10 Great Rock Songs Written In Anger
6. 2112 - Rush
After continually redefining prog rock on their first few albums, Rush were one of the most interesting bands to listen to in the early 70's. While the band enjoyed a very niche audience in the early days, the band's label were less than pleased and was considering dropping the band.
In an effort to soothe things over, the band's manager went over to the label's office and begged them to give the band another chance. The label acquiesced, saying that they would allow one more record, but it had to contain some single material they could promote.
Songwriter Neil Peart was really frustrated about how the band was being treated by the label, feeling that they were leaning on the band at their weakest point. Instead of cowering to the pressure from their superiors, the band went back into the studio to write the most ambitious conceptual piece of their career. What came to life was "2112," a 20-minute suite that told the story of a space federation limiting society's creative expression. The song and album ended up taking on a life of its own once it was released to the public, giving the band tons of new fans as well as complete creative freedom to do whatever they wanted going forward.