View source for Before and After (Rush song)

{{Verbatim title}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox song
| name          = Before" and "After
| cover         =
| alt           = Handwritten lyrics of Before/After
| caption       = [[Geddy Lee]]'s handwritten lyric sheet, written during the self-titled album's Eastern Sound sessions in 1973
| type          = [[Suite (music)|Suite]]
| artist        = [[Rush (band)|Rush]]
| album         = [[Rush (Rush album)|Rush]]
| released      = March 18, 1974
| recorded      = 1973
| genre         = 
*[[Folk music|Folk]] ("Before")
*[[Hard rock]]
*[[boogie rock]] 
*[[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] ("After")
| length        = 
*5:33
*2:17 ("Before")
*3:16 ("After")
| label         = [[Moon Records (Canada)|Moon]]
| composer      = 
*[[Geddy Lee]]
*[[Alex Lifeson]]
| lyricist      = Geddy Lee
| producer      = 
*Rush
*Dave Stock
*[[Terry Brown (record producer)|Terry Brown]]
| chronology    = Rush suite
| next_title = By-Tor and The Snow Dog
| next_year  = 1975
|misc=
{{Extra chronology
 | artist     = Rush instrumental
 | type       = song
 | title      = {{noitalic|"Before"}}
 | year       = 1974
 | next_title = {{noitalic|"Of the Battle"}}
 | next_year  = 1975
}}
}}
"'''Before'''"/"'''After'''", stylized on the sleeve's tracklisting as '''"Before" and "After"''', is a two-piece [[suite (music)|suite]] by Canadian rock band [[Rush (band)|Rush]]. With [[John Rutsey]] as drummer, the suite was composed by bassist and lead vocalist [[Geddy Lee]] and guitarist [[Alex Lifeson]] and penned by Lee. It is the seventh track on the band's [[Rush (Rush album)|1974 self-titled debut album]], released by [[Moon Records (Canada)|Moon Records]]. ''[[Thrillist]]'' ranked the suite the 35th best all-time Rush song in 2019, while ''[[Ultimate Classic Rock]]'' placed it 129th in 2018.

Retrospective journalists described "Before" and "After"{{'}}s song structure as an indicator of Rush's output following the first album, where [[Neil Peart]] was drummer and the prominent lyricist. 
"Before" is an [[acoustic guitar]]-driven [[folk music|folk]] instrumental [[ballad]] that gradually builds up then abruptly goes into "After". The second [[movement (music)|movement]] is a much more aggressive [[hard rock]] [[power ballad]] featuring the [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] [[boogie rock]] style and relationship subject matter of the album's other tracks.

== Background ==
{{See also|Rush (Rush album)#Recording and composition}}
''[[Rush (Rush album)|Rush]]'' (1974), the [[Rush (band)|Canadian rock band]]'s self-titled debut studio album, was recorded and mixed in two periods of sessions in 1973. The first was two days in the summer at Studio B of Toronto's Eastern Sound under production of David Stock, the second in November at the [[Terry Brown (record producer)|Terry Brown]]-owned Toronto Sound for three days.<ref name = "MyEffinLife"/>{{rp|141, 152}} As with all other ''Rush'' songs, the lyrics for "Before"/"After" were hastily written on site at Eastern Sound by Rush's bassist and lead vocalist [[Geddy Lee]].<ref name = "MyEffinLife">{{cite book | last1 = Lee | first1 = Geddy | author-link1 = Geddy Lee | title = My Effin' Life | publisher = [[HarperCollins]] | year = 2023 | isbn = 978-0-06-315941-9}}</ref>{{rp|142}} This was a consequence of drummer [[John Rutsey]], who was initially tasked with writing lyrics. He tore them up by the day he was supposed to submit, which was the second day at Eastern Sound.<ref name = "MyEffinLife"/>{{rp|144}} The track was first recorded at Eastern Sound with [[overdubbing|overdub]]s tracked during the Toronto Sound sessions.<ref name = "Popoff2020"/> The album was released on March 18, 1974, by [[Moon Records (Canada)|Moon Records]] in Canada.<ref>{{cite web|last=Friedlander|first=Matt|date=March 18, 2024|url=https://americansongwriter.com/5-fascinating-facts-about-rushs-self-titled-debut-album-in-honor-of-its-50th-anniversary/|title=5 Fascinating Facts About Rush's Self-Titled Debut Album in Honor of Its 50th Anniversary|website=[[American Songwriter]]|access-date=February 10, 2025}}</ref> "Before"/"After" was the seventh track, its name stylized as "Before" and "After" on the tracklisting.<ref name = "Rushalbum"/>

