‘La Villa Strangiato’: The song Geddy Lee calls “a pivotal moment” for Rush
Despite being one of the most influential bands of all time and a cornerstone of the prog-rock genre, Rush had an unconventional career. This seems appropriate given their distinctive music and the fact that they had a somewhat irregular configuration, with late drummer Neil Peart being their primary lyricist, something frontman Geddy Lee was more than happy to oblige.
After breaking out in 1974 with their eponymous debut album, which leaned heavily into blues rock, the Canadian trio would move into an increasingly prog-influenced area. This resulted in the critical and commercial disaster of 1975’s Caress of Steel. Although the record was a complete misfire at the time, it would prove significant as it saw the band begin to map out the blueprint for what would become their celebrated style.
Reacting to the negativity surrounding the album, its follow-up, the much-lauded 2112, proved to be a masterstroke and is now regarded as one of the group’s finest. It kicked off one of the most fruitful periods for Rush, artistically and commercially, which saw them cement their place as one of the most successful of all time.
Even though they were successful during this period and continued to refine their craft, some moments invited critiques. One of the most prominent is the nine-minute instrumental ‘La Villa Strangiato’ from 1978’s Hemispheres. The band’s first song not to feature vocals, it is also one of their most prog-heavy efforts, and in a show of self-awareness by Rush, it is subtitled, ‘An Exercise in Self-Indulgence’.
Despite the overindulgent nature of ‘La Villa Strangiato’, when listing some of Rush’s best songs for The Guardian in 2018, Geddy Lee described it as “a pivotal moment” for the band in establishing their dedicated, almost cult-like fanbase. “That was a song where I would have to say our ideas exceeded our ability to play them,” he said.
The Rush frontman continued: “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.”
In another display of self-awareness, Lee commented on how Rush’s unabashed prog style made their fanbase very male-heavy. “There’s no getting around that,” he reflected. “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.'”
The bespectacled bassist jokingly added. “But we were too old to take advantage of it by that point.”
