Rush is a Band

A blog devoted to RUSH:
Neil Peart, Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson

Thu, Mar 28, 2024

Updates and other random Rush stuff

Fri, Nov 9, 2012@12:31PM | comments removed/disabled

UPDATE - 11/9@1:20PM: Prog Magazine has opened up voting for its 2012 Readers' Poll. So go vote for Rush!

Rush finished off the 2nd leg of the 2012 Clockwork Angels tour this past Saturday night in Tampa. After a much-deserved 10-day break they'll pick things up again this coming Tuesday out West for another 10-date stint starting with a show at the KeyArena in Seattle. From there they'll work their way down the coast and into the Southwest to finally finish off the 2012 tour on December 2nd in Houston. iHeartradio is sponsoring a Rush Ultimate VIP Experience contest where you could win a trip to see Rush anywhere in the US in the front row along with a meet-n-greet and other great prizes. You can enter the contest through a number of US rock radio stations including 100.7 WMMS in Cleveland, Rock 93.3 in the Hudson Valley, and 99.3 The Fox in Vancouver. I've been getting a lot of questions about whether Rush will be filming any of their shows for a live DVD release. Chances are that they will but there's been no official word yet. They've filmed every tour since Vapor Trails so it stands to reason that they'll film this tour as well. However, it's unlikely that any of the remaining 2012 dates will be filmed so it'll probably be one of the 2013 dates - either one of the European shows or from the anticipated 2013 North or South American legs.

After 20 consecutive weeks, the Clockwork Angels album has finally fallen off the the Billboard 200 album charts. Last week it was #163 but this week it is no longer charting. The latest single from the album - The Wreckers - continues to hold steady in the top 10 on the Mainstream Rock Chart where it currently sits at #6.

Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart's Clockwork Angels: The Novel debuted at #18 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Best Sellers list a couple of months ago and has been generally well-received by Rush fans and book reviewers alike. The Toronto Globe and Mail posted this great review of the book earlier this week. And Rock Cellar Magazine recently interviewed author Kevin J. Anderson about the novel, how he became a Rush fan and Rush's influence on his writing:

... [Rush] songs were stories that really spoke to me. You see, I was this nerdy kid with a bad haircut and glasses and until then, I'd be listening to the radio and hearing songs about somebody complaining because his girlfriend left him. I was the kid who would say, "Well, it must be nice to have had a girlfriend." I just couldn't relate to all these "Ooh, baby baby," songs I'd hear on the radio. Then suddenly, I hear Rush for the first time and I'm listening to these epic 20-minute long songs about dystopian science fiction worlds, where this guy finds a guitar and learns how to play it, then gets stomped on by the system. Then I'd listen to Farewell to Kings and the song Xanadu, with the caves of ice and immortality. Then Cygnus X-1, which is about this guy with a space ship who flies off into a black hole and into another dimension. I mean, I had no idea this kind of music was out there, and it sure beat the heck out of "Ooh, baby baby!" ...

The entire interview is available online here. You can order the audiobook version of Clockwork Angels (narrated by Neil Peart) at this location, and the hardcover edition here.

A couple of weeks ago MusicTap.net announced that Mercury Records will reissue a Super Deluxe version of Rush's classic 2112 album this coming December 18th. No further details were given at the time, but a tweet from Rush sound engineer Rich Chycki shortly after the announcement confirmed that it would include a 5.1 surround sound remix of the album. Chycki also updated his blog this past week with the following information:

... Like the other Rush surround releases to date - Moving Pictures, A Farewell To Kings, Fly By Night, and Signals - 2112 has been remixed at a 96 khz 24 bit high resolution from the original multitrack masters in a 're-creation' direction taking advantage of the 3-dimensional soundscape of surround, rather than a complete re-interpretation of the mix. I have had quite a few questions about the technical side of the process so time depending, I'll try to get an article put together about it and get it posted here or published. ...

Earlier this week Amazon.com began listing 3 different versions of the 2112 Deluxe Edition for pre-order: a CD plus Audio DVD Deluxe Edition, a CD plus Audio Blu-ray Deluxe Edition and a CD plus Audio Blu-ray Super Deluxe Edition. The difference between the DVD and Blu-ray versions seems apparent; one includes a DVD Ausio disc and the other a Blu-ray Audio disc. But there's no indication of what's included in the Super Deluxe Edition, although it costs over $20 more than the standard Deluxe Editions. 2112 was included as part of the Sector 1 box set release last year, but no 5.1 release of the album was included.

