Rush is the self-titled debut studio album by Rush, released in 1974 through the band's vanity imprint Moon Records; it would be reissued by Mercury Records later that year once the band signed onto them. The only Rush album not to feature Neil Peart as the drummer, featuring John Rutsey instead. The album has a very strong early 70's bluesier hard rock sound, with strong influences of Black Sabbath, Cream, and Led Zeppelin.
While the overall album has mixed reception for its obvious emulation of more well known 70's rock bands, it is still fondly remembered for the classic Rush songs "Finding My Way", "In The Mood", and of course, "Working Man".
Tracklist:
Side A- "Finding My Way" (5:03)
- "Need Some Love" (2:16)
- "Take A Friend" (4:27)
- "Here Again" (7:30)
Side B
- "What You're Doing" (4:19)
- "In The Mood" (3:36)
- "Before And After" (5:33)
- "Working Man" (7:07)
Principal Members:
- Geddy Lee - lead vocals, bass
- Alex Lifeson – guitar, backing vocals
- John Rutsey - drums, percussion, backing vocals
Working Tropes:
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The music on this album more closely resembles Led Zeppelin rather than their Progressive Rock influenced style, and John Rutsey plays drums on the album. Plus, all the lyrics were written by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson and are less intellectually oriented than Neil Peart's lyrics.
- Epic Rocking: "Here Again" and "Working Man" are both over 7 minutes.
- Job Song: "Working Man":Well, I get up at seven, yeah, and go to work at nine
- Minimalistic Cover Art
- Non-Appearing Title: Nothing about "Rush" is mentioned in the songs.
- One-Word Title: Averted, every song has two or more words in the title.
- Self-Titled Album
