Neil Peart dominates the recent news this week as we peak into a new section of his website, check out how Neil fared in this year's Drummie awards and witness how Rush is viewed in light of this year's celebration of Canada Day.
• Bubba’s Bar ’n’ Grill: Neil Peart will be launching a new section on this website this weekend called Bubba’s Bar ’n’ Grill.
The motto at Bubba’s place is “Good Simple Food,” and Neil’s kitchen alter-ego, Bubba, offers helpful cooking tips and easy recipes — a modest variety at first, to grow over time — presented through stories that aim to illuminate, instruct, and entertain.
Check out more about the launch of this "kitchen", which happens on July 4th, via this LINK• Neil Peart Wins DRUM! Magazine's "Drummer Of The Year": Back in April, I let you know that DRUM! Magazine was taking votes for this year's Drummie Awards. And while fellow Rush webmaster Michael from NeilPeartDrumsticks.Com didn't get the award for best Drum Website of the Year, Neil did take hope top honors in both the "Drummer of the Year" and "Progressive Rock Drummer". Congratulations to Neil!• The 10 Most Influential Canadian Musicians": In connection with the celebration of Canada Day on July 1st, there have been several articles about influential Canadians of late. ZME Music posted a recent list of the 10 Most Influential Canadian Musicians where Rush placed 3rd:
Alongside Genesis, Yes, Jethro Tull, Yes or Van Der Graaf Generator, the Torontonians of Rush were part of the progressive rock apex from the ’70s, to mid ’80s. Like many progressive bands from their time, Rush tackled many genres, from heavy metal to hard rock to synth pop, and they rocked the house regardless of what they played.
Only poet/singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen and Neil Young bested Rush in this article.• America’s 50 Favorite Canadians!: Also in connection with Canada Day, The Insider posted a list of America’s 50 Favorite Canadians! where Rush came in at position #20. Unfortunately they described Rush as a "progressive rock / heavy metal group". Well, they got it half right. Pamela Anderson took top honors behind William Shatner in this poll.• Snakes Alive! The S&V Interview with Alex Lifeson of Rush: Mike Mettler from Sound and Vision Magazine recently posted and article/interview with Alex Lifeson about how he and his co-mixer Richard Chycki worked the 5.1 mix for the legendary Canadian trio’s "Snakes & Arrows Live" Blu-ray Disc.
So there are other things in the works? Yeah, I hope so! I mean, I’ve got some time off [chuckles]. I’ve been a little bit unmotivated lately, since we’ve been working so much over the last 7 or 8 years. But the things that we’ve done physically in the studio have been inspiring, so we’re planning to do a bunch of things. Rich has a number of projects, including some Rush stuff, that he’ll be continuing to work on at the studio. [Just what some of those projects might be will be covered in an interview I did with Chycki that will post in the fall.]
I'm still working on the the third edition of Rush: A Brief History of Time which I hope to have online sometime this weekend.
I hope everyone enjoys their weekend - especially those of us in the United States who will be celebrating our country's Independence Day. Warm weather, backyard barbecues, fireworks and Rush -- nothing more American than that :) Enjoy all!
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June 30th, 2009 "Limelight" Featured in Pepsi/Rock Band Commercial
According to Power Windows, Rush's Limelight will be used as the background music for a new commercial promoting Pepsi Rock Band, a contest where your can upload your very own Rock Band music video with the possibility of winning an MTV music award.
We'll be watching for the commercial to debut on YouTube after which we'll post the link here (So keep your eyes peeled for it).
A recent article from the UK's Guardian asked several artists to select their favorite pop/rock band. Geddy Lee had this to say about his selection, Radiohead:
Describing someone as "the best" is something you do at school in grade 5, but Radiohead are the most interesting of the big groups. In terms of communication and reach, it has to be U2, but I like Radiohead's intricacy and melodic content. They've got a willingness to experiment with melody and texture that a lot of bands don't have. Plus, they manage to stay fresh. It's more about attitude than technology. I've often thought Radiohead carry on what began as progressive rock nearly 40 years ago. There's a similar spirit and willingness to explore.
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June 29th, 2009 Neil Peart's News, Weather, and Sports Update - Neil's Wife is Expecting!
Neil Peart has posted the latest edition of his "News, Weather, and Sports" section of his website. In this edition, Neil discusses and shares some interesting pictures on some recent trips he took to Southern California as well as Santa Cruz Island. At one point, Neil describes how the boat he was on was surrounded by hundreds of dolphins.
"...Groups of six or eight at a time rose in synchronized arcs, a pattern repeated near and far and all around, like some fantastic water ballet. Raising cameras and binoculars, people moved slowly around the deck, in a kind of quiet reverence broken only by occasional half-whispers along the lines of “Wow!,” and, “Look at that!”..."
But the exciting news in this edition is that Neil's wife, Carrie Nuttall, is seven months pregnant with their first child together.
At the same time, under that same marine layer, my wife Carrie was seven months pregnant. [Pause for sharp intake of breath and shiver of apprehension.] Our baby was growing and kicking, protected and insulated in its own oceanic fluid, its own marine layer. The anxious (not to say terrified) father kind of wished the baby could stay there, safe from harm, and not have to embark upon a life of menace and potential tragedy. He had lost before, and probably couldn't stand to lose again. People kept saying it was going to be all right, and he tried to keep telling himself that. Even in the June Gloom.
I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing some heart-felt congratulations to the new parents-to-be, Neil and Carrie.
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June 26th, 2009 Rush Takes Home Excellence in Beverly Hills
Rush's Snakes & Arrows Live took home the coveted IMDA/DVDA "Excellence in Disc Audio (Blu Ray Disc)" award during a ceremony at the Luxe Hotel in Beverly Hills.
"I always have a great time recording Rush. They play so well that it makes life easier even though you have 80 odd tracks for 3 musicians! Kudos go out to Rich Chycki and Alex Lifeson who mixed the music, to Andy VanDette who mastered the mixes and to Denis Normandeau, my audio partner of 9 years, who encoded the music to DTS-HDMA for the Blu-Ray here at FogoLabs." said François Lamoureux, president of FogoLabs after receiving the good news."
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June 23rd, 2009 Japanese Rush Mini-LP SHM-CD's Now Available
Back in April, we reported that Warner Music Japan was reissuing RUSH's first 12 studio albums as Mini-LP SHM-CD's. Those CDs are now available for order via Amazon.Com.
Although the data itself is not remastered, these "super high material" cd's purportedly improve the original audio through the use of new plastic material which is much clearer than normal cd's, thus reducing mechanical distortion and improving resolution.
The CD's are packaged as "Mini-LP's" in cardboard sleeves to faithfully mimic the original LP style. Only the first 12 studio albums will be released at this time, with future releases dependent on actual sales. Rush fan Jun'ya Suzuki of the Japanese Rush collector site "The Sphere" worked closely with Warner Music Japan to faithfully reproduce with exquisite detail the artwork of the original first edition Canadian LPs: you can view detailed images of the mini-lp artwork here.
At this time, only the first 12 Rush Studio albums along with Retrospective I and II are available in this format. Click the album cover images below to place your order via Amazon.com. Prices are around $50 per CD.
Thanks, as always, to Eric from Power Windows for sharing the news.
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June 22nd, 2009 "Rush and Philosophy" Book in Development
Open Court Publishing, creators of the Culture and Philosophy book series and long-time Rush/Philosopher author Durrell Bowman are looking to put together an anthology of articles and synopses featuring Rush and Philosophy. The editors recently posted a request for related articles on the topic:
Call for Papers: "Rush and Philosophy"
The rock band Rush resonates widely for musician-fans and others interested in structural complexity, individualism, and a range of literary and stylistic influences. The group has explored such genres as heavy metal and hard rock, progressive and synth-rock, and post-progressive "power trio," along with various secondary influences. However, the band has also wandered among such lyrical interests as relationships, fantasy-adventure, classical mythology, European and world history, science-fiction, libertarianism, atheism, science, and technology.
We are looking for short articles (of around twenty pages) to add to this proposed anthology for the series that began with "Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing" (2000), but since 2005 has also included (see http://www.opencourtbooks.com/categories/pcp.htm) music-related books about hip hop, Bob Dylan, U2, the Beatles, the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Radiohead, and Jimmy Buffett. Writers in philosophy, musicology, economics, and psychology have already committed to "Rush and Philosophy," and they are exploring the following areas from across Rush's career (1974- ):
-personal tragedies, self-determination, and Sartre
-the anthropic cosmological principle and atheism
-Canadianness in Anglo-American genres and in lyrics and images
-tribute projects of the band's music in death metal, trip-hop, and classical strings
-the band's combination of secular humanism and mysticism
-libertarianism and left-libertarianism, rather than "right-wing"
-the cognitive function of riffs and other music in expressing difficult ideas
-a roundtable on political economy, Ayn Rand, and Rush's "2112"
Contributions from women, minorities, and people from outside of North America are most welcome!
Deadline for one-page abstracts: July 19, 2009. Deadline for completed first-drafts: August 31, 2009
According to Rush Fan Site Power Windows, some of the other Rush/Philosophy related articles that Durrell Bowman has been associated with are:
Progressive Rock Reconsidered with Chapter 9 titled Let Them All Make Their Own Music: Individualism, Rush, and the Progressive/Hard Rock Alloy, 1976-77
Howard Johnson of SaltyRockz.Com just let me know about another new Rush-related T-shirt that will be sold exclusively at SaltyRockz.Com.