== Music ==
{{Listen|filename=RushBeforeandAfter.ogg|title="Before" and "After"|type=song|description=The [[folk music|folk]] instrumental "Before" transitioning into the sung [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] [[boogie rock]] "After". The music calms down before the electric guitar gets louder and the track suddenly shifts into "After".}}
The introductory "Before" section is an [[acoustic guitar]]-driven [[folk music|folk]] instrumental [[ballad]] that serves as ''Rush''{{'}}s only song with a tone critics labeled "beautiful", "lush", and "non-rocker".{{efn|<ref name = "Popoff2020">{{cite book|author-link=Martin Popoff|last=Popoff|first=Martin|year=2020|title=Anthem: Rush in the 70s|publisher=[[ECW Press]]|isbn=978-1665177788}}</ref>{{rp|10}}<ref name = "AlexBody">{{cite book|last=Body|first=Alex|year=2019|section=Before and After|title=Rush: Song by Song|publisher=Fonthill Media|location=[[Stroud]]|isbn=978-1781557297}}</ref><ref name = "SongBySong19731982">{{cite book|last=James|first=Richard|year=2024|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1rQwEQAAQBAJ&dq=rush+%22Before+and+After%22+%22john+rutsey%22&pg=PT17|title=Rush 1973 - 1982: Every Album, Every Song|section=Before and After|isbn=9781789521207|publisher=Sonicbond Publishing|access-date=January 16, 2025}}</ref><ref name = "Banasiewicz">{{cite book|last=Banasiewicz|first=Bill|year=1988|title=Rush Visions: The Official Biography|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|location=[[New York City|New York]]|isbn=0711911622}}</ref>{{rp|12}}<ref name = "Popoff2017">{{cite book|last=Popoff|first=Martin|year=2017|title=Rush: Album by Album|location=[[Minneapolis]]|publisher=[[Voyageur Press]]|isbn=978-0760352205}}</ref>{{rp|10}}}} It gradually builds up to a "dreamy apogee" before suddenly transitioning to "After".<ref name = "AlexBody"/><ref name = "PopMatters"/> "Before" starts with [[phaser (effect)|phased]] guitar [[arpeggio]]s and [[String harmonic|harmonic]] sounds, such as a bell sound made by only touching the [[fret]].<ref name = "SongBySong19731982"/><ref name = "PopMatters">{{cite web|last=Webb|first=Paul Thomas|date=April 18, 2024|url=https://www.popmatters.com/rush-debut-album-at-50|title=Finding Their Way: Rush's Debut Album at 50|website=[[PopMatters]]|access-date=January 17, 2025}}</ref> At 1:11, a [[distortion (music)|distorted]] guitar begins playing the [[chord progression]] and the bass guitar takes a melodic role.<ref name = "SongBySong19731982"/> The song gets calmer at 1:48, with "interplay" between the bass and cymbals, before the electric guitar gets louder and a snare rolls.<ref name = "AlexBody"/><ref name = "SongBySong19731982"/>

