- Applicability: The lyrics to "Red Sector A" are an example. Rather than being directly about the Holocaust (their specific inspiration), they are left universal enough that they can refer to any prison camp scenario.
- Audience-Alienating Era: Fans are surprisingly divided on the albums' respective degrees of quality, but Caress of Steel and Test for Echo are generally considered to be the worst.
- Broken Base: Mostly about the different styles the band performed over the course of its career, the role of synthesizers, taking thematic inspiration from Ayn Rand, etc. However, certain albums are subject to this more so than usual, with Caress of Steel and Grace Under Pressure seemingly getting even more of it than most records; some fans consider each album to be one of their worst, while others consider them to be among their best. It's not too rare to see those two albums near the top of "most underrated Rush albums" lists these days. Then again, Rush's fandom is large and opinionated enough that you're bound to find at least a few people who'll claim any album as their favourite, and at least a few who'll claim the same album as their least favourite.
- Cult Classic:
- One blog put it the best "They (Rush) sell as many albums at The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, but are mentioned in music conversations as much as Uriah Heep."
- Some fans might place some of their albums within this category, even by the band's standards. Caress of Steel is probably the biggest example, since it's one of the band's poorest sellers, and critics were lukewarm on it as well, but it's undergone a bit of a reappraisal in recent years.
- Fan Nickname:
- Neil Peart was dubbed "The Professor" for his literary lyrics and stone-faced demeanor on stage. When his death was announced in 2020, "RIP Professor" trended on Twitter.
- Grace Under Pressure is generally abbreviated as P/G by fans (in other words, mathematical notation for Pressure divided by Grace, which, as a vulgar fraction, would be written with Pressure above Grace or Grace under Pressure).
- Germans Love David Hasselhoff:
- The band first took off in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, as "Working Man" resonated with the blue-collar population in the city. They have been one of the few Canadian rock bands to make a big impression on the American market.
- The band members were astounded by the following they had in Brazil, their show in Sao Paulo being their largest audience at that time.
- Growing the Beard:
- While the self-titled debut was good, Fly by Night was considered a nice improvement when Neil joined. After an Audience-Alienating Era with Caress of Steel (which became Vindicated by History), they released 2112, which not only saved the band, but established Rush as one of the forerunners of Progressive Rock and Progressive Metal.
- 2112 was also a beard-growing moment lyrically, as Peart stopped channelling his favourite writers at the time (mostly Rand and Tolkien) and began to develop more of his own voice, which deepened on A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres. Another arguably came around the time of Moving Pictures, when Peart began to focus more directly on real-world issues, to stunning effect ("Witch Hunt" being a particularly powerful piece of writing from that album).
- Magnificent Bastard ("YYZ", from Moving Pictures): From the 40th anniversary music video, the unnamed bandits run a heist on Rush-related paintings. Scoping out the band from the moment they land, some of the bandits use an Oil Slick and tacks to crash the crew's cars, while another feigns kindness to pickpocket admission. When the man with the paintings reaches the gig, he is ambushed by the bandits, while the members of Rush remain unaware of what's happening until they've been Bound and Gagged. After loading the paintings into their getaway van, the bandits drive away, having shown a level-headed demeanor through their flawlessly executed heist.
- Misaimed Fandom: Peart did not have kind words
for Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (who had expressed admiration for Rush's music and lyrics), based particularly on the Republican Party's stance on healthcare; Peart, who had become an American citizen at the time of the interview in question, stated that he couldn't imagine himself voting for any Republican. Some of this is due to a shift in Peart's own politics; he specifically attributed a trip to Africa as being transformative to his thinking. Some of Peart's earlier lyrics ("Anthem" in particular) thus became subject to Creator Backlash as a result. - More Popular Replacement: John Rutsey, the band's original drummer, appeared only on their debut album and left shortly afterward for a number of reasons, including complications due to diabetes. He was soon replaced by Neil Peart, who went on to become one of the most acclaimed drummers of all time. Nowadays, some Rush fans may not even be aware of who Rutsey was.
- Narm:
- "Time Stand Still" is a gorgeous song and a huge Tear Jerker. Problem is... its video has not aged well. From the '80s Hair to the spinning to blue screen effects that are questionable at best, "Time Stand Still" is definitely a product of its time.
- The fact that in the original video for "Distant Early Warning", the words "RED ALERT" that flash across the screen when Geddy first sings them... are printed in green.
- "Time Stand Still" is a gorgeous song and a huge Tear Jerker. Problem is... its video
- Pop Culture Holiday: International Rush Day is on the 21st of December (21/12) due to their album 2112 and the famous Epic Rocking title track.
