Biographies

"Rock and roll-in's a scream, makin' millions my dream, well, I do that a lot"

  • "In the Beginning...The Story of the Discovery of Rush", by Donna Halper

  • "Rush", Official Mercury Records Biography, 1975

    "A Condensed Rush Primer"
    By Neil Peart, 1977

    Written for the A Farewell To Kings Tourbook.

    RUSH
    By Brian Harrigan
    Omnibus Press, 1982
    80 pages, color & b/w photos
    ISBN 0.86001.934.9
    out of print

    "Rush, the Canadian heavy metal megastars. This is their complete story - from early days in the suburbs of Toronto to their present envied position as the number one hard rock band on earth. Brian Harrigan writes for Melody Maker and was previously press officer for Rush in the UK."

    Sounds, Fan Library #6
    By Steve Gett
    Spotlight Publications Ltd, January 1983
    48 pages, color and b/w photos
    out of print

    A special collectors magazine packed with photos, interviews and biographical information. An expanded version of the text would reappear a year later in Steve Gett's book, Success Under Pressure (see entry below).
  • "From Brainwaves to Tidal Waves: The Story Behind Rush's Album Covers", by Jeffrey Morgan
    Creem - Close Up, Metal Music Special Issue, Spring 1983

  • "Thrice Told Tales", by Neil Peart
    Backstage Club Newsletter, December 1983; reprinted in Rush: Complete Vol. 1 & 2

    Success Under Pressure
    By Steve Gett
    Cherry Lane Books, 1984
    48 pages, b/w photos
    ISBN 0.89524.230.3
    out of print (buy used)

    Visions - The Official Biography
    By Bill Banasiewicz
    Omnibus Press, 1988
    96 pages, color & b/w photos
    ISBN 0.7119.1162.2
    out of print (buy used)

    "Chronicles" Linernotes Essay
    By John Swenson
    September 4, 1990

    The biographical retrospective of the band written for the Chronicles compilation.

    "It's A Rap"
    April 1992

    A three part interview (one per member of Rush) which is biographical in nature and overdubbed on the song "Roll the Bones". Released on three special edition UK singles in support of the Roll the Bones tour.
  • "Retrospective, In a Rush", by Douglas J. Noble
    The Guitar Magazine (UK publication), Vol. 2, No. 2, May 1992
    Biographical interview with Alex Lifeson

    Rush: The Comic Book
    Written by Jay Allen Sanford
    Art by Terry Pallot
    US version (white cover) published by Rock & Roll comics, issue #49, July 1992
    Canada version (gray cover) published by Revolutionary as Canadian Rock & Roll Special #1, July 1994

    "The Canadian power trio Rush is profiled in a comic which details the formation of the band and their rise to platinum superstars. Meticulously researched, this comic provides a rare inner view of the makining of classic albums like Fly By Night, 2112, Permanent Waves and others. Art by Terry Pallot (Adventures Of Superman), cover by Scott Jackson (Heavy Metal Monsters)."

    Rock & Roll Comics later included Rush as part of their "Sci-Fi Space Age Rockers" anthology, issue #65, with one page taken from the Rush comic (issue #49), concerning the making of 2112.
  • "A Port Boy's Story", by Neil Peart
    St. Catharines Standard, June 24 & 25, 1994
    Neil writes about his childhood (much of the context of article is revisited in his book Traveling Music)

  • "Rush"
    Current Biography Magazine, Volume 62, Number 2, February 2001, page 52

  • "60 Minutes: Geddy Lee of Rush"
    Guitar World Magazine, January 2004

    "Spotlight On Rush"
    Billboard Magazine, Volume 116, Number 20, May 15, 2004, pages 37-58

    With 21 pages dedicated to Rush, this issue of Billboard includes four articles and assorted photos, data and tributes to commemorate the band's 30th Anniversary.


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    Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years of Rush at Home & Away
    By Martin Popoff
    ECW Press, June 28, 2004
    230 pages, full color, 270 photos throughout
    ISBN 1.55022.678.9

    "Contents Under Pressure celebrates the 30th anniversary of Canada's beloved Rush, the hard-hitting, progressive rock band known for such classics as "Working Man," "Closer to the Heart," "The Spirit of Radio," "Tom Sawyer," "New World Man," "Roll the Bones" and "Ghost Rider." In original interviews with Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart, author Martin Popoff considers each of Rush's albums and tours. He elicits fresh insights on the writing and recording process, as well as musings on the grinds and glories of touring. Along the way, Popoff examines, with the band, nearly every song in the band's vast catalogue. This book also features 270 photos by official band photographer Andrew MacNaughtan and others - candid, rare, and of utmost quality, they help make Contents Under Pressure an essential piece of Rush history."


