Rush

Instead of playing it safe and writing Moving Pictures, Pt. II, Rush replaced their heavy rock of yesteryear with even more modern sounds for 1982's Signals. Synthesizers were now an integral part of the band's sound, and replaced electric guitars as the driving force for almost all the tracks…

By 1993, alternative rock had arrived in a big way, and surprisingly, Canadian veterans Rush were game, releasing their most honest and organic rock & roll record in over a decade with Counterparts. Opener "Animate" is straightforward enough, but doesn't even hint at the guitar ferocity and lyrical angst of "Stick it Out," a song which undoubtedly polarizes Rush fans to this day. Intellectual melodic rockers like "Cut to the Chase," "At the Speed of Love," and "Everyday Glory" are also present (and less shocking), but diversity continues to rule the day with Geddy Lee's bass taking charge on the amazingly somber "Double Agent" and the giddy instrumental "Leave That Thing Alone." Pure hard rock resurfaces on "Cold Fire," but it is the largely acoustic "Nobody's Hero" which provides the album's most gripping moment with an impassioned plea for HIV consciousness and understanding.

Since Neil Peart joined the band in time for 1975's Fly by Night, Rush had been experimenting and growing musically with each successive release. By 1980's Permanent Waves, the modern sounds of new wave (the Police, Peter Gabriel, etc.) began to creep into Rush's sound, but the trio still kept their hard rock roots intact. The new approach paid off – two of their most popular songs, the "make a difference" anthem "Freewill," and a tribute to the Toronto radio station CFNY, "The Spirit of Radio" (the latter a U.K. Top 15 hit), are spectacular highlights. Also included were two "epics," the stormy "Jacob's Ladder" and the album-closing "Natural Science," which contains a middle section that contains elements of reggae.

Now the reigning king of the blues at the age of 89 – after a lifetime of working the fringes, he won two Grammys for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2017 and 2021 – Bobby Rush settles into a comfortable groove on All My Love for You. The title, like Rawer Than Raw before it, offers an indication of what lies within. This 2023 set doesn't aspire to be as, well, raw as its predecessor. This is a bright, largely cheerful affair, filled with punchy rhythms, tart horns, and clean licks. Dialing back his signature raunch a notch, Rush sings with an audible grin throughout the record, and that amiable nature means that the album's title seems plausible: he really is giving the listeners nothing but good vibes.

Bobby Rush pays homage to the great bluesmen from Mississippi on his 27th studio album 'Rawer Than Raw'. This is Bobby Rush, stripped down–just his guitar, harmonica, singing, and foot tapping. There's a song from Skip James, Robert Johnson, Sonny Boy Williamson, Willie Dixon, and Howlin' Wolf. One song is Public Domain originally recorded for the Library of Congress by Alan Lomax, but later made famous by Muddy Waters (Honey Bee, Sail On).

Recorded and filmed over two (sold-out, of course) evenings at Toronto's Air Canada Centre in the midst of the band's 35-date North American R40 tour, the aptly named R40 Live finds Rush at a crossroads. On the one hand, it's a festive affair that sees the stalwart trio performing a lethal mix of classics, deep cuts, and recent triumphs with the gusto of men many years younger, but that carnival atmosphere is tempered by the fact that after 41 years, the band may be finally exiting stage left. Neil Peart's chronic tendonitis may be the biggest contributing factor to the band's retirement from the road, but one would be hard-pressed to find any flaws in his performance. In fact, R40 Live may be the band's most dynamic live LP to date.

This Canadian rock group started around 1970, simply known as Mahogany Rush. Frank Marino was added to the title later. Marino served as the lead singer, guitarist, and percussionist. Other members were bass guitarist Paul Harwood and drummer Jimmy Ayoub. In the early '80s, rhythm guitarist Vince Marino, Frank's brother, was added to the lineup. A couple of years after that, Ayoub walked, and drummer Tim Biery stepped in to replace him. Mahogany Rush released its debut album in 1973. It was the first of more than a dozen full-length recordings the group completed over the next two-plus decades.

This is a riot! Rather than put out some windy and dreary box set to celebrate their 30th anniversary, Canada's seminal power prog band and one of big rock's most enduring units turns the tables and lays out hot and heavy covers of eight classics from the annals of rock & roll history. The track list is amazing, and the cool thing is that the arrangements of these nuggets are not all ripped up and mutated, either. "Summertime Blues" may begin as a nod to Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady," but it comes roaring back as an acknowledged homage to the Who's Live at Leeds version.