- Posthumous Popularity Potential: Neil Peart's death got a lot of coverage in the media, even outside the usual music publications, with many tributes from fans and fellow musicians on social media. Before that, the band had a very much divisive reception, especially in North America.
- Quirky Work: Just try to explain a band that sings about politics (even when they're really just singing about trees arguing) in long-winded terms, while standing in front of working dryers, chicken rotisseries, sausage makers, or popcorn poppers, with a bassist that plays keyboards and sings, and a drummer with a kit that rotates and is the size of a house. Oh, and whether the singer is a girl or a guy is really ambiguous at first. Especially looking at him in the 1970s◊ (far left).
- Signature Song: "Tom Sawyer", "Limelight", "Freewill", or "The Spirit of Radio" are probably Rush's most famous songs.
- Song Association:
- You can expect some folks to remember of "One Little Victory" due to its appearance in Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2.
- To an extent, the album Moving Pictures with Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law — one episode had a paranoid Phil Ken Sebben raise the office "threat level" to "the cover of Rush's seminal album Moving Pictures".
- Special Effects Failure: "Time Stand Still" features some of the worst green screen effects that a big-name band has ever gotten away with (ironically, despite the video being made by Zbigniew Rybczyński, a famous cinematographer who helped pioneer the technology). It's very blatant that the members of Rush just got cut out and dragged around the scene to create the impression of them floating, with nearly no effort put into making it look believable.
- Stuck in Their Shadow: Alex Lifeson, often overshadowed by Geddy's vocals and instrumental skill and Neil's lyrics and drumming. In any other band, he would be the standout, which goes to show you the kind of musicianship we're dealing with.
- Suspiciously Similar Song: The riff from "Finding My Way" is about two millimetres away from the riff from Led Zeppelin's "Celebration Day".
- They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
- Understandably, they get this a lot, given the high amount of New Sound Albums. Particularly from the period when Lee focused more on the keyboard than bass.
- Also a common complaint of older fans when talking about Geddy's voice, which has lost a fair bit of its higher range as he's grown older. This one is largely considered ridiculous, because of course he can't hit notes the way he did in his 20s anymore now that he qualifies for the senior discount at most establishments.
- Unintentional Period Piece: "Virtuality", released in 1996, attracts a good amount of mockery nowadays due to its lyrics, which try to discuss the internet but don't go much deeper than talking about how emails are cool. You can tell that it was written back when the public was still getting used to the concept, and its lyrics have aged poorly as a result.Net boy, net girl
Send your impulse 'round the world
Put your message in a modem
And throw it in the Cyber Sea - Values Dissonance: The lyrics to "Red Barchetta" describe a world where combustion-powered vehicles have been outlawed in favor of bulky, two-lane-wide "air cars". This is portrayed as strict and oppressive. Meanwhile the protagonist, who illegally drives their uncle's titular red Barchetta while evading and outsmarting the cops, is intended to be sympathized with and viewed as a cool rebel. Decades later, global warming has become a major existential threat, with gas-guzzling cars being one of the main culprits. Through this lens, it's easy to interpret the "Motor Law" as a way to curb pollution, which also makes the protagonist come across as much more selfish and less sympathetic.
- Viewer Gender Confusion: It's quite common for first-time listeners to think Rush (particularly on their earlier albums) has a female vocalist, due to Geddy Lee's famously high-pitched voice. The effect does diminish once you get used to it, though.
- Vindicated by History:
- The band in general. Many rock critics of the time (especially Robert Christgau and Rolling Stone magazine) hated them, but they got the last laugh when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- Signals was absolutely hated by fans (and critics) who claimed the band "sold out" at the time with the synthesizers, shorter songs, real world issues now being the center focus of the lyrics, etc. Being the follow-up to the beloved Moving Pictures didn't help matters either. There is even one internet review where the reviewer was so disappointed, it was the only record he physically destroyed. Producer Terry Brown, who had been working with the band since their 1974 debut, quit after this album because he didn't like the heavy focus on synthesizers. But today, fans (including the reviewer) and critics regard the album as one of the band's finest installments in an already legendary discography. The same also happened for most of the band's "synth era", which was very controversial at first but is now recognized as the source of many of Rush's best songs.
- Caress of Steel and Test for Echo have also garnered some positive reappraisals as well.
- What Do You Mean, It's Not Political?: Despite insistence from some quarters that "The Trees" must be an allegory about socialism, Quebec separatism, or some other issue, Peart insists that it's not political at all and was simply inspired by a cartoon he saw that featured trees arguing.
