When Geddy Lee described the typical Rush fan: “A lot of ugly boys”
When writing the 1975 album Caress of Steel, Rush knew they were breaking off from the past and moving into an area that suited them better. It was more distinctive and experimental than their earlier form, which was closely associated with the fundamentals of the hard rock genre. They were striking out on their own and moving in a direction that reflected a more distilled version of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart as musicians and people.
However, this artistic bravery was met with a level of intense hatred that most successful bands never encounter. The sonic sea change the trio enacted, which saw them dive headfirst into more unwavering prog, was panned by fans and critics and, resultingly, commercially flopped, proving a stark juxtaposition to the happiness they felt creating it. It was such a disaster that the group’s label, Mercury, even seriously considered dropping them.
However, in one of the greatest examples of stemming the tide in music history, Rush wasn’t taking no for an answer. Instead, they set about proving to everyone what they could do. Their next album, the following year’s 2112, is a masterpiece and was lauded by commentators. It saw them refine their prog sound, make it more expansive, and entirely do away with their old approach, which now paled in comparison to the new sonic odysseys through time and space. Featuring the extensive title track, the most protracted single effort by the band, the album became a cornerstone of the prog genre and re-energised Rush for one of their most fruitful creative chapters.
One of the highlights of this period is 1978’s Hemispheres, which stands out as one of the trio’s most refined prog compositions. The album’s highlight is undoubtedly the lengthy closing instrumental, ‘La Villa Strangiato’, which, in a clear display of the band’s intrinsic self-awareness, is aptly subtitled ‘An Excercise in Self-Indulgence’. Ironically, despite it being one of Rush’s definitive songs and arriving when they were nearing their peak, for the band, it symbolised what was wrong with their audience at the time; it was full of male nerds.
“That was a song where I would have to say our ideas exceeded our ability to play them,” Geddy Lee told The Guardian of the track in 2018. “We thought: ‘We’re going to write this long piece and then we’ll just record it live off the floor and boom!’ But it was really difficult. It was beyond us. I included it here because it surprised me how popular that song was among our fans. They just love it when we go into that crazy mode. Yes, it is an indulgence, but it seemed to be a pivotal moment for us in creating a fanbase that wanted us to be that way.”
Then, Lee turned his attention to the fact that Rush’s audience was mainly male. “There’s no getting around that,” the frontman said. “We would joke about it backstage. ‘See any girls in the front row?’ ‘No. Some attractive boys. A lot of ugly boys.’ When things started changing – and they did – we noticed: ‘There’s girls in the front row’. Or there’d be a sign in the back: ‘Mythbusters: Girls who love Rush.'” He added with a laugh. “But we were too old to take advantage of it by that point.”
Listen to ‘La Villa Strangiato’ below.
