RUSH

This debut album clearly has not many hints of the epic history the band would build for itself. It has no Neil Peart, for a start, so that means neither brilliant lyrics, nor great drumming. The band was yet to find an identity of its own, so heavy influences of Cream, Led Zeppelin and even Black Sabbath are clear for all to hear, to the point that you could mistake this tracks for an obscure song from those bands catalogue. Even the unmistakable voice of Geddy Lee sounds like Robert Plant sometimes.

Yet, the album is not bad at all. At worst, the songs relate to good moments of the bands that inspire them. The opening track, Finding My Way, perfectly summarizes all the qualities of the album: powerful, heavy, distinctive guitar riffs, great guitar solos. A dark, gloomy, bluesy slow track, Here Again, with a phenomenal guitar solo, comparable to any other from great blues-rock bands of that time - probably my personal favorite. Another hightlight might be Before and After, that starts slowly and then builds up in a straight-forward hard rock.

The lyrics themselves sound a bit adolescent and ordinary, but are not inadequate or embarassing either. The best one is certainly Working Man, that summarizes in few words what is the life of the working class - which spoke directly to the industrial cities of North America. Some great guitar work helped too, of course, making the song a stage favorite to this date - and an excellent vehicle for the band to improvise a little.

In sum, a good starter and an interesting find to those already familiar to the pillars of Rush catalogue. I actually find it more enjoyable than the next two albums, where their shift towards progressive rock starts. But then, I am a huge Rush fan so, maybe, all my opinions of the band might as well be biased. Still, if you enjoy the likes of Cream, Led Zeppelin and so on, you'll probably enjoy this album as much as me - or more. As far as hard rock is concerned, this album would get a fully deserved 4-star rating. It has not much of a progressive sound, though, and so I give this one a 3-star rating, but a very strong and confident one.

[Disclaimer: the quotations at the start of my Rush reviews are not intended to provide a short discription of the albums. They are just some of my favourite lines from a band that had so many great lyrics]

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