Rush

Rush is the first studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1974 (see 1974 in music) and remastered in 1997. Rush’s first release shows much of the hard rock/blues sound typical of many of the popular rock bands emerging from Britain earlier in the decade. Rush were fans of bands such as Led Zeppelin and Cream and these influences can be heard in most of the songs on this debut. Original drummer John Rutsey was unable to go on extended tours due to diabetes and left the band after the first album was released. Rutsey wrote some lyrics for the debut, but never submitted them to the band and some new lyrics had to be thrown together. He was soon replaced by Neil Peart.

Recording and production
Due to a limited budget, the sessions were scheduled during the late night ‘dead’ time in studios which, due to lack of activity at those times, had lower rates. Originally the sessions were produced by Dave Stock at Eastern Sound in Toronto. Stock had also worked on the band’s debut single (a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” with an original composition “You Can’t Fight It” on the B-side). These songs (plus original songs “Fancy Dancer” and “Garden Road”) were to be included on the album but were scrapped. Two of the Eastern Sound recordings, “In the Mood” and “Take a Friend” were included on the final album.