New Rush Book: "Rush, Rock Music, and the Middle Class: Dreaming in Middletown"

Rush, Rock Music, and the Middle Class: Dreaming in Middletown by Chris McDonald, is now available. A professor at Cape Breton University, McDonald is an ethnomusicologist who specializes in popular music studies.

Synopsis: "Canadian progressive rock band Rush was the voice of the suburban middle class. In this book, Chris McDonald assesses the band's impact on popular music and its legacy for legions of fans. McDonald explores the ways in which Rush's critique of suburban life -- and its strategies for escape -- reflected middle-class aspirations and anxieties, while its performances manifested the dialectic in prog rock between discipline and austerity, and the desire for spectacle and excess. The band's reception reflected the internal struggles of the middle class over cultural status. Critics cavalierly dismissed, or apologetically praised, Rush's music for its middlebrow leanings. McDonald's wide-ranging musical and cultural analysis sheds light on one of the most successful and enduring rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s."

Canadian Release of Sacrifice's Latest To Include "Anthem"

"Canadian thrash metal legends SACRIFICE will release their first new album in more than fifteen years in November on Sonic Unyon in Canada. Entitled The Ones I Condemn, the album was recorded at Toronto's Rouge Valley Studios last winter by the band and Darius Szczepaniak...Released by the Brazilian-based Marquee Records this summer, Sonic Unyon will release a domestic Canadian version of the album, ensuring that it will be available in retails stores nationwide in their home country...After reuniting for a sold out performance at Toronto's Opera House in 2007, the band decided to reconvene and record a new studio album. Containing ten new original songs, the Canadian version of the album will also contain an exclusive bonus track of the band's cover of the Rush classic 'Anthem.'" - Thanks to Sean at SonicUnyon.com.

"Prog" Rush Feature Transcript Now Online

The August 2009 issue of "Classic Rock Presents…Prog" included a special feature on RUSH. The article has been transcribed by John at Cygnus-X1.net and is now available online here. You can also purchase a copy of the magazine at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk.

"Issue 3 of …Prog looks at the world of prog metal, featuring such genre stars as Dream Theater, Queensryche, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Voivod and Finnish siren Tarja, and an intriguing interview with the man who launched the legendary Vertigo label. There are also brand new interviews with ex-Genesis guitarists Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips, Marillion, The Gathering, War Of The World’s maestro Jeff Wayne, It Bites and even Captain Sensible. Plus there’s the usual round-up on the latest prog news and an even bigger reviews section than ever before. All this plus a free CD featuring an hour’s worth of the finest new progressive music being made today." - ClassicRockMagazine.com