Why Rush Never Released a Hit, According to Geddy Lee

O Rush established themselves as one of the most successful and respected bands in rock history. The trio formed by Geddy Lee (voice, bass and keyboards), Alex Lifeson (guitar) and the now deceased Neil Peart (drums) built a career spanning just over 40 years, selling more than 40 million records globally and performing a series of tours around the world.

It is not possible to say, however, that the Canadian group, notorious for mixing hard rock and progressive, managed to score a hit. Their albums received gold and platinum certifications, but their singles did not achieve the same notoriety.

According to Geddy Lee, there was reason for that. In an interview with CBC (via Far Out), the singer and multi-instrumentalist was very sincere when he used some adjectives for himself and his colleagues in this sense.

Initially, Lee he recalled how the group reacted internally when concluding a composition that could bear more fruit. He said:

“We used to joke about it. We’d look at one of the songs we’d just finished and say, ‘Hey, this could be a hit — if someone else had done it.’”

Then came the explanation about the lack of hits on the part of the Rush. Geddy commented:

“We’ve always been very quirky, very rhythmically ambitious, very melodramatic in our willingness to add a little showmanship or complexity. That’s not really conducive to hit singles.”

Geddy Lee’s best Rush songs

This, on the other hand, did not prevent the Rush to build an impressive catalogue. Many songs have strength even outside of their albums, when heard separately.

In a 2018 interview with The Guardianhimself Geddy Lee listed his 19 favorite Rush songs, as well as one from his solo career. He tried to do it justice by selecting tracks from various albums, rather than just focusing on a few works.

Classics of the size of “Tom Sawyer”, “YYZ” (in the Rush in Rio version), “2112”, “Xanadu”, “The Spirit of Radio”, “La Villa Strangiato” and “Working Man” (in the recording of the live work R40 Live), among others, share space with some not so famous tracks, such as “Animate”, “One Little Victory” and “Between the Wheels”.

See the full list:

• “Finding My Way”
• “2112”
• “Xanadu”
• “La Villa Strangiato (An Exercise in Self Indulgence)”
• “The Spirit Of Radio”
• “Tom Sawyer”
• “Subdivisions”
• “Between The Wheels”
• “The Big Money”
• “Mission”
• “The Pass”
• “Roll the Bones”
• “Cheer up”
• “One Little Victory”
• “YYZ”
• “Far cry”
• “Headlong Flight”
• “The Garden”
• “Working Man”

Bonus:

• “Grace to Grace”, solo track from the album “My Favorite Headache”