Rush: Classic or Dud?

Did anyone actually have a problem with the mastering on the original release?

you never know what little lifeson fiddlies they might uncover

Speaking of fiddles, I was watching a little Lifeson tutorial on the intro to "Spirit of Radio," and he self-effacingly describes it as a Celtic sort of thing. And now every time I hear it, yeah, it's totally this Celtic sort of thing.

Wasn't that intro meant to be mimicking radio waves?

Loosely, I think. But when describing it from a melodic/technical standpoint (since he was teaching) he used "Celtic,' which is probably more useful than "radio waves."

I found some other good stuff to explore, namely the tour books posted (I hope all) online, where Neil, at least, gives little making-of accounts. For example, I learned (and maybe knew already) that Alex programmed all the drum parts in the band's demos, which Neil would sometimes use for inspiration, and also that Neil sometimes went into each album with an overarching theme (as opposed to concept). For example, a lot of the lyrics of "Power Windows" hinge on (duh) notions of power. He writes:

Having enjoyed writing around the central theme of "Power" last time, I decided to try something like that again, this time working with the theme of "Time". I set to work first on "Time Stand Still". I'd been thinking about this for some time now; how so often the richness of a period of time or an experience seems to lie in looking back at it. Or conversely, sometimes you might know that you are enjoying a wonderful time, but just wish you could make it last longer. I'm sure you know how that goes. But as I set that one aside after a while, and went on to work on other ideas, it was strange to see that what I had thought was my theme suddenly turned itself into something else -- without even asking me! With the development of ideas for "Second Nature" and "High Water" the theme suddenly changed to "Instinct", or perhaps "Temperament" -- the idea of primeval or subconscious drives. Well okay, I thought, if that's what my brain wants to work on -- go ahead!

It's really awesome that Clockwork Angels was their final album, what an amazing way to go out.

I mean

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSWn9qbaFu8

I was watching the Rick Beato episode about "Limelight," and not only does he isolate Geddy's harmonies, he isolates a *lower* harmony with a British accent, which he figures must be producer Terry Brown!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P-yUOlOC5M

Around the 15 mark.

she sings tom sawyer pretty good!

Oh wow, I never noticed harmony vocals there.

A very moving read.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/neil-peart-rush-dead-cover-story-1110496/

oh man <3

bawled at the end ;_;

Good piece. I really recommend Ghost Rider. As the book shows, Peart was a bit of an *over*writer (and over-rider, for that matter), but there are some really profound, moving bits to it. He was clearly super smart, even if super smart people sometimes need a good editor.

I always thought the strangest thing about this intellectual monk of a drum god is that the music buddies he chose to hang out with were, like, the dude from Vertical Horizon or Godsmack or whatever.

My guess is that if you struck him as someone serious about your craft, whatever the style of music, that was a good sign.

they might be nice ppl to hang out with? idk i dont think it’s that weird.

xpost Maybe? It's also I suppose that he was so insular - as was Rush - that there were probably few points of entry into that world. He wasn't the sort to hobnob with celebrities or even other rock stars. Neither are Alex and Geddy, as far as I can tell. I'm sure over the years they've crossed paths with everyone, but I can also see them being best friends with the guy that works on their cars, or a bunch of nerds that meet to trade baseball cards or something.

Peart was a complex individual, possible the most complex musician in rock music history. But goddamn I envy is life even if he did it very differently than I would have, though I also pity him, the tragedy he endured.

Great piece.

New interview with Geddy:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/geddy-lee-neil-peart-interview-rush-1120190/

V cool piece

The whole interview is pretty fascinating -- and I don't really consider myself much of a Rush fan -- and I've never read anything that goes as in-depth into their songwriting process.

Geddy also addresses Neil's reluctance to meet fans:

I was thinking about this the other day. Early on, the first few tours we did, he was laughing a lot, having a lot of fun onstage. There was a time when we would even sit backstage after a gig and sign autographs for fans, especially in the U.K. The U.K. fans were used to lining up to get autographs after certain gigs; there would be literally hundreds of people lined up. So we would sit there in the drafty hallway as they were ushered in, and Neil would sign for everybody. As we got into the Eighties, something changed in him that made him much more sensitive to his private time and his exposure to the public and he started backing away from it.

Yeah, I liked that it went into the music itself, how it gets put together, how they feel about the process - usually what I want from interviews but so often not what's there.

Very good read. Loved the personal details from Geddy at the end there too.

The bit about trying and failing to teach him to whine is hilarious.