...We're about to add another tee to the Saltyrockz site on Friday, June 26th, so I thought I'd give you a heads up. This one is a nod towards Fly By Night with an extra Canadian twist. To check out all the colour options, [visitors] should go to www.saltyrockz.com, type 'Rush' into the search filed on the left hand side and then click to see the design on a T-shirt. After that, all the colour combos will be available. But this will only work after Friday when the design goes live.
In addition to the new Guitar and Bass tabs that I listed below, Amazon now has a couple of exciting Rush related Pre-Orders now available.
Up first is the 2010 Rush Wall Calendar. This will be the seventh Rush Wall Calendar to be released since the series began back in 2004. Check out the Image Database to see the other six calendars. The 2010 Wall Calendar should be release on or about July 15th, 2009.
Also now available for pre-order from Amazon are the DVD and Blu-Ray versions of the hit, Rush-filled "bromantic" comedy I Love You, Man. Both versions of the movie are expected to be released on or about August 11th, 2009.
There's been plenty of Rush related new stories of late so let's get to them!
• Alfred Rocks Out With Rush TAB Collections: Alfred Publishing, the worldwide leader in educational music publishing since 1922, has just released two new Rush-related Tab Collections:
Alfred is apparently feeling nostalgic for some good ‘ole classic rock, as is evident in their announcement today of the Rush Deluxe TAB collections.
For 30 years Rush, led by bassist Geddy Lee, have been creating their own brand of highly-recognizable rock, and now Alfred is bringing Rush fans and music aficionados in general two 22-song collections to fulfill their need for the group’s sound. Both collections are transcribed in authentic TAB, and feature some of the following titles: The Big Money; Closer to the Heart; Distant Early Warning; Dreamline; Far Cry; Fly by Night; Freewill; Ghost of a Chance; The Larger Bowl; Limelight; New World Man; One Little Victory; Red Barchetta; Show Don’t Tell; The Spirit of Radio; Subdivisions; Test for Echo; Tom Sawyer; The Trees; Vital Signs; Working Man; YYZ.
"During a warm-up session with Peart, Bozzio, and Heredia, the Drum Channel crew was so impressed, they started rolling the cameras and managed to capture this amazing musical performance.
The full-length jam can be found as a "bonus lesson" in Neil's masterclass titled "Frontiers of Composition and Articulation", to be made available on Drum Channel later this week.
The Drum Channel also recently conducted a live chat with Neil, Terry Bozzio and Joey Herredia. Click HERE for more information on the chat.
• Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson Interview on CBC Now Online: As reported earlier, Geddy & Alex were interviewed by Jian Ghomeshi for the May 20, 2009 edition of CBC's cultural affairs show "Q". Video footage of their appearance, which aired on CBC Radio One, is now available via this LINK. Or, if you prefer, you can listen to the audio via this Stream.
• Canadian Documentary Film Maker Allan King Passes Away: At the age of 79, Documentary Filmmaker Allan King passed away. Among other documentaries, Mr. King created Come on Children back in 1973 which followed 10 troubled teenagers, including Alex Lifeson, as they ramble about on a farm talking about life, existence and what's wrong with the world.
Click HERE to see the clip of Come on Children which includes Alex Lifeson.
To order Come on Children along with other Allan King Documentaries, click HERE.
That's it for now, everyone. Also, the third edition of Rush: A Brief History of Time with also be coming online within the next few days.
This is an ULTRA-LIMITED edition of "Rush - The Complete Tourbooks".
This book is one of only 5 copies debossed with a special red foil on the cover. This is a 400 page coffee table book with all of Rush's tour books to date, a total of 15 books. The books have been reproduced and bound together in a black, cloth-wrapped 12" X 12" book. Every cover of every book is printed on cover stock. The front cover is debossed in black and red foil with the starman logo. There is a two-page introduction written by Neil Peart, detailing his involvement in the design and content of every Rush tour book going back to 1977.
This contest closes on June 22, 2009 so enter today!
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June 9th, 2009 Rush in Video Games
Classic songs by Rush have been making a number of appearances in new and upcoming video games of late.
The new Guitar Hero Smash Hits compilation, which gets released on Tuesday, June 16th, will include the master-recording version of "YYZ" and will allow play from all instruments.
"Rock Band Unplugged, based on the award-winning Rock Band series of games, features 41 songs on-disc that encompass popular tracks from the Rock Band music library, as well as nine songs exclusive to Rock Band Unplugged for a limited time before becoming available as downloadable content on other console versions...Travel the globe, play gigs, acquire fans, and become a rock legend, all while riding the train to work! Rock Band Unplugged creates a full band experience in the palm of players' hands by combining traditional beat-match gameplay with key elements from both Rock Band and Rock Band 2, such as overdrive and chords. The hands are the "peripherals" in Rock Band Unplugged, allowing players to take direct control of the lead/bass guitars, drums and vocals. Players can expect an in-depth Rock Band experience with fully functional modes, like World Tour, Band Survival and Warm Up, as well as a robust character creator for full rocker customization." - RockBand.com (includes video demo)
And on a related note, the all new "Classic Rock Track Pack" for Rock Band, which came out in late May, includes "Closer To The Heart" and "Red Barchetta" among its list of 20 tracks.
Just in time for the upcoming Father's Day holiday, Axe Heaven and Rush Fan Site Power Windows have created a series of Rush Miniature Guitars. From Power Windows:
Power Windows is proud to bring you these meticulously created 1:4-scale replica guitar collectibles from Axe Heaven.com. When it comes to RUSH, the instruments used by Lee and Lifeson are as iconic as the music they created. Now you can own miniature reproductions of the band's most memorable guitars* for a reasonable price (*Alex Lifeson's Gibson EDS-1275 Doubleneck, his signature Gibson ES-355, and Geddy Lee's signature Fender Jazz bass).
Power Windows has been working with Axe Heaven to insure these guitars have been reproduced as closely as possible, to include such details as the maple fretboard and chrome volume plate on Geddy's signature Jazz bass, and the gold embellishments on Alex's signature ES-355. These collectible guitars are perfect for the home or the office, letting your acquaintances know where your allegiances lie; in addition, their low cost makes them a great gift.
Click HERE for more information and ordering details.
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May 29th, 2009 Rush Themed Concert Hall planned for New Rock & Roll Amusement Park
The Decades Music Theme Park, which begins construction in 2010, is a new Rock & Roll themed amusement park which will be located in Eloy, Arizona. According to the park's website, one of the planned attractions is a Rush-themed concert hall called the Spirit of Radio Concert Hall.
Modeled from the Rush album cover art “Spirit of the Radio”, this venue will be a more intimate indoor music theater. It will include 2,000 seats and serve as a regular space for tribute band performances, battle of the band competitions, a “New Artists’ Exposure Series” and bands with smaller audience draws. We also hope to lure the VH1 Music Awards to host their annual event at this site on a rotating basis.
Two quick news bits related to The Professor. First, the July 2009 edition of Modern Drummer Magazine contains the results of their 2009's Reader's Poll. While Neil didn't take home the top honors, he did place second in the category of Best Rock Drummer and third in the category of Best Progressive Rock Drummer. The issue should hit the newsstands on June 2nd.
In other news, Neil recently posted the 13th Issue of his Bubba's Book Club column. This time around, Neil discusses five books where a common theme of "heroes" emerged.
"The books I read are chosen by what seems at the time to be 'natural selection'—the simple criteria of picking up the next volume that feels 'most likely to please.' Sometimes, though, a sequence of books turns out to share an unexpected theme. These five reviews are presented in the order in which the books happened to be chosen (from my endless 'books to read' shelves), and the common theme that emerged is 'heroes.'"
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May 28th, 2009 Alex Lifeson Discusses His Guest Appearance with The Tragically Hip
Last week, Alex made a guest appearance during a The Tragically Hip concert and has now posted about the experience on the Rush.Com website.
I came back on with the band for the encore to warm and crazy applause and a very kind introduction from Gord and then we launched into The Last Recluse. Although solid in soundcheck, it felt great on the night, moody and dynamic. We then quickly went in Little Bones, with that great intro riff from Paul. Three guitars playing that riff is awesome and it still runs through my head as I write this. We nailed the ending and the song just cooked all the way through.
Last month, I posted a collection of old Rush articles and interviews in a segment called Rush: A Brief History of Time. The articles were sent to me by reader Heiko Klages of Germany who was gracious enough to share some of these rare glimpses into the beginnings of Rush. Heiko sent me some additional articles that I wanted to share with you here. I hope you enjoy them.
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Up first is a fantastic 7-page article which appeared in the January 1975 edition of The Canadian Composer - a bilingual monthly music magazine. The article, titled Rush: Living the Rock and Roll Lifestyle was written by Richard Flohil and is presented below in both English and French-Canadian.
Up next is a short, uncredited article which appeared in the April 17th, 1976 edition of the UK music periodical Sounds. The article briefly discusses the similarities of Rush and Led Zeppelin from a Tolkien perspective. The article can be read HERE.
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The next article appeared in the April 27th, 1976 edition of Circus Magazine, a monthly American magazine devoted to rock music. The 2-page article, titled Behind Their Space Odyssey `2112` was written by Dan Nooger and, obviously, focuses on the band's quintessential concept album 2112.
Note the caption under the image of the band on the first page of the article. Apparently, ZZ Top refused to let the band play an encore after the "stole the show" in Cleveland. Love it!
