Rush's Clockwork Angels shot back into the top 20 to #13 in its 8th week of release thanks in large part to Amazon.com's incredible 99-cent mp3 download deal last week. The album received a nice little greatest gainer tag for its move from #70 last week to #13 this week, and it also was #2 on both the Rock Albums chart and the Hard Rock Albums chart. According to Nielsen Soundscan, the album's sales increased 258% to 20,027 over last week when it sold 5,587 copies. The album has sold a total of 197,249 copies in the US to date. The Quietus posted a great review of the album earlier this week, saying the following:
... Simply put Clockwork Angels is an extremely accomplished piece of music composed and performed absolutely flawlessly by three undeniably mature and worldly human beings. Comparisons - other than in terms of conceptuality - with previous incarnations of the band's sound are neither relevant or something that they'd want us to look for. This is Rush of 2012, with the benefit of the kind perspective and wisdom that only their kind of awesome longevity can afford and whether you're a die-hard or a recent convert, you should embrace this wholeheartedly and hold on awful tight.
The band is currently hunkered down in Toronto practicing for the tour. Last week tour security Michael posted the following to the official Neil Peart Twitter feed:
Another long day making intro videos. Full rehearsals come in two weeks then back on the scooter trash road! MM
Some tour setlist rumors are also finally starting to trickle in. The latest bit of news I've heard is that the band plans on playing all of the Clockwork Angels album minus Caravan and BU2B, both of which were thoroughly covered back on the Time Machine tour. I've also heard the unsurprising news that 5 songs from Moving Pictures will be included in the setlist. It's still relatively early though, so things could certainly change. As always, take these rumors with a big grain of salt.
A sampler booklet of Kevin J. Anderson's novelization of Clockwork Angels was given out to industry professionals and booksellers at the Book Expo America in New York City back in late June. Anderson had several copies left after the event and offered to mail out copies to fans who sent him a SASE. Due to numerous requests for the booklet, a free pdf version was also made available for download earlier this week. You can download your pdf copy at this location. The preview booklet includes introductions by Neil Peart and Anderson, the first three chapters in the novel, lyrics to Caravan and some of the artwork. Anderson also still has hardcopies of the booklet to give away. For details on how to obtain a hardcopy check out these instructions. The novel itself releases around the end of this month, and advance review copies have already been sent out. Anderson received his own personal copy on Wednesday and blogged about it, complete with a few photos. He was also recently interviewed by the Calgary Herald and had the following to say regarding how he came to be friends with Neil Peart and finally collaborate with him on the Clockwork Angels novel:
My very first novel was almost entirely inspired by [Rush's] Grace Under Pressure album. I saw a story in that album; I'm not sure it was the story that they thought it was, but it inspired my imagination. I wrote the novel and published it. After I had the printed copies, I just signed three copies and then addressed it to the three members of Rush and just mailed it off to Mercury Records. I sort of forgot about it for a year. Neil, in the meantime, read it and wrote me back. We started a correspondence that's been going on for close to 25 years now. We wrote a story together a while ago and we've always been playing around with the idea of doing a crossover novel and an album.
The first reviews of the novel are also starting to be released. SciF Pulse gives it an A+ grade, saying the following:
Dazzling locales, memorable characters and high adventure that will make you think long after you're done. What more can you ask from a book?
You can pre-order the audiobook version of Clockwork Angels (narrated by Neil Peart) at this location, and the hardcover edition here.
Rush is the subject of a 4-page feature in the September, 2012 issue of Stereophile magazine with the cover tagline reading Interview: Rush - Rock 'n' roll survivors on their new release Clockwork Angels. They sit down with Alex Lifeson and chat about the band's Clockwork Angels album, focusing specifically on the album's sound and mastering. You can check it out by clicking on the thumbnails above and John at Cygnus-X1.net has also transcribed the article and made it available at this location.
Rush is featured on the cover of the September, 2012 issue of Goldmine magazine with the tagline Power Play: Rush returns to its roots with Clockwork Angels. In the 7-page article they speak with Alex Lifeson about the Clockwork Angels album track-by-track, along with some insight into some of his solos/riffs from other classic Rush tracks.
Lifeson also spoke with Goldmine about the possibility of another solo album sometime in the future:
...I've got an hour or two of songs that I've written and recorded over the years for the sake of doing it and having fun with it. I might do another [solo album] one day, but there are a lot of other things that I want to do in life, and it really was quite a commitment. Having said that, it's a lot easier to do two or three songs and put them out and then wait six months and do it again. You don't have the weight of an LP doing it that way. Maybe I will; I don't know, we'll see.
Eric at Power Windows has also transcribed the article and made it available online at this location.
The official 12-month Rush 2013 wall calendar is now available for purchase through Amazon and other retailers. The 2013 cover uses the same artwork that was used on the Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage Rush documentary DVD/Blu-ray cover and has a Rush Legacy theme, featuring 12 classic photos from the band's long history. John at Cygnus-X1.net has scanned all the images from the calendar and made them available online at this location. You can order your copy at this location. The 2012 wall calendar had a Signals theme, celebrating the album's 30th anniversary, and can still be purchased at this location if you don't already have a copy.
