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Neil Peart, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson

Thu, Mar 28, 2024

Updates and other random Rush stuff

Fri, Jan 13, 2012@12:02PM | comments removed/disabled

The big Rush news of this past week came in the form of a news update from Neil Peart at his website NeilPeart.net. After taking a 6-month hiatus from posting updates, Neil finally updated us all on what he's been up to the last several months in a post earlier this week entitled At the Gate of the Year. In this latest installment Neil touches on a number of subjects including a late December jaunt in his old Aston Martin DB5 down the Pacific Coast Highway, celebrating the Pagan Winter Festival with family, mourning the passing of his friend and mentor Freddie Gruber, and - of particular interest to us Rush fans - recording the new Clockwork Angels album:

... While Alex and Geddy were finishing the writing and arranging in one smaller room of the studio, over in the big room I was working with The Mighty Booujzhe [producer Nick Raskulinecz], recording my drum parts. As we prepare to start mixing in the New Year, it is too early to say anything about the results. (I once described mixing as "the end of waiting," while Geddy calls it, "the death of hope.") About the process, though, I can't resist spilling a little. ...

He then goes on in great detail about how he worked with producer Nick Raskulinecz to compose the drum parts, and tried out some new methods of recording and learning his parts. He even includes a three-line snippet of the lyrics from one of the new songs which was inspired by something Freddie Gruber had said:

... Over the years Freddie had become a close friend to Carrie [Neil's wife] as well ... When Carrie visited Freddie for the last time, she heard him say something I had heard, too. After telling one story or another from his long and active life, Freddie would nod and smile, and say, "I had quite a ride. I wish I could do it all again."

I was struck by that statement, because I had never felt that way myself. To the contrary-as much as I enjoy my life, I remain glad I don't have to do it all again. But I still appreciated that sentiment of Freddie's, and as a tribute, wove it into one of our new songs, with one character reflecting on his life in that fashion.

Some days were dark
Some nights were bright
I wish that I could live it all again

Another philosopher named Fred-Nietzsche-said something similar, "Was that life?" will I say to death. "Well! Once more!". ...

As is typical of Neil's writings, it's a great read chock full of beautiful photos and interesting stories, so make sure to read the whole thing.

As mentioned above in Neil's update, work on the upcoming Clockwork Angels album is progressing along nicely, with mixing underway and plans for a Spring release still on track with a tour to follow. Hopefully we'll get more details trickling in regarding both the album and tour in the upcoming weeks. Speaking of which, last weekend RollingStone.com asked readers to let them know what bands they are most excited to see in concert in 2012. A few days ago they released the results of the poll and Rush landed in the top 10 at #6. Here's what they had to say:

Rush are putting the finishing touches on their new LP Clockwork Angels at the moment and hope to have it in stores this spring. We spoke with Rush frontman Geddy Lee in October about their plans beyond that. "There will be a tour," he said. "I can't tell you exactly when. Maybe the summer or maybe the fall. We need some time to organize all that, but we have started to do that. But yes, there will be a follow-up tour to support the record." The group did their 1981 classic Moving Pictures on the last tour, so we suggested to Lee that they bust out 2112 next time out. "I think that's something that would be fun to try," he said. "It's definitely possible."

You can check out the complete results of the poll at this link and read the October interview with Geddy that they refer to at this link. On a related note, Pollstar recently released their list of the 200 top-grossing North American concert tours of 2011 and Rush's Time Machine Tour made the list at #51. Rush played 26 North American shows on the 2011 tour, grossing a total of $18.3 million or about $732,000 per show. U2 was way up at the top of the pack with $156 million; the #2 spot went to Taylor Swift with $97.7 million and #3 went to Kenny Chesney with $84.6 million. You can see the entire list online as a pdf at this link. To see individual show attendance and sales numbers, just check out the tour section.

In another bit of tour-related Rush news, Billboard.biz reported last week (thanks BW&BK) that leading independent music booking agency Artist Group International (AGI), whose clients include Rush, was acquired by the Yucaipa Companies' newly formed music and entertainment vehicle, Y Entertainment Group LLC. From Billboard.biz:

AGI was founded 25 years ago by Dennis Arfa, who will continue to lead the agency as CEO. AGI is perennially ranked among the top five music agencies in the business, based on numbers reported to Billboard Boxscore, and has been a finalist for the Top Agency award at the Billboard Touring Awards several times.

Arfa tells Billboard.biz that the entire New York-based AGI staff will remain intact, and the company will continue to operate autonomously under its new ownership. "We're all looking forward to the next several years together," he says. While he declined to divulge the sale price, Arfa did say he was "very happy, and any agent in the music business would be, too." ...

Earlier this week Sonic Reality made available a pre-release version of Neil Peart Drums Volume 2: The Grooves - the follow-up to their Neil Peart Drums Volume 1: The Kit which they
released a couple years back. The Volume 2: The Grooves release includes 500 groove patterns from Neil Peart for use on your own songs. You can check out all the details and purchase the pre-release version at the esoundz.com website. Sonic Reality's Dave Kerzner is currently working with a number of artists on a prog-rock project called Sonic Elements which utilizes the drum samples from Neil Peart Drums Volume 1 to create cover versions of several Rush tracks and tracks from other prog-rock artists. Sonic Elements will be releasing an entire album's worth of Rush covers sometime in the next few months. You can check out a sample of Red Barchetta featuring Triumph's Rik Emmett along with several other Rush cover samples at the Sonic Elements page on SoundCloud.

