How much of Rush can be considereed heavy metal?

Bathoryswans

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Oct 3, 2013
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There often seems to be a lot of debate whether or not Rush should be on the Metal archives. For me there's no doubt they should be their early albums like 2112 are very much what was considered metal back then. Hell at the risk of being flamed 2112 is more metal than Iron Maidens albums tbh. That said they did soften their sound and stray away from metal but what I'm wondering is is it correct to call Rush a heavy metal band?
 
A lot of the "they're not metal" has to do with guitar tone. If they had Frederick Nordstrom record their stuff, it would be no contest.

Working man has a pretty heavy guitar tone very similar to early Sabbath and Budgie. 2112 has got to be one of the most intense offerings of its time.
 
It gets really hard (& pointless) to draw that line between "hard rock" and "heavy metal"... Quick check of Metal Archives shows Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Budgie & Rush on there, but no Zeppelin, BOC, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Queen, etc.
 
It gets really hard (& pointless) to draw that line between "hard rock" and "heavy metal"... Quick check of Metal Archives shows Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Budgie & Rush on there, but no Zeppelin, BOC, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Queen, etc.
I assume theirs a good reason for that.
 
Queen and BOC have some very heavy songs. Godzilla is right up there with Iron Man.

I figured it had something to do with consistency in making metal songs like Death on two legs and Sweet lady are heavy metal songs but Queen as far as I know never made a true metal album. If Queen was labeled an official metal band life would be better though.
 
I figured it had something to do with consistency in making metal songs like Death on two legs and Sweet lady are heavy metal songs but Queen as far as I know never made a true metal album. If Queen was labeled an official metal band life would be better though.

Given the standards of the 70s side 2 of Queen II, with the exception of the ballad 'Nevermore' and the single Seven Seas Of Rye' is pretty metal. Have you ever heard Queen II Bathoryswans?
 
Given the standards of the 70s side 2 of Queen II, with the exception of the ballad 'Nevermore' and the single Seven Seas Of Rye' is pretty metal. Have you ever heard Queen II Bathoryswans?

Naw I need to though. I'm I terrible Queen fanatic only heard one full length completely which was a night at the opera. Genius band I always kinda feared they would knock Black Sabbath of as my fav band but maybe I should just accept them as the best. Their songwriting is untouchable.
 
In my view, Rush IS metal. You can argue against some of their 80s output not being metal, but anything before or after clearly is, IMO.

But I'm also of the mind that bands such as Zep, Purple, and AC/DC and indisputably metal.

I agree with you 70s Rush is definitely metal. Now I don't think anybody would deny Deep Purple being a metal band I mean In Rock was a beast. That shouldn't be up for debate.
 
I assume theirs a good reason for that.

No, there's not. M-A sucks! They hate me because in every forum I bring the debate wdiv already mentioned. They're so square in their definition is hurts.

Back to topic, Rush is most definitively:

a) prog
b) rock or metal depending if you're more in the 70's or the 80's. No important difference to a true real metal fan.

'Bastille Day', 'Temples of Syrinx', 'Cygnus X-1', 'Red Barchetta', 'Subdivisions', 'Distant Early Warning', etc., you can't be more metal than that.
 
No, there's not. M-A sucks! They hate me because in every forum I bring the debate wdiv already mentioned. They're so square in their definition is hurts.

Back to topic, Rush is most definitively:

a) prog
b) rock or metal depending if you're more in the 70's or the 80's. No important difference to a true real metal fan.

'Bastille Day', 'Temples of Syrinx', 'Cygnus X-1', 'Red Barchetta', 'Subdivisions', 'Distant Early Warning', etc., you can't be more metal than that.

Yeah I couldn't post a topic in their without getting it locked. I've had several accounts banned for not following their strict as hell rules. That said its one of the better sites for reviews to be honest. While I don't always agree I trust them more than any so called professional critic.

Anyway the reason I asked is because I once got jumped on for naming Rush my third favorite metal band. I think if Iron Maiden is metal than Rush definitely is metal.


P.S. Will be off until around the 6th.
 
Yeah I couldn't post a topic in their without getting it locked. I've had several accounts banned for not following their strict as hell rules. That said its one of the better sites for reviews to be honest. While I don't always agree I trust them more than any so called professional critic.

I think the reviews is the worst part of the site (the only reviewer I trust is myself). I use it only for quick info on album or line-up.

I like better (although not as complete or updated) BNRMetal, way more honest.
 
I think the song "Bastille Day" is very metal and is the basis for a lot of IRON MAIDEN's early style.
 
I think the reviews is the worst part of the site (the only reviewer I trust is myself). I use it only for quick info on album or line-up.

I like better (although not as complete or updated) BNRMetal, way more honest.
BNR metal is a good site but its just one guy. He has pretty good taste though from what I remember.
 
I really love Rush. They are different in a way. Rush is not really considered "metal," but if the guitar sound was heavier and more distorted Rush would be really damn heavy! 2112 and Moving Pictures are the two best Rush albums.
 
Given the standards of the 70s side 2 of Queen II, with the exception of the ballad 'Nevermore' and the single Seven Seas Of Rye' is pretty metal. Have you ever heard Queen II Bathoryswans?

Father to Son is also strikingly heavy for the time, shame they wouldn't keep up that level of intensity in their songs for long. Certinaly they had a great mix of metal/progressive on that one album.

As for Rush, I'd accept the first four albums within the realms of metal and later songs like Cygnus X-1 when they'd fully wedded their sound to progressive rock.
 
Rush is Rush. They are a prog rock band if I absolutely had to give them a genre/sub-genre. Who cares though ? AC/DC is not metal. Lots of metal-heads love them, including me. Metal Church isn't really thrash, but have a lot of thrash followers. I burned Vanden Plas into everyone's head here so much, they have many fans here on the oldschool, forum, yet other than maybe some guitar riffs, they aren't very old school.
To get back to the original topic, Rush is not metal, but certainly they have metal moments.

Bryant