Behind Their Space Odyssey `2112` can be read here: Page 1 --- Page 2
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The next article, titled Rush`s Concept is Rock and Roll originally appeared in the June 3rd-9th, 1976 edition of Scene magazine. Written by Nick Shofar, this article discusses 2112 and how the band attempted to "get away from the stigma of Led Zeppelin".
This article can be read via the following two links: Cover --- Article.
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Finally we have an early Billboard Article on the band called Rush Rushes Into U.S. Prominence which originally appeared in the August 28th, 1976 edition of the magazine. Written by Starr Arning, this short article briefly discusses Rush's early years, their upcoming appearance on the Don Kirshner's Rock Concert television show and how they expect to put "...a lighter part in the middle of [their] show..." after they begin headlining concerts. Definitely an interesting read.
And there you have it. Another look into the past of Rush. Thanks once again go out to reader Heiko Klages for sharing these fantastic articles.
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May 21st, 2009 Alex Lifeson Makes Guest Appearance at The Tragically Hip Concert
Canadian Rockers The Tragically Hip just completed a 6-night engagement at the Massey Hall in Toronto (where Rush recorded All The World's A Stage back in 1976). During the Hip's final show, none other than Alex Lifeson made an appearance during their 2-song encore. Alex performed with the band on The Last Recluse which appeared on the album We Are The Same as well as the song Little Bones from the album Road Apples.
Alex's appearance during the encore can be viewed via the YouTube video below (or click HERE for a direct like to the YouTube video.)
Apologies for the lack of updates lately folks. With the recent release of the new Star Trek movie, I've been spending time on the other side of Cygnus-X1.Net. So, here some some of the most recent Rush related news stories.
• CBC Interview with Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson Now Online: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were interviewed by Jian Ghomeshi for the May 20th edition of CBC's cultural affairs show "Q". The program, which aired on CBC Radio One, is now available for streaming at this location.
• Rush included in "Rock Band Classic Rock Track Pack" : The all new "Classic Rock Track Pack" for Rock Band was recently released and includes two tracks from Rush ("Closer To The Heart" and "Red Barchetta"). "Rock Band Track Pack Classic Rock" is a standalone game, meaning that players do not need to own a standard copy of a Rock Band game to play it. Players can enjoy all the great features of Rock Band, including: Solo and Band Tour Mode, Quickplay, Tug of War, Score Dual, and song unlock progression.
While recording artists and bands are busy recording their albums, a separate effort is usually being made behind the scenes to plan for the launch, promotion and circulation of the new tracks. The creation of CD cover art is an intergral part of this process.
Some CD covers feature heavily edited and airbrushed vanity photos of the musicians or recording artists. Thankfully, others are much more creative and work to create a cover image that reflects the mood, attitude or feel of the music it promotes. The most striking designs are those that capture both a buyer's attention and the essense of the music.
Smashing Magazine
Rush - Power Windows (1985)
This strange cover seems to be showing a mirrored world, where we sit and watch a window, surrounded by televisions.
The next edition of Rush: A Brief History of Time with be posted on Memorial Day Monday (May 25th). Enjoy the weekend and, for those of you celebrating, the Memorial Day holiday.
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May 13th, 2009 Last Chance to Vote for the Drum! Magazine 2009 Drummie Awards
Voting for Drum! Magazine's 2009 Drummie Awards closes this Friday. If you haven't done so already (or even if you have), place your VOTE today.
In addition to voting for the obvious Drummer (in various categories), we're also making a push to vote for the Neil Peart Drumsticks site in the category of Best Drumming Website (poll #15).
• Drum Channel to Air Live Video Chat With Neil Peart: The Drum Channel will be airing a live telecast featuring Neil Peart, Doane Perry of Jethro Tull fame and Terry Bozzio; Frank Zappa's drummer on Thursday, June 18th at 3PM EST. The guests will be discussing the world of Progressive Rock Drumming and will be answering questions submitted by fans via the Drum Channel's chat room. Or, if you so choose, you can email your questions in advanced to info@drumchannel.com.
• Buddy Rich Memorial Concert 2008 3 Disc DVD Set: Last year's Buddy Rich Memorial Concert, which took place in New York City and featured, among other artists, Neil Peart will be offered up as a 3-DVD Disc set at the end of the month. For more information and to sign up for an alert when the set is available, click HERE.
• Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson to Appear on CBC Radio's Q: Geddy & Alex are scheduled to appears as guests on CBC Radio's Q with Jian Ghomeshi sometime during the week of May 21st. The program airs weekdays at 10AM on CBC Radio One (Channel 137 on Sirius Satellite Radio). A rebroadcast of the interview will likely make its way to the internet shortly thereafter. We'll post a link once it becomes available.
• Soundtracks Keep Old Hits Alive: A recent article from the Vancouver Sun discusses the proliferation of Rush "sightings" in movies this year; from the recently released Adventureland to FanBoys and last month's I Love You, Man.
Two films that opened last weekend pay homage to classic Rush tracks. Adventureland, set in an amusement park in the summer of 1987, features an inspired a cappella version of Limelight -- ironically, it first appeared on the band's Moving Pictures album -- by Barret Hackney's character Munch, whose grasp of the lyrics is a little tenuous.
"For those who think and feel," he squeals in his best Geddy Lee falsetto, before resorting to: "Blah blah-blah blah-blah blah-blaaah!"
In Fanboys, Dan Fogler (oddly similar in stature to Hackney) is a Star Wars fan with a plan and a van. The plan is to steal a copy of 1999's The Phantom Menace before its theatrical release, and the first rule in the van is that the tunes he plays must be all Rush, all the time.
YYZ and Tom Sawyer (also from 1981's Moving Pictures album) play on the soundtrack.
I'll also be posting another edition of Rush: A Brief History of Time with a new collection of early Rush articles from the 1970's. Look for it soon.
The latest edition of Rush Connect, the official Rush Mailing List, just announced that the Rush Mobile Store is holding a special contest.
Join Rush Mobile and you could win a piece of Rush history!
In honor of the release of Retrospective III, we are giving fans the opportunity to win signed, vintage Rush posters. ACTUAL vintage posters - not re-prints - all signed by the guys.
We have ten of them to give away and all you need to do is sign up for Rush mobile between April 30, 2009 and May 15, 2009. On May 18, 2009 we will randomly pick ten winners and let you know via text that you have won.
Already a Rush Mobile member? You're already entered. If not, join today to win.
Good luck!
Click HERE to subscriber to the Rush Connect Mailing List.
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April 30th, 2009 Extended Cameo Appearance from I Love You, Man
An extended version of Rush's cameo appearance in the movie I Love You, Man is now available online. The original concert scene from the bromance comedy, which stars Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, clocked in at just about one minute. The version online, however, includes the entire rendition of Limelight and runs over 4 minutes in length.
You can watch the video at this LINK or via the player below.
A new contest from the the Rush Backstage Club is now underway. This time out, the prize is a signed copy of Rush's Snakes & Arrows studio album.
All three members of the band signed this CD copy of the album which makes this a rare treat for any Rush fan.
The contest closes on May 10th, 2009 so get your entries in now.
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April 22nd, 2009 Drum! Magazine's 2009 Drummie Awards - Vote Now
Drum! Magazine has now opened up the voting for the 2009 Drummie Awards. You can place your vote in a number of categories via this LINK.
In addition to voting for the obvious Drummer (in various categories), we're also making a push to vote for the Neil Peart Drumsticks site in the category of Best Drumming Website (poll #15).
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April 20th, 2009 Rush To Appear on In the Studio with Redbeard
Marking the 35th anniversary of their debut album, Rush, the band (Geddy & Alex) are set to appear on In The Studio With Redbeard during the week of April 20th.
For a preview of the interview, click HERE and look on the left side of the page for the 'Rush' cover image. You can also click HERE for a list of stations where you can listen to the interview.
Though this section is typically reserved for "New" Rush News, I definitely wanted to share some newfound "Classic" news on the band. Over the past few weeks, reader Heiko Klages of Germany has been passing me some very old - and rare - articles and advertisements on the band. I have to say, there are a few articles here that I've never seen, so I'm excited to bring them to the rest of you to enjoy.
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First up is an articled titled Rush: Deadly Serious About Their Music by John Ayearst which was originally published back on March 21, 1974. This early article is one of the few that discusses the band with late, original drummer John Rutsey. The article is in two parts and can be read here: Page 1 --- Page 2.
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Next up is a very early review of Rush's debut album called Rush Rock Sound Crisp and Strong by Bill Provick which originally appeared in the May 30th, 1974 edition of The (Ottawa) Citizen.
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Later in 1974, Rush made what was probably their first appearance in Billboard Magazine with this articled titled Rush Hot On Circuit. This uncredited short article appeared in the October 19th, 1974 edition of Billboard and includes a rare picture of the band with Neil Peart. Alongside the band are Joe McHugh and Greg McCutcheon of "ATI"; the organization who booked Rush for their early, New York gigs. Also included in the picture is Rush's first "American" manager Ira Blacker. All three are mentioned in the liner notes from Rush's debut album.
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In March of 1975, the Music Canada Quarterly Magazine published a two-page spread on the band titled A Rush of Sound by Cliff Lorimer. There are a lot of interesting tidbits in this article including how, early on, the band was confused with other bar bands/trios who were also called Rush. Also of interest is the mention that, even back in 1975, Rush was thinking about recording a live album at Toronto's Massey Hall. About 15 months after this article was published, Rush did end up recording their first live album at Massey. We, of course, all know it as All The World's A Stage.