"After" is a "chugging", aggressive, and anthemic [[hard rock]] [[power ballad]] featuring the other album tracks' [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] [[boogie rock]] style.{{efn|<ref name = "AlexBody"/><ref name = "SongBySong19731982"/><ref name = "Popoff2017"/>{{rp|10}}<ref name = "PopMatters"/><ref name = "ContentsUnderPressure">{{cite book|last=Popoff|first=Martin|year=2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bSnI_30MPLMC&q=%20%22Before%20and%20After%22%20|title=Contents Under Pressure|isbn=9781770901414|publisher=[[ECW Press]]|access-date=January 20, 2025}}</ref>}} "After" plays at a moderately bright [[tempo]] in [[alla breve]] and A [[mixolydian mode]].<ref name = "Aftersheetmusic">{{cite book|section=Before and After [sic, this only has "After". No "Before" sheet music is in ''Rush Complete'']|year=1983|title=Rush Complete|publisher=Core Music Publishing|location=New York|pages=32–37|isbn=978-0-7692-0551-9}}</ref>{{rp|32}} 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.<ref name = "Aftersheetmusic"/> The chord progression of the chorus, involving the singing of four "Yeah"s, is C–D–B{{music|flat}}–A.<ref name = "AlexBody"/><ref name = "Aftersheetmusic"/>{{rp|32–37}} A [[breakdown (music)|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.<ref name = "AlexBody"/><ref name = "SongBySong19731982"/> The song climaxes with Lee stressing his final "yeah" while drenched in [[delay (audio effect)|delay]] and [[reverb effect|reverb]].<ref name = "AlexBody"/><ref name = "SongBySong19731982"/>

== Lyrics ==
"After"'s lyrics are also usual for the album, the subject feuding with their partner while pleading to save the relationship.<ref name = "AlexBody"/> Its themes of communication issues and a partner causing [[broken heart|heartbreak]] reflect the songs of [[Led Zeppelin]], [[Aerosmith]] and [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]]. The latter two acts released their debut albums between 1973 and 1974, a time period where Rush were opening acts for both bands.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bowman|first=Durrell|year=2014|title=Experiencing Rush: A Listener's Companion|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield Publishers]]|isbn=1442231300}}</ref>{{rp|4}} There is also a sentiment of [[carpe diem]] seen in the band's other early songs written by Lee and [[John Rutsey]]. Other examples include album opener "Finding My Way", "Best I Can", and "Garden Road". Paul Thomas Webb suggested this originated from both musicians' fathers dying of [[heart failure]] during their childhoods.<ref name = "PopMatters"/>

== Reception and legacy ==
[[File:Rush @ Bluesfest (4786682559) (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|"Before" and "After" is considered by retrospective writers the self-titled album's only indicator of the style and songwriting of Rush's later music, where [[Neil Peart]] (''pictured in 2010'') was lyricist and drummer.]]
Discussion of "Before" and "After" was non-existent in contemporaneous reviews of ''Rush'', its only mention as a best-cut in a ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' review.<ref name = "Billboard">{{cite magazine |title=Top Album Picks|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=August 24, 1974|pages=48, 50}}</ref>{{rp|50}} 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).<ref>{{cite web|last=DeRiso|first=Nick|date=September 17, 2014|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/rush-r40-box/|title=Rush Release Trailer and Bonus Details for Upcoming 'R40' Box|website=[[Ultimate Classic Rock]]|access-date=January 17, 2025}}</ref> On the set list of Rush's first American tour, which lasted three months and was also the first with [[Neil Peart]], "Before" and "After" was the only ''Rush'' song absent.<ref name = "ContentsUnderPressure"/> The song, however, was covered in retrospective reviews, and positively. A 2024 ''[[PopMatters]]'' review called it ''Rush''{{'}}s most "sophisticated" track.<ref name = "PopMatters"/> ''[[Ultimate Classic Rock]]'' ranked it the 129th best of Rush's 167 studio album songs in 2018, while ''[[Thrillist]]'' placed it 35 out of all of the band's 180.<ref name = "UCR">{{cite web|last=Reed|first=Ryan|date=June 27, 2018|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/every-rush-song/|title=All 167 Rush Songs Ranked Worst to Best|website=[[Ultimate Classic Rock]]|access-date=January 20, 2025}}</ref><ref name = "Thrillist"/>

