BOOK: ‘Rush FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About Rock’s Greatest Power Trio’ by Max Mobley
Without hyperbole, it’s safe to say that Rush is to Canadian rock ‘n’ roll what Tim Hortons is to Canadian fast food, or what the NHL is to Canadian sports, or what Kids in the Hall or SCTV are to Canadian comedy — that is to say, they are the whole and literal embodiment of the genre, revered in Canada and ignored by most everyone else. Fun fact: “Closer to the Heart” is the unofficial Canadian national anthem. Reciting the lyrics to “Tom Sawyer” in your best Geddy Lee voice is the final part of any Canadian citizenship exam. On cold winter nights when the shinny games at the local rink have disbanded, Canadian kids sit in their basements and practice their air drum technique playing alongside Neil Peart to “YYZ.”
Okay, so I made that all up. But the fact is that Rush is kind of a big deal to most of Canada — you literally cannot listen to a rock radio station in this country without hearing a Rush song at least once an hour, even if it’s only because of CanCon requirements. They only achieved truly widespread, mainstream success in the US as little as five years ago, after their pivotal role in 2009’s I Love You, Man. Before that, they held dearly to their position as one of the best live acts in rock without being consistently in the charts or lauded by critics. (Quite on the contrary: Rush’s relationship with rock critics is historically and notoriously hate-hate.) Rush may very well be the least well-known band to ever be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and you have to wonder if they really don’t mind it that way.
Reading Max Mobley’s Rush FAQ was like taking a course in Rushology from a foreign university run by a a diehard fan using his blog as the primary text. And it’s totally appropriate given the slick but vaguely indie vibe the band still has after 40 years in the industry. There’s so much information — way more than any casual fan should need to know — crammed into a surprisingly slim 230-odd pages. But then there aren’t really casual Rush fans, are there?
Mobley takes great pains to separate the book into a series of chapters that deal with various separate aspects of Rush’s career, from their early days aping their rock and blues heroes in Toronto church basements to selling out huge stadiums across the United States, South America, and Europe. Unlike similar rock books, there’s not a lot of strict chronological fidelity preserved — this is not a Mark Lewisohn Beatles hagiography. Rather, Mobley has structured the book around what feel like thematic essays that roughly fit into the decades long arc of the band’s progression. But the book doesn’t suffer for it or feel too disjointed. It can be gobbled down in chunks and still retain its pull, whether you read it in order or jump around as the fancy strikes.
What might be lacking in terms of writing polish is made up for in sheer excitement for the subject matter that is clearly evident as you move through the book. Max Mobley is clearly both a fan of Rush and of prog rock in general. A detailed chapter about Rush’s embrace of the technology that enabled the synth-heavy 1970s prog scene illustrates this most clearly. It’s an excellent and detailed analysis of their sound evolution away from bass/guitar/drum sound, with the release of 1976’s game-changing 2112 on through A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres and beyond. The passion for Rush’s evolution is palpable, and is clearly put forward as the single greatest reason for the band’s continued success — an entire chapter is devoted solely to what Mobley calls Rush’s three breakout records. That a band should have more than one is remarkable, but Mobley makes his case that between 2112, 1981’s Moving Pictures, and 2007’s Snakes and Arrows, Rush was able to cross sonic boundaries, reaching far vaster audiences as a result, and that this is how they managed to hold such a deeply respected place in the rock band pantheon.
Rush is still the band that, almost through word of mouth alone — without FM radio airplay or any kind of promotion from a record company that had all but abandoned them — turned that first breakout record into an RIAA gold- and platinum-certified album that landed them on Billboard’s Top 100 chart and has since become one of the most influential albums in rock, prog, and heavy metal. The difference is that now, Rush has almost 40 years of accolades and an ever-expanding fan base to back up that early, astounding feat and all the hard work they put in to get there, to the chagrin of original fans who never understood how anyone could not like Rush to begin with, and those prog haters who never understood how you could like them at all.
As a primer on the band, you can’t really go wrong with Rush FAQ. It’s clearly the work of a diehard fan, and while it might veer off towards over-the-top reverential from time to time, it’s easy to let it slide. Max Mobley is so honest about his love for the band that it becomes endearing in the same way one might gush about a looked-up-to older sibling. Amusing, well-researched, heartfelt writing illustrate a story we’ve all heard before, many times, about dozens of other bands who have paid their dues and reached the top. The difference here is that this is a band so many people are only just now starting to listen to.
