ATTENTION PLANETS OF THE SOLAR FEDERATION! WE HAVE ASSUMED CONTROL! WE HAVE ASSUMED CONTROL! That's right, eh! This is the big one, episode 50, and so, it's time to grab a Molson Golden, don that kimono, and tuck into some poutine, because CFX are covering one of the all time greats, Canadian rock gods, RUSH. This is an episode so huge and magnificent, that we couldn't do it in one go, but had to split it in two. That's right, for a total of 5+ hours, we dive into the history, zeitgeist and take on the whole discography of these virtuosic prog wizards from the Great White North. In part 1, we chart the rise of the band, from their humble beginnings as heavy riff rockers to hash oil imbibing prog rockers to multi-platinum FM radio rulers. RUSH are great, we all know that, but how well do they stack up really? In the first part, we cover everything from the early days of the band with drummer John Rutsey before Neil "The Professor" Peart would blow everyone away with his Objectivist philosophical beliefs and superhuman drumming all the way to the band's megablockbuster Moving Pictures album (in part 2, we'll cover the rest). We decide if the band really does mold a new reality or if their music is just a silly whim (that doesn't fit the plan). And, along the way, as you've come to expect, we also learn...

• What rush song nerds listen to to get "in the mood"
• How to pronounce Alex's real last name (actually, we could never figure that out)
• What band wouldn't allow Rush to have a soundcheck and, let's face it, were total hoseheads
• What cartoon character did critics say Geddy Lee sang like
• What was the most difficult album to record? The easiest? And the most hash-influenced?
• How your esteemed hosts rank the albums of this era
• And, finally, will we be dining on honeydew or will this episode end in Tears…

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