The Wreckers

For the discography of the country pop duo fronted by Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp, see The Wreckers (band).

"The Wreckers" is a song from Rush's 19th studio album, Clockwork Angels, released as the album's third official single in summer 2012. "The Wreckers" became Rush's fifth consecutive song to reach #1 on Jessica's Top 40, and the fourth from Clockwork Angels, in late September 2012.

With the success of "Headlong Flight" on Jessica's Top 40, Rush proved to have unstoppable staying power, as the song amassed a rare feat of top 5 longevity with 19 weeks inside the top 5. And the quality of the material from their Clockwork Angels era proved enduring not only with me but also with critics and fans, who believed it was Rush's finest moment since their 1970s breakthrough; it managed to peak at #2 on the Billboard album charts, tying as their best charting album to date. So I was excited for what Rush would release next from the album.

"The Wreckers" was released as a single in summer 2012 following the album's release. In the album's liner notes, drummer and lyricist Neil Peart credited the novel "Jamaica Inn" by Daphne Du Maurier as the song's inspiration. Peart told Rolling Stone that the novel describes a group of people known as The Wreckers on the coast of Cornwall in Britain, and how it fit in with the album's storyline: "They would not only plunder shipwrecks, but they would actually put up a fake light and attract the ships in a storm to crash on their shores so they could loot them. It’s just a shocking example of inhumanity, and it happens to be a true story. I wove it all of that into the story of this album."

The band said the recording of "The Wreckers" differed from past Rush songs in that singer/bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson switched instruments. In the drum room of the band's recording studio, Lee picked up a guitar that was lying around and started playing it, which impressed Lifeson because Lee was using strokes he normally doesn't. Lee said Lifeson joined him on bass to record the demo, and the final song finds both outside their comfort zones.

Lee and Lifeson compared "The Wreckers" to the work of another Canadian rock band, Barenaked Ladies, who are noted for its members switching instruments between songs during their live performances. He said the middle part of the song brings him and Lifeson back to their usual instruments for a more dramatic sound: "When we got to the middle section, we wanted the song to really become much more dramatic and we were trying to visualise a storm that’s taking place in the story and the limitation of being on the wrong instruments betrayed itself, so we had to switch back and we turned right back into Rush and finished writing the song. But it was really a fun way of doing it.”

Some critics, as well as the band members themselves, noted the song has more of a pop feel compared to the rest of their catalog. Several reviewers praised the song for its production and introspective lyrics; a review of the song by Ultimate Classic Rock compared the song to their classics "Closer To The Heart" and "Limelight" and described it as "an epic capable of standing alongside those heavyweight tracks."

On Jessica's Top 40, "The Wreckers" debuted at #17 on July 15, 2012, just two weeks ahead of its confirmation as a single, and quickly climbed up the chart, reaching #2 a month later. Rush took the #2 spot for 13 of Lita Ford's 14 weeks at #1 with "Living Like A Runaway", with "Headlong Flight" in the runner-up spot for eight weeks and "The Wreckers" holding still for five weeks. Rush finally put an end to Lita's domination when "The Wreckers" climbed to #1 on September 23, 2012, extending the band's perfect streak of #1 hits by becoming their fifth consecutive #1 single and fourth from Clockwork Angels. Interestingly, Rush preceded and succeeded Lita Ford's 19-week chart domination in 2012, with "Headlong Flight" replaced by Lita's "Branded" and follow-up "Living Like A Runaway" giving up the top to "The Wreckers".