The Rush album Geddy Lee said wasn’t a “very smart” decision
Every great band throughout musical history has been driven by a never-ending quest for innovation. Any artist worth their salt is not content with simply staying in one area, preferring to experiment and explore new artistic avenues. While these flurries with futurism are often the cause of some incredible music, it does not always work out that way. For progressive rock giants Rush, straying from their distinctive early sound caused the band to lose favour with a significant portion of their dedicated audience.
From their initial formation in 1968, the Canadian rock outfit were never content to adhere to trends. During these early years, Rush were disciples of the blossoming psychedelic movement, worshipping artists like Cream or Jimi Hendrix, but as the group progressed, frontman Geddy Lee pushed Rush in a much more experimental direction. Progressive rock was, in many ways, the natural descendent of psychedelic rock, but it was more noted for its incredibly intricate compositions and often needlessly complex themes.
Within the sphere of progressive rock, few groups triumphed over Rush. After recruiting drummer Neil Peart in 1974, everything seemed to fall into place for the band, and they succeeded in creating some of the most popular and well-respected tunes of the 1970s. At that point, Rush could have easily nailed themselves to that recognisable sound and resigned themselves to a deluge of ‘greatest hits’ albums and repetitive arena tours.
Instead, Lee and the group decided to adapt their sound to the changing tides of rock music, incorporating new technologies and influences as their discography progressed. Of course, this innovation is highly commendable, but the band themselves are not best pleased with the results, in hindsight. While speaking to The Los Angeles Times back in 2023, Geddy Lee reflected upon the celebrated discography of Rush, expressing a certain degree of regret over their 1982 album Signals.
Signals marked a departure from the early sound of Rush, incorporating the newfound influence of synthesisers and electronica. “It probably wasn’t smart,” Lee recalled, “but it was like a fatal attraction. I was entranced when Hugh Syme played a little ARP synthesiser in the opening of 2112. I needed to see if it was a way to bring more music to our music.”
Seemingly, Lee was not the only one who had mixed feelings towards the synth era of Rush, but, as he explains, “We were all hungry for new ideas, although Alex was giving me odd glances. His guitar was the one form of instrumental melody, and now we had another. At one point, we even talked about adding a fourth member to play keyboards.” The frontman went on to reveal that “Signals lost us some fans”.
Eventually, Rush decided to abandon the sound that they had created on Signals in favour of the progressive rock classics we all know and love. “We went down that road until we got to a point where Alex was exceedingly unhappy, and we were drowning in technology,” he remembered, “And God, did I want to stop doing three jobs at once and just play my axe, man.”
