NOT FADE AWAY

This is Rush's debut single, the A-side is a cover of a Charles Hardin/Norman Petty song, as performed by one Buddy Holly and the B-side is a Rush original.

Recorded by Dave Stock,the original producer of Rush's debut album,the single bombed and neither track made it on to the album."Not Fade Away" was replaced by "Finding My Way" and "You Cant Fight It" was given a dignified burial.

Worth a few quid if you have a copy but tracking it down would be a miracle as it had quite a limited release.Crops up on quite a few fan sites for download,I'm sure the band wouldnt mind seeing it never made it onto any official Rush album.

Sadly Geddy's chipmunk vocals guarantee the minimum rating and in reality this disc hardly has any relevance to Rush's discography.

I had a chance to hear these songs from a digital vinyl transcription. The music is like which one can predict from the basis of their recent CD EP consisting 1960's pop/rock covers. "Not Fade Away" is a primitive rock composition typical to manners of that time, and both positive and aggressive like the songs of Rush often are. I'm not sure if these tracks are re-released anywhere, but they should be as fans are certainly interested of these tunes. "You Can't Fight It" has a main verse which sounds like it would be from the Black Sabbath's first album, but the other composed parts and the guitar solo sound again like from the year 1965. This is actually quite fun music, but not progressive of course. The guitar solos are here exceptionally good in my opinion, and I like the trashy sound this vintage vinyl.

Prog-wise, I can't see anyone willing to argue that this is light years away from even a hint of progressivess. Both songs are pretty good hard rock workouts. Not Fade Away could have easily fit onto Feedback, and it would have been an extra to include both of these tunes on that EP. Sound wise, Lifeson's guitar tone matches the debut album's sound, although Can't Fight It suffers a bit from that 70s inadequate production. You could almost feel like you were listening to them in the garage. But all in all, still a good treat, but not essential.

This single is certainly best appreciated if viewed as rare Rush nostalgia rather than a serious release. Standard Rock N' Roll numbers with not a hint of the Progressive Metal monster Rush would become a mere three years later. While dragged out a little too long by a ridiculous A Cappella verse the cover of Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away is certainly more interesting than The Rolling Stones version and Geddy Lee's even higher than usual vocals are good for a smirk. You Can't Fight It is driven by a catchy Alex Lifeson riff and sounds like a Led Zeppelin II leftover, a song that could easily have slotted into Rush's 1974 debut, perhaps replacing Need Some Love? A wonderful addition to any Rush collector's library but more casual fans, particular of Rush's later material, are likely to be underwhelmed.

In the beginning...

As a major Rush fan, I've been itching to here these two songs for a very long time. This was Rush's debut EP even before their big flying pink letters from the self titled LP hit the shelves. Lucky for me a very kind friend who happened to have the EP was able to send it to me so that I might have gander at what my favorite band sounded like in their fetal stages. I must admit - these songs are pretty fun! They're a far cry from any of the material the band would later record, and even Working Man comes in as a compositional masterpiece in comparison to there tunes, but they're still fun, none the less.

Not Fade Away is a cover tune which was originally performed by Buddy Holly. It's a catchy little number which starts out sounding a hell of a lot like the I Want Candy song in Alex's riffs. There's some great, bluesy playing nearing the end of the number, but overall it's just an upbeat tune. The second song is a Rush original. You Cant Fight It is a little bit closer to how the band would sound when their debut hit the stores, but it is still a wildly different sound. A hard riff and fairly aggressive vocals from the young Geddy Lee show a band who had not yet matured in their song writing, but were still capable musicians. Lyrically, this is a much different album than anything the band would release with Peart, and the lyrics have nothing at all to do with Ayn Rand. Shocking.

Really, if you're not a fan of the band don't worry about this record. At this point in the game it's more of a collector's item than anything else, and clocking it at around 5-minutes it's not like you're missing a great deal of music. Fans on the other hand will be delighted with the lost tunes. 2 stars out of 5, Collectors and Fans will find good use for this disc, others will probably not care enough to hear it twice.

I honestly only think that there is only one good song on this 2 song single. This is Rush's first real recording, even before Neil Peart joined the band. I can tell that this wasn't recorded in a good studio, as there is echoe, and there are many tape problems, but really only for completionists. I will rate the 2 songs on a scale from 1-10, 10 being the best, and 1 being the worst.

Not Fade Away- Really, the only good song on the 2 side single. This is a very intersting cover. Its not a perfect cover, but you get Geddy's great, old banshee wail. I honsetly think that Geddy plays much better on this recording than the whole original Rush album, actually. Something that will really interesting Rush fans, Rush fans of the early ages. 8.5/10

Can't Fight It- Yes, the only original song on the 2 side single. Its a very less than flattering release, actually. The music is very harsh, and very hard to listen to. The guitar is very, well, upfront, direct, and I honestly think the solo is a little Country ditty. 2/10

Something really only for Rush fans.

