Misplaced Pages

"Before and After"
Geddy Lee's handwritten lyric sheet, written during the self-titled album's Eastern Sound sessions in 1973
Suite by Rush
from the album Rush
Released	March 18, 1974
Recorded	1973
Genre	Folk ("Before") Hard rock boogie rock heavy metal ("After")
Length	5:33 2:17 ("Before") 3:16 ("After")
Label	Moon
Composer(s)	Geddy Lee Alex Lifeson
Lyricist(s)	Geddy Lee
Producer(s)	Rush Dave Stock Terry Brown
Rush suite chronology
"Before and After" (1974) "By-Tor and The Snow Dog" (1975)

"Before/After", stylized on the sleeve's tracklisting as "Before and After", is a two-piece suite by Canadian rock band Rush. With John Rutsey as drummer, it was composed by bassist and lead vocalist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson, Lee serving as lyricist. It is the seventh track on the band's self-titled debut album released on March 18, 1974 by Moon Records, and is their first multi-part track, although not their first epic.

The album's only "beautiful" and "lush" "non-rocker", "Before" is an acoustic guitar-driven folk instrumental ballad that gradually builds up. It abruptly goes into "After", a much more aggressive hard rock power ballad featuring the heavy metal boogie rock style and relationship subject matter of the LP's other tracks. Retrospective journalists described "Before and After"'s song structure as an indicator of the band's output following the first album, where Neil Peart was drummer and the prominent lyricist. Thrillist ranked it the 35th best all-time Rush song in 2019, Ultimate Classic Rock 129th.

Background

Rush (1974) was recorded and mixed in two periods of sessions in 1973: in the summer at Studio B of Toronto's Eastern Sound for two days under production of David Stock, and in November at the Terry Brown-owned Toronto Sound for three days. As with all other Rush songs, the lyrics for "Before/After" were hastily written on the spot at Eastern Sound by Rush's bassist and lead vocalist Geddy Lee. This was a consequence of drummer John Rutsey, who was initially tasked with writing lyrics, tearing them up by the day he was supposed to submit them, which was the second day at Eastern Sound. The track was first recorded at Eastern Sound with overdubs tracked at Toronto Sound. When the album was released on March 18, 1974 by Moon Records in Canada, "Before/After" was track seven, its name stylized as "Before and After" on the tracklisting.

Composition

The introductory "Before" section (2:17) is an acoustic guitar-driven folk instrumental ballad that serves as Rush's only "beautiful" and "lush" "non-rocker" moment. It gradually builds up to a "dreamy apogee" before suddenly transitioning to "After". "Before" starts with phased guitar arpeggios and harmonic sounds, such as a bell sound made by only touching the fret. At 1:11, a distorted guitar begins playing the chord progression and the bass guitar takes a melodic role. The song gets calmer at 1:48, with "interplay" between the bass and cymbals, before the electric guitar gets louder and a snare rolls, transitioning into the next section.

"After" (3:16) is a "chugging", aggressive and anthemic hard rock power ballad featuring the other album tracks' heavy metal boogie rock style. "After" plays at a moderately bright tempo in alla breve and the key of A major. All of its four verses follow the chord progression of A–G–D repeated six times, then two measures in B before following A–G–D again twice. The chord progression of the chorus, involving the singing of four "Yeah"s, is C–D–B♭–A. A breakdown emphasizing the simple drum pattern, which starts at 3:16, is accompanied by quick bursts of a guitar riff and a lead guitar line filling in the gaps. The song climaxes with Lee stressing his final "yeah" while drenched in delay and reverb.

The lyrics are also usual for the album, the subject feuding with their partner while pleading to save the relationship. Its themes of communication issues and a partner causing heartbreak reflect not only the songs of Led Zeppelin, but also Aerosmith and Kiss, acts that released their debut albums between 1973 and 1974 and where Rush were opening acts. There is also a sentiment of carpe diem seen in other of the band's early songs written by Lee and John Rutsey. Other examples include album opener "Finding My Way", "Best I Can" which was ultimately recorded for Fly By Night (1975), and "Garden Road" which was performed live but never studio-recorded; Paul Thomas Webb suggested this originated from both musicians' father dying of heart failure during their childhoods.

