Sunday, November 6, 2011

Clockwork Angels update: writing completed, recording underway

UPDATE - 11/14@2:13PM: Guitar World is running a poll on their website where they are asking readers what album they are most looking forward to in 2012, and Rush's Clockwork Angels is one of the options. So go vote for Rush!

The process which began early last year with the recording and release of Caravan and BU2B is finally starting to come to a close. According to recent interviews by both Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels studio album is nearing completion. Geddy was interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine late last month and had this to say:

... We're almost finished writing [the album]. We wound the machine back up about three weeks ago. After a sluggish start, we've had a very fruitful couple of weeks in terms of writing. I'm very pleased with the direction that the material has taken. And I think we have one or two more songs that we'd like to write, and then we'll start recording in earnest. Hopefully we'll have all of the recording done before Christmas. Then we'll mix it some time in the next year, and then get it out. ... I hope it'll be out by the spring anyway. ... I think [the sound is] a little different than Snakes and Arrows. It's not finished so it's hard to say exactly what it will sound like in totality, but I think that the direction of "Caravan" and "BU2B" sort of points in the direction that we're going....

And just this past Friday Alex Lifeson was a guest on the Humble and Fred podcast and added the following more up-to-date information:

... We're in the studio right now. We're plowing away on a new record. Things are going really, really well. We've got all the material written. We've got a few tracks that Neil's done his drum parts on - that's slowly evolving. I'm pretty excited about it actually. It's very fresh - at least for me. From behind these eyes it seems pretty fresh and exciting. Strong melodies and really we're having a ball working on this record. You know Geddy and I have been writing music together for over 40 years and it's amazing to me how we are so excited to get into the studio every day that we work together. And we're like little kids - the kids that we always were when we started this many years ago. ... We're probably a little over a week ahead of our schedule right now, which is pretty amazing for us. ...

Then Neil's friend and riding partner Brutus chimed in with a little update of his own via the Bubba's Bar -n- Grill cooking forum yesterday (thanks Nettie):

... Bubba just told me that he and his 2 amigos are putting some wonderful stuff down while recording over the last month or so. They have enough to complete what they started with the 2 teasers last spring. So it looks like an album's worth of stuff ready for the spring. ...

So it looks as if another milestone in the album-making process has been surpassed; all of the material is now written. All that's left is to record and mix. So things should be on track for a Spring 2012 release.

Related Posts:
[Alex Lifeson Humble and Fred podcast interview now online]
[Geddy Lee talks Clockwork Angels, 2012 tour in new Rolling Stone interview]
[Rush sound engineer Rich Chycki on Clockwork Angels recording, Sector box sets]
[Rush producer Nick Raskulinecz: Clockwork Angels in pre-production; start recording mid-October]
[Rush signs with Roadrunner Records]
[Excerpts from Classic Rock's Prog magazine Rush feature]
[Alex Lifeson interview from the Toledo Free Press]
[New Geddy Lee radio interview at the UK's 106.1 Rock Radio]
[Short Rush Clockwork Angels feature in March issue of Mojo]