Earlier this week we learned that Rush song royalties are being included in a $300 million bond issuance by Sesac Inc. From Fox Business News:
Bob Dylan's music was the soundtrack for the counterculture of 1960s America. Now it has become a selling point for an unusual bond offering being marketed to institutional investors and wealthy individuals. A privately held Nashville, Tenn., company is preparing a $300 million bond backed by the cut it receives as a middleman between music companies and songwriters and the outlets that broadcast their music. The company, Sesac Inc., has the exclusive rights to the public broadcast or performance of the music of Mr. Dylan, pop singer Neil Diamond, Canadian rock band Rush and jazz singer Cassandra Wilson. ...
Rush was featured on the June cover of Canadian indie record store magazine Needle. The magazine contains a short feature on Rush and Clockwork Angels that is completely derived from excerpts from the Classic Rock fanpack magazine. John at Cygnus-X1.net transcribed the entire article earlier this week and made it available online at this location.
Reader Leif pointed me to this article over at the Analog Planet blog which discusses non-fill pressing defects with vinyl albums and uses Rush's Clockwork Angels vinyl edition as an example. The author claims that the album suffers from this defect and goes on to criticize the sound quality. You can check it out at this location.
The People's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame blog has opened up voting for their next batch of inductees. Rush is one of the eligible nominees. To cast your vote, visit the site at this link (thanks George).
Speaking of Rock Halls, radio station 94.9 The Rock's out of Oshawa, Ontario has put together a Rush the Hall Petition (thanks Todd) to put Rush in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Their goal is to reach 10,000 signatures. Petitions of this sort rarely have any affect on anything, but there you have it.
Author Stephen King has co-written a novella with Joe Hill titled In the Tall Grass. The first part of the novella was published in the June-July issue of Esquire magazine, with the conclusion following in the August issue. According to cemeterydance.com, the story includes a Rush reference (thanks Dave H):
... It's a nasty little story about what happens to people who unwisely choose to listen to the Canadian rock group Rush while traveling cross-country.
Reader Soundtweaker pointed me to a Tetraknot magazine video interview with drummer/producer/engineer Chris Vrenna (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson). When asked about his favorite bands he mentions Rush and gives high praise to the new album:
... When you are a drummer you have to just worship Rush. It comes with the job. They had a record come out just last month ... it's awesome - it's one of my favorite ones they've done in years. Genius. It's heavy...
You can listen to the interview on YouTube at this link. The Rush part comes in at about the 5:30 mark.
Blogger/musician Ben Sommer (bensommer.com, bandslikerush.com) recently put together a blog post where he compiles his list of the Top 20 Rush songs from the perspective of a fan of all the eras of Rush. You can check out his very eclectic list at this link.
Reader rosmakloma let me know that fab.com is offering Toronto YYZ airport code t-shirts for sale at this link.
Andrew Olson has added 2 new replica drumkits to the Neil Peart replica kits page on his Neil Peart fansite; Sean C's Yamaha Kit and Shawn Freeman's 'Blakrome' Replica.
Richard R. Biancone Jr. recently wrote an opinion piece for the Cumberland Times-News where he uses Rush's Closer to the Heart to illustrate a point. The article is titled We should try to do it closer to the heart and you can check it out at this location.
Back in April we first heard that thrash metal pioneers Anthrax would be including a cover of Rush's Anthem on an upcoming tribute EP. The EP will commemorate the 1 year anniversary of the release of tha band's Worship Music album and is slated for release around September 13th. It will also include covers of AC/DC's T.N.T., Boston's Smokin' and Journey's Keep on Runnin'. Artisan News Service sat down with Anthrax members Scott Ian and Frank Bello earlier this week to discuss the EP and specifically the Anthem cover:
Scott Ian: It's songs that in some way, shape or form we've been playing or jamming on for our whole lives. Because you really don't want to have to work too hard on these things. Although the Rush song is a bit of a bitch. I can't say that's an easy one. But it's a song we all know and we're all familiar with. So then - of course - you take on the challenge of really trying to nail it and do it justice.
Frank Bello: Even the bass parts - I have to get every little part of Geddy down because I'm a fanatic with that stuff and I have to. I don't want to leave it. I'm still working on the little bits. It's great - I love it.
Rush was apparently made aware of the cover via drummer Charlie Benante's YouTube clip of him laying down the drum track:
Scott Ian: Charlie [Benante] bumped into Neil Peart at the Golden Gods Awards a few months ago and Neil actually said to Charlie, "yeah- we heard you guys were covering Anthem. That's so cool. We put the clip of you playing drums up on our website", or something like that. I swear to God - Charlie was like ... the light, the glow that was coming off of him after that. I've never seen anything quite like it.
You can watch the entire interview below or on YouTube here:
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!
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