Theyre all over sixty years old, theyve had more consecutive gold or platinum albums than any band not named The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, and earlier this summer, they embarked on a sold-out tour to celebrate their fortieth anniversary making music together. Among active bands, only ZZ Top (the same three guys since 1969) have lasted longer than Rush in a single incarnation. The bands sustained success in the studio and on the stage is legendary. A great deal of that is owed to the unmatched musical prowess of drummer Neil Peart, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and singer/bassist/keyboardist Geddy Leethe Holy Triumvirate, as fans call them. But equally vital has been Rushs willingness to change their style over time, progressing through many different iterations of rock music and applying their own idiosyncratic sound to each. Over the course of Rushs twenty studio albums, some songs stand out as particularly important to the bands development. Join me on a chronological tour of the ten tracks that Ive noted as milestones in Rushs amazing career.
