What I discovered, listening to the album Rush, the first album from the band Rush, is that, other than Working Man, I’m almost completely unfamiliar with this album.

That is, I’ve heard all of the songs, of course, but they don’t really form part of my mental list of Rush songs. I listen to them, and know that they’re Rush, but they don’t sound like Rush, and when they’re over, I don’t really think of them as Rush songs.

And of course that’s often the case of a first record from a long-lived band – like the first episode of a TV series, they’re still trying to figure out who they are, and who they want to be. You can see a glimpse here and there of who they might become later, but they’re not there yet. You might say they were … finding their way, but it still needs some love.

I know that folks get yelled at for saying it on Reddit, but I really think of this debut album as an entirely different band. Which is, I suppose, just another way of saying that Rush without Neil (both before and after) isn’t *real* Rush.

On the other hand, it’s clear that some people really love it – especially folks who were fans earlier than I was. And, as always, my opinion is just an opinion. Like what you like, friend.