UPDATE - 2/28@2:30PM: Ray B was one of the recipients of a signed lithograph and received the following email from the Atlantic Webstore regarding it:

Thank you for your purchase on Rush.com for the Retrospective III CD/DVD pre-order with lithograph.

This is a confirmation that your Rush Retrospective III CD/DVD has shipped. Unfortunately we regret to inform you that your signed lithograph has not been included in this shipment. The lithographs are with the band now to be signed and should begin shipping to you the week of March 9th. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause you.

So it looks like nobody has received their signed lithograph yet and likely won't for a couple of weeks.

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UPDATE - 2/27@11:45PM: Reader powaking's signed lithograph that I posted below is not one from the Deluxe Fan Pack. He bought it for a charity auction a few years back. The timing of it confused me. Still pretty cool though. If anyone actually did get one of the Fan Pack authographed lithographs, let us know. :)

Rush's Atantic-era greatest hits package Rush: Retrospective 3 officially releases next Tuesday, March 3rd but - as was mentioned yesterday - several fans who ordered the Deluxe Fan Pack version or ordered via the Rush Backstage Club have either received their copy already or been given notice that it has shipped. There's no doubt that the most anticipated detail regarding the release is the fact that it contains remixed/remastered versions of One Little Victory and Earthshine from the Vapor Trails album. Barnes and Noble has 30-second clips from all the songs up on their website and you can definitely hear a difference in the mix of these two songs although these clips certainly don't do the tracks justice. Reaction from those fans who have been lucky enough to hear the complete higher-quality versions of the two tracks has been unanimously positive thus far. This small taste of what a remastered Vapor Trails would sound like has made most fans hungry for more. Hopefully this overwhelmingly positive reaction to the remasters on Retrospective 3 will make it that much more likely we'll see a remastered Vapor Trails sooner than later. For my next poll I thought I'd ask which of the remaining 11 un-remastered tracks do you think would most benefit from a remaster. Take the Poll and let us know.

Reader powaking was one of the lucky folks who ordered the Deluxe Fan Pack and received a Rush autographed lithograph poster. He put it in a really cool frame and posted it online. Here's a photo.

UK music magazine Kerrang! reviewed Retrospective 3 in their latest issue and had this to say:

Latter day compilation from the group (always) out of step with the world

Appointed by the Canadian government as that country's official ambassadors of music, the appeal of Rush is difficult to describe, as it is easily overlooked. But 36 years on from their formation, the sounds that made this weird, cute, challenging and constantly evolving trio are received by an audience of more than a million people, most of them blokes. Those who loved the 15 minute prog-slogs of the 70s may have been alarmed when 2 decades on Rush were experimenting with rap (on Roll the bones) but for many others this was simply proof that the best groups play it neither safe nor dumb. Forget Dir en grey, the queue for the biggest (and best) cult band in the world starts here.

Thanks to madjock for the heads up and the transcript.

In my last poll I asked everybody which of the 3 solos that Alex had named as his best solos in a recent interview was your favorite. Freewill and Limelight were neck-and-neck throughout the voting with just over 40% of the vote each, but in the end Limelight pulled out the victory by just a few votes.

Neil Peart updated the News Page on his website this past week and described his recent vacation in the snowy woods of Quebec along with some more tales of his various motorcycle trips during the Snakes & Arrows tour. He also updated the Bubba's Book Club section of his website where he reviews and recommends books that he's been reading. In this latest installment Neil reviewed the following books: A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, Late Nights On Air by Elizabeth Hay and the Man Talking series by Mike Heppner.

We also learned this past week that Neil donated a signed 14" Drum Workshop drum head to help raise money for Southern California Deputy Sheriff Robert "Bobby" Corrales and the T.J. Martell Foundation. You can check out all the details and make a bid of your own at this link. As of this posting the bidding has topped $600!

If you haven't checked out the new Rush-themed Rush line-up t-shirt at Saltyrockz.com you can check it out here. It has a red Rush Star with the names Geddy, Alex, Neil superimposed over it. There's also a Rush-themed blog post at the website from former Kerrang! magazine writer and Rush friend Phil Wilding where he recounts his experience of basting the chickens on the Snakes & Arrows tour at the Birmingham show. You can read his blog post, titled Rush and the Vegetarian Chickens at this link.

A bunch of old Rush magazine articles were posted over at the Counterparts messageboard last week and I compiled them all in this post. Make sure to check them out if you haven't already. I also have a few more old articles to share that I'll be posting here and there over the coming weeks. Here's an old Circus Raves magazine from November, 1975 that reader Kevin B sent me. Just click the thumbnails above to view it. This is one of the oldest Rush articles I've seen - very cool stuff.

Rush may not have made the list of Rock Hall inductees this year, but the song Hope (Live for the Art of Peace) off of the Songs For Tibet: The Art of Peace was chosen as the Progressive Rock Song of the Year by the Progressive Rock Hall of Fame.

Eric over at Power Windows recently posted about a fan-made Animate Me Mix instrumental medley created by Rush fan tugger80. It clocks in at 3:11 and seamlessly merges multiple instrumental bits from across the entire Rush catalog over a primary drum beat from Animate. It's very impressive and well worth a listen. You can check it out at this link.

Rush has once again (it seems to happen every other week) made the Yahoo! Music blog's List of the Day. This time Rob O'Connor lists the Ten Most Loved And Hated Performers. Rush comes in at #7:

Let's hear it from the ladies in the audience! Oh, wait, there aren't any. This is a RUSH concert. The only women in attendance were dragged there by boyfriends who are skating on some pretty thin ice. I'm sure a handful of female Rush fans will write in to correct me on this point. But, really, take a look around. For whatever reason, Rush attract a predominately male audience who admire and analyze the band's every move. It's like a secret language where science fiction, objectivism and weird time signatures all converge and plan to sprout a new society. To outsiders, it's like Geek-A-Thon 2112 where Daffy Duck sings the company song for two hours.

Thanks to Eva V for the heads up.

Reader cccxiv let me know that Geddy Lee made this list of the top 25 Funny Guitar Faces. Geddy comes in at 21.

This article at Real Rock News discussing rocker Bon Jovi's impending baldness references Rush's classic song about hair loss - I Think I'm Going Bald. The article is titled Jon Bon Jovi Sings Rush. Thanks to exit...stage left for the link.

Reader NiceColdSchlitz alerted me to the fact that Alex Lifeson gets a mention at Canadian rocker Ian Thornley's website on the bio page. His recently released album Tiny Pictures was produced by Snakes & Arrows producer Nick Raskulinecz:

... Rush's Alex Lifeson was often seen cleaning up after Ian and Nick as he played host to the sloppy duo at his Lerxst Sound studios, removing half-empty coffee cups and inserting coasters underneath errant cans of pop. Even with all the heavyweight friends that got on board for Thornley's magnificent obsession, nothing perhaps impresses quite so much as being able to say that Alex Lifeson was your cleaning lady.

Ian collaborated with Alex as part of the Big Dirty Band for the Trailer Park Boys movie soundtrack and recently signed with Rush's label Anthem.

Most of you probably are aware that Rush played along with the Rolling Stones and several others at the SARS concert benefit back in the summer of 2003. Reader Darren recently uncovered an interview of Alex and Geddy from backstage at the concert where the guys talk for a few minutes about their love of the Stones. You can check out the interview at this link or watch it below.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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