Moving along, here's a short article/review simply titled Rush written by Geoff Barton. Mr. Barton is also well known for having penned the "words" behind both the 2112 Tour Book as well as the first volume of Rush: The Words and the Pictures.
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Moving along chronologically, the March 1976 edition of Creem (America's Only Rock 'n' Roll) Magazine included a two-page article called Rush: Pebbles & Bam-Bam in Alphaville by Rick Johnson. Yep, you read that title correctly. Of course, any article that begins with...
"The first thing you notice about Rush, according to one observer, is that they're not as gross-looking as Bachman-Turner Overdrive and they have a somewhat lower thud weight than most other Canadian bands.
...has to be, well, interesting. Check out the entire, interesting read here: Cover --- Page 1 --- Page 2.
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Finally, outside of this early advertisement for 2112, comes an article titled How To Click Without Airplay. Published in the December 22nd, 1976 edition of Variety, this article, sub-titled Canadian Rock Trio, Rush, Brushed Off By Radio Station, But Sells Records is an interesting look back at how Rush, against all odds, did succeed. Apologies for the poor quality of the scanned article.
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Enormous thanks go out again to reader Heiko Klages for providing me with these (and other) rare Rush news clippings.
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April 15th, 2009 A Trio Of Rush Stories in the Chicago Tribune
The April 15th edition of the Chicago Tribune has 3 stories related to Rush with a blurb about the Rush-related content on the first page of the newspaper.
The first article, titled Rush Fans Make Their Way Out of the Woodwork discusses the new found popularity of the group these days with the declaration that "...liking Rush is cool."
The second short article, titled Rush: Your Questions Answered is a short review for the non-fan about what the band is all about. I was laughing out loud at the comment made by Chicago photographer Chris Schneberger who said: "Whenever I can, when I get a check in a restaurant and it's like around $18 or so, I will round up the tip until the final bill is '$21.12.' I know, it's pathetic." And I thought I was the only one who did that!
The third article, titled Cover Band Chronicles Rush's Hits discusses the Rush Tribute Band Chronicles, A History of Rush. Aptly named, this cover band "...play Rush-the hits ("Tom Sawyer"), the obscurities, the epics-in chronological order. And only chronological order."
Last week, at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Metallica's James Hetfield began his thanks with a list of bands he'd like to see enter the hall next, including KISS, RUSH, THIN LIZZY, TED NUGENT, IRON MAIDEN and MOTÖRHEAD. You can see the speech via this YouTube video (around the 5 minute mark). Thanks to reader Austin Kelso, GeddyWannaBe, RayM and others who shot me this news. Other notable Rush pieces this week include...
• Allaire Studios to Close Down: As a sign of the times, Allaire Studios, the recording studio that Rush used for Snakes & Arrows appears to be closing down.
The long-term problem is that Allaire is very specifically targeted to the music business, and increasingly the way albums are being made we kind of ran into the perfect storm of producer-and-artist home studios and failing retail. Those things combined to seal the studio's fate.
You can read more about the studio closing down via this link. Thanks to reader Gregg Olson for the news link.
• Japanese Rush Mini-LP SHM-CD's: Rush fan site Power Windows recently posted about some newly reissued Rush "Mini LP SHM-CD's".
Coming this June, Warner Music Japan will be reissuing RUSH's first 12 studio albums as Mini-LP SHM-CD's. Although the data itself is not remastered, these "super high material" cd's purportedly improve the original audio through the use of new plastic material which is much clearer than normal cd's, thus reducing mechanical distortion and improving resolution. There are already some detrators to this technology, however.
Thanks to Ed from Power Windows for sharing this news.
• 2112 Drum Transcription Songbook:Alfred Music Publishing has just announced the release of a new drum transcription songbook for Rush's 1976 classic album 2112. From the press release:
Alfred expands their Classic Album Editions songbooks for drums with 2112 by Rush, the band's fourth album. Rush's earliest commercially successful hit, 2112 is considered to be their first true "classic" album. With a unique blend of heavy rock and progressive rock, Rush crafted a true masterpiece in the seven-movement suite "2112," a concept piece with lyrics by Neil Peart that tells the story of a futuristic society controlled by technology. Titles: 2112 A Passage to Bangkok The Twilight Zone Lessons Tears * Something for Nothing. 2112, authentic drumset edition, is now available for $14.95.
You can order the book via the Alfred Music Publishing website or through Amazon.Com.
• Rush Rock Madness Win: Rush turned out on top in Pittsburgh's WDVE 102.5 Greatest Band Ever poll. Rush beat out the likes of Jethro Tull, Neil Young, AC/DC, The Who, Pink Floyd and finally Led Zeppelin to bring home the win. Nicely done, Pittsburgh fans!
Watch for a "historic" post early next week. Have a good weekend, all.
Howard Johnson of SaltyRockz.Com recently contacted me about some new Rush related t-shirts that he created for the UK based independent online store.
I like to listen to what Saltyrockz customers want - and Rush fans bombarded the site's 'next shirt' poll to demand a tee with their favourite band. I replied with a Rush line-up shirt and am now introducing shirts for each individual member. Geddy and Alex are available now with Neil going up at midnight tonight. I've also written a Rush themed blog that you can read on the site.
To see all the Rush related items (and to place your order), simply type 'Rush' in the search box on the main page of the SaltyRockz.Com website.
Thanks, of course, to HoJo for passing along this news.
AskMen.Com, the online men's magazine, just posted a new article in their '5 Things You Didn't Know' section; this one focusing on Rush. And while there's nothing really new in the article and it's somewhat unflattering for the band and its fans, it does reflect the growing popularity of the band in light of their recent film cameo in I Love You, Man.
Rush is one of the most polarizing bands in the history of music, spawning just as many seething detractors as they have adoring fans. Speaking of their fans, they've been unflatteringly described as the Trekkies of rock 'n' roll. Rush is enjoying a bit of a renaissance right now, thanks in no small part to their prominent role in the plot of the new movie I Love You, Man, which shows everyone that you no longer have to hide in your garage to listen to 2112.
You can read about the 5 things that we all know about Rush via this LINK.
A new in-depth interview with Geddy Lee has just appeared in issue #20 of Heeb Magazine.
Rush bassist/lead singer Geddy Lee is a rock icon. He is also Gary Lee Weinrib, born in Willowdale, Toronto, to Holocaust survivors Mary and Morris Weinrib. Perhaps this provides a clue as to why so many confused suburban teenage boys-myself included-spent hours in their respective dimly lit basements air-guitaring along to Rush-because Lee himself was once a confused suburban teenage boy grappling with self-confidence, religion and identity.
These weighty themes of alienation and insecurity resurface time and time again throughout Rush's 19-album catalogue-whether it's exemplified by the self-proclaimed cast-outs in "Subdivisions," the pent-up, corporate slave in "Working Man" or the powerless puppet in "Freewill." Recently, I chatted with Lee during one of his rare breaks from a nearly 30-year touring schedule and from racking up the praise for his cinematic turn in the new Paul Rudd/Jason Segel comedy, I Love You, Man.
The article/interview which is titled A Show of Hands can be read in its entirety via this LINK.
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March 31st, 2009 Neil Peart's News, Weather, and Sports Update
Neil Peart has provided another interesting update to the News, Weather, and Sports section on his website. Titled The Quest for the Phantom Tower, Neil discusses his continued adventures in the Laurentian mountains of Quebec and how technology is now spoiling this wilderness.
Out of nowhere, it appeared in the night sky last summer. Since time immemorial, nights in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec had been utterly dark, speckled with stars, planets, and occasional meteor showers, while the moon in its shifting phases ruled over all. Then suddenly, literally overnight, there was a bright red beacon hanging above the wooded hills to the north, across the lake, all night, every night, unnatural, unblinking, and . . . unignorable.
Click HERE to read the entire story...I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
It's that time of the year again when the powers that be, and I use that term very lightly, decide who will be inducted, or at least nominated, into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. And while those nominations have not been revealed yet, it seems relatively certain that, once again, Rush will not be included.
Tony Sclafani of MSNBC.Com published an article discussing the clear ommission of not only Rush but other Prog Rock bands from the hall.
The Rock Hall's very first choices for inductees sent the message that they wanted to set the record straight about rock 'n' roll; specifically, that it was a genre shaped and founded by African-American artists. But now the Hall is creating its own misconceptions about what rock evolved into, suggests Scott Rowley, the editor of the U.K.-based magazine Classic Rock.
"Rush and Yes and ELO are as good and as loved and as worthy as most of the acts in the Hall," noted Rowley via e-mail. "I think it's very damaging to the Hall of Fame's credibility to continually ignore bands that they perceive to be on 'the fringes,' whether they're prog, punk or metal acts. It makes you wonder if the selection committee is actually run by music fans.
The Rush-filled movie "I Love You, Man" continues to garner mostly positive reviews and favorable nods for the band's "influence" on the movie. It'll be interesting to see what kind of legs this movie has as it enter's its second weekend. We'll have box office results on Monday. In the mean time, here are some other notable Rush stories...
• Rock Band Classic Rock Edition to Include Two Rush Tracks: The next version of the hugely popular "Rock Band" Video game which is being called the Classic Rock Edition will include Closer to the Heart and Red Barchetta.
Harmonix packs twenty classic tunes from the likes of The Who, Rush, Steve Miller Band, and The Police into the Classic Rock Track Pack, a standalone disk hitting store shelves in May.
