![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Alex-Lifeson-Rush-Guitarist-Far-Out-Magazine-F-1140x855.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
(Credits: Far Out \/ Shipguy)<\/p>\n
Thu 22 May 2025 12:00, UK <\/p>\n
The story of Canadian progressive rock trio Rush<\/a> chronicles an inverse trajectory of classic rock\u2019s supposed narrative. Burnished by a love of Yes and Genesis, Rush\u2019s classic line-up was cemented for 1975\u2019s Fly by Night with the addition of drummer and principal songwriter Neil Peart and dared to hit the ground running just as their beloved prog was lapsing into stuffy parody.<\/p>\n Soldiering on as if punk never happened, Rush would end the decade as one of the era\u2019s biggest stadium sellers. It\u2019s the 1980s that yielded Rush\u2019s commercial peak. Pushing chunky synthesisers to the fore with the Oberheim OB-X and Moog Taurus bass pedals, the tighter compositions and new wave veneer brought the trio to the peaks of the MTV era and occupied a wholly niche intersection between synthpop affection and prized patch on a metalhead\u2019s sleeveless denim.<\/p>\n Such a creative eclecticism was encouraged in no small part by a band that, ultimately, all roads lead to when charting swathes of bands\u2019 foundational influences. When boiling down the key artist who paved the way for Rush and popular music in general, guitarist Alex Lifeson had to credit the little Merseybeat group The Beatles with setting the perennial example across rock, pop and beyond. \u201c\u2026I start breaking it down into terms of structure and tone and the kinds of sounds they got, and George Martin<\/a>\u2018s incredible production,\u201d he told Ken Dashow on WAXQ\u2019s Q104.3. \u201cThroughout their history, they are undeniably the most remarkable musical unit in the history of music in our world\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to disagree. The Beatles\u2019 legacy has suffered from a suffocating rock heritage platitudes of \u201cgreatest band ever\u201d tags, which quite rightly rub newer generations of music fans up the wrong way and encourage rejection. The fact is, The Beatles are an infinitely more fallible and interesting band than immortal Boomer fawning would indicate otherwise.<\/p>\n Every step of the way, The Beatles were striving for something new. Even before their very first \u2018Love Me Do\u2019 single, the band resisted the EMI professional Martin\u2019s push to record Mitch Murray\u2019s \u2018How Do You Do It\u2019 in favour of their own material, helping to usher in the era of the internal pop songwriter over merely covering established numbers. Over time, the rock \u2018n\u2019 roll and R&B renditions that smatter their early output would fade to make way for John Lennon and Paul McCartney\u2019s confident and dynamic songcraft, with brief but vital assistance from lead guitarist George Harrison.<\/p>\n