The one Rush song that was too difficult for them to play: “We finally had to admit defeat”
On a technical level, very few bands can touch what Rush accomplished in their prime. Even by progressive rock standards, the Canadian trio was always about pushing the envelope regarding what they could achieve with their instruments. Although every member forced themselves to the brink with their playing, one song was too daunting for them to perform together.
There’s a joyful irony in imagining a band creating a song so good, so technically profound, that they themselves struggle to play it for their audience. And, if there was one band, and one set of fans, who would likely revel in the playful notion of handcuffing talent creating one of the most ironic songs of all time, then it would probably be Rush.
The group are known for their impressive proficiency with their instruments. Like Led Zeppelin before them, the trio operate as some of the greatest technicians on bass, guitar and drums as there has ever been. But things weren’t always that way.
As soon as Neil Peart joined their ranks, Rush’s repertoire became more intricate, with songs stretching out well beyond the traditional pop song structure. Since ‘2112’ bought them their freedom at their label, the next few years saw the band expand their horizons in other ways, with bassist/singer Geddy Lee bringing a synthesiser into the equation. While they may have tried to top themselves on every record, Rush hit a wall when writing Hemispheres.
Despite being a full-length album, the project only has four songs, one of which continues on the story that the band left on A Farewell to Kings. Although each of them managed to soldier through the first side of the record without any problems, the closing instrumental ‘La Villa Strangiato’ could never quite come together. With its runtime of nine minutes, they were determined to cut the track live.
When it came time to track the song, even producer Terry Brown mentioned how complicated the whole thing had become, telling Rush: Beyond the Light Stage, “It was so complicated and had so many different movements and time signature changes that it would have had to be charted out just to keep track of where you were at any given point”.
Lee recalled the whole thing taking a long time getting together before deciding to create the song in pieces, saying, “It took us 11 days to get the bed track only, and we finally had to admit defeat. We had to do it in three parts”. Despite not playing it perfectly in one take, the freedom of overdubbing gave them a chance to experiment, like Alex Lifeson playing an extended open solo that builds in intensity to the final rousing climax of the tune.
Alex Lifeson mentioned that the sessions were getting out of control, recalling, “It was quite manic, and our hours became later and later. It got to the point where we were going to bed at noon and waking up and seven in the morning”. Although the band might not have taken care of themselves, this song began to preview what was coming.
Given that no one liked working on the final recording, the focus of their next album, Permanent Waves, was to create more straightforward songs compared to what they had been doing. Although tracks like ‘The Spirit of Radio’ had their fair share of time signature changes, it was easier to refine their material into a pop package rather than make a tune meant to showcase their technique.
Their new outlook on recording steered Rush to even greater heights in the next decade, making songs like ‘Limelight’ massive hits without compromising their prog tendencies. ‘La Ville Strangiato’ might have been incredibly difficult to play and arrange, but they didn’t use the subtitle ‘An Exercise in Self-Indulgence’ by accident.
