When Rush ended their 40-year journey, Alex Lifeson decided he was going to spend his time working on his solo career.
Instead, he teamed up with the musicians in the Canadian/American band Envy of None, which will release their much-anticipated second album, Stygian Wavz, on March 14. The group has recently issued the album’s first singles, "Not Dead Yet" and "Under the Stars.”
It must feel a little like déjà vu for Lifeson, considering that he was releasing Rush’s own sophomore album, Fly by Night, 50 years ago this past February. Back then, he was still developing his electric guitar style, having learned an important lesson in playing pinch harmonics first-hand from Rory Gallagher.
Given his past success and fame, Lifeson must feel a great deal more security this time around. As he told Guitar Player in 2004, Rush had no expectation they’d be a going concern in the 21st century, let along the 1980s, when they were releasing their second album.
“I was surprised to even be around that long,” he revealed. “I remember saying in 1974, when we started our first American tour, that if we could get five years out of this thing it would be quite remarkable. That was about the extent of a band's longevity at the time.”
The group endured a big moment of vulnerability in 1975 when they released their third album, Caress of Steel. Coming after the moderate success of Fly by Night, the album saw them move away from a blues-based sound of their previous albums and head in a more prog-rock direction with songs that included “The Necromancer” and "The Fountain of Lamneth.”
Caress of Steel proved to be a commercial disaster, however, threatening the group's future. Still, Lifeson sees it as something of a proving ground.
“We were very proud of Caress of Steel,” Lifeson said. “We were experimenting with a lot of things: writing more extended songs, doing a whole theme on an album side, and so on. The record wasn't a great commercial success, but artistically it was — to us, at least. We were exploring and taking pretty big steps for the time.
“But management was concerned. Our record label, Mercury, was concerned, and I remember them thinking that it was probably wisest to take a couple steps back and do a record that was more like our first album with shorter, straight-ahead rock songs.
“We thought, Listen, we're gonna do what we're gonna do. If it crashes and burns, so be it. At least we stuck to our guns, and did it the way we thought we should.”
Their fortitude paid off with their next album, 2112. Released in 1976, the album saw Rush merge the longer prog aspects of Caress of Steel with a group of shorter hard rock-oriented tunes, which were relegated to the album’s side two. The result was the group’s commercial breakthrough in the United States.
“The concept of 2112 came up, and it was our way of fighting against the establishment and stating our creative independence,” Lifeson says. “I figured that if it didn't work, I could get a job if I had to.
“Of course, that record came out, and it was instantly successful. It spoke to a lot of our fans, and, consequently, I think the record company thought, You know what? These guys are doing what they think is right, so let's give them their space and hope for the best."
Lifeson said the era was right for that kind of experimentation, in part because record companies were more inclined to nurture groups rather than view them as commercial properties.
“Record companies have become speculators, rather than developers,” he said in 2004. “Nowadays, you have to come in with a completed record, and it's released on spec. If it instantly does okay, you might get a deal. If it doesn't, you'll get dropped.
“When we got our deal in '74, it was for five records. We were a young, unknown band. The record company looked at it like, ‘Let them work their stuff out for the first couple of records, and, hopefully, when the third record hits and is successful, then we've got two more records to capitalize on that success.’ Opportunities like ours just don't seem to be around anymore.”
During his Rush tenure, Lifeson was often seen with a white Gibson ES-355TD, a guitar he used on almost every Rush album and frequently employed in performance. He recalled the pain of auctioning the guitar in 2022 as he culled his collection, calling it “probably one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done in my life."
Although Rush broke up in 2015, Lifeson recently revealed that he and bassist Geddy Lee still get together every week to jam. And despite his fame, Lifeson proved he is still a fan at heart when it comes to some guitarists, as when he had the thrill of a lifetime to meet his hero Jimmy Page in 1996.
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