Rush: Classic or Dud?

I remember liking the album (though I had a vested interest, since I worked for the label at the time). The book was OK. I interviewed Anderson for the Roadrunner website.

I like Clockwork Angels, but also don't pay much attention to the concept.

Geddy bio on the way
https://blabbermouth.net/news/rush-bassist-vocalist-geddy-lees-memoir-my-effin-life-now-due-in-november-2023

Great title.

https://i.imgur.com/WL7PUr4.jpg

I swear I remember a Peart interview where he was asked why he switched to Ludwig. “Because they paid me. It doesn’t matter anyway; all drums sound the same.”

Neil Peart's reputation as a great drummer was of course earned, but listening to "Hold Your Fire" today I was still reminded as always by just how creative the guy was: his arrangements, his fills, his use of triggers to enhance the aforementioned, even his tuning. Just so distinctive. He clearly put a ton of thought into what he was doing.

I found this dude playing the drums to "Second Nature," a pretty minor Rush song, and it's kind of incredible to consider the amount of concentration this must take:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdMvfrAmjc4

> his use of triggers to enhance the aforementioned

I regret that Peart left behind digital drums in the late 1980s and went back to a purely acoustic kit (except when performing some 1980s material in concert). He felt forced to retire in his early sixties because his body wasn't physically up to the same sort of drumming he had done before, but digital could have potentially compensated for that and let him be creative for another decade.

I think he never stopped triggering stuff, but yeah, at some point he stopped using electric drums as a sub for real drums. Though as I understand it, it was his feet/legs giving him the most trouble, at least at first, brought on by either a bike injury or just wear and tear from biking so much.

iirc, he developed a foot infection from hours of motorcycling in the rain.

wrt his tendonitis, he sat too low, and/or most of his drums and cymbals were positioned too high and out-of-reach, necessitating extra effort, causing him to keep his shoulders raised, and leading to tendonitis.

I'm assuming when he went to study with that jazz guru guy it was motivated by wanting to play with less force and wear and tear on his body

He definitely changed up his style immediately after that, but it seemed like he gravitated back towards his old ways later on.

the drum guru was freddie gruber, and one of the ways he changed his shit up was that he swore by traditional grip, like "this is the best way to hold the sticks, what was I thinking, that did so much damage to my hands," and then after the hiatus re: Jackie and Dominique's demises in 2002, he went back to matched grip…

I hesitate to sully this good thread here, but I'm currently listening to the new Crown Lands. And as much as I didn't want to like it, I have to admit that it is doing a decent job of filling a Rush filled hole in my life.

https://crownlandsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/fearless

Hmm, I don't know what to think of that.

The first song I heard I was still very skeptical, but the more I listened I found myself enjoying it. They are talented and the vocals make it hard not to immediately think of Geddy, but they are pretty damn talented. Far better than, say, Greta Van Fleet.

Do people really have a Rush-shaped hole? Personally, I’m satisfied by the band’s 19 albums which kept pace with various developments in rock, and whose career ended once rock as a cultural force was pretty much spent.

It does grieve me that Neil Peart is no longer with us.

I'd love to see Ged and Alex do a little tour with a Chad Smith or Dave Grohl and just hammer out some 74-75 material. They sure had a lot of fun at the Taylor Hawkins tributes.

Yeah, I mean, maybe Rush ended at a good time, but on the other hand, with all the other dinosaurs still touring and recording new music, I think they'd have had a lot more good stuff in them had things not developed the way they did.

once rock as a cultural force was pretty much spent.

side topic but this does not matter to me at all one bit? who cares?

just hammer out some 74-75 material

Except Geddy mostly hates that stuff, and hasn't been able to sing it either for decades.

Please tell if Geddy Lee's new television show is worth watching.

I'm sure it's worth watching but I don't really want to sign up for whatever service this is on

He's also touring his memoir.

i had no idea that he had a solo album until about a week ago. #thingsyoulearnedwhenyouwereold

With Matt Cameron on drums, I think.

is every song about how much ayn rand sucks?

All the songs are about being a Working Man who is In the Mood.

https://i.redd.it/1av52ozxomxb1.jpg

Woah!

This is a great piece:

https://wapo.st/3QzxgNL

Thanks for that.

Would Rush have had the success they did with Gershon Eliezer Weinrib and Aleksandar Živojinović fronting them? Given the era, I suspect not.

That WaPo article is wonderful, thanks for that.

KISS featuring Chaim Witz and Stanley Eisen.

Anyone seeing the Geddy Lee book tour?

I forget why it came up, maybe it was that WaPo feature, but my wife watched the Rush doc and really liked it. She doesn't like the band, but did gain a newfound respect for them. She had a best friend in high school who was really into Rush, and could never figure out why this shrieky hard rock band clicked with her. Supposedly the doc helped her understand.

And oh shit, apparently Alex just guested on a Tool song in Toronto the other night?

my wife watched the Rush doc and really liked it. She doesn't like the band, but did gain a newfound respect for them.

^^^

Nice interview with Geddy transcribed here:

https://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/mojo-01.2024.php

Nice, thanks for the link!

Meanwhile, the other day I learned that one of Neil's biggest inspirations for his drum technique on "Animate" were Lush and Curve. Colour me pleasantly surprised!

Great Geddy interview. Love that guy. Sort of surprised about the coke revelations.

It just goes to show that apparently *every* musician was doing coke, to some extent. Even Geddy Lee. I was kinda shocked at the revelation a few years ago that Mike Rutherford was a big coke abuser. (Whereas Phil was largely a teetotaler).

yeah it seems like it's pretty much impossible to comprehend how prevalent coke was in the entertainment biz in the 80s

As soon as the first Zeppelin LP dropped we all bought it and thought, What is this? It had a kinda Humble Pie vibe

Geddy has his chronology a little mixed up, the first Humble Pie album came out seven months after Zeppelin's debut.

It's touching to see how moved he is discussing Neil and Alex.

(Whereas Phil was largely a teetotaler).

Maybe with coke but he was apparently hitting the weed pretty heavily back in the day, plus his notorious problems with alcohol.

Imagine getting high with Tony Banks

cool he can be insufferable at a higher tempo

I think Phil's drinking problem came much, much later, like after he had (first) retired and had too much time and money.

I found the Curve/Lush quote btw!

For the opening track, 'Animate,' for instance, I used a basic R&B rhythm that I played back in my early days, coupled with that hypnotic effect that a lot of the British bands of the turn of the 90's had - bands like Curve and Lush. The middle section of the tune is the result of the impact African music has had on me, although it wasn't a specific African rhythm. I hear a section of a tune, and immediately I have to make choices, and many times those world influences I talked about earlier will come into play and contribute to my parts.

I can ... kind of hear it? Fwiw, I remember seeing Curve with Steve Monti and his playing made a big impression on me.