Reception and legacy

Rush garnered favorable reviews upon its release, but discussion of "Before and After" was non-existent, its only mention as a best-cut in a Billboard review. The only recorded live performance of "Before and After" currently available took place at Laura Secord Secondary School in 1974. It, along with seven other filmed performances at that location, was released on a bonus Blu-Ray and DVD for the R40 box set (2014). On the set list of Rush's first American tour, which last three months and was also the first with Neil Peart, "Before and After" was the only Rush song absent. The song, however, was covered in retrospective reviews, and positively. A 2024 PopMatters review called it Rush's most "sophisticated" track. Ultimate Classic Rock ranked it the 129th best of Rush's 167 studio album songs in 2018, Thrillist 35 out of all of Rush's 180.

Journalists writing about the band and progressive rock consider "Before and After", especially "Before", the only Rush song representative of the group's output that began with Neil Peart's replacement of Rutsey, in its complex structure with a "quieter" and "ethereal" lengthy intro that uses the bass guitar for melody and grows before an abrupt sound change, and chemistry between Lee and Lifeson's playing. According to Popoff, Rutsey's drumming activity during "After" was close to that of Rush's early Peart songs.

James Richard, Alex Body and Ryan Reed preferred "Before" over "After". Richard argued "Before" had "creativity and melodic strength" not present in "After", and Reed called the introductory part a nice touch to an overall "plodding" blues track. However, "After" was not without praise for its musical content. Jordan Hoffman called it a "solid" blues song. Although Body was down that the lyrics were "more of the same", he highlighted its guitar work. "The unison riffs are particularly pronounced here, weaving around Lee's vocals expertly," he wrote. He also called the solo during the breakdown Lifeson's "best Jimmy Page impression and, in some ways surprisingly, it really works".

Notes

1. The eight-and-a-half-minute "By-Tor & The Snow Dog" from the second album Fly By Night (1975), the first of several albums during the band's line-up with Neil Peart as drummer and lyricist that lasted until the end of the group in 2015, was the band's first narrative-driven, science fiction fantasy track.

Citations

1. ^ Lee, Geddy (2023). My Effin' Life. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-315941-9.
2. ^ Popoff, Martin (2020). Anthem: Rush in the 70s. ECW Press. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
3. Friedlander, Matt (March 18, 2024). "5 Fascinating Facts About Rush's Self-Titled Debut Album in Honor of Its 50th Anniversary". American Songwriter. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
4. ^ Body, Alex (2019). "Before and After". Rush: Song by Song. Stroud: Fonthill Media.
5. ^ James, Richard (2024). "Before and After". Rush 1973 - 1982: Every Album, Every Song. Sonicbond Publishing. ISBN 9781789521207. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
6. ^ Banasiewicz, Bill (1988). Rush Visions: The Official Biography. New York: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0711911622.
7. ^ Popoff, Martin (2017). Rush: Album by Album. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0760352205.
8. ^ Webb, Paul Thomas (April 18, 2024). "Finding Their Way: Rush's Debut Album at 50". PopMatters. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
9. ^ Popoff, Martin (2004). Contents Under Pressure. ECW Press. ISBN 9781770901414. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
10. ^ "Before and After ". Rush Complete. New York: Core Music Publishing. 1983. pp. 32–37. ISBN 978-0-7692-0551-9.
11. Bowman, Durrell (1974). Experiencing Rush: A Listener's Companion. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 1442231300.
12. "Top Album Picks". Billboard. August 24, 1974. pp. 48, 50.
13. DeRiso, Nick (September 17, 2014). "Rush Release Trailer and Bonus Details for Upcoming 'R40' Box". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved January 17, 2025.
14. ^ Reed, Ryan (June 27, 2018). "All 167 Rush Songs Ranked Worst to Best". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
15. ^ Hoffman, Jordan (July 29, 2019). "All 180 Rush Songs, Ranked". Thrillist. Retrieved January 20, 2025.
16. Collins, Jon (2010). Rush: Chemistry. London: Helter Skelter. ISBN 978-1905139286.
17. Wagner, Jeff (2010). Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal. Brooklyn: Bazillion Points. ISBN 9780979616334.

• 1974 songs
• Rush (band) songs
• Suites (music)
• Songs written by Geddy Lee
• Songs written by Alex Lifeson
• Folk songs
• Boogie songs
• Heavy metal songs
• Hard rock songs