As we'd first learned back in August, Rush will be inducted into Guitar Center's RockWalk in a ceremony to take place on November 20th in Los Angeles. Guitar Center posted a press release yesterday with more details regarding the ceremony along with some comments from Geddy Lee:

... The exclusive, invite only induction ceremony is set to take place on Tuesday, Nov. 20, at Noon at Guitar Center's Hollywood location on Sunset Boulevard. A special guest speaker will open the event by reflecting upon Rush's musical impact and welcoming the band to the stage.

"We are very pleased to have been chosen by our peers and fellow musicians for induction in Guitar Center's Rock Walk," said Rush's Geddy Lee. "It is an honor to have our names added to this illustrious list of great and highly talented musicians."

"Not only is Rush extraordinary as a band, but each member is incredibly talented in their own right," said Dave Weiderman, Chairman of Guitar Center's RockWalk. "With nearly thirty years together, this group has consistently delivered skilled musicianship, experimental-drive and stylistically diverse rock to music fans worldwide. In short - Rush is long-deserving of being honored by Guitar Center's RockWalk." ...

Rush will be in Los Angeles to play the Gibson Amphitheater on November 19th and remain in town for the ceremony the next day.

Rush's 1982 classic Signals album will be the subject of an hour-long In The Studio with Redbeard rockumentary radio show which will air next week celebrating the 30th anniversary of the September 9, 1982 release of the album. The show will feature interview segments with Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson where they discuss the album, presumably from past In The Studio interviews. You can listen to a short, 1:30-minute preview of the show at the In The Studio website.

Last year veteran English progressive rock band Nektar announced that they'd be releasing an album of cover songs including a cover of Rush's The Spirit of Radio. The album is titled A Spoonful Of Time and is finally slated for release this coming November 27th. Marillion keyboardist Mark Kelly guests on the track. A version of the song was uploaded to YouTube last month which you can listen at this link. The album is available for pre-order on Amazon at this location.

Ariel Bitran recently wrote an article for Stereophile magazine where he compares the CD and vinyl versions of Rush's A Farewell to Kings. The article is titled Enter the Void of Cygnus X-1: A Vinyl vs. CD Comparison (Kinda) and you can check it out at this location. Bitran also wrote an article describing his top 5 guitar solos and making his list was Alex Lifeson's solo on Limelight:

... First his guitar moans. Then, like wisdom or a beacon of light shooting from someone's forehead, Lifeson pierces his stratosphere of gloomy tension with a blocky set of high-pitched phrases, not resolving the tension from before, but providing a new light to his previous agony. A dive bomb is followed by a set of blistering bends. Lifeson hangs on dearly to the final note providing no actual resolution from the tension between the overcast beginning and the hopeful second half. ...

Speaking of Alex, in celebration of Guitar Month the folks at CBC Music have compiled their list of the 25 greatest Canadian guitarists ever and sitting at #1 is Rush's Alex Lifeson:

1. Alex Lifeson.
The most impressive thing about Rush guitarist Lifeson may be his ability to keep up with his virtuoso bandmates Neil Peart and Geddy Lee. For over 4 decades, Lifeson has been seamlessly transitioning from complicated rhythm patterns to searing solos. His influence on shredders is undeniable, though his own playing borrows from jazz, reggae and funk. Guitar nerds love him for heady prog finger exercises like '2112' and 'YYZ.' Everyone else loves him for timeless rock riffs like 'Working Man' and 'The Spirit of Radio.'

Peter Brocklehurst has posted Chapter 4 of his Neil Peart diary to his The Legends of Brocklehurst blog. In this installment Peter describes the letters Neil wrote to him during his stint in jail back in 1984, and also how Neil came to visit him after he was released from prison while the band was recording in England back in 1985. You can check out this installment and Peter's 3 previous installments at The Legends of Brocklehurst blog.

David Searns of Williamsville, NY based staffing firm Haley Marketing used his recent Rush concert experience in an article on the company's Ask Haley blog claiming that staffing firms could take a lesson Rush.

Rush fan Danny See conducted an in-depth video interview with longtime Rush Roadie Tony Geranios (aka Jack Secret) at the Prudential Center show in Newark on October 20th, 2012 and posted it to YouTube earlier this week. The 30-minute video is split into 3 segments with the first part featuring a video interview with Tony going over his new keyboard rig backstage at the show. The second portion is audio only and features Danny asking Tony a series of miscellaneous questions including one from his contest winner and another from yours truly. The remainder of the video consists of a tour of the band's entire stage setup, and then Danny once again interviews Tony as he shows off all of the on-stage keyboards and explains how everything works. The video then ends with a slide show of behind-the-scenes photos. You can watch the entire interview below or at this location (*SPOILERS*):

That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!

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