Rush

Description

Re: 04-09-2026 (21/08 USA)

Rush’s eponymous debut remains unique for being the only entry in the trio’s extensive catalog that doesn’t feature its renowned drummer and lyricist, Neil Peart. That distinction informs the foundational content and independent-minded story of Rush — whose straightforward performances and no-frills songwriting fascinate more than five decades after its original release in March 1974.

Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, Mobile Fidelity’s numbered-edition 180g 45RPM 2LP set presents the Canadian group’s self-titled effort in definitive audiophile sound and at 45RPM speed for the first time. Benefitting from superb groove definition, an ultra-low noise floor, and dead-quiet surfaces, this collectible version captures what went down at two Toronto studios with engaging presence, tonal precision, and enhanced dynamics. The wider grooves of the 45RPM pressing also contribute to improved tracking and high-frequency preservation.

That means the reaches of Geddy Lee’s signature high-pitched vocals can be experienced close to the manner the band desired when the members originally walked into Eastern Sound Studios in 1973 for its first session with producer Dave Stock. Though those initial recordings suffered from disappointments ranging from thinness, lightness, and out-of-phase problems, Rush — knowing they had to be corrected given the high stakes tied to first impressions — reconvened with engineer Terry Brown at Toronto Sound later that fall.

The drastic improvements Brown made can be heard like never before. His crucial overdubs, as well as Rush’s laying down of three new songs, put everything back on track. The fullness, body, and extension of the instruments — at this stage, limited to guitars, bass, and basic drums — emerge with newfound clarity and perspective. Afforded revealing separation, soundstaging, and imaging, the music comes across with a scale and size true to the asteroid-burst-like cover art and group’s “Energized Rock” motto.

Hear the Trio’s 1974 Record in Definitive Sound: Mobile Fidelity’s Numbered-Edition 180g 45RPM 2LP Set Plays with Superb Presence, Detail, and Definition

1/4” / 15 IPS Dolby A analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe

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