And away we go...
The year was 1968. It was then that childhood friends Alex Lifeson and John Rutsey decided to form a band that would later become known as Rush, going through a series of other players in the band, including a guy Alex knew named Geddy Lee, who was kicked out of the band at one point, but was later asked back. The band even had a fourth member, who played keyboards, for a spell, but they eventually settled into being a 3-piece band, as they spent years playing bars, clubs, high school and wherever they could, hoping for their big break, as another friend, Ray Danniels, talked them into letting him be their manager, and he did whatever he could to get them gigs. Early influences were artists like Cream, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, hard rock acts who could get bluesy more often than not.
In 1973, they managed to record a single a that was barely heard by anyone, but at least they had recorded something professionally, and it gave them a bit of momentum as they continued to play whatever gigs they could, and crowds ate up what they played with a spoon. Most of the songs had lyrics that were pretty loose and off-the-cuff, but Geddy always figured that Rutsey, the band's lyricist in those early days, would form them into something more coherent if the time ever came when they would record again. However, at some point, Rutsey was diagnosed with diabetes, and the illness caused him to depart the band for a short period, but with the understanding that he'd be back when he was better. Meanwhile, Geddy and Alex carried on with another drummer at gigs.
Eventually, Danniels talked the record company who had released the single into releasing a whole album by the band, but the fellas themselves had to front the money to record it, so they had to book the cheapest studio time possible to hurry up and record the album. And it was there where they meet Terry Brown, who became fast friends with the band and would end up producing their first nine albums.
However, the issue with drummer John Rutsey was reaching a breaking point. Not only was his illness making him not want to tour, but the musical differences between he and Geddy and Alex were glaring; Rutsey was more into the straight rock, while Geddy and Alex were being influenced by the early progressive rock bands like Yes, so they were eager to expand their sound. The debut album, however, would be very Led Zeppelin-esque musically, and as for the lyrics, Geddy would end up doing most of them since Rutsey, on the day of the recording, had nothing, so Geddy had to quickly make them up on the fly. And while he was to depart the band shortly after its release, John Rutsey would be around for it, making it his only appearance on a Rush studio album. His drumming is not bad at all. Actually, for that style, it was pretty solid, but it's inevitable that it will be dismissed as pedestrian because of the man (whose arrival I will address in the lead-up to the 2nd album) who replaced him...
A notable early tune that never made it on to anything the band released officially was Garden Road:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-4vsLucYzMAs for
Rush, it is a solid first record. "Working Man" is the undeniable classic from it, a song that still gets played on classic rock radio and has been played live by the band quite a bit in the 21st century. "Finding My Way," "In the Mood" and "What You're Doing" are all solid hard rock tunes in the LZ vein as well. "Here Again" was their attempt at a bluesy tune - I think of LZ's "You Shook Me" whenever I hear it - and it's not bad at all; in fact, it is pretty good, and features a smoking solo by Alex Lifeson, who showed right from the start that he is one helluva soloist. The other songs are okay, but nothing really notable. There are some who swear by the first album, and there is definitely a youthful energy that it makes this record an enjoyable listen on the right day, but overall, merely showed very brief glimpses of the greatness that was later to come.