Rush

Few Canadian acts have maintained the level of international success enjoyed by Rush for over three decades, gradually adapting their early uncompromising hard rock to embrace broader, more melodic styles built around Neil Peart's socially concerned lyrics. Alex Lifeson put the original line-up of Rush together in Willowdale, Toronto with singer Jeff Jones and drummer John Rutsey, but the band went through various incarnations before settling on the core line-up of Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Peart. They started touring in earnest in 1974 and, with a sound unashamedly borrowed from Led Zeppelin, released their first album Fly By Night a year later. Maintaining a blues-influenced rock approach laced with lyrics inspired by Peart's love of sci-fi, the band had their first breakthrough with the ambitious 1976 album 2112, including a futuristic seven-part suite. Their music then became steadily more progressive, even embracing reggae with the Permanent Waves album in 1980, and reached a commercial pinnacle in 1981 with Moving Pictures. They continued to develop their sound through the 1980s before reverting to a more basic hard rock format in the 1990s then taking an extended break. However, they were back with Vapor Trails (2002) and Snakes & Arrows (2007).