Rush - Moon Records (Album Review)

By Sue St. Marie, Beetle, September 1974, transcribed by pwrwindows

Rush is a three piece Toronto act that has managed to garner enough of a following to sell out the first pressing of this, their debut disc. In fact, not even their management had a copy when asked. Popular trio, this.

And Rush is not popular without reason. Geddy Lee's bass playing is hardly likely to threaten the likes of an Entwistle, but his voice is undeniably a great asset to the bands total punch. Guitarist Alex Lifeson surges forth with seeming teenaged abandon, wrestling riffs out of his axe that aren't totally original but could easily eclipse April Wine's present position as the guitar band in this country.

All tunes included are originals and the majority are fine, composed by Lee and Lifeson. Lee's vocalizing is roughly akin to the high pitched rasp of a Steve Mariott but with far more nasal intonation. The tunes themselves are basically riff-oriented with some full-bodied acoustic guitar beneath the Hydro holocaust that gives Rush it's Gillette edit.

This band is determined to follow in The footsteps of all the previous high-power ensembles, even including the now trite notation on the album's sleeve. "For best results play at maximum volume." I tried that. The sound didn't get a whole lot better, but it sure was loud. Which leads us to the inevitable questions regarding production. The only credits extended here are to SRO Productions, a local bunch of good guys who run a concert promotion / management organization. And to whoever handled the production goes a whole bunch of kudos, because the production is clean as the proverbial whistle.

Rush is a band with a future. An international release of this album, with the proper promotion behind it could only mean that some company would end up making some decent dollars and Rush would get their share of recognition. This is what you call viable rock'n'roll.