RUSH DEBUTS AT NUMBER 3, BUT IS IT A COMEBACK?

Rush’s album, Snakes and Arrows, has debuted at Number three on the Billboard charts, and the band talked about their longevity.

Rush’s new album Snakes And Arrows has debuted at Number 3 on the Billboard 200 album charts, marking the band’s highest charting debut album since 1993. Remarkably, it’s the prog-rock band’s 11th Top Ten debut, proving that their fans are as loyal as any in the industry.

While it’s the band’s highest charting album since 2003, they’ve never really gone away, contrary to some reports marking this as their “comeback.” The band stayed together during a difficult time in drummer Neil Peart’s life, when he lost both his daughter and wife around the turn of the century. While the debut for Snakes and Arrows is making headlines, the band’s return actually started with 2002’s Vapor Trails. Geddy Lee says that’s actually when he believed Rush was back.

“Well I think Vapor Trails and Rush In Rio did that, really. I think Vapor Trails was, to me, a resounding success on many levels. And I’m not really talking so much about commercially, but just in terms of spiritually and a musicians point of view. It’s a very challenging record, a very dense record, but it’s also a record where I think we’re performing at a very high level. From my point of view that’s the thing that announced that we’re back, we’re healthy, and we’re moving forward.”

Rush been the same unit since 1974, when the band replaced drummer John Rutsey with Peart after their first album. The trio has been a constant ever since, and we asked bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson how they’re able to be in the same band for so long without member changes.

[Lifeson] “Well, essentially, we’re just very, very good friends. We enjoy each other’s company. We laugh a lot together, we get to play music together for so many years. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to do. It’s a dream for so many people, and we’re living it — and we realize that. Geddy and I have been friends since we were kids.” [Lee] “Also, we can’t think of anything else to do (laughs).” [Lifeson] “I don’t wanna get a job (laughs). That’s mostly it, I think (laughs).”

The debut of Rush’s Snakes And Arrows was impressive internationally as well. It debuted at Number 3 in their native Canada, Number 13 in the U.K., and entered onto the charts in the top ten in Sweden and Finland. It also debuted in the top twenty in Norway, the Netherlands, and Japan. The band will embark on a world tour starting June 13 in Atlanta, Georgia. For full dates please visit rush.com