The Classic Rock edition of Rock Band should hit store shelves on May 19th, at a price of $29.99.
• Alex Lifeson "Solo" Article appears in CANADIAN MUSICIAN Magazine: The 30th anniversary issue of Canadian Musician magazine contains a one-page feature on Alex Lifeson. The piece, titled "Solos," focuses on how Alex goes about developing and playing his guitar solos.
I suppose I have as much room as I want to take, but I like the challenge of being consistent from night to night and staying within the context of what the true nature of the song is. It's especially true in a song like "Freewill" or "Limelight," for example, because fans would be disappointed to hear something else there when you fully expect that part to be there. And Rush fans are pretty ... you know.
You can read the entire article, which appears on page 24, at this LINK.
• VH1 Classic Retrospective 3 Special Now Online: Last weekend, VH1 Classic began airing a 1-hour special featuring the Rush: Retrospective 3 Box Set. The show included a number of Rush music videos from the Retrospective 3 DVD as well as many videos which were not on the DVD. There were also interview segments during the special where Geddy Lee spoke about the songs and their videos. The special is now available online with longer, uncut interview segments with Geddy as well as all of the music videos. You can check it out via this LINK. Many thanks to RushIsABand.Com for the news.
Have a great weekend, everyone...
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March 23rd, 2009 I Love You, Man Pulls in $18M in its Opening Weekend
According to Box Office Mojo, the 'bromantic comedy' I Love You, Man which features a cameo by all three members of Rush, pulled in over $18M during its opening weekend, putting it just behind the #1 movie for the weekend 'Knowing' with Nicolas Cage.
The reviews for I Love You, Man have been fairly positive and the Rush references throughout the film will certainly put a smile on any fan.
For me, the most enjoyable scene outside of the Rush concert itself was afterwards when the two lead characters were discussing the set list during a phone conversation. "We're just going over the set list..." utters "Pistol" Pete to his fiance as she tried to comprehend his behavior during the concert. For those of you who have yet to see the movie, make sure you don't leave during the closing credits. Trust me.
The ticket sales of over $18M for the opening weekend equates to about 1.5 million people - perhaps the largest concentrated 'audience' that has ever been exposed to Rush.
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March 19th, 2009 Complete Entertainment Weekly Interview With Geddy Lee Now Online
As we reported earlier this week, the March 20th edition of Entertainment Weekly Magazine contained a one page article titled "Three Rounds With Geddy Lee". EW.Com now has the complete article online which contains additional information which was not provided in the print article.
Rush may be on a "deep holiday" these days, but the legendary rock trio sure seems busy. Their third Retrospective set -- a CD and DVD covering the last 19 years -- recently hit stores, and they show up to perform "Limelight" in the highly anticipated upcoming Paul Rudd/Jason Segel comedy I Love You, Man. Frontman Geddy Lee fills us in on what the band has been up to.
Click HERE to read the entire article. Thanks to Power Windows for the link.
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March 18th, 2009 Alex Lifeson Interview in Premiere Guitar Magazine
A new interview with Alex Lifeson appears in the April issue of Premiere Guitar Magazine. The interview, which is available in its entirety online beginning on page 107, touches upon several subjects, from the various guitars Alex used during the Snakes & Arrows tour, to the renovation of his home studio.
Alex also discusses his working relationship with Rich Chycki and that "we're planning on doing a lot of things. I'd like to do a little bit more producing, working with some other artists, and I've thought about doing another solo project."
Alex also indicates that he and Geddy would likely be getting together in the fall to begin writing the next Rush album.
A while back, Blender Magazine was taking questions from Rush fans for Geddy Lee to answer. The magazine has now posted those answers online.
Today's high temperature in Toronto is -5 Celsius, and snow falls relentlessly. As Lee's teenage daughter heads out to rehearse for her high school's production of Fiddler on the Roof, her dad limps around a well-appointed modern living room, passing a piano and a shelf of empty wine bottles with the kind of faded printing not found on Two Buck Chuck. Rush fans have submitted some very wacky questions for Lee to answer. "And you picked out the wackiest ones," Geddy quickly realizes.
Unfortunately, Geddy confirms that the band will not play The Fountain of Lamneth live. Rats.
With the release of I Love You, Man just days away now, plenty of articles are popping up across the web discussing the film and Rush's cameo appearance in it. Yet while Rush continues to gain new-found popularity, it's interesting to see how things were when they were just getting started. Read on for more...
• Act III, Scene 12: Rush Plays Limelight, Take 40 and Action!: As indicated above, we're now beginning to see plenty of articles being writting on the movie I Love You, Man and Rush's involvement in it. Some of the latest articles are listed below:
• Beetle Magazine Article on Rush: From new articles to a very old one. I just transcribed and scanned all the images from a December 1974 article on Rush that appeared in Beetle Magazine. It's an interesting, if not a little cheesy, read about the band at the onset of their popularity in the U.S. You can check out the article in the Biographies & Articles section of the website or by just clicking HERE.
"After literally months of examination and discussions with the artists, due to the age and fragility of most of original first-generation analog masters to classic Rush titles, we've had to cancel plans to release the titles we had planned. They have deemed that the original masters should not be used for any future re-mastering, and we have to respect that decision. We apparently lucked out big-time with Permanent Waves as it was in pristine condition. Sorry for the bad news but we're not feeling so hot about it ourselves. I believe another indie label is now looking into releasing some Rush titles in the future but mastered from copy tapes." - Best regards, Michael Grantham
• Three Rounds With ... Geddy Lee: Geddy Lee was featured in a one-page article in the March 20th, 2009 edition of Entertainment Weekly. The article, which was sub-titled Rush's resident wine expert discusses his band's new hits collection and movie cameo. was written by Rob Brunner and can be read via this LINK.
I'll be posting reviews of I Love You, Man (including my own) as they become available throughout the week. Have a good one, all...
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March 12th, 2009 Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson to Appear on "The Hour" Friday Night
According to a posting at Power Windows (Thanks Eric), both Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will make an appearance on CBC's "The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos" Friday Mar. 13 at 11pm. For those of us outside of Canada, the show should eventually be available via "The Hour's" website.
Jason Segel and Paul Rudd, who star in the upcoming film I Love You, Man appeared on "The Hour" earlier this week where they discuss the movie and how Rush is a big part of their lives. You can view that video via this LINK.
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March 12th, 2009 Update on The Roadshow Illustrated Companion from Neil Peart
Well, it looks like bad news for those of us patiently waiting for the release of Neil Peart's Illustrated Companion to his 2006 book Roadshow: Landscape With Drums: A Concert Tour by Motorcycle . According to an update from Neil himself, the book just really hasn't come together and will probably not come to pass.
Neil is thinking about creating a paperback book from all of his "News, Weather, and Sports" updates which sounds like an interesting project.
In its first week since being released, Rush's Retrospective III has entered the Billboard Top Albums Chart at position #47. First week sales were about 10,800 for both the CD and CD/DVD combo package.
This is also the highest charting position for any Rush compilation album. The two previous "Retrospective" offerings as well as Gold did not break into Billboard's Top Album chart. Archives peaked at #121, The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987 came in at #62 and Chronicles topped out at #51.
Thanks to GeddyWannaBe for the head's up on this news story.
Long time Rush Manager Ray Danniels will receive an award from the Music Managers Forum during Canadian Music Week.
Ray Danniels isn't used to standing in the spotlight.
The longtime Rush manager will receive an award from the Music Managers Forum during Canadian Music Week on Wednesday, and he said he's not quite sure how to handle the attention.
"I never called my company after myself, I never wanted to be a public figure, so it's hard for me to talk about myself," Danniels said in a telephone interview. "But I look at the recognition on this, and I say this is the recognition for what Rush has done in the last 20 years."
That's only half the time that Danniels, 56, has spent with the band. He began managing Rush when he was just 16 and was growing up alongside them in Toronto.
According to BW&BK, all three members of Rush will appear on Toronto's Classic Rock station Q107 this Thursday, March 12th at 9PM EST. The trio will be discussing their 35th anniversary, playing rare tracks and promoting Retrospective III.
We'll have more details and links to the interview once they become available.
There has been a lot of Rush activity since the release of Retrospective III last week. Here's some of the latest happenings...
• Geddy Lee Interview Now Online: Geddy Lee was the in-studio guest on Jim Kerr Rock and Roll Morning Show on New York's Q104.3FM last week. Geddy spent time promoting R3. The complete video interview is now available online in three parts.
• Alex Lifeson Interview from the Andy Kim Christmas Show: Alex Lifeson took part in the annual Andy Kim Christmas show back on December 10, 2008 at Toronto's Mod Club. ChartAttack.com interviewed Alex at the concert about his involvement with the event, RUSH's "Snakes & Arrows" tour, his favorite RUSH songs, and RUSH's plans for their next album. You can watch the four-minute video interview at this LINK.
• Details for RushCon9 Announced: The ninth annual RushCon9 convention, which will take place during the weekend of July 24-26 in Torontom, will include the following special guests. The head of Rush's security Michael Mosbach will be on hand. Apart from Michael's security duties for the band, he's also one of Neil Peart's riding partners. Also on hand will be Martin Popoff who is the author of Contents Under Pressure. Please visit the RushCon9 website for more information.
• Rush's Limelight Conspiracy: Here's an interesting article which discusses the recent popularity of Rush and their upcoming "appearance" in two Hollywood Movies.
