Rush- Metal or not?

[Eel Yddeg]

Since this has been discussed in the "Top 100 Metal Albums"

 

Would you say Rush is a metal band, or not?

 

Personally, I wouldn't. Their sound is more hard rock with prog elements to me. They lost all heaviness once Signals rolled around.

 

However, some songs, IMO, are metal.

The following are songs I would consider to be metal.

Working Man

By-Tor and the Snow Dog (7/4 War Furor)

2112 Grand Finale

Cygnus X-1 (Part III)

Natural Science (Part II, Different Stages version)

BU2B

One Little Victory (Particularly the intro)

 

Post thoughts below. If they're not metal, feel free to post songs you'd say are.

[treeduck]

Yes you can rest easy in your beds tonight RUSH fanatics, RUSH are indeed METAL!! :haz: :haz: :haz:

 

Now why didn't i start a thread like this? :smoke:

[Union 5-3992]

Yes you can rest easy in your beds tonight RUSH fanatics, RUSH are indeed METAL!! :haz: :haz: :haz:

 

Now why didn't i start a thread like this? :smoke:

You did...

[prolix]

Depends on the song.

[Day of Light]

Not metal.

 

FIGHT ME

[Ancient Ways]

Definitely not metal. Even they will tell you that. I read some of that top 100 metal thread and there is a lot of not metal in there.

[EagleMoon]

No, not at all.

[J2112YYZ]

They've dabbled in it a few times and are no doubt influential to those in the genre. Overall, they're not though.

[treeduck]

Definitely not metal. Even they will tell you that. I read some of that top 100 metal thread and there is a lot of not metal in there.

You know why they call Bubbles "Bubbles"? Because he doesn't stop choking until he sees bubbles coming out of their mouth!

[treeduck]

Yes you can rest easy in your beds tonight RUSH fanatics, RUSH are indeed METAL!! :haz: :haz: :haz:

 

Now why didn't i start a thread like this? :smoke:

You did...

[Geddy's Soul Patch]

At times they were metal

[Segue Myles]

I think they could be as metal to the seventies standard of metal as Rainbow, Dio, UFO, Sabbath and others.

 

And their influence on metal in indisputable. And they are HEAVY onstage.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Segue Myles

[J2112YYZ]

I think they could be as metal to the seventies standard of metal as Rainbow, Dio, UFO, Sabbath and others.

 

And their influence on metal in indisputable. And they are HEAVY onstage.

 

Dio didn't release his first solo album until 1983.

[rocket ignites]

Bastille Day - yes

 

Tia Shan - no

[Lucas]

There was a period of time when I first discovered Rush that they were "heavy metal", and I do not think that was simply my perception due to my age ..

 

By the mid-late 70s, heavy metal was becoming at part of the culture of working and middle class kids, and, speaking for myself, I felt completed alienated and separate from what life seemed to be all about - this conveyor belt of conformity and "do as I say, not as I do"

 

Rush captured the perfect balance of heavy riffs, escapist and non-conformist lyrics and screaming vocals and guitar, and they did it while looking and sounding and coming across like no other band - they were geeks, Geddy and Alex were playing with androgyny, Neil was an intellect - but not like one of the school teachers - they were a band of odd balls that I loved and could relate to ...

 

"Heavy Metal" might have a different definition for different people .. just like "punk" ... it is ( was ) much more than just the sound - it also included an unspoken bond between the fans and the bands

 

I didn't see them live until 1980, and that was as much a metal show as when I saw Maiden two years later - it is a vibe that is not exclusive to the music

[Segue Myles]

I think they could be as metal to the seventies standard of metal as Rainbow, Dio, UFO, Sabbath and others.

 

And their influence on metal in indisputable. And they are HEAVY onstage.

 

Dio didn't release his first solo album until 1983.

 

Oh well. He still had enough work in the seventies to back me up.

[Segue Myles]

There was a period of time when I first discovered Rush that they were "heavy metal", and I do not think that was simply my perception due to my age ..

 

By the mid-late 70s, heavy metal was becoming at part of the culture of working and middle class kids, and, speaking for myself, I felt completed alienated and separate from what life seemed to be all about - this conveyor belt of conformity and "do as I say, not as I do"

 

Rush captured the perfect balance of heavy riffs, escapist and non-conformist lyrics and screaming vocals and guitar, and they did it while looking and sounding and coming across like no other band - they were geeks, Geddy and Alex were playing with androgyny, Neil was an intellect - but not like one of the school teachers - they were a band of odd balls that I loved and could relate to ...

 

"Heavy Metal" might have a different definition for different people .. just like "punk" ... it is ( was ) much more than just the sound - it also included an unspoken bond between the fans and the bands

 

I didn't see them live until 1980, and that was as much a metal show as when I saw Maiden two years later - it is a vibe that is not exclusive to the music

 

Even though I was not there this is exactly how I feel and imagine seventies Rush to have come across as at that time.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

The heaviest 70s Rush is metal enough to be considered proto-metal, particularly 2112 and the final part of Cygnus X-1. Modern Rush is also close enough to metal for a comparison to be made. However, the majority of Rush's catalogue I would not consider metal.

[jamie]

definitely some of their songs. some albums could probably be fit into different metal sub genres but not all of them.

[JohnnyBlaze]

Not metal.

 

FIGHT ME

 

I'd fight you like I would a puppy who's stealing one of my socks.

[Digital Dad]

This raises the question: When does "Metal" become "Metal"?

[JohnnyBlaze]

This raises the question: When does "Metal" become "Metal"?

If "metal" can't be defined and agreed upon, then a discussion of whether Rush is metal or not can't be had.

 

Frankly, I've never understood the point of labeling music this or that...especially when you've ((not specifically "you" DD)) already been listening to it and have been enjoying it for YEARS. It's metal. It's not metal. When you heard a particular piece of music for the first time, did you feel the need to label it something? I hope not. You likely just thought it was good or not. And that's all that really matters.

 

Over analysis of music (especially of this nature) is NOT metal.

[Fordgalaxy]

If someone heard Iron Maiden's "Killers", went into a coma, and then woke up and heard shit like Lamb of God or Meshuggah and was told that was metal, they'd think someone had lost their marbles.

 

Moral of the story, stuff changes and there isn't really a great definition of what metal is.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Fordgalaxy

[Digital Dad]

Ffwd to 4:00 for the ultimate debate on what Heavy Metal" actually means...

 

Edited April 3, 2016 by Digital Dad

[Lucas]

I feel that once a label has been attached, and certain stipulations have been established, then it's pretty much dead ..

 

What I mean is that the artists that create the revolution do so because it is natural for them, and it is part of their creative process .. Rush was a band that was blazing the trail ..

 

Once that has been established, bands that are trailblazers to begin with usually move on and morph into something different - whether they retain what the fans like is an entirely different issue

 

For example, the early metal bands did not use double bass drums because it was an established cliché ( as it is now ) ... This is not to say bands can't use double bass anymore, but it has become such a required and cliché element, that, taken away from a lot of newer bands, what you would have left would be very unmetal ..

 

You strip the check-listed items from some bands, and you have nothing ... a true metal band - like a true punk band - can exist without the hackneyed and expected elements ..