Journalists writing about the band and [[progressive rock]] consider "Before" and "After", especially "Before", the only ''Rush'' song representative of their output that began with Peart's replacement of Rutsey. This is in its complex structure with a "quieter" and "ethereal" lengthy intro that uses the bass guitar for melody and grows, before an abrupt sound and tempo change.{{efn|<ref name = "AlexBody"/><ref name = "SongBySong19731982"/><ref name = "Banasiewicz"/>{{rp|12}}<ref name = "Thrillist">{{cite web|last=Hoffman|first=Jordan|date=July 29, 2019|url=https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/best-rush-songs-ranked|title=All 180 Rush Songs, Ranked|website=[[Thrillist]]|access-date=January 20, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Jon|year=2010|title=Rush: Chemistry|publisher=Helter Skelter|location=[[London]]|isbn=978-1905139286}}</ref>{{rp|33}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Wagner|first=Jeff|year=2010|title= Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal|publisher=[[Bazillion Points]]|location=[[Brooklyn]]|isbn=9780979616334}}</ref>{{rp|21}}<ref>{{cite book|last=McCarthy|first=James|year=2012|section=Before and After|title=Rush: Changing Hemispheres|isbn=978-0956696076|publisher=Abstract Sounds Book, Ltd}}</ref>}} According to Popoff, Rutsey's drumming activity during "After" was close to that of Rush's early Peart songs.<ref name = "Popoff2020"/> James Richard, Alex Body, and Ryan Reed preferred "Before" over "After".<ref name = "AlexBody"/><ref name = "SongBySong19731982"/><ref name = "UCR"/> Richard argued "Before" had "creativity and melodic strength" not present in "After",<ref name = "SongBySong19731982"/> and Reed called "Before" a nice touch to an overall "plodding" blues suite.<ref name = "UCR"/>

However, "After" was not without praise for its musical content. Jordan Hoffman called it a "solid" blues song.<ref name = "AlexBody"/> Although Body was disappointed 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".<ref name = "AlexBody"/> The_Phoenician, a writer for [[Ultimate Guitar]], called the overall experience "ridiculous[ly] powerful" thanks to "After", which "kick[s] ass".<ref name = "UGlist"/> He called Lifeson's guitar work exceptional and Rutsey's drum groove "serious"; in addition, "Geddy Lee letting it rip without restraint sounds very refreshing."<ref name = "UGlist"/> He placed the suite on his list of the "Top 7 Underrated Rush Masterpieces That Everyone Should Check Out".<ref name = "UGlist">{{cite web|author=The_Phoenician|date=February 28, 2025|url=https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/articles/features/top_7_underrated_rush_masterpieces_that_everyone_should_check_out-121301|title=Top 7 Underrated Rush Masterpieces That Everyone Should Check Out|publisher=Ultimate Guitar|access-date=April 9, 2025}}</ref>

== Parts ==
{{Track listing
| extra_column = Starts at ({{approx.}})
| title1 = Before
| extra1 = 0:00
| length1 = 2:17
| title2 = After
| extra2 = 2:17
| length2 = 3:16
| total_length = 5:33
}}
== Personnel ==
Sources: <ref name = "MyEffinLife"/>{{rp|141, 152}}<ref name = "Rushalbum">{{cite AV media notes|title=[[Rush (Rush album)|Rush]]|type=Vinyl|others=[[Rush (band)|Rush]]|year=1974|id=9100 011|publisher=[[Mercury Records]]}}</ref>

'''Rush'''
*[[Geddy Lee]]{{spaced ndash}} lead vocals, bass
*[[Alex Lifeson]]{{spaced ndash}} guitar, backing vocals
*[[John Rutsey]]{{spaced ndash}} drums, percussion, backing vocals

'''Technical personnel'''
*Dave Stock{{spaced ndash}} producer
*[[Terry Brown (record producer)|Terry Brown]]{{spaced ndash}} producer, remix engineer
*Gilbert Kong{{spaced ndash}} mastering
*Jim Shelton{{spaced ndash}} mastering consultant

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== Citations ==
{{reflist}}

{{Rush}}

[[Category:1974 songs]]
[[Category:Rush (band) songs]]
[[Category:Suites (music)]]
[[Category:Songs written by Geddy Lee]]
[[Category:Songs written by Alex Lifeson]]
[[Category:Canadian folk songs]]
[[Category:Boogie songs]]
[[Category:Heavy metal songs]]