The Rush synth era is the only debate of its kind in this series where nobody left the band. The same three musicians who filled a side of vinyl with one piece in 1978 were, four years later, making records where the keyboards carry the song and the guitar sits further back. Fans have argued about that change ever since. Here is what actually happened, album by album, with the dates and the chart figures – and where to start with each era.

Where the line falls

There is no single date, but there is a clear sequence. Hemispheres (1978) was the last Rush album with a side-long piece. Permanent Waves (1980) cut the songs down: six tracks, about thirty-six minutes, and the band’s first top-five album in America. Alex Lifeson later described the change to Billboard in plain terms: there were still long songs, he said, but “we condensed them more”, and that set the tone for the next ten years.

The keyboards arrived gradually rather than suddenly. Synthesizers and Moog Taurus pedals are already on A Farewell to Kings (1977) and Hemispheres, used for colour. What changes with Signals (1982) is the hierarchy. Neil Peart said of “Subdivisions” that it was “the first song written that was keyboard-based”, and he pointed out what that did to the band: with Geddy Lee playing keyboards, he and Lifeson became the rhythm section.

The two eras, album by album

The 1970s. Rush (1974), Fly by Night (1975), Caress of Steel (1975), 2112 (1976), A Farewell to Kings (1977), Hemispheres (1978): four of these contain a piece that takes a whole side or close to it. The band was a trio playing guitar, bass and drums, with the keyboards used as an extra layer.

The synth era. Signals (1982), Grace Under Pressure (1984), Power Windows (1985) and Hold Your Fire (1987) are the four albums where the keyboards are structural. After Signals the band changed producer for the first time since 1974, and the electronic direction continued rather than stopping. Then it reversed: Presto (1989), Roll the Bones (1991) and Counterparts (1993) put the guitar back at the front.

Between the two sits Moving Pictures (1981), which is why it is on everyone’s list: it has the long instrumental “YYZ”, the radio songs, and the keyboards used as one voice among three.

What the records did

Commercially the change worked, which is the part the argument tends to skip. In the 1970s, A Farewell to Kings reached number 22 in Britain and Hemispheres number 14. Permanent Waves then went to number 3 in Britain and 4 in the United States, the first of seven consecutive UK top ten albums. Moving Pictures reached number one in Canada and number 3 in both Britain and America, and remains the fastest-selling album in the catalogue, certified five times platinum in the United States.

The synth albums held that ground. Signals reached number one in Canada, 3 in Britain and 10 in America, and “New World Man” became the band’s highest-charting American single. Grace Under Pressure reached 5 in Britain and 10 in America, Power Windows 9 and 10, Hold Your Fire 10 and 13. The slide, where there is one, comes later: Presto, the album that turned back towards guitars, reached 27 in Britain and 16 in America.

What the argument is really about

Two things, and it helps to separate them. One is the amount of space the guitar gets, which is a matter of arrangement and mixing and which Lifeson and Lee have both discussed over the years. The other is song length: the 1970s albums ask for twenty uninterrupted minutes, the 1980s albums are built in four- and five-minute pieces. A listener who came for “Xanadu” and a listener who came for “Subdivisions” are asking the band for different things, and Rush gave both, ten years apart.

Where to start with each era

1970s: 2112 (1976) or A Farewell to Kings (1977). 2112 for the side-long piece that saved the band’s career, A Farewell to Kings if you would rather have “Xanadu” and “Closer to the Heart” on the same record. Hemispheres is the end of the line and the most demanding of the three.

Synth era: Signals (1982). The album where the change is clearest, and the one that carries “Subdivisions”. Power Windows is the place to go next if it suits you; Moving Pictures is the record that belongs to both eras and the obvious starting point for anyone new to the band altogether.

For the catalogue in order there is my guide to Rush albums ranked, and where to start with Rush is the shorter route in.

Go deeper

For the band itself, start with the Rush band guide, the best Rush albums and the best Rush songs. For the playing, my guides to Neil Peart’s drum solos, Geddy Lee’s bass solos and the best Alex Lifeson solos follow each member across both eras. For the same argument in other bands, see the hub of prog rock’s great era debates. The story of North American progressive rock, Rush included, is the subject of Beyond the Atlantic, the fourth book in my Beyond the Sound series.

Want the full story behind Rush and the American scene? The books map every era →

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