy Lee at the time. Asked if Rush would put out a box set, he responded that the band didn’t really have any outtakes: he indicated that all of the songs that they wrote for an album made it to the album.
Other “best-ofs” were released over the years without anything too exciting for the Rush die-hards. Occasionally, there’d be a cool CD/DVD collection like 2005’s R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour, Time Machine 2011: Live In Cleveland, and 2015’s R40 Live. Some of the “anniversary” reissues of their albums had fun stuff: 2016’s 2112 40th Anniversary Edition came with a tribute album of sorts, with covers by Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins (“2112 part 1: Overture”) and Alice In Chains (“Tears”). 2017’s A Farewell To Kings 40th Anniversary edition likewise contained Dream Theater’s cover of “Xanadu.” Most of the anniversary editions featured cool but non-essential, previously unreleased live stuff.
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As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been replacing stuff that I had on cassette or CD with new vinyl (contributing to the record industry’s circle of life). And I’ve realized that I don’t need to have hard copies of every single recording that my favorite artists have committed to tape. Their initial instincts were often correct when it came to deciding what to put on an album and what to leave off. (That said, it’s still baffling that, for instance, Led Zeppelin decided to leave “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do” off of Zeppelin III. Sometimes, you really do “need” those bonus tracks!) I also realized that it’s a lot less annoying to skip tracks on a CD; when I play an LP, I like to go start to finish.
All this is to say that I’m actually pretty excited about Rush’s just-announced collection Rush 50 – containing 50 tracks spanning their entire career, from 1974’s Rush through 2012’s Clockwork Angels, and ending with the medley that closed their final concert ever, from August 1, 2015.
The collection kicks off with both sides of the band’s debut single: their cover of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” and an original, “You Can’t Fight It.” Yeah, you can hear bootlegged versions online, but I’ve been searching for legit versions of these songs forever and I’m glad I’ll finally be able to play them on my turntable. I’ve heard Rush’s cover of Larry Williams’ “Bad Boy” (the Beatles also covered it) on a bootleg, but I’m glad to have a legit version of it. Also included is another unreleased track from the ‘70s, “Garden Road,” live from Electric Lady Studios.
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I’m not a completist when it comes to live stuff, but there’s something special about hearing the last notes played by Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart together.
It’s a testament to Rush’s greatness that I am looking forward to getting this on vinyl and listening to all seven LPs and not skipping anything; in fact, going over the tracklist, I find myself bummed about the omissions: why just the first two chapters of “2112” and not the entire side-long epic? Why “Superconductor” and not “Show Don’t Tell?” How could they not include “Far Cry?”
Anyway, Rush’s debut album actually turned 50 last year, and it was sad that nothing marked the occasion. But there’s little that the band could have done, as Peart passed away five years ago.
Rush 50 will be out on March 21. I may order a copy, and – why not? – a few cans of the band’s Rush Golden Ale, and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band’s first album with Neil, Fly By Night. This probably is the final word on Rush, and that’s OK: many of these songs have been the soundtrack of my life. What more can you ask for?