Geddy Lee's Ludicrous Machines: Rush Frontman Talks New Album, Tour - Spin.com

Spin.com has posted an new interview with Geddy Lee.  In "Geddy Lee's Ludicrous Machines: Rush Frontman Talks New Album, Tour", Geddy talks about this being the first album length concept, and the difference between this album and previous concept pieces:

"I wanted the songs to be a collection that could stand on their own, outside of context of the whole story. When you look at a collection of songs like those on the Who's Tommy, you could pull "I'm Free" out of that and it still stands on its own. But in connection to the story, it takes on another interpretation. So there was a lot of discussion about that. I think at one point, Neil was a little frustrated with my determination to keep the story-line minimal in a sense...The three times we attempted side-long concept pieces in the past, the music was really like one song broken up into many parts. The thread connecting the music on Clockwork Angels is the story-line. That's the key difference."

and the lack of overdubs on this record:

"this time we wanted to restrict the way we used overdubs. We wanted it to be very much a three-piece record."

and in regards to the upcoming tour:

we're gonna expand upon the whole steampunk element that we brought on the "Time Machine Tour." We're gonna have fun with that whole kinda machinery and we're designing rear-screen things and have a fun little movies. Hopefully it can all tie together in some ludicrous way."

Alex Lifeson Talks To "Metal Express Radio"

Metal Express Radio, has posted a great new interview with Alex Lifeson where he talks about Clockwork Angels, the R30 tour setlist, the Sectors boxed sets, the Vapor Trails remix, and more.

Of "Caravan" and "BU2B", Alex confirms:

"We just re-mixed them.  We wanted them to have the same character mix wise as the rest of the record.  Now they are much more attached to the whole album rather than being standalone tracks."

He also talks about the guitar solos on the title track and "The Garden":

"the solo in “Clockwork Angels” and also the solo in “The Garden” which are two of my favourite solos that I`ve ever done, were throwaway solos. After we`d written those songs and worked on the arrangements, Geddy went away for a few days, so I continued working and filling things in a little bit and I threw down a couple of solos in just a few takes and that was it."

And regarding the Classic Rock Fan Pack, he confirms it is to help sell physical product versus downloading:

"Yeah, and the great thing about it is that it gives you something to look at when you`re listening to the record.   It`s like back in those days where you`d have a beautiful album jacket in your hands.  That whole tactile experience has gone from music and at least with the Fan Pack it gives you a little bit of an opportunity to have that again."

Click here for the full interview. - Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the headsup!

Rush "Classic Rock" Cover Boys for July 2012

Rush is featured on the cover of the July issue of Classic Rock magazine.  The cover reads "Steampunks, Musical Scientists, Goofballs - The Rise and Rise of the World's Biggest Cult Band".  The issue has a seven page feature on the band including an interview given during the mixing of the album, as well as an album review giving it 9/10. - Thanks to RushIsABand for the headsup!

Neil Peart's "Clockwork Angels" Tour Book Essay Now Available Here

Neil Peart's tour book essay "The Future as Seen From the Past (Or: "Yesterday's Tomorrowland")" is now available for your reading pleasure. (Note, while the tour book itself is not yet available, the transcript is available on http://www.roadrunnerrecords.co.uk/artist/Rush under the "Biography" tab).

Neil tells all about the making of the album and discusses the album's influences:

"The plot draws from Voltaire's Candide, with nods to John Barth's The Sot-Weed Factor, Michael Ondaatje and Joseph Conrad for 'The Anarchist,' Robertson Davies and Herbert Gold for 'Carnies,' Daphne du Maurier for 'The Wreckers,' Cormac McCarthy and early Spanish explorers in the American Southwest for 'Seven Cities of Gold.'

"Diane Ackerman's use of a few alchemical symbols as chapter heads in An Alchemy of Mind. ...you can find brimstone at one o'clock for the faith-bashing "BU2B," gold at six o'clock for "Seven Cities of Gold," earth at eleven o'clock for "The Garden," and so on. (The "U" in Rush stands for "amalgamation.")"

Thanks Stew for the headsup!