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    Chemistry
    By Jon Collins
    Helter Skelter Books, January 15, 2006
    272 pages, b/w photos
    ISBN 1900924854

    "Against a background of disinterest from the media and a refusal to compromise their music, Rush’s success was by no means guaranteed. Since the beginning, only the determined efforts and downright stamina of the band members and those around them were sufficient to counter the wall of silence. Sharing a single-minded determination to take on the system and win, Geddy, Alex and Neil have never rested on their laurels. Pushing themselves to achieve technical excellence, never avoiding the challenge of taking on new musical influences, through huge changes of fashion and major personal tragedy, the entity we know as Rush has endured. Thirty years on, the band is still creating new music and packing arenas and stadiums around the globe. Meticulously researched over three years, Chemistry draws on over 50 new interviews with those closest to the band. As the most detailed biography of Rush ever written, this book pulls together the threads and investigates the reasons that have enabled this band to succeed against the odds."
  • "60 Minutes: Alex Lifeson of Rush"
    Guitar World Magazine, July 2006

    Lyrical Analysis, Etcetera

    Mystic Rhythms: The Philosophical Vision of Rush
    By Carol Selby Price, Robert M. Price
    Published in 1997
    ISBN 0809508001

    "Carol Selby Price & Robert M. Price have selected for discussion many of the best-known songs of Rush, organizing them into seven chapters based around general themes. The pieces lend themselves to such treatment quite naturally, since there is a consistent development in Rush from the very beginning of the group to modern times. Rush's lyrics are complex, and the ideas in them not always easily understood. Mustic Rhythms will provide the key to these lyrical puzzles, provoking as much thought as the songs themselves."

    Mereley Players
    By Robert Telleria
    Quarry Music Books, 2001

    A Simple Kind Mirror : The Lyrical Vision of Rush
    By Len Roberto, Jr.
    Published by Len Roberto, Jr., June 2000, Second edition published by Writers Club Press, January 2002
    80 pages
    ISBN#: 0-595-21362-6

    "In the world of popular music, the Canadian trio RUSH occupies a unique yet often overlooked niche. For more than 25 years, Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart have produced over 20 albums and have sold over 30 million copies worldwide. This work explores the band's vision lyrically and musically from 1980's Permanent Waves to 1996's Test for Echo. It is a fan's exploration only and does not attempt to be the definitive explanation of the band's vision. It will appeal to the core fan base of the band as well as the Rush newbie."
  • By Durrell Bowman:


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    Rhythm And Light
    By Carrie Nuttall
    Rounder Books, Janurary 2005
    80 pages
    ISBN: 1-57940-093-0

    "This photo book features intimate portraits of legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart at work in a Toronto recording studio, as captured by photographer Carrie Nuttall. A must have for Rush’s extensive fan base, as well as enthusiasts of both drumming and photography. Carrie Nuttall is a professional photographer who has worked extensively in both the music and fashion industries. She lives in Los Angeles, CA." - RounderBooks.com

    Music In Review 1974-1981
    Music Reviews LTD, Janurary 10, 2005
    2DVDs plus book

    An unofficial release, this product claims to be the "ultimate critical review" of Rush. The UK company behind this project has previously released similar packages featuring other bands, which led many UK Rush fans to be skeptical from the start. The commentary on the DVD's is provided by various radio DJ's and/or music critics who are filmed on camera as they provide their 'opinion' of Rush's work, and the content flows in a biographical nature. The criticism is mixed, although for the most part the reviews are mostly good. However, for fans with more than a basic knowledge of Rush, erroneous comments such as Peart having a degree in percussion, that Red Barchetta is semi-autobiographical about Neil and his uncle[!], or the simple yet inexcusable mispronunciation of "Peart" throughout, become very tiresome.
  • Open Secrets: Individualism and Middle-Class Identity in the Songs of Rush by Chris McDonald, published in Popular Music & Society, July 2008, Vol. 31 Issue 3 Abstract:
    "This article examines how the songs of the progressive rock group Rush can be understood as a manifestation of North American middle-class identity, and considers how individualism and escapism play integral roles in the formation of a largely male, middle-class, suburban world view. The article contextualizes and critiques the individualistic nature of middle-class identity, as it is presented by Rush in songs such as 'Subdivisions' and 'Tom Sawyer.'"


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    Rush, Rock Music, and the Middle Class: Dreaming in Middletown
    By Chris McDonald
    Indiana University Press, October 28, 2009
    272 pages
    ISBN 0253221498

    "Canadian progressive rock band Rush was the voice of the suburban middle class. In this book, Chris McDonald assesses the band's impact on popular music and its legacy for legions of fans. McDonald explores the ways in which Rush's critique of suburban life -- and its strategies for escape -- reflected middle-class aspirations and anxieties, while its performances manifested the dialectic in prog rock between discipline and austerity, and the desire for spectacle and excess. The band's reception reflected the internal struggles of the middle class over cultural status. Critics cavalierly dismissed, or apologetically praised, Rush's music for its middlebrow leanings. McDonald's wide-ranging musical and cultural analysis sheds light on one of the most successful and enduring rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s."