Are you as diehard Rush fan as I am and want everything from them ? In that case, you are as stupid as I am. And that says a lot. Join me at the local medical centre.

I am saying this after having to endure this single enough time to write a review here. I can only praise Rush for not including these two tracks on any of their albums. Well, I guess even stupid dogs would have buried this single where nobody can find it. Rush debut as a recording artist is that bad.

Enough of letting loose my frustrations; how is the songs ? Rush debuted with a rockabilly track, believe it or not. Not Fade Away was recorded by Buddy Holly some moons ago. Why Rush ever did a Buddy Holly cover is beyond me. Maybe there is some similarities....... Suburbia and the middle class. Well, someone has already written and released a book about this (check out Amazon or a good bookstore) and I am sure we may find the answer to my question there. Rush version of an already sub-standard Buddy Holly track is pretty dire. Geddy Lee sings like a castrated squirrell. The rest of the band is trying to keep up, but get drowned out by these screams. Please put me out of this misery. Please.

The B side is a two and a half minutes long original composition called You Can't Fight It. This too is very much in the rockabilly tradition. It is much more rockabilly than the Led Zeppelin direction they took on their debut album later on. This song may qualify as a "lost" Rush song because it has not been included on any albums whatsoever. I hope it will remain lost because it is a piece of garbage. Alex guitars rumbles on over Geddy's painfully light vocals. This is without any doubts the worst song Rush has ever written.

Rush debut single is not worthy a purchase. It is a true turkey. Just concentrate on all their albums and forget this one. As simple as that.

1 star (but regard it as 0 stars)

'Not Fade Away' - Rush (Single)

Now this would be enough to turn me off of one of my favourite bands if I hadn't heard any of their other recordings before. Now granted, this is one of their earliest demos and can't be taken under the microscope of scrutiny like their more involved pieces of music, but are there ever alot of sour points this has.

'Not Fade Away' is one of the best songs from the classic era of rock n' roll. The last song that Buddy Holly ever performed before his fateful plane crash, it has solidified it's place in rock history. While the original is almost always better as a rule, Rush really seems to especially butcher it here. Maybe its the overmuzzled guitar tone or the dreadful recording quality, or maybe it's most likely the screechy vocals that ruin it for me. I've always been a fan of Geddy's vocal work (even in some of the earlier releases) but his vocal talents weren't harnessed yet at this point, it seems.

The b-side seems like it might be of more interest to a Rush fan seeing as it's an original they penned themselves, but there's certainly a reason very few fans have ever heard the track before. It's definately a more enjoyable listen than the first track here, but it's utterly forgettable, and therefore perfectly understandable why the band decided to leave this one in the fault.

All of this harsh criticism aside, it's still cool to see what one of my favourite bands sounded like before they even had an album out.

Rush fans will love this. But, to be fair, it's lacking; Rush was still an infant at this point, still developing. Also, I'm not a fan of "Not Fade Away", I find it kind of mean. I'm-a gonna tell you how it's gonna be/A-you gonna give-a your love to me/I wanna love you night 'n day/A-well, you know my lover, not fade away. Buddy Holly was kind of a demanding ass. "You Can't Fight It" is a fair song, though.

Favorite from the single: "You Can't Fight It"

In the end, huge Rush fans can't help loving it, but if you're looking for two above-average songs, no, not a chance, no, go away. 2/5 stars.

RUSH in the beginning of their recording career. This is a single from 1973 released by the original line-up of the band (Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and John Rutsey). While the production of this single leaves a lot to be desired, it is not as bad as I expected it to be after reading several reviews about it.

"Not Fade Away" is a song which was originally recorded and released by the late Buddy Holly. This song is very simple in structure, and I also have listened to other versions of this song covered by other bands like THE ROLLING STONES and FOREIGNER. Not being a very interesting song, I think that not much could be done in terms of arrangements to a song like this, and I also can`t see why RUSH selected this song to be recorded and released as the Side One of this single. The arrangement for this song tends more to Heavy Metal, but the limitations of the song did not help the band very much to play an interesting arrangement for it.

In the Side Two of this single there is a better song than "Not Fade Away", titled "You Can`t Fight It", which was composed by Lee and Rutsey. It is mostly a Rock and Roll song with some influences from LED ZEPPELIN and BLACK SABBATH. Even the guitar playing shows some influences from Jimmy Page. This song could have been included in their first album very well as I think that in musical style it could have worked very well in that album. But that first album sounds better in production terms than this early single.

Maybe RUSH only recorded this single for fun, more to give it as a gift to their families and friends. Anyway, it sounds like they had a lot of fun recording it. I don`t know if both songs of this single have been released in any RUSH compilation album. But maybe one day they could include them in a new compilation album...maybe more for historical reasons than for anything else.

For collectors and very die-hard fans of the band only.