One final note -- all of the images and liner notes for Retrospective III should be uploaded to the site on Monday night. Enjoy!
Next Tuesday marks the release of Retrospective III which, as many fans know, includes two remixed/remastered tracks from Vapor Trails.
I've listened to both tracks, One Little Victory and Earthshine, in their entirety and I'm fairly certain most fans will like the results. Keep in mind that these tracks were not just remastered, but remixed so their are subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences from the original versions.
Here are a few other notable Rush new stories...
• Signed Neil Peart Drumhead to Benefit LA County Deputy Sherriff: From the Ebay auction:
You are bidding on an autographed Drum Workshop drum head that was donated and signed by Neil Pear of Rush. Neil donated the 14" drum head to help raise money for Southern California Deputy Sheriff Robert "Bobby" Corrales who has been battling leukemia for the last nine months. Bobby is of Chinese-Mexican ancestry and finding a bone marrow match has been a serious challenge. As of today, they still have not located a donor.
Bobby is a very giving person to his community and the job he serves. In recognizing this, Neil donated this signed drum head to help raise money for Bobby and his family. Great for any Rush fan or collector or someone wanting to help out a person in a crisis who would be there to help you out in a time of crisis.
• A Response from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Reader Scott Goldman reached out to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inquiring why Rush was, once again, excluded from the final ballot. Interestingly enough, Scott received a response from Terry Stewart, the President of the RRHOF Museum. Here's what Terry had to say on the subject:
Thanks for your comments about Rush. They are certainly a good choice. Here's how the process works.
Nomination and induction into the Hall of Fame is not about popularity, records sales, which label the group is on, or anything other than the process below. The love for, the evaluation of, and the impact of any artist are subjective questions to be answered by the nominators and the voters. Unlike baseball, football, basketball or hockey, statistics are not relevant.
The entire nomination and induction process is coordinated by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation in New York City. Artists can be inducted in four categories: Performer, Early Influence, Non-Performer and Side-Men. The latter three categories are evaluated and decided by separate committees.
The selection of Performers is a two-step process. The only formal criteria for the performance category is that an artist has to have had their first recording 25 years ago. That said, candidates are reviewed and discussed relative to their impact on this music that we broadly define as rock and roll. The innovation and influence of these artists is also critical. Gold records, number one hits, and million sellers are really not appropriate standards for evaluation.
The formal selection of Performers begins with an extensive panel of living inductees, journalists, historians, noted musicians, industry heads, etc. In turn, those nominated are sent to a committee of about 600 people around the world (living inductees, journalists, historians, music industry management, musicians, etc.) who vote. Those receiving the highest number of votes and more than 50% of the votes cast are inducted into the Hall. Usually, this means five to seven new performing members each year.
Everyone personalizes everything about rock and roll when they are brought into the circle of discussion. This is another way of saying that many fans believe that their opinion is uniquely compelling and definitive. Without metrics, e.g., sales, gold records, etc., the definition of "rock and roll," who is or was important, and who should be inducted is incredibly subjective.
As a result, our Nominating and Voting Committees are replete with Inductees (in fact, they are the largest block of voters). Someone has to decide so we went with the most qualified group possible. Thus, folks like Bruce, Ozzy, Prince and the others are the difference makers. You may disagree, but being an Inductee makes a pretty good case for being the ones who choose.
Having said all this, I believe that all worthy candidates will be inducted, just not always when they or their fans deem timely. This phenomenon is not unique to us. The sports halls of fame have had many great stars that do not get inducted in their early years of eligibility or for many years to come.
Peace & Soul, Rock & Roll!
Terry Stewart, President - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
P. S. Unfortunately, Rush continues to not get enough votes to make the final ballot.
Many thanks to Scott for sharing this letter.
• Finally - A Mug for Rush Fans: I've been waiting for this for quite some time. The Rush Backstage Club is now offering up an official Rush 2112 Coffee Mug for just $9.99. Perhaps this will be the first in a full line of Rush-album Cofee Mugs :)
• "Animate" Instrumental Medley Mix: Eric from Power Windows recently wrote about a very interesting instrumental medley/mix created by Rush fan "tugger80". The mix, which clocks in at 3 minutes 11 seconds takes instrumental snipets from a number of Rush songs and seemlessly links them together -- all against the beat of "Animate". This one is definitely worth a listen. Click HERE to check it out.
Neil Peart has posted a new update to the News, Weather, and Sports section of his website. In this entry, titled A Winter's Tale of Summers Past , Neil discusses a recent vacation to the winter-covered woods of Quebec as well as more chronicles about his motorcycle adventures during the Snakes & Arrows tour. Unfortunately, Neil doesn't provide any Rush-specific news but, as usual, this is another interesting read from the Professor.
Back in September 2007, EQ magazine had a 10-page article entitled "Rush and Producer Nick Raskulinecz Reveal How They Recorded Snakes & Arrows" which discussed many of the details behind the making of the band's latest studio album. The complete transcript of that article is now available on Snakes & Arrows engineer Richard Chycki's website (Click HERE).
Here's one particularly interesting excerpt from the article:
"It is real easy to love a band, and then be disappointed in their material when you are working on an album," the producer says. "But I wasn't disappointed at all. I was the just honest. The first time I heard some of the tracks, I told them exactly what could be better about them. I thought we were missing an up-tempo tune with some weird off-time bits, and a big, kick-ass sing-along chorus - which is 'Far Cry'. I felt we were missing an acoustic-based, modern-day 'Closer to the Heart' with a really catchy chorus - which turned out to be 'The Larger Bowl'. And I challenged them to write the most screwed-up, complicated instrumental that they had ever written, and they came back with 'The Main Monkey Business' - which they wound up recording live."
This is definitely a great read that gives you an interesting insight into the entire production process behind the making of Snakes & Arrows.
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February 17th, 2009 Alex Lifeson Comments On Rush's Next Album
musicradar.com recently spoke with Alex Lifeson regarding the next Rush album:
Alex Lifeson told MusicRadar that the band has no plans to make a 'concept' album, even though producer Nick Raskulinecz, who helmed the group's last studio effort, Snakes & Arrows, is urging them to do so.
"It's a very funny thing," Lifeson says. "We're in this mode of not working now, kind of enjoying being bums. And Nick is calling us with all of these heavy conceptual ideas. I think he thinks we have to make our grand statement - like it's now or never."
According to Lifeson, Rush haven't discussed concrete plans for recording their next album, but "we're thinking fall. After the summer I think we'll be ready to work again."
Recording a new album in the fall? That would be great news but I suspect that fall will turn to winter and then spring before the band really gets moving on the next album.
The March 2009 edition of Guitar Player Magazine contains a short, but interesting, article/interview with Alex Lifeson:
Rush's Alex Lifeson knows how to keep the customer satisfied. He continues to deliver the music that has thrilled Rush fans for 35 years - onstage, on record, on Rush's new DVD Snakes & Arrows Live, and in a series of lessons on ivideosongs. -- Matt Blackett
You mixed this DVD with Rich Chycki. What are the challenges to that?
The challenges are small things, like the perspective of where the guitar sits, because the drums take up a great deal of space. I have to say, the mixes on this DVD were probablay the easiest way to get a great foucus on the instruments. There's a lot of air around all the instruments, but it's still really cohesive. I'm really happy with the tonality of this DVD. To get my guitar tones, we used a combination of Palmer speaker simulators and mics on my Hughes & Kettners. Rich did the majority of the work on it. He has a great understandinng of how we sound in our heads, and he translates that well.
Which guitar of yours gets the biggest reaction?
Most definitely my white Gibson ES-355. I'm playing the Inspired By reissue version for "The Trees", but at the end of the night, for the encore, I'm using my original 355. I do worry about it disappearing or having some horrible thing happen to it. There's so much history in that guitar. But I wanted to bring it because it sounds so good and it's so much fun to play.
How did you get involved with ivideosongs, where you demonstrate "Tom Sawyer" and other tunes?
To be honest, I'm not really comfortable doing those things and I was reluctant. When I saw what they were doing, and a couple of the other artists on their site, I warmed up to the idea. We did it at my studio, so I was comfortable. After we got started, I realized that it wasn't such a difficult thing to do. Be yourself, goof around, talk about which parts are hard to play, and so on. It seemed to flow very naturally and it was a lot of fun.
What would you have though as a kid if you could have watched Jimmy Page or Pete Townshend demonstrate their songs?
It would have saved me a lot of time [laughs]. It would have been amazing. It would still be amazing.
You guys played some tunes on this DVD, like "Circumstances" and "Entre Nous", that haven't been in the set in a while and really make fans go crazy.
We try to work in older songs like those. We bring in a list and try them out in rehearsal, and if we get fired up,we go with them. One tune we tried was "A Farewell to Kings", and it just didn't get us going. We ran it a couple of times and moved on. "Circumstances" had something we really liked. "Entre Nous" is one we had never played live. Those sonngs really do make people happy, and it's rewarding to look out and see so many smiling faces.
How amazing would it have been to hear A Farewell to Kings live? Ah well, maybe next time. Thanks to Counterparts member RedSectorA for the scans of the article and RushIsABand.Com for the transcription.
