Rush: Classic or Dud?

"SHE Loves the 2110s!",

Apparently this was Neil Peart's bird-feeding station at his lakehouse in Quebec. Of course he wouldn't have just one ...

https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/324658705_506426998146463_5171991724953394768_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5cd70e&_nc_ohc=XJn8NAVpYVQAX8PxqIH&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&oh=00_AfAijgRbZ2z1KE3mJStV4v2szoaqvOWlihE177D6Jfkv7g&oe=63C6663E

(RIP about three years ago, Neil)

Really enjoying "Snakes & Arrows" tonight.

I had to take my daughter to school really early this morning, 5:30 or so. Pretty sleepy, coffee in my to-go container, radio tuned to classic rock in time for their wacky AM crew Monkey & the Turd or whatever to be up and at 'em. They introduce a new feature, something along the lines of the Got to Get You Moving song, a pick to pep up your morning. The idea is that one DJ picks one song, one DJ picks another, and then they take calls to vote. The first guy plays the telltale start of "Spirit of Radio" and I'm, like, yeah, duh, that's the one. The other guy goes it's OK, but you get more bang for your buck with the Stones' longer "Can't You Hear Me Knocking." And I think, I mean, no contest, right? So the first caller immediately says "Rush, I've been listening to them since I was 13, then later when I was DJing parties ..." (which turned out to be make-out parties. To Rush? To each their own, I guess). The second caller immediately says "Rush, I've been a fan for 40 years." And the third caller comes on and says "I guess I'm going to make it a sweep, because ... Rush." Well, duh. It's around 5 degrees this morning, and I still almost waited it out in the car to hear the whole thing.

which turned out to be make-out parties. To Rush? To each their own, I guess

Mad neckin to "Red Sector A"

Heavy pettin’ to By-Tor and the Snow Dog.

At my childhood home right now, still some vintage Peart posters where my drums used to be.

<3

Revisited Clockwork Angels tonight after nearly a decade. What a flawed album, especially lyrically. Peart apparently wrote elaborate lyrics, but Geddy chose to junk most of them and just repeat the lame choruses again and again.

Even on its release, the steampunk world seemed a mere cash-grab by Peart, who post-comeback was concerned about financial stability. So, why not team up with one of the most bestselling (but least esteemed) sci-fi writers and create a universe that will generate revenue outside recordings?

Didn't Peart publish it as a novel?

The novelization was written by Kevin J. Anderson, based on ideas that he and Peart discussed.

I've got to admit, as with most concept albums I've never really paid much attention to any sort of narrative through line. Like, Lamb Lies Down? No clue what's going on!

the lamb lies down in a street on Broadway and gets run over, come on man

And turns into a phallic pupa, iirc.

"cash grab" I highly doubt that

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.