Geddy Lee UK Radio Interviews

Geddy Lee was in the UK last week to promote Clockwork Angels; here are three radio interviews now online:

• Planet Rock aired an exclusive interview with Geddy Lee during Darren Redick’s show, Thursday 10th May 2012 from 2pm (UK time).
• Geddy Lee appeared on BBC's "After Midnight With Steven Rainy" Friday night.  UK residents can listen here; everywhere else, click here, and skip to the 23:15 mark.
• For Geddy Lee's appearance on UK's Real Radio XS on May 10, click here.

Producer Nick Raskulinecz talks Rush's Clockwork Angels

MusicRadar.com has posted a new interview with Rush producer Nick Raskulinecz where he discusses the making of Clockwork Angels.

"There a certain responsibility you have no matter what record you're producing," he says. "You want to help the band make the best record they possibly can, and with Rush, that can be a very tall order. Rush fans hold the band very dear to their hearts. You want to honor that, but you also want to push the band forward and allow them to be the best they can be right now." He pauses slightly, then adds with a laugh, "Of course, that stops when we're done for the night. That's when I sit down with the guys and go, 'All right, let's talk about 1977!'

"Two weeks or so into it, as Geddy and Alex were writing more music, we all kind of looked at one another and said, 'Hey, this is really turning into something. It's tying together.' Then one day, Neil walked in the room and said, 'It's done. I finished it.' For the next 20 minutes, Neil talked about this vision he had for the concept of the record, and it was one of those moments I'll never forget. Listening to him, watching him speak – it was amazing! I wish we were filming him so we could put it on YouTube. And right there, the whole record just clicked. Once Geddy and Al heard where Neil was going, they churned out some amazing music. I think Headlong Flight came the next day."

Click here for more.

Rush Feature In "Classic Rock Presents PROG" April Issue - Includes More Clockwork Angels Details

The April 2012 issue of Classic Rock Presents PROG is now available, and includes the two page story "Angels Are Go!".  The article shares for the first time additional Clockwork Angels track details, including the following from Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson:

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson originally worked on the music together in a basement studio, sometimes with Lifeson giving Peart two demos of a tune - one with a drum machine illustrating rhythmic ideas, the other a click-track. "Alex had put together one collection of ideas that turned out to be most of the song Clockwork Angels,' says Peart. "As soon as I heard its rhythmic feel, which was so different for us, my response was 'I want to play that!'"

Carnies and Headlong Flight were of 'furious jams', and there was an 'immediate spark of connection' with Seven Cities Of Gold, Alex Lifeson says, "We talked about having a raucous beginning that related to the middle 'solo' section, and as the song evolved it took on the appropriate character; entering the city with all the wild, dangerous sensory experience it offers." Peart asserts that Lifeson's solo on The Garden was, "A few takes recorded casually and assembled into an improvised performance that remains his personal favourite." Audiences throughout the Time Machine tour will have already heard the opening tracks, first single Caravan and its B-side BU2B, which were written early in the process. The Wreckers was the result of Lee and Lifeson swapping instruments during writing sessions but, "Once we switched into recording mode," says Peart, "it was back to the same old us."

Click here for the full transcript.  Thanks Reed Lover for the original article!

Rush Featured in June 2012 issue of MOJO

The June 2012 issue of MOJO magazine will be on newsstands shortly, and includes an 8 page feature on Rush.

The cover includes the tagline "RUSH. Alienation. Weed. Epic Insanity!", and MOJO.com gives the details "How the highbrow Canuck proggers fed on Tolkien, Ayn Rand, weed and whiskey, survived critics and personal tragedies to become 'the biggest cult band in the world.'".

Although I haven't seen the final product yet, included in the story are tour posters and ticketstubs from the Power Windows "Tour Archive". - Thanks to Stephen Humphries for the headsup!

New Petition To Urge VIP Nation To Reverse VIP Policies

Feeling dissatisfied with your VIP ticket purchase?  An new online petition has been created to urge VIP Nation to reveal the location of the VIP seating. From the petition:

VIP Nation's new policies state that one can buy a VIP package (that guarantees one a seat within the first 15 rows of a venue) through their website for around $300 USD but will not know one's actual seat until the day of the show. It is gathered from this new policy that this is to prevent resale of tickets to professional brokers who would then in turn make a huge profit at the band's expense. However, this is a huge gamble- one could ostensibly buy a VIP package and end up with a seat on the far aisle of the 15th row of an arena- a terrible view for the amount of money paid for it. This is quite different than the Time Machine Tour VIP packages that told one immediately where one's seat would be. This will not stand.