Update (02/15/2009): I just obtained the complete write-up that appeared in Playboy as well as the photo of the band that accompanied the write-up:
Given how many write-in votes Rush got from readers for best live act of the year, it's clear the innovative Toronto band's star has never burned brighter than right now. The definitive version of the trio was solidified in 1974, and from then on bassist Geddy Lee, guitartist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart have followed a relentless experimental path while maintaining one consistent quality: mind-bending virtuosity. Together they've created arena-ready hard rock such as "Fly By Night", established the blueprint for prog rock with the song suites and fantasy-literature imagery of LPs such as 2112 and Hemispheres, and successfully guided their legion of fans into synth territory with albums like Power Windows. Along the way, they've also written some of the most enduring and best-loved tunes of classic-rock radio, including "Tom Sawyer", "Closer to the Heart" and "Freewill". Unlike so many acts whose work populates classic-rock radio, however, Rush still matters.
The band's most recent album, Snakes and Arrows, was the second-highest-charting LP of its career, and the resultant tour has run for two years now, drawing arena-size audiences in 2008 to the tune of $18 million. Further proof of Rush's staying power--both as musicians and as a concert draw--can be heard and seen on the 27-track Snakes and Arrows Live double album and DVD, both released this year. Though Rush's dozens of gold and platinum albums and performances before as many as 60,000 fans apparently don't warrant its inclusion in Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hame of Fame, we're proud to welcome the band, on behalf of our millions of readers, to ours."
The image to the right (click for a larger view) is nearly identical to the one that appears in Playboy. The main difference is that Geddy is crossing his arms in the Playboy version. Thanks again to David Daron for the complete transcription and band photo and to RushIsABand.Com for the Playboy cover picture.
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I was just informed by reader David Daron of Londonderry, NH that the March 2009 edition of Playboy Magazine has indicated that Rush has been nominated into their reader's choice Hall of Fame. I'm attempting to get some additional details behind this story but it's been further confirmed via this news blurb (LINK).
According to David, there's a picture of the band in the magazine along with a short write up. If anyone else has additional information, please pass it along. Thanks again to David for informing me of this news.
Lights...Camera...Rush?, the original lead singer of the band and the next Rush concept album are all topics touched upon in this week's (drum roll, please) Cygnus-X1.Net's Rush News Bullets. Yes, I need a vacation :)
• Rush in Hollywood: Not sure what to do for that special someone in your life for Valentine's Day this year? Why not bring him/her to the new movie Fanboys which, set in the year 1998, follows a group of friends who, eager for the premiere of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - and because one of them is suffering from cancer and wishes to see the film before his death - decide to break into Skywalker Ranch and steal an early print of the film. Actor Dan Fogler is seen wearing a retro-style Rush t-shirt through most of the film. Further, his character's number one rule for people riding in his van is that they have to listen to, of course, Rush.
Continuing with the Rush in Hollywood theme, the upcoming movie I Love You, Man, which gets released on March 20th and features cameos by all three members of Rush, has some additional Rush references laced throughout the movie. According to Power Windows, "...in the film "Limelight" is played on Paul Rudd's iTunes and "Tom Sawyer" is Jason Segal's ringtone. Both actors are huge Rush fans...the band plays "Limelight" during the concert scene...". Definitely sounds like a good film to catch, regardless of the plot :)
• Geddy Lee Denies Rumor of Concept Album: A short interview with Geddy Lee that appeared in Classic Rock Magazine has put to rest the rumor that the next Rush album would be another concept piece in the vein of 2112 or Hemispheres.
"We haven't even discussed our next work yet," Lee told Classic Rock in response to the concept album speculation.
"Right now we're all taking a well-needed break," he added. "We're pooped and we're not spring chickens anymore, so we do need that break."
This was the first I ever heard of the concept-album rumor, though they do seem to pop up every time Rush is confirmed to be in the studio.
• Backstage Secrets Now Online: Part I of the Rush Road Crew documentary Backstage Secrets, which originally appeared on RUSH HD in Canada last May, is now available on YouTube in 6 parts.
• Article on Jeff Jones - The original lead singer for Rush: I stumbled across this article in a local newspaper which discusses the career of Jeff Jones who, as many Rush fans know, was the original lead singer and bassist for Rush before Geddy Lee joined the band. The article, titled Obscurity Can Pave the Path to Popularity and written by Rush fan Jay Jefferson Cooke, sheds some interesting light into Jones' career.
That's all for now. Have a great weekend, everyone.
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February 9th, 2009 DRUM! Magazine: "Be The First To Interview Neil Peart"
DRUM! Magazine is sponsoring an exciting event for Rush fans. If you've ever had a burning question for Neil Peart, here's your chance to get an answer directly from the Professor himself.
"Ever wanted to sit down for an interview with Neil Peart? Well now, you can. Neil has agreed to answer DRUM! readers' questions in our June 2009 issue. Instead of us asking the questions, it's your turn.
All you have to do is email your question to NeilPeart@drumlink.com. Editor Andy Doerschuk will forward all the questions to Neil. He'll sift through them and answer as many as possible in a marathon interview.
If your question is chosen, we'll include your name (and a photo if possible) in the issue. The deadline for questions is March 16, so act today. Just email your questions to NeilPeart@drumlink.com"
If anyone does have one of their questions answered by Neil, be sure to let us know!
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February 8th, 2009 Sixth Time is Not the Charm - Grammy Award Escapes Rush Again
Nominated for a sixth time in their career, all in the category of Best Rock Instrumental, Rush failed to take home the Grammy once again. Many thought that the rendition of "Hope", which appeared on the Songs For Tibet - The Art Of Peace benefit album had a chance to take home the prize, but it was not to be. The Grammy went to Dweezil Zappa's "Peaches En Regalia" from Zappa Plays Zappa
Still, as the members of Rush have echoed, it's an honor just to be nominated.
Better luck next time, Guys. In our book, you're all winners.
With the 51st Annual Grammy Awards set to take place later today, Rush has certainly been in the limelight of sorts with their sixth nomination this year (the previous five all came without a win). The London Free Press had a short interview with Geddy Lee discussing the band's unfortunate Grammy results from year's past:
Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.
That's been the track record for Toronto prog-rock veterans Rush, who have been nominated for a best rock instrumental Grammy five times previously and never won.
Rush will compete in the same category again at tonight's Grammy Awards. Their nominated song this time is Hope (Live for the Art of Peace), from Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace.
Singer-bassist-keyboardist Geddy Lee isn't holding his breath that the trio, rounded out by guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart, will actually win this time.
"I think this is our sixth nomination -- we're, like, the Susan Luccis of rock 'n' roll," Lee quipped during a recent chat. "Usually, we get beat by the most unlikely person -- last year, Bruce Springsteen beat us."
The full article, titled There's Always Hope can be read via this HERE.
We'll post the results of Rush's bid for their first Grammy Award later today. Best of luck, Guys!
musicradar.com has a new interview/article online where Alex discusses his three best solos. Interestingly enough, Alex selects the solos from:
Limelight: "I love the elasticity of the solo. It's a very emotional piece of music for me to play. The song is about loneliness and isolation, and I think the solo reflects that. "I love the elasticity of the solo. It's a very emotional piece of music for me to play. The song is about loneliness and isolation, and I think the solo reflects that."
Kid Gloves: "That song is from our Grace Under Pressure album. What I like about the solo is, it's the opposite of Limelight: it's got a hip, kind of slinky attitude, a little goofy humor."
Freewill: "It's a really hard solo to play. I think I feel a certain amount of pride in that fact alone. Every time I play it, I'm amazed I got through it. It's so frenetic and exciting."
Images from the Snakes & Arrows Live DVD/Blu-Ray concert movie are now online. You can access the images via the Image Database section of the site -- or directly via this LINK.
I'm also working on transcribing all of the liner-notes from this package which will be online soon.
Apologies for the lack of news updates over the past week or so, all. I was away on business in the land that Neil calls home. And though I didn't run into the Professor himself on the streets of L.A., I did bump into several fellow Rush fans in some of the local watering holes. In any case, here are some of the Rush news highlights of the past week.
• Grammy for Rush? There's Always Hope: With the Grammy Awards Ceremony fast approaching (February 8th in fact) and Rush having garnered their sixth nomination with 'Hope' (See: 'Hope' Nominated for a Grammy Award), USA Today posted an article about Rush and the elusive Grammy Award as well as their exclusion from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Let's be honest. When you write 20-minute songs that spin futuristic tales of cruel priests ruling from the mythical Temples of Syrinx - cue up Rush's seminal 1976 album 2112 - you're not going to threaten Madonna's pop culture reign.
But after 19 studio albums, 35 million in record sales and a fan base that could outflank the Deadhead army, the question remains legit: How is it that the Canadian power trio has yet to nab either a Grammy or a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
The article, which can be read in its entirety HERE, is not exactly flattering of the band or its fans, but nor is that surprising coming from a mainstream source like USAToday.
• Four New Officially Licensed Framed Gold Records: Chuck Earling, whose company Photo File originally brought us the Limited Edition 2112 Gold Record recently contacted me to let me know that his company now has four more albums for sale through Amazon.com. Joining the 2112 Gold record are the officially licensed copies of:
Each is available for $239.99. Thanks again to Chuck for passing on the news.
• Alex Lifeson Interview in Modern Guitars Magazine: A recent interview with Alex Lifeson appeared in Modern Guitar Magazine this past week. In it, Alex discusses topics ranging from the the tour to the release of the Snakes & Arrows LIVE DVD as well as Retrospective III which will include two remastered/remixed tracks from Vapor Trails:
You know, Rich Chycki just remixed a couple of the songs for the retrospective that's coming out [Retrospective III], and he did such a great job that we're so tempted to just remix that album, because we've never been pleased with the mix, and particularly the mastering on it.
