Maybe I can be of assistance here,(judging by my user name over there, I'd better be!
). Here's a break-down of the different Rush eras. I'll try to keep this brief but still I'd prepare for a good bit of reading if I were you. Pardon me while I steal a catchphrase from the U.S. Navy: Rush, it's not just a band... it's an adventure! Here goes:
1974:
'Rush'(self-titled)
This is the only individual album I'll single-out here due to the fact that it isn't much like any other Rush album. Geddy and Alex have both admitted that when the band started out they wanted to be Led Zeppelin. This debut record proves it. It pretty much just sounds like a Zeppelin clone album. At the time, the band consisted of Geddy Lee on bass and vocals, Alex Lifeson on guitar, and John Rutsey on drums. Rutsey left the band right before their first North American tour and was replaced by Neil Pert. Things would get a lot more interesting after this point.
1975:
'Fly By Night', 'Caress of Steel'
Rush put out two albums in '75. When Pert entered the band, he not only took over drum duties but also the lyric writing duties. He was a well-read individual who had a love of both Science Fiction and philosophy. Thus, from this point on, the songs are far more intelligent and "epic". Musically, the band began exploring the idea of concept music, not so much throughout entire albums but more in the sense of individual songs with several parts encorporating themes. This is mostly seen on 'Caress of Steel'. Still, they didn't stray too far from the Arena Rock sound, as far as instrumentation and approach. Essentially, this is where the band fine-tuned their songwriting before their first real experimental period.
1976-1978:
'2112', 'All The World's A Stage(live)', 'A Farewell To Kings', 'Hemispheres'
By this point the gears were turning at full speed. Basically put, the rest of the band had mangaed to catch-up to Pert's level of intense musicality and conceptual ideas. '2112' is the first true Rush masterpiece and features the twenty-minute "2112 Overture" which, in my opinion, is one of the greatest concept stories ever told in Rock music history. The running lyrical theme throughout all these albums deals with a post-apocolyptic future. Musically, this is the most complex period of Rush. All the time signature changes, shifts in movement, and an excellent grasp of maintaining a theme would be the band's signature for years to come. This is where Rush solidified their place within the elite of Progressive Rock and laid the foundation that many bands would build upon if they didn't want to follow the Yes or ELP style of Progressive music. They would even go so far as to continue the same storyline within two albums with 'A Farewell To Kings' and 'Hemispheres'. However, Rush was never a band who got comfortable within their own sound or ideas. By 1980, another drastic change was on the way...
1980-1984
'Permamnent Waves', 'Moving Pictures', 'Exit... Stage Left(live)', 'Signals', 'Grace Under Pressure'
"All this machinery making modern music
Can still be open-hearted.
Not so coldly charted, it's really just a question
Of your honesty, yeah, your honesty." - "The Spirit Of Radio"
One word: Keyboards. This is the period in which keyboards and synthesisers,(which had been used sparsely on a few of the previous albums) would become a central part of the Rush sound for the next decade. Also, Rush's most recogonisable songs come from these four years. "Tom Sawyer", "The Spirit Of Radio", "Limelight", "Freewill", "Subdivisions", "Distant Early Warning", all from this prolific time. Gone were the long-ranging concepts and epic-length songs. Replacing them were undeniable anthems, arena sing-alongs, catchier melodies, and a more expressive sound. All this while still maintaining, and in some ways expanding, a amazingly high level of musicianship and creativity. Lyrically, topics are very wide throughout with the exception of 'Grace Under Pressure' which is considered to be the band's "dark" album. It was written at a time when one of their mutual friends had passed away and was a very grim album, by Rush standards. All in all, I'd say that this era is the best place to start exploring Rush if you're new to the band.
1985-1989
'Power Windows', 'Hold Your Fire', 'A Show Of Hands(live)'
If Rush ever had a "Pop" period, musically, this is it... or as close to it as Rush could get. Many fans have a grudge against these albums. The keyboards had become the overwhelming instrument by this point. Most of the guitar tones were clean-tone and ambient, usually thrown way back in the mix. The lyrics had taken a complete turn and become, mostly, positive in nature. Neil's philosophycal side had won out over the Sci-Fi concepts completely here and would dictate the lyrics from here on out. The band even broke with tradition and had a guest vocalist,(Aimee Mann) on "Time Stand Still" from 'Hold Your Fire'. Until that point, only the three band members had been on a Rush recording. They would end out both this era and the 80's Rush sound on 'A Show Of Hands' and, once again, take their musical style in a different direction.
*Author's note: While a lot of the other die-hards like to bitch about late 80's Rush, I love this stuff
! Some of my favorite Rush songs are from these albums.
1989-1998
'Presto', 'Chronicles(greatest hits double CD)', 'Roll The Bones', 'Counterparts', 'Test For Echo', 'Different Stages(live)', 'Victor(Alex Lifeson's solo album)', 'My Favorite Headache(Geddy Lee's solo album)'
Of all the Rush era's, the 90's are probably the most difficult to sum-up. This period saw several albums which varied drastically from one to the other, a good deal of experimentation, some attempts to capture past glory, solo albums by Geddy and Alex, and great tragedy for Neil which nearly ended the band's existence. Musically, the band went for a more back to basics Rock sound which featured Alex a lot more. The keyboards are still there but are used in a more subtle manner. The only real oddity within this era is 'Roll The Bones' which is, once again, more Pop-oriented but features some of the band's most mature songs.
1996's 'Test For Echo' would prove to be a pivitol point in the lifespan of Rush. On the tour for that album, they put on a three hour show which, for the first time, showcased all the different musical periods of the band and included the full twenty minute "2112 Overture" played in its' entirety. Within a one year period between '97 and '98, Neil lost his wife to cancer and his daughter was killed in a car crash. The band went on indeffinate hiatus and there was talk of a possible break-up. The band gave Neil as much time as he needed to deal with his losses before making any concrete decisions. The band got together in 2001 and decided to continue and record a new album. That album is now finished and should be out within the next couple of months.
Well, there ya go! A very basic outline of the different Rush stages. Hope that's of some help. Probably more than you bargained for but there's no such thing as a "simple" question about the band for a Rush fan.
