Rush

Can’t you find someone else to make fun of? Is there not someone more deserving of your scorn and ridicule? Don’t you know a couple dudes with a higher voice than Geddy Lee?

OK, so you don’t.

Next year marks Rush’s 30-year anniversary. Yes, you’re that old. As is Rush. But the dinosaur-rock shtick suits these dainty dudes just fine. Since our Canadian brothers launched a musical style that almost immediately parodied itself (masturbatory song structures, Tolkien-worthy lyrics, absurd Neil Peart drum solos, Geddy Lee’s howler-monkey yelp), the Rush-haters of the world got to denounce ’em as has-beens before they ever even were.

This left, and still leaves, Rush junkies to thrill in the undeniable virtuosity these turkeys have dished up, from 2112 all the way up to this year’s Vapor Trails. A little hardass metal hoo-hah muddles the proceedings, but there’s still plenty of post-graduate rockin’ to chow down on, if you’re partial. It’s no Permanent Waves, sure, but the most polarizing rock band in history (go ahead, argue that) can still push you to either pole with alarming efficiency. Go if you must. Just don’t bring a date.

This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2002.