Clearly, there is still hope that a fully remastered/remixed version of Vapor Trails will be released in the future. Thanks to reader Rolf Hawkins for the head's up on this article.
• RUSH: The Documentary Update: A poster for (and possibly cover art of) the upcoming Rush: The Documentary, which is tentatively scheduled for release in November of this year, was recently uncovered. The artwork came alongside a description of the upcoming documentary and can be read HERE.
• Ask Geddy Lee: Blender magazine recently published the following opportunity for Rush fans:
"Is there something about Rush you've always wanted to know? Like how Geddy Lee is able to play bass, synthesizer, foot pedals and sing all in the same song? What the inspiration was behind By-Tor and the Snow Dog? What their thoughts are on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (and why the heck they haven't been nominated yet?!)?
"Now's your chance to pick Geddy Lee's brain. All you have to do is submit your question, and you may see the answer in a future issue of Blender."
That's all for now, everyone. Have a great weekend.
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January 15th, 2009 Bo Bice Covers Closer to the Heart for new Country Compilation Album
A new Country Music compilation album called Gone Country: 70s Rock, which was released by Time Life Music, contains a cover of Rush's Closer to the Heart. The song is performed by American Idol Season 4 runner-up Bo Bice.
Time Life presents a special introductory offer that features some of the greatest voices in country music performing everyone's favorite classic rock hits.
Gone Country: 70s Rock features the songs you grew up with performed by legendary country stars! Includes Aerosmith's Dream On performed by Deanna Carter, Neil Young's Heart of Gold performed by Vince Gill, Bad Company's Can't Get Enough performed by Lorrie Morgan, Fleetwood Mac's Say You Love Me by Pam Tillis, and many more. 15 songs in all!
To listen to a sample of each song and/or order the CD, click this LINK.
CBC Radio is currently running a poll to determine the 49 best songs that define Canada to the incoming U.S. President Barack Obama. Among the 49 songs visitors can vote on is Rush's Closer to the Heart from 1977's A Farewell to Kings.
Canadians choose 49 songs from North of the 49th parallel that define Canada to the new President.
Beginning Monday, January 5, CBC Radio 2 invites Canadians to help select the top "49 songs from north of the 49th parallel" that would best define our country to the incoming U.S. President Barack Obama.
His playlist could definitely benefit from some Canadian content, especially given the depth of our musical offerings - spanning a wide variety of genres and representing our culture from coast to coast.
"One of the best way to know Canada is through the depth and breadth of our artistic expression," says Denise Donlon, Executive Director, CBC Radio. "We're excited about the new President and we want him to be excited about us, so we're asking our audience to help compile the list of our most definitive Canadian songs!"
Thank you for all your nominations, we have tallied them down to 100 songs. You have until Friday, January 16 at 11 p.m. ET. to vote for your favourites.
So, what do you think are the most definitive 49 songs from North of the 49th parallel?
You can place your vote via this LINK. Voting will end at 8:00 pm ET Friday Jan 16. The final 49 will be unveiled on Jan 20, 2009.
After six weeks on Billboard's Top Music Video Chart, Rush's critically acclaimed Snakes & Arrows Live has moved back up into the #2 position after dropping down to position #6 last week. The DVD debuted at #1 back in early December when it was released.
The RIAA has yet to certify Snakes & Arrows with a Gold or Platinum rating though that's expected to happen soon, especially considering the strong charting it has received.
Rush's third live album, A Show of Hands was released 20 years ago this past Saturday (January 10th). The double-vinyl / single-CD album debuted at #21 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums list and was certified 'Gold' on March 9th, 1989 (less than 2 months after being released).
The album was recorded during the Hold Your Fire Tour of 1988 at Birmingham UK, New Orleans, Phoenix, and San Diego; and the Power Windows Tour of 1986 at the Meadowlands in New Jersey - a concert yours truly attended.
Solo Artist Jacob Moon released a live album back in late 2007 which contained a fantastic, acoustis cover of Rush's Subdivisions off of their Signals album.
"Yes, Rush! I do a cover of 'Subdivisions', their seminal classic of suburban fear and loathing. While it is a beautiful lyric, the intricate music presented quite a challenge to this solo performer, who found himself tripping over the many foot-pedal cues, and meter changes. It was a relief to finally nail it on the last night."
You can watch Jacob perform Subdivisions on YouTube via this LINK.
Thanks to Eric from Power Windows for unearthing this cover song.
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January 6th, 2009 Release Date for Retrospective 3 Pushed to March 3rd
The latest compilation album Rush - Retrospective 3 has been delayed once again. The CD and CD/DVD combination package is now scheduled to be released on March 3rd of this year. This marks the third release delay since we learned about the album late last year.
Many thanks to Eric from Power Windows for passing along the latest update.
Happy New Years, Everyone! Welcome to 2009! As 2008 was yet another fantastic year for Rush, and their fans, I thought it would be fitting to have a 'Year in Review' entry on this news page. There was, obviously, plenty of Rush related news happening throughout the year...here are some of the highlights...
January: 2008 began with the release of the tour dates for the 2008 leg of the Snakes & Arrows (Live) World tour. And though Rush would not venture outside of North America, as previously expected, they did venture to new locations and old ones that they haven't visited in many years. January also saw the passing of long-time friend and band liaison/publicist Shelley Nott who lost her long battle with cancer. Suddenly, you were gone. From all the lives you left your mark upon...
February: The 50th Annual Grammy Awards were held in February and Rush was nominated for their 5th award for Malignant Narcissism in the category of Best Rock Instrumental (the same category that they had been nominated in the past 4 times). And like the past 4 nominations, Rush went home without the award. C'est La Vie.
March: The band spent most of March preparing for the upcoming tour but on one memorable night at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, both Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson made a surprise appearance at the Foo Fighter's Concert, playing 'YYZ' with Foo's drummer Taylor Hawkins.
April: April was a busy month both for Rush and this site. Of course, the second leg of the Snakes & Arrows (Live) World Tour launched in sunny Puerto Rico on the 12th while a few short days later, the Snakes & Arrows Live CD was released and charted as position #18 in its opening week. April also had its low moments (for this site, not the band) as a vicious attack on Cygnus-X1.Net nearly brought the site down permanently. But thanks to the help and encouragement from all of you, the site returned to full strength a few days later and hasn't looked back since.
May: Of course, May 2008 will be a month that Rush fans will always remember as one of the founding members of the band, ex-drummer John Rutsey passed away at the young age of 55. Though he hasn't been involved with the band since 1974, few question his impact on early Rush. You will be missed, John.
June: Geddy Lee made headlines across the country for his generous donation of over 200 rare baseballs to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. We also learned that Rush would be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame thanks to an effort by Rush fans from across the country - and world. Finally, in perhaps the biggest news for the month, Rush was featured in a 4-page extensive article in Rolling Stones. The article, Rush Never Sleeps was both applauded and maligned by fans the world over. Regardless of your take on the article, it did seem to spawn new-found interest in the band.
July: Neil Peart was selected as Drum! Magazine's Drummer of the Year in July as Rush celebrated the 4th of July by playing their first ever show in Atlantic City, New Jersey; a show I personally attended. Also, thanks in part to the aforementioned Rush Never Sleeps article, Rush made their first appearance in over 30 years on American television with a performance on Comedy Central's Colbert Report. July also saw the re-release of 'Working Man' with an alternate guitar solo. Finally, on the 24th, Rush closed out their Snakes & Arrows Live Tour of 2008 with a show at the Verizon Amphitheatre in Indianapolis, IN. It was later announced that the 2008 leg of the tour was ranked #8 among all tours that summer.
August: With the tour behind them, news surfaced that Rush may sever ties with their long-time record company Atlantic Records and head over to the independent label Rounder Records. We're still waiting on more updates on this story. August also saw the release of Songs for Tibet - The Art of Peace benefit album. This album would include a new live version of Hope which, as we would learn in December, would be nominated for a Grammy. Finally, this site uncovered an old Spanish-language comic based on Rush's 2112. The comic, called Cuerdas or 'Strings' was also translated to English with the assistance of several site readers/contributors.
September: Rush was featured on VH-1 Classic in September as part of the 'Rush Hashanah' celebration of the Jewish New Year. We also learned that Rush: Retrospective III would be released in December - though that was later pushed into 2009. Of course, September also witnessed yet another snubbing of the band by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame committee. Finally, the official press release and details behind the Snakes & Arrows Live Concert Video (DVD/Blu Ray) were finally announced.
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October: Neil Peart joined other legendary drummers for the 2008 Buddy Rich Memorial Concert in New York City in October as Alex Lifeson donated his third original painting for the "A Brush for Hope" charity auction.
November: The eleventh month finally saw the release of the much-anticipated Snakes & Arrows Live Concert Film (DVD/Blu Ray) which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 100 list and was heralded by critics and fans alike. November also witnessed the 2nd Annual Holiday Rush Contest at Cygnus-X1.Net which was won by Mike Ricci of Canada.
December: The end of 2008 included the official announcement that Rush's Hope from the Songs for Tibet - The Art of Peace benefit album would be nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Rock Instrumental. Geddy & Alex also made a recent appearance on VH-1 Classic's That Metal Show as Neil gave us an update on his site titled December in Death Valley
And there you have it. Another successful and Rush-packed year. And what is yet to come in 2009. Time will tell. Once again, Happy New Years, Everyone. May you all have a happy and prosperous 2009 -- and beyond.
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