Gibson.com posted their list of the top 10 Great Rock Rhythm Sections earlier this week and the Rush rhythm section of Neil Peart and Geddy Lee came in at #2 behind John Paul Jones and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. Here's what they had to say:

Canadian power trio Rush gained a following thanks to their virtuoso instrumentals and radio-friendly progressive rock style. Geddy Lee proved the quintessential hard rock frontman, with his oh-so distinct tenor - and a bass player, to boot! It's Lee's attention to bass grooves and vocal melodies and his perfect fit with drummer Neil Peart - who, consequently, is to praise for much of Rush's songwriter - that makes this ranking a no-brainer.

You can check out the entire list at this link. And San Francisco Chronicle pop culture critic Peter Hartlaub posted his list of the greatest rock and blues guitarists of all time this past Tuesday as a sort of rebuke of Rolling Stone's recently published list of their 100 Greatest Guitarists of all time:

I enjoyed reading the last month's Rolling Stone magazine list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of all time. Yes, I was completely outraged by some of the rankings. Rush's Alex Lifeson behind Andy Summers and Joni Mitchell? James Hetfield but no Kirk Hammett? Muddy Waters at No. 49?!? Joe Satriani doesn't make the list at all?!?!? ...

Alex faired much better on Hartlaub's list, coming in at #9 rather than the #98 ranking given him by Rolling Stone:

9. ALEX LIFESON (RS: 98) The least well-known member of Rush is indispensable to the band's success. His versatility and technical excellence are unrivaled in the genre -- and at age 58 he's still pushing forward.

Voting for Modern Drummer magazine's 2012 Readers' Poll is now underway and Neil Peart is nominated in two of the categories: Best Prog Drummer and Best Instructional DVD for Taking Center Stage. Just go to the Modern Drummer website to cast your vote.

According to a catalog entry at UK online music store Plastichead.com, the Rock Classics label will be releasing a double vinyl edition of Rush's live WMMS radio broadcast of their August 26th, 1974 show at the Cleveland Agora. The CD version had been released in the UK via Left Field Media on October 24th of last year and on November 1st as an import in the US. The vinyl edition will be titled The First American Broadcast: ABC 1974 and release on March 12th in the UK. You can check out the cover art and track listing in this post. This was Rush's first recorded performance in the US as well as the band's first recorded performance with Neil Peart on drums, and a young Donna Halper - who was the music director at WMMS at the time - introduced the band. It contains the early, unreleased tracks Fancy Dancer, Bad Boy (cover) and Garden Road.

Actor/writer and Rush fan Wil Wheaton made a couple of Rush-related tweets last weekend (thanks Hentor the Barbarian):

#homebrewing beer and listening to Rush turned up to 11, while the @LAKings game is on. It's not ALL bad when the wife is out of town...
5 Jan

Tonight's #homebrewing playlist: 2112, Moving Pictures, Fly By Night. Thanks, @RushTheBand!
6 Jan

It sounds like Wil had himself a good time. :)

Rush made RollingStone.com's Week in Rock History this past week (thanks John at Cygnus-X1.net):

January 8, 1979: Rush are named Canada's official ambassadors of music
A decade after Rush formed in Toronto, Canada, the power trio were the toast of the country. Their 1974 self-titled record was one of the top-selling debuts by any Canadian act, and their brainy lyrics and interwoven fretwork earned them hordes of fans in the international rock community. By the end of the decade they'd grown in leaps and bounds, in both success and musical style, from their debut single, a 1973 cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away."

The Canadian government was impressed, and then some. In 1979, they bestowed the group with the title of official Ambassadors of Music for the country. The honor would prove fruitful in getting members Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart out of their parking tickets - as well as selling approximately 40 million albums worldwide.

Speaking of Rush history, this past week was the 23rd anniversary of the release of Rush's 1989 live album A Show of Hands. Also celebrating an anniversary was Alex Lifeson's one and only solo album Victor, which released on January 9th, 1996.

Geddy Lee gets mentioned in this Broward-Palm Peach New Times article (thanks RushFanForever) discussing REM's Michael Stipe and other singers who boast more swagger than skill:

With his high-pitched yelp, Geddy often sounds like he's got his nuts in a vice and has yet to find a way to free them. Still, Rush has its legions of fans, so who's to argue with the squeal of success?

Speaking of Geddy, resourceful YouTuber oddjob102 decided to take a bootleg clip of Geddy Lee and add a clever cartoon visual resulting in this clip titled Geddytoons Episode 1: The Big Bummer (thanks RushFanForever). The sound clip is of Geddy getting a little angry with the crowd at a November 20, 1978 show in Tucson, Arizona at a venue called the Community Center. You can check out the clip below or at this link:

That's all for this week. Try to avoid any bad luck on this Friday the 13th and have a fantastic weekend everyone!

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