Rush: A New Live Album

Circus, September 13, 1976, transcribed by pwrwindows

Rush, in a career move that parallels the one recently parlayed into a platinum album by their good pals Kiss, have just recorded a live album. They hope this disc will bring their vast underground concert audience into the record shops, and give the band their first hit record in five tries.

"We're at the point now where we have four albums out," explains drummer Neil Peart, "so we've covered a lot of material. This will represent the end of phase one, more or less an anthology of the high points of the first four albums.

"Another big advantage to doing a live album at this point is that it gives us a little breathing space creatively, because it's really hard to come up with something that is satisfying in that short length of time," he added. "This gives us a full year between studio albums to get our brains cleaned up and get some new ideas generated."

Rush recorded three sold-out concerts at Massey Hall, in their hometown, Toronto. The full houses were particularly satisfying to the band, because Rush grew up in the Toronto bar circuit.

"Yes, it was six years of playing all the bars here 972,000 times," guitarist Alex Lifeson recalls.

"Each of us played every bar and every high school for a thousand miles from here," adds drummer Peart.

Rush estimates that probably 95% of the Massey crowds were recent converts to the band's adrenal heavy metal. Most of Rush's following have been recruited just within the last year, so they have only recently done their first headlining tour - only west of the Mississippi, though, do they top the bill. "Now we're at the point where we're headlining in the mid-west, the northwest, and the southwest," says Peart, "while we open three-act shows, sometimes, in the east. It's absurd."

The main reason for their east coast anonymity, the band is sure, is the lack of airplay they've had there. But in the midwest, where the FM stations have looser formats, the band has received an enormous amount of airplay, pushing them right to the edge of stardom in that area of the country.

Rush will choose material for their live LP from selections from their four studio albums, Rush, Fly By Night, Caress of Steel, and 2112. A thirty minute version of "2112" was recorded, along with "Something For Nothing" from the same record. Some other tracks recorded were "Bastille Day," "Lakeside Park," "Panacea," "In The End," "Working Man," and "Finding My Way."