Rush 2112 album cover Continue Studio album rush 0000 from Rush2112Studio album RushReleasedMarch or April 1, 1976StudioToronto Sound Studios (Toronto, Canada)Progressive Rock and Roll Progressive Metal (7) Length38:42LabelAnthemProducer Rush Terry Brown Rush Chronology Caress of Steel (1975) 2112 (1976) Entire World Stage (1 Singles from 2112 Twilight zone Released: March 1976 Temples Syrinx Released : May 1976 2112 (pronounced Twenty-One Twelve) - fourth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush released on April 1, 1976 (or March 1976, according to some reports). After finishing touring for their previous album, Caress of Steel, in early 1976, the band was in financial difficulty due to disappointing album sales, unfavorable critical reception and declining attendance at its show. The band's international label, Mercury Records, considered the fall of Rush, but provided the band with another album after talks with manager Ray Danniels. Despite the fact that the label demanded more commercial material, the band decided to continue the development of its progressive rock sound. 2112 was recorded in February 1976 in Toronto with longtime producer Terry Brown. Its centerpiece is a 20-minute title track, a futuristic sci-fi song that takes the entire first side of the album. There are five separate tracks on the side two. 2112 was released for favorable reviews from music critics and quickly resold the band's previous albums. It peaked at number 5 on the Canadian Albums Chart and No. 61 on the U.S. Billboard Top LPs and Tape and was the band's commercial breakthrough in the country. Rush supported the album with a tour of the United States, Canada and, for the first time, Europe, from February 1976 to June 1977. 2112 remains the band's second-largest album (after Moving Pictures) with more than 3 million copies sold in the United States. It is listed in the 1001 albums you need to hear before you die, and ranks second in the Rolling Stone Reader Survey, your favorite Prog Rock Albums of all time. 2112 has been republished several times; The 40th Anniversary Edition was released in 2016 with previously unreleased material, including an album performed by artists such as Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Stephen Wilson and Alice in Chains. In January 1976, Rush completed her 1975-1976 tour in support of caress of Steel's third studio album. The band members liked to write and record the album, but Lifeson recalled the band being confused after the tour, feeling the disappointing reaction of the crowd after they played songs from it on stage. A progressive rock album with long, story-based songs, complex song structures and hard-to-find songs makes it difficult to get a radio broadcast and effectively promote. Lee said the group couldn't The stunning response then dubbed the Tour Down the Tubes Tour as band members struggled to meet their $125-a-week wages while crowds fell. Lee added: It really shakes your self-confidence. We were so confused and disappointed. In 1980, Heitson said it was the only time in Rush's history that he was close to giving up. The band's international label, Mercury Records, was considering their downfall. Rush manager Ray Danniels flew to the label's headquarters in Chicago to try to restore trust, and spoke highly of the band's new ideas for the new album without hearing any of it. Mercury approved another album. Despite pressure from the label and management to make a more commercial record, the band ignored the advice and proceeded to do the material as they saw fit. Lifeson said, I remember these conversations about what we're going to do? Will we try to make another mini-Led zeppelin record or are we going to do what we're going to do and keep going forward, and whatever happens is happening? ... We were fully intending to catch fire, but we were ready for it. Production Writing and recording Rush began to put musical ideas for 2112 in the backstage dressing rooms, hotel rooms and in their touring van during the Tour Caress of Steel. When Peart began writing lyrics, Lee and Meisson wrote music that complemented the mood of what Peart was writing about. Most of the time was performed on acoustic guitars, with the exception of some guitar passages with a portable Pignose amplifier. They focused on writing music with little need for overdubbing, as they wanted to recreate it on stage as much as possible. Lifeson recalled the development of The Temples of Syrinx backstage at a concert at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, before their introductory act by Mendelssohn Joe. Rush made a conscious effort to exclude Danniels from writing and recording sessions, and only played the album to him when he was finished. Musically