Veteran rock power trio Rush has finished recording its as-yet-untitled next Anthem/Atlantic studio album, the group's first since 1996's "Test for Echo." Sessions recently wrapped in Toronto, with the band serving as producers and longtime collaborator Paul Northfield engineering. Atlantic expects the album to be released in early spring.
"It's been almost five years since we've done any writing together, and there's a bit of feeling each other out that needs to happen," vocalist/bassist Geddy Lee said early last year. "We've all been in such different head spaces, it's going to take some time for us to communicate musically. I think you have to start to communicate as people first, and the music comes as an extension of those good feelings."
"Test for Echo" was a No. 5 hit on The Billboard 200, with its title track vaulting to No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and "Half the World" reaching No. 6 on the same tally. "Different Stages," a three-CD live album spanning shows from 1978, 1994, and 1997, bowed at No. 35 on The Billboard 200 in November 1998.
In the downtime since "Test for Echo," tragedy befell Rush when drummer Neil Peart's 19-year-old daughter died in 1997. Her passing was followed by the death of his wife in 1998. Lee released his first solo album, "My Favorite Headache," in December 2000, notching a No. 20 hit on Mainstream Rock Tracks with the title track.