It is assumed that these policies apply to all VIP ticket sales and were not created specifically for Rush fans.  VIP Nation's frequently asked questions is available on their home page.

Clockwork Angels Press Release - Album Coming June 12, Single April 19th

RUSH.com has been updated, including the following press release:

CELEBRATED ROCK TRIO’S FIRST STUDIO ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS SET TO ARRIVE ON JUNE 12TH

NEW SINGLE “HEADLONG FLIGHT” LANDS AT ROCK RADIO ON APRIL 19TH

Rush has unveiled details of its highly anticipated, new album, “CLOCKWORK ANGELS.” This is the first new collection of original material in over five years and their first studio release via Anthem/Roadrunner records. “CLOCKWORK ANGELS,” the band’s 20th studio album, will be released on June 12th.

The recording of “CLOCKWORK ANGELS” began in April 2010 with Grammy Award winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Deftones) – who also collaborated with the band on their last studio album, 2007’s “SNAKES & ARROWS.” Rush co-produced both records. The first two songs, “Caravan” and “BU2B,” were completed during that first session at Nashville’s Blackbird studios and performed nightly during the wildly successful Time Machine Tour, which ran from June 2010 to June 2011. Work on “CLOCKWORK ANGELS” resumed in the fall of 2011 at Revolution Recording in Toronto after the tour’s finale, with additional strings (arranged by David Campbell) recorded at Hollywood’s Ocean Way Studios earlier this year. Lyrically, “CLOCKWORK ANGELS” chronicles a young man’s quest across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy as he attempts to follow his dreams. The story features lost cities, pirates, anarchists, an exotic carnival, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life. The novelization of “CLOCKWORK ANGELS” is being written by science fiction writer Kevin J. Anderson in collaboration with Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.

Rush will herald the release of “CLOCKWORK ANGELS” with a new single “Headlong Flight” landing at rock radio on April 19th. Details of a full-scale North American tour to support the new album will be announced shortly. - Rush.com, April 11, 2012

Tracklist: 1. Caravan (5:40); 2. BU2B (5:10); 3. Clockwork Angels (7:31); 4. The Anarchist (6:52); 5. Carnies (4:52); 6. Halo Effect (3:14); 7. Seven Cities Of Gold (6:32); 8. The Wreckers (5:01); 9. Headlong Flight (7:20); 10. BU2B2 (1:28); 11. Wish Them Well (5:25); 12. The Garden (6:59)

More details are included in this exclusive by PROG magazine:

"...And on this new album, Neil Peart got inspiration for his lyrics from a variety of authors, including Voltaire, Cormac McCarthy, Michael Ondaatje, Joseph Conrad and Daphne Du Maurier...In addition, Peart became fascinated with ancient traditions, which also had an impact on the album.  'I learned about an entire set of runic hieroglyphs for elements and processes,' says Peart. 'As the lyrical ‘chapters’ came together, I chose one symbol to represent each of them.'  You can see these symbols in the clockface on the album cover, which has been painted by Hugh Syme.  Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson worked on the music in a basement studio, with Lifeson sometimes giving Peart two demos for specific tunes. One of these would feature a drum machine to outline certain rhythmic ideas, while the other had just a click track. And on one song, The Wreckers, Lee and Lifeson swapped over instruments during the writing sessions." - Rush New Album Exclusive - ProgRockMag.com, April 11, 2012

Although not yet announced, we have also learned that the album will be available on HDTracks.com in lossless 96kHz/24-bit FLAC.

Updates/Related News:

• Rush's 'Clockwork Angels' Hits June 12; See a Trailer for the Band's First Album in 5 Years  - Billboard.com, April 11, 2012
  
• Rush Returns With "CLOCKWORK ANGELS"  - Marketwire.com, April 11, 2012
• Classic Rock Presents Rush - Clockwork Angels fanpack - Musicradar.com, April 11, 2012