Neil Peart's "Far And Near ... On Days Like These" Now Shipping

As previously announced, Neil Peart's next book, "Far And Near; On Days Like These, his second collection of blog posts originally posted to his website, is set for release from ECW Press on October 14th, 2014. However, there are reports that the book is already shipping.

Don't delay, the book can be ordered in hardback and ebook options.

Whether navigating the backroads of Louisiana or Thuringia, exploring the snowy Quebec woods, or performing onstage at Rush concerts, Neil Peart has stories to tell. His first volume in this series, Far and Away, combined words and images to form an intimate, insightful narrative that won many readers.

Now Far and Near brings together reflections from another three years of an artist’s life as he celebrates seasons, landscapes, and characters, travels roads and trails, receives honors, climbs mountains, composes and performs music. With passionate insight, wry humor, and an adventurous spirit, once again Peart offers a collection of open letters that take readers on the road, behind the scenes, and into the inner workings of an ever-inquisitive mind.

These popular stories, originally posted on Peart’s website, are now collected and contextualized with a new introduction and conclusion in this beautifully designed collector’s volume.

- Thanks to Vagner Cruz for the headsup!

“Clockwork Angels” Comic Book #5 of 6 now available

The fifth of the six part Clockwork Angels comic book series is released today, September 17th.  The standard comic store cover series can be ordered directly from Boom! Studios at this link, and the limited edition cover featuring key lyrics from Rush songs that are tied to the comic is also available via BOOM! Studios as well as the Rush Backstage Club.

Alex Lifeson guest appearance on Wilderness of Manitoba's album "Between Colours" coming September 16

Toronto atmospheric folkies the Wilderness of Manitoba latest album, Between Colours, was released September 16 on Pheromone Recordings.  Guests include Alex Lifeson who plays a guitar solo on the track "Shift" which you can preview below, as well as Rheostatics member Michael Phillip Wojewoda on theremin.  For more info visit exclaim.ca.

Durrell Bowman's "Experiencing Rush: A Listener's Companion" Coming In November

Author Durrell Bowman, who previously published Rush And Philosophy, has now written Experiencing Rush: A Listener's Companion.  Part of the "Experiencing, A Listener's Companion" series, the book is set for both hardcover and ebook release in November.  You can preorder your copy here.

"In Experiencing Rush: A Listener’s Companion, music scholar Durrell Bowman guides readers through Rush’s long career, explaining through the artful combination of biography, history, and musical exegesis how to listen to this unique act. From Rush’s emergence as an early blues-rock power trio of guitar, bass, and drums into the godfathers of progressive hard rock, Bowman marks the band’s first breakthrough with its landmark, sci-fi/individualist album 2112. From there, readers explore Rush’s movement from “prog rock” extended compositions into shorter, potential-radio-play “post-prog” songs, leading to Rush’s most successful album Moving Pictures in 1981. In its later career, Rush adventurously mixed progressive hard rock and music technology, generating a new power trio sound that featured further stylistic evolutions. As Bowman makes clear, it is the band’s stalwart path and many influences on fans, musicians, and others that resulted in Rush’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013."

- Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the headsup!

R40 6-disc Blu-ray box set coming in November

The R40 boxed set, containing blu-ray or dvd editions of Rush's five most recent live videos (Rush in Rio, R30, Snakes & Arrows Live, Time Machine, Clockwork Angels Tour) plus an R40 bonus disc containing oft-requested items from the vault, is coming November 11.  The box will also include a 56 page hardback book.

It's worth mentioning that this will contain the first release of Rush in Rio on blu-ray, and in addition this edition of the R30 blu-ray does include the bonus features, which were left off the original R30 blu-ray edition.

The bonus disc is purported to include the complete Laura Secord Secondary School 1974 footage of which only three tracks have been previously available, Lock And Key 88 (outtake previously only available on select versions of the A Show of Hands laserdisk), the Passaic NJ Capitol Theatre show from 1976 (previously seen in Beyond The Lighted Stage), and Rush at the Molson Amphitheatre in 1997 (the previously shelved Different Stages video[?]), as well as the I Still Love You Man video from the Time Machine Tour and footage of the the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction in 2013.

From the product description:

2014 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Rush's eponymous debut album in 1974. This superb collector's box set brings together live performances by Rush from each decade of their career. It includes "Rush In Rio", "R30", "Snakes & Arrows Live", "Time Machine 2011: Live In Cleveland" and "Clockwork Angels Tour" plus a bonus disc of previously unseen live material stretching from 1974 to 2013. Rush are renowned for the energy and excitement of their live concerts and this set brings together some of their finest performances. The 6 Blu-ray discs are contained in a stunning 56 page hardback book measuring 305mm x 225mm with the 6 discs contained in 5 additional rigid insert pages. The 56 pages of the book are filled with memorabilia and photographs documenting 40 years of Rush live in concert. This is the ultimate collection of Rush live performances, beautifully presented.

And here are the bonus disc details:

Disc Six - R40 Bonus Disc
Laura Secord Secondary School 1974
1) Need Some Love 2) Before and After 3) Best I Can 4) I’ve Been Runnin’ 5) Bad Boy 6) The Loser 7) Working Man 8) In the Mood (partial)
Capitol Theatre 1976
1) Bastille Day 2) Anthem 3) Lakeside Park 4) 2112 5) Fly By Night/In The Mood
Lock and Key 1988
Molson Amphitheatre 1997
1) Limelight 2) Half the World 3) Limbo 4) Virtuality 5) Nobody's Hero 6) Test for Echo 7) Leave That Thing Alone/Drum Solo 8) 2112 (all seven parts)
I Still Love You Man 2011
Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction 2013

The UK release date is given as Monday, November 17th so the North American release will likely by the following Tuesday, November 18th. Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the heads up.

"The Spirit of Radio" makes BBC's 'Greatest Guitar Riffs Ever'

On Thursday, BBC Radio 2 released their list of the top 20 'Greatest Guitar Riffs Ever'.  The songs were not ranked, but "The Spirit of Radio" did make the top 20. More importantly, the BBC posted a short audio clip of Geddy Lee where he thanks the fans for voting, and also gives a short description of how Alex created the songs' signature introductory riff. - Thanks to Martin Goodfellow for the headsup!