speaking, 2112 was the first album that Mason said really sounded like Rush. 2112 was recorded in February 1976 four weeks later at Toronto Sound Studios, with longtime partner Terry Brown suggesting his role as a producer. The studio was equipped with a 24-track Studer production machine. Lifeson plays the 1968 Gibson ES-335 for most electric guitar parts at 2112, with some of the leading parts played by Gibson's Les Paul Standard. For acoustic sections, he plays a 12-string Gibson B-45 and a six-string Gibson Dove. Its amplifiers were Fender Super Reverb and Twin Reverb. In Discovery, Lifeson is played by Fender Stratocaster, who he borrowed from a friend. At the time of recording Lee used the Rickenbacker 4001 bass with a stereo output; Brown fed one channel directly into the mix board and then into the compressor, and the other was directed into Lee's Electro-Voice speakers turned to the maximum. After completing the album, the band expressed an interest in recording in another studio to explore different sounds. Their next album, A Farewell to Kings, was recorded in Wales. Songs Side One Side One album takes 20-minute futuristic sci-fi song 2112. The semi-july track is based on the story of Peart, the band's main lyricist, who attributes the genius of Ayn Rand to the album's linen notes. Rand, a Russian-born Jewish-American writer and inventor of the philosophy of objectivism, wrote the 1937 dystopian novella Anthem, a plot that bears several similarities to 2112, and all participants read the book. Peart added credit to avoid any lawsuits. The loan caused a significant negative publicity in the group, many called them right-wing extremists. In the British newspaper NME, Barry Miles made hints of Nazism, which particularly offended Lee, whose parents survived the Holocaust. The first and final sections, Overture and Grand Final, respectively, play an important role and borrow a short sequence from Peter Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture. The Overture includes an introduction from graphic designer and musician Hugh Syme, performed on the ARP Odyssey synthesizer with Echoplex Delay pedal. Music writer and professor Rob Bowman calculated that in the entire play 2:34 the song contains improvised guitar solos. Overture contains the lyrics And the Meek Will Inherit the Earth, a reference to biblical passages of the Book of Psalms 37:11 and Matthew 5:5. 2112 tells a story set in the city of Megadon in 2112, where individualism and creativity is outlawed with a population controlled by a clique of evil priests who live in the temples of Sirinza. The war in the galaxy led to the fact that the planets by force joined the Solar Federation (symbolizes the Red Star). By 2112, the world was under the control of priests who take orders from giant banks of computers inside the temple. Music is unknown in this world without creativity and individuality, but in Discovery an unnamed man finds a beaten guitar inside a cave and rediscovers the lost art of music. In Presentation, a man takes a guitar to the priests in the temple who say, Yes, we know that this is nothing new; It's just a waste of time and then act angrily to destroy it and expel it. Further in the material Oracle: A Dream man dreams of a new planet, created at the same time as the Solar Federation, where creative people live. He awakens, depressed by the fact that music is part of such a civilization and that it can never be a part of it, kills himself, in Soliloquy, originally called Soliloquy Soul. Another planetary war begins in the Grand Finale, originally called The Denouement, leading to a ambiguous conversational ending: Attention of all the planets of the Solar Federation: We have taken control. Peart described the ending as a double surprise... Hitchcock's real killer. Side two Side Two contains five separate songs that showcase the band's more traditional hard rock sound and Lee's higher vocals shown on their previous albums. Lifeson said the title track was more serious, with the rest of the album supposed to be a little bit easier and a little more fun. Bowman wrote that the variation of styles on the second side offers a very different listening experience in comparison. While the tracks are not specifically about the concept of 2112, they contain ideas that may relate to its common theme. Lee wrote the lyrics for Tears and Lifeson for Lessons, while Peart wrote the rest of the song. Lee said it's a journey for all the places in the world that grow the best talk. The track mentions a number of cities and countries, including Bogota, Acapulco, Morocco, Bangkok and Kathmandu, Nepal. Rush began writing The Twilight zone at a time when they needed another song to fill both sides of the vinyl record.