The contradictory thing about Rush's songwriting process is that, around Hemispheres at least, they claim that they wrote and recorded the instrumental backing tracks before the vocal melodies were written?!? But if you haven't written the melodies yet, why not change them so you're not singing at the top of your range throughout, unless you feel that there is only one "correct" melody that will fit these chord changes. I'm pretty sure that "Circumstances" on that record has the chorus vocal varispeeded to allow Geddy to hit those notes.

I think it took a good number of years for Geddy to learn the concept of singing within his natural range.

It's kind of amazing how private these dudes were for all those years, about the writing process, about their friendship. All I ever really knew as a fan was that they were best friends, and that's really all I needed to know. But it's super cool to learn in recent years that, say, Alex was a really adept drum machine programmer and would do all the drums on (at least his) demos. That's just a neat sort of detail to hear about a guy whose parts were often last to get added to the track, that he might have been last but so much of the stuff still originated from him. Similarly, I recall reading one of their recent producers noting that on the last few albums Neil just wasn't that interested in having total control over his arrangements, and how he actually started welcoming suggestions for fills or parts. In this new interview Geddy mentions "One Little Victory," and I kind of remember that being an example of the producer hearing Neil warming up or something and suggesting he put it in the song.

I think it took a good number of years for Geddy to learn the concept of singing within his natural range.

Some glass-shattering (and raging versions of "Anthem" and "2112") here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrBWZscNR18

My wife declared herself a new fan after listening to this + the live version of "Subdivisions" that Youtube's algorithm went to after this.

Yeah, I think that *is* his natural range! There was that interview with Les Claypool last year or so, because Primus was going to tour a cover version of "Hemispheres" or the other one, and he contacted Geddy to ask how much was falsetto, and Geddy was all, no man, that's just me.

Originally we’d always kind of joked around about doing Hemispheres. That record has always had a very big place in my heart and head. But as we got to thinking about the record and how to tackle it — because it’s not going to be an easy feat, on many levels: A) I gotta try to sing Geddy Lee shit (laughs). His older stuff is up in the stratosphere. I was texting with Geddy and saying, ‘Man, is any of this falsetto, or …?’ And he was like, ‘Nope, that’s my full voice.’ So I might need some help from the audience on some of this stuff.

Yeah, none of it sounds falsetto to me.

Claypool didn't want to just change the key or sing an octave down?

He could have done some chest/head hybrid but his voice was naturally reedy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM5W1t1Jiuc

^^^^scroll up to May 8, 2018 for some Rush/Primus talk and some still functional embeds.

That Passaic 1976 show is just scorching. I did a little digging, that abbreviated set was the headline slot of a Montrose/Foghat triple bill.

Buttrock, ho! I bet that venue smelled like a strong mix of weed, beer, denim and beards.

I think this is old, but still awesome:

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

This is like me on the steering wheel.

The open hi-hat on that kit is really magical, also the bass and snare, but when the first OHH comes in I was sold 100%. Great cover.

If the comments are to be believed, supposedly Mike Portnoy sent him or arranged to have him sent a kit and cymbals.

That kit sounds pretty good. Love the kick sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48IEOgnpZ84

There's a Your Favorite Band Sucks podcast on Spotify. Scrolled through the list, listened to a bit of the Rush one, and lost interest when the two hosts threw out "none of the three are talented musicians".

Good way to know to avoid that podcast. I mean, I get Rush not being everyone's cup of tea but to insist that none of them are talented is just bizarre.

That's Tyler Mahan Coe, right? I just assumed from one or two episodes that it was a prolonged pointless troll. Like, I think I heard the Police one, and almost everything was anti-Sting (fair) but then he did the same thing, dismissing Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland as the worst guitarist/drummer ever, which is just stupid. Same with one on the Smiths, largely anti-Morrissey (fair again) but then dismisses the rest of the band as talentless or something, just to be stupid.

Tyler, yes. The description includes Some algorithm randomly assigns a band to deconstruct and that's all Mark and Tyler are doing in every episode. From what you say re: The Police and The Smiths, doesn't sound like a deconstruction as much as lining up straw men. I'd rather watch drum-only clips. I think the one above is from the Peart "Taking Center Stage" doc, which is great.

Wish I lived in the alternate reality where Peart's still around, ailment-free.

classic

Where is that video from?

The YouTube video doesn't give origin, but it's Neil's Taking Center Stage DVD. Same clothing/hat.

is it? the footage in Taking Center Stage is mostly taken from concerts