Rush тобының «2112» альбомы

1976 studio album by Rush

2112 (pronounced "twenty one twelve") is the fourth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in March 1976 by Mercury Records. It reached No. 5 in Canada and became the band's commercial breakthrough in the US, peaking at No. 61. The band was in financial hardship due to the disappointing sales of 1975's Caress of Steel, which also gained an unfavourable critical reception, and a decline in attendance at its shows. Mercury, their international label, considered dropping them but granted one more album following negotiations with manager Ray Danniels. Rush were pressured to deliver more commercial material, but decided to continue developing its progressive rock direction it had explored on Caress of Steel and made the 20 minute futuristic science fiction title track occupy side one of 2112, with a collection of shorter songs on side two that display their hard rock roots. 2112 was released to favourable reviews from music critics and quickly outsold the band's previous albums. Rush toured the album extensively in 1976 and 1977, which culminated in their debut concerts in Europe. 2112 remains the band's second highest selling album behind Moving Pictures, with more than 3 million copies sold in the US alone. It is listed in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and ranked second on Rolling Stones reader's poll, Your Favorite Prog Rock Albums of All Time. 2112 has been reissued several times; a 40th Anniversary Edition was released in 2016 with previously unreleased material, including the album performed by numerous contemporary artists.

In January 1976, Rush ended its 1975–1976 tour to support 1975's Caress of Steel. The band had enjoyed writing and recording the album, but guitarist Alex Lifeson recalled the group was in a state of confusion after the tour, sensing the disappointing reaction from crowds after playing songs from it on stage. To help the situation Rush manager Ray Danniels flew to the label's head offices in Chicago to try to regain confidence and spoke highly of the band's ideas for a new album without having heard any of it. This followed the group's conscious decision to exclude Danniels from the writing and recording sessions, and only played the album to him when it was finished.

Rush put down musical ideas for 2112 in backstage dressing rooms, hotel rooms, and in their van while touring Caress of Steel in the second half of 1975. Lifeson said 2112 was the first Rush album that "really sounded like Rush". In January 1976, the band entered Toronto Sound Studios to record with their longtime associate Terry Brown assuming his role as producer, operating a Studer 24 track machine. Lifeson plays a 1968 Gibson ES 335 for the majority of the electric guitar parts, with some lead parts played on a Gibson Les Paul Standard. For the acoustic sections, he plays a 12 string Gibson B 45 and a six string Gibson Dove. His amplifiers were the Fender Super Reverb and a Twin Reverb. A section of "Discovery" features a Fender Stratocaster that Lifeson borrowed from a friend. Their next album, A Farewell to Kings, was recorded in Wales.

Side one is occupied by the 20 minute futuristic science fiction song "2112". The seven part track is based on a story by Peart who credits Russian American novelist Ayn Rand, inventor of the philosophy of Objectivism and author of the dystopian fictional novella Anthem, the plot of which bears several similarities to "2112". The band had read the book, and Peart added the credit in the album's liner notes to avoid legal action. In the British paper NME, Barry Miles made allusions of the Rand influence to Nazism, which particularly offended Lee, whose parents were Holocaust survivors. Music writer and professor Rob Bowman calculated that in the entire piece, 2:34 of the song contains improvised guitar solos. An unnamed protagonist finds a guitar inside a cave and rediscovers the lost art of music ("Discovery"). Upon playing the guitar to the priests, they destroy it and declare music a waste of time and against the computers' plan. In a dream an oracle shows him a planet established simultaneously with the Solar Federation, where an elder race flourish in creativity and individuality ("Oracle: The Dream"). but the song ends with an ambiguous spoken ending: "Attention all planets of the Solar Federation: We have assumed control" ("Grand Finale"). Peart described the ending as a "double surprise a real Hitchcock killer". "A Passage to Bangkok" is a song about marijuana; Lee said it is "a travelogue for all the places in the world that grow the best weed". The track mentions a number of cities and countries, specifically Bogotá, Jamaica, Acapulco, Morocco, Bangkok, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Kathmandu. The band were big fans of the television series The Twilight Zone and based the track on the stories written for it from its host, Rod Serling. Lifeson asserted that its lyrical tie in with the "2112" suite makes the track act as a coda to the record. The gatefold includes a photograph of the band dressed in white and standing in front of a wind machine, and was a shoot Lifeson remembered for being particularly awkward. In June 1976, the album had outsold the band's past catalogue in Canada and the US, 2112 became a strong seller in the US; it reached gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in November 1977 for selling 500,000 copies. In November 1995, the album reached triple platinum for selling over 3 million copies, becoming Rush's second biggest seller after Moving Pictures.

Cashbox praised the album, calling it "a valid and melodic tale the story/song is a definite cohesive listen". In an article about 2112 for Creem, Dan Nooger wrote the album "features some significant Mellotron meanderings and amazingly eccentric lyrics". In a reader's poll held by Rolling Stone, it placed second on the list of favourite Prog Rock albums. AllMusic's Greg Prato (4.5 out of 5): "1976's 2112 proved to be their much sought after commercial breakthrough and remains one of their most popular albums." Ultimate Classic Rock included the album on their list of the "Top 100 '70s Rock Albums". Prog readers voted 2112 the 15th best progressive rock album of all time.