R30 Makes Guitar Player's "50 Essential Guitar DVDs"

The February 2008 issue of Guitar Player includes the story "50 Essential Guitar DVDs"; included is Rush's R30:

"Sure, the footage from Exit Stage Left is classic, and you can’t beat the wild Brazilian crowd in the Rush in Rio DVD, but if you can only get one Rush DVD it has to be R30. The setlist, sound quality, and camera angles just can’t be beat. The R30 Overture that opens the show has all-instrumental snippets of “Finding My Way,” “Anthem,” “Bastille Day,” “A Passage to Bangkok,” “Cygnus X-1,” and “Hemispheres,” plus a hilarious cameo from Jerry Stiller. The lack of vocals on this medley allows Alex Lifeson’s PRS-fueled guitar tones to really stand out. He and the boys run through a whole bunch of Rush favorites including “Xanadu,” “Subdivisions,” “Red Barchetta,” and “Tom Sawyer” (with a killer Lifeson solo). The show kicks ass from start to finish and Lifeson is in fine form the entire time with his trademark arpeggios, fiery solos, and a humongous tone that fills the arena. If the gig was all you got this would still be a must have. When you factor in all the DVD extras like a bunch of live-in-the-studio performances from back in the day and soundcheck footage, this is an amazing piece of work and a great example of Lifeson working his magic." - Guitar Player, Feb. 2008

The Progressive Rock Hall of Fame 2008 Winners

The Progressive Rock Hall of Fame has announced its Hall of Fame Awards winners for 2008. Rush won "Progressive Rock Artist of the Year"; in addition, the band Porcupine Tree won "Progressive Rock Album of the Year" for Fear of a Blank Planet, an album which includes a guest performance by Alex Lifeson. For the complete list of winners, visit progressiverockhalloffame.com.

Rush Tops Critics List Of "Bands Whose Music We'd Like To See Turned Into a Movie"

"With Across the Universe, Julie Taymor put together a film based on dozens of unrelated Beatles songs, stitching them together to tell a story. ("I Want You" as a military recruiting anthem? Genius.) But what about all those other bands with deep back catalogs full of plot possibilities? Here are our (admittedly jokey) picks for ten groups and artists whose music (entire catalogs, not just single albums) is ripe for adapting into a feature film... and how we think that movie would go down.

1. Rush - It's hard not to cheat since some of the Canadian supergroup's classic albums from the '70s tell entire stories on their own. But we'll bypass 2112 mysticism to cobble together a post-modern story of an oppressed society ("Red Sector A") ruled by evil corporations ("The Big Money") which inspires an impressionable, young kid ("Tom Sawyer") to break free of his shackles ("New World Man") through the power of music ("Spirit of Radio," "Limelight")... and a fast car ("Red Barchetta"). OK, fine, and then he goes into space ("Cygnus X-1"). Think The Matrix with singing." - For the complete list, visit FilmCritic.com

Take Guitar Lessons from Alex Lifeson!

iVideosongs.com is a new service which allows users to download teaching videos of famous guitarists, including Alex Lifeson. Each video is $9.99, and the guitarists spend time demonstrating how to play all the different parts of some of their most famous songs. The lessons are presented in chapters--introduction, verse, chorus, bridge, outro--and titles can be sorted by skill level and genre. Click here for Alex's page.

The Heart And Soul Of A Drumset, by Neil Peart

DW Drums has added a new feature on their website, "'The Heart And Soul Of A Drumset', Chapter One In A Series: 'Bass Drum Heartbeat'". In it, Neil writes about the advent of DW's new 23" bass drum, and the history of its creation. In addition, there is a video of Neil discussing the X shell and his hybrid kit.

Power Windows Website Turns 10!

Today marks the 10th birthday of the Power Windows website at 2112.net. After originally residing elsewhere for a few months in '97, we officially moved to 2112.net on Feb. 1, 1998. I had hoped to mark the occasion with a special contest or anniversary celebration of sorts, but time has eluded me, so I'll just mark it with this news entry. Thanks to everyone who has made this website possible, both the contributors and users, and a very special thanks to Blake Willis who owns and maintains 2112.net.