The Influence of Rush on Hard Rock

moshkito wrote: Hi,   There are not, very many bands that are directly influenced by literature out there ... and Rush is certainly not one of them at all, regardless of what one of their members read.   If you are really interested in this theme, there is better out there ... Sci-Fi writer Michael Moorcock and Dave Brock of Hawkwind were close friends and the Saga of the Hawklords and many other pieces helped create a lot of the stuff around Hawkwind, and Michael himself was a part of many shows.   By far, one of the best/strongest literary examples is Laurie Anderson, who used recordings of Burroughs in her presentations and music ... but maybe you are too young to read "Naked Lunch" and then find out how much -- and how many -- folks went on to work directly off Burroughs style of narration ... hint ... you can even go as far as Bowie easily enough.   Even better, but more esoteric and something this board is not ... " .... " ... with ... is if you go look at the cabaret scene in Europe that grew into rock (the modern version of cabaret) ... and Kurt Weill and Bertold Brecht's work and ideas were around for a long time ... and even the Doors hit it once ... which tells you that you are dealing with someone that is fairly well read ... not just a rock musician, or prog musician, which is the real issue here. The Kurt Weill influence goes on to a lot of music in France and hit David Bowie and many other performers in the 80's as well ... and even created a "scene" in Europe around it ...   Those are probably the best and biggest ... the one about Ayn Rand and Heinlein with Rush ... is almost "eccentric" and a "stretch" ... you would be way better off writing about Ken Kesey and the Grateful Dead ... and if you are not bored, an even better subject that is not discussed here ... the Beat Poets and Progressive Music ... because ... a couple of these guys ... were probably the greatest reason why ... and one of the best "beat poets" around today ... is Daevid Allen. ... and so sorry ... Rush may have sold more, but they are no where near the poetic grace and beauty and expression of any of the beat poets, including Daevid.   There is another scene, around some film makers and theater, that deserves even more consideration ... but ... it's not gonna get it ... you should really check out Peter Handke, Peter Weiss and where they went and with whom, and then see how their experimentations were a part of the communes that gave us krautrock ...   And if you're still bored, you really should check out the guest instructors in all those gigantic music schools in Germany ... and see how some of the eastern music influenced everyone ... and sent the Beatles to India ... but that's probaly too far out for you, I imagine. ' Good luck ,....

Was Peter Weiss afiliated with or creator of the German electronic duo.....Software?

nordwind wrote: Don't laugh but I think Rush were influenced in part by Budgie .

A reference to Budgie is certainly nothing for anybody to laugh at-lyrically speaking, obviously not as sophisticated as Rush, but instrumentally they hold their own, and then some!

Alberto Muñoz wrote: A Great band i like his early to mid period of his music, i found songs like By Tor and The Snow Dog, Necromancer, The Fountain of Lammenth ,2112, Xanadu, fascinating.   I think that Hard Rock influence Rush.

Interesting. Which are the hard rock bands with 20 minute epics, multi-instrumental suites and unusual time signatures that influenced the tracks you mention?


I think we call those "hard rock" bands "Prog Rock" around here...

The early Rush albums have interesting music, but lyrically speaking, i would steer clear of anything inspired by Ayn Rand and her "virtues of selfishness". 

Don't laugh but I think Rush were influenced in part by Budgie .

Juiceboxbiotch wrote: Rush is a great band, and always has been, but as others here have said...they are more influenced than influential.

I think I disagree, somewhat. Rush music is tough to imitate, as has been discussed in the forums before. Their very early music (not lyrics) were influenced by The Who, Yardbirds, Cream and Zeppelin. Mr Peart was already into the writings of Rand and the whole socialism thing before joining Rush...One of the reasons he went to England to study and try to find himself as a young man. Once he joined he injected his thoughts and beliefs to the lyrics, which stuck for a very longtime.

BTW anyone knows what meands the word: "Lamneth"

lazland wrote: I can't really add much more to the points made here about Rush's influence on hard rock. I love the band, but always felt that they were more influenced by (certainly) Led Zeppelin and other bands in their early work. My feeling is they became more influential on the wider rock world when they began to experiment a bit more in the 1980's. In terms of influence, Heinlein, of course, was far more so. As a previous poster said, he revolutionised sciemce fiction literature, appalled much of middle class America with some of his works, and remained a hugely controversial figure, to say the least. My advice, for what it's worth, would be to concentrate on just the one subject, and make that Heinlein.

I can't, the project's goal is to compare an author and an artist (musician, painter, etc.)

BaldJean wrote: Tanstaafl wrote: I certainly agree that Rush was greatly influenced by hard rock. I have heard that Rush could be considered a combination of Yes and Led Zeppelin, which sounds pretty accurate. What I mean when I say they influenced hard rock, was by them being one of the first "progressive hard rock" bands. I'm not sure about this though. While Yes wasn't metal, there music certainly wasn't very light and King Crimson had some pretty hard stuff. Could Rush be considered influential as being one of the first hard progressive rock bands? a definite "no" to that. there had been hard progressive bands long before Rush. just listen to High Tide's first album "Sea Shanties" from 1969 or Guru Guru's "Hinten" from 1970. and that's just two examples. Wallenstein is another example

See, this is exactly why I asked this question on a progressive rock forum. I know little about the genre at this point so I need to make sure I don't start my paper with the wrong ideas.

Juiceboxbiotch wrote: Question for the thread originator:   Why wouldn't you choose a Prog band that was clearly more influential?  Yes, for example...  Being one of the first prog bands...and certainly the first to achieve broad success.   Rush is a great band, and always has been, but as others here have said...they are more influenced than influential.

I chose Rush mostly because it's my favorite band. I also chose them because Rush and Heinlein did do some similar things to their genre. They both added politics, philosophy, and meaning to their work, all though Heinlein did this much more. Like I said, I'm open to other bands. Is there a band that also incorporated philosophy, politics, etc. into their music that was more influential than Rush? Also, Rush has some sci fi songs which help a bit.

Question for the thread originator:

Could Rush be considered influential as being one of the first hard progressive rock bands?

Yup, definitely one of the first. You could certainly hear their influence in Iron Maiden, early Def Leppard, Queensryche, Dream Theater, Tiles, and Muse.