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"A Brief History Of Time, Part 8"
"Mover" Mike Dixon Discusses the Moving Pictures album cover
Back in 2006, videographer Greg Nosek interviewed Mike Dixon, easily recognizable to Rush fans everywhere as one of the movers on the Moving Pictures and Exit Stage Left album covers. Just under three minutes long, you can view the interview at GregNosek.com.In the interview, Mike discusses the various 'actors' on the Moving Pictures cover, beginning with the mover on the far left, his friend Bobby King. Bob King was on Hugh Syme's design team, and is credited for assisting Hugh on A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres and Archives. Dixon goes on to tell how Bob King is not only one of the movers, but is also the original Starman on 2112, as well as Dionysus on the Hemispheres cover (i.e., the naked guy). In addition, the mover holding the Starman painting is Kelly Jay, who sang for the Toronto band Crowbar (Crowbar performed with Rush at the Minkler Auditorium prior to '74, an advertisement for this show is in the Different Stages linernotes collage). Dixon also confirms photographer Deborah Sammuels is the Joan of Arc character and that her relatives are the family on the right (this conflicts with information provided in the Rush biography Chemistry, which states "Hugh borrowed friends, neighbours and even his hairdresser's parents").
Besides the video, be sure to also check out Nosek's "Strange Bird Gallery", which includes a few images which Rush fans will be interested in. Thanks Greg for sharing!
Neil Peart's "News Weather and Sports" - January 2012
Neil Peart has updated his website with the January 2012 edition of News, Weather and Sports: "At the Gate of the Year". After sharing his thoughts on the Pagan Winter Festival, Neil discusses the completion of the writing and recording of Clockwork Angels, and confirms that plan to start mixing in the New Year. He discusses in depth the method of recording the drums on the new album; here is just a short sample:
"Rush songs tend to have complicated arrangements, with odd numbers of beats, bars, and measures all over the place, and our latest songs are no different (maybe worse—or better, depending). In the past, much of my preparation time would be spent just learning all that. I don’t like to count those parts, but rather play them enough that I begin to feel the changes in a musical way. Playing it through again and again, those elements became 'the song.' This time I handed that job over to Booujzhe. (And he loved it!) I would attack the drums, responding to his enthusiasm, and his suggestions between takes, and together we would hammer out the basic architecture of the part. His baton would conduct me into choruses, half-time bridges, and double-time outros and so on—so I didn’t have to worry about their durations. No counting, and no endless repetition. What a revelation! What a relief!...By these methods, each song’s drum part was composed, arranged, performed, and recorded in just a few hours, rather than many days, as in the past. Also, each performance occurred only once, with magic-or lucky-moments from a few takes combined into one that was fresh and spontaneous."He also shares his thoughts on the passing of his friend and teacher, Freddy Gruber, who he had overheard saying "I had quite a ride. I wish I could do it all again.", and how he had included those sentiments in one of the new Rush song, "with one character reflecting on his life in that fashion." So now we know that the new Rush album has characters!- January 11, 2012
Rolling Stone Readers' Poll: Rush #6 Most Anticipated Tour of 2012
Rolling Stone readers have chosen the top 10 most anticipated tours of 2012. The Clockwork Angels tour comes in at #6:
Rush are putting the finishing touches on their new LP Clockwork Angels at the moment and hope to have it in stores this spring. We spoke with Rush frontman Geddy Lee in October about their plans beyond that. "There will be a tour," he said. "I can't tell you exactly when. Maybe the summer or maybe the fall. We need some time to organize all that, but we have started to do that. But yes, there will be a follow-up tour to support the record." The group did their 1981 classic Moving Pictures on the last tour, so we suggested to Lee that they bust out 2112 next time out. "I think that's something that would be fun to try," he said. "It's definitely possible." - RollingStone.com, January 11, 2012 Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!
Sonic Reality's R.A.W. Artist Pack: Neil Peart Drums Vol. 2 The Grooves
"As a follow up to Sonic Reality's Neil Peart Drums Vol. 1 The Kit, in 2012 Vol. 2 The Groove series is about to begin. Here is an opportunity to get a pre-release version of the the Neil Peart Drums R.A.W. Artist Pack featuring Rex, Apple Loops and Wave drum grooves performed by Neil Peart, the legendary drummer of the band Rush, which was recorded by producer Nick Raskulinecz (Rush, Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains). This title focuses on the hard rock grooves of Rush in the style of songs from Rush's 'Roll The Bones' album up through 'Snakes and Arrows'. Over 500 groove patterns to work with in any combination with flexible tempos so they can fit into any style of music you re working on. It's like having Neil Peart play drums on your songs! Don't miss this chance to get a preliminary introductory price on an incredible new drum groove library from Sonic Reality! Neil Peart Drums R.A.W. Artist Pack is the ultimate collection of album quality stereo mixed drums for your music! Click here to order.
Included Grooves: Armor Grooves, Cry Grooves, Dream Grooves, Ghost Grooves, MagNarc Grooves, Main Monkey Beats, Spind Grooves, The Larger Beats, Victory Grooves, Way The Wind" - esoundz.com, January 10, 2012 - Thanks to Frank Ray for the headsup!
Included Grooves: Armor Grooves, Cry Grooves, Dream Grooves, Ghost Grooves, MagNarc Grooves, Main Monkey Beats, Spind Grooves, The Larger Beats, Victory Grooves, Way The Wind" - esoundz.com, January 10, 2012 - Thanks to Frank Ray for the headsup!
Peart and Lee make #2 on