Rush - Subdivisions

Canada and music have an often strained relationship, don’t they? Whenever a hit escapes from their borders to the rest of the world, there’s a definite sense of divisiveness in public reaction to it from those across the pond. For every Celine Dion, there’s a Justin Bieber. For every Neil Young, there’s a Nickelback. For every Barenaked Ladies, there’s an Alanis Morissette. Honestly, the order on that last one could go either way.

Comprising of the power trio of Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and the late and sorely missed Neil Peart for much of the band’s lifespan, Rush are one of the nation’s biggest exports that doesn’t come in a syrup bottle. They were also the epitome of “talent at every position”. You’ll struggle to find a Best-Of list for any of their respective roles that doesn’t feature them in the Top X and with damn near fifty years of chemistry, touring and albums under their belt, they crushed it in both commercial and popular appeal through a myriad of genres (hard rock, prog and 80s synth rock to name just a handful) and a myriad of both successes and tragedies. For every Rush, there were a thousand bands that couldn’t hold a candle to what they had to bring to the table and a thousand more who wanted to do what they did.

While it may not be one of the signature Rush tunes that the die-hard fans will point you to every single time, “Subdivisions” is still peak Rush talent and production; they’d simply climbed a different, synth-ier mountain by this point. Signals is an album that has aged gracefully after a turbulent introduction, thanks in no small part to this track having a timeless appeal to generation after generation of misplaced, disaffected youth. Plus, Lifeson actually got to play his guitar in this one, which automatically makes it a winner.