The 12 months 1976 was a make-or-break time for Rush. It discovered them with ambition to spare, a rising cult viewers, and a label that wasn’t certain what to do with them. It was time to drag collectively all of their disparate concepts into one main assertion and so they accomplish simply that with their fourth studio album, 2112.
This was the essential turning level for the band, the album that modified Rush from simply one other three-piece onerous rock band, and set them on the trail to higher glories. 2112 might be thought of many lofty issues – a band manifesto, a conceptual landmark, perhaps even the start of prog steel – however above all, it was the band’s play for inventive independence. Let’s take a basic off the shelf and take one other have a look at 2112 the way it got here to be.
Take heed to 2112 on Spotify and Apple Music.
What led as much as it?
A chief affect of 2112 was three years of fixed touring, which made the band sharp sufficient to hold out its grandest concepts. Each Rush album had been a departure: The primary was strong onerous rock, minus the mental streak, however with a few numbers (“Working Man,” “In the Mood”) that will keep within the setlist for retains. With Fly by Night time, drummer Neil Peart got here in and broadened their musical attain by including his personal lyrical ambitions, knowledgeable on the time by a love of sci-fi.
Ambition went by way of the roof on the third album, Caress of Metal, which was apparently impressed by seeing Sure on their Topographic Oceans tour and sported two epics, considered one of which coated Facet Two. A fan favourite looking back, it was a career-threatening flop on the time. So it left Rush with two selections: streamline all the pieces and get extra easy, or do one other epic and ensure they acquired it proper. Characteristically, they selected to do each on separate album sides, nevertheless it was the epic that actually acquired observed.
Recorded at Toronto Sound Studios, 2112 proved as accessible because it was bold. The side-long Caress monitor “Fountain of Lamneth” was sensible however dense, requiring a couple of listens to get your head round. However the “2112 Overture” costs proper out of the gate with an Alex Lifeson fanfare riff. It stays Rush’s longest studio monitor, clocking in at 20:34, however every part stands out by itself.
What influenced 2112?
Musically Rush was nonetheless enamored with prog rock – the band had found Genesis and King Crimson in addition to Sure – however didn’t put themselves in that class. Of their minds, they had been nonetheless a hard-rock band, with Jimi Hendrix and Cream roots. So it’s no marvel they had been additionally large followers of The Who, since Tommy and Quadrophenia each proved {that a} onerous rock band may write epic items. Lifeson informed Rolling Stone in 2016 that the Who-like moments in 2112, particularly the Pete Townshend-style strumming within the “Discovery” part, had been no accident.
Additionally notable is the Tchaikovsky quote within the closing “Overture” solo that results in a cannon blast (because it did in Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture”) which makes the opening lyrics, “And the meek shall inherit the earth,” all of the extra ironic. The album’s most important lyrical affect proved extra controversial. Drummer/lyricist Peart was an amazing admirer of the novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand (particularly her championing of the person, not a lot her right-leaning politics) and the lyric sheet carries a dedication to “the genius of Ayn Rand.”
What’s 2112 all about?
The title suite of Rush’s 2112 album is ready in a totalitarian society the place the evil monks of the Temples of Syrinx preserve everybody in line. Stability is threatened when a younger man finds a guitar, learns to make music on it, and believes the world wants to listen to of his nice discovery. After the monks of the temple destroy the guitar and ship him packing, he envisions a world the place music and creativity flourish. Realizing he’ll by no means see that world, he provides in to despair. The ending is left ambiguous: the singer could have dedicated suicide, however his wrestle could have led to a toppling of the empire. After an instrumental finale with a vicious Lifeson solo, the listener is left with an ominous announcement, “We have assumed control.” A brand new starting or a totalitarian clampdown? You determine.
The theme of the person in opposition to totalitarianism was proper out of the Ayn Rand playbook, however Rush customized the story by giving it a younger, idealistic hero – the identical form of misfit they’d salute within the later hit single “Subdivisions.”
Because the band defined within the accompanying booklet to an anniversary reissue, there was private relevance as properly. The concept of being rebuffed for enjoying music was particularly related to them since they had been liable to shedding their report deal. Lastly, the concept that a authorities would regulate inventive expression proved to be prophetic, for the reason that days of stickered albums and the PMRC had been only some years away.
What’s aspect two about?
The idea of Facet Two of 2112 was…its lack of an idea. With its lighter temper and shorter songs (all beneath 4 minutes, if simply barely) it virtually appears like a distinct band. Certainly, the primary two songs had been about probably the most down-to-earth subjects Rush ever addressed: particularly, smoking pot and watching TV. “A Passage to Bangkok” is one thing of a weed travelogue whereas “Twilight Zone” is about their love for that present.
Lifeson and Geddy Lee every take a uncommon flip writing lyrics, respectively on “Lessons” and “Tears,” each unusually light and reflective songs. With a Mellotron (performed by Rush cowl artist Hugh Syme) and a heat vocal, the latter sounds extra like a Black Sabbath ballad (see ‘Solitude” or “Changes”) than anything else by Rush. More characteristically, the closing “Something for Nothing” hints at a near future when Rush would cram an epic’s value of adjustments right into a concise piece. Of those 5 songs, solely “Bangkok” would get performed reside after the 70s, whereas “Lessons” and “Tears” had been by no means carried out in any respect. As a complete, Facet Two is a misplaced gem within the Rush catalog.
What was the response to 2112?
Of their native Canada, the album cemented Rush’s icon standing. They launched a triumphant area tour that was captured on the following album, All of the World’s A Stage, however in America they had been now only a greater cult band, nonetheless opening for the likes of KISS and Blue Oyster Cult. 2112 hit the Billboard Prime 200 albums chart and saved their profession, however the days of platinum albums and US area sellouts had been but to return. Even in its looser days, American FM radio wasn’t certain what to do with Rush, so it normally did nothing. Not till the following studio album, A Farewell to Kings, was there a monitor, “Closer to the Heart,” that it may get behind.
What’s its significance?
For a lot of followers, 2112 is the one the place they acquired on board. And whereas future albums, particularly Everlasting Waves and Transferring Photos, offered higher and acquired extra airplay, 2112 was the one which made three many years of additional experiments potential. Rush by no means performed a present with out together with a few of it, normally the “Overture/Temples of Syrinx” part through the show-closing medley. Followers additionally rejoiced when your entire suite was performed reside within the 1996 Take a look at for Echo tour – the one time the band performed it by way of with out omitting one of many quieter sections.
Well-known followers additionally took the album to coronary heart. The 2112 anniversary field set boasted cowl variations by fashionable heroes of prog (Steven Wilson), post-grunge (Alice in Chains), and stadium rock (Foo Fighters) that confirmed simply how far their affect went. Simply as notably, Syme’s cowl artwork established a key piece of Rush iconography: the “Starman” emblem. That includes a unadorned determine staring down the image of energy, it represented the person taking management. It’s their most important Ayn Rand takeaway and a key a part of what Rush was all about.
What path did Rush’s music go in after 2112?
Musically, the band was simply getting began. The following two studio albums, A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres, had been much more bold, with Geddy Lee now including keyboards. The following large piece, “Cygnus XI,” was so epic that it spilled over onto each albums. That’s when Rush determined that lengthy idea items had been a lifeless finish, and claimed the appropriate to soak up no matter new music struck their curiosity. The following three many years can be a wild trip, however the Pink Barchetta was revved up and able to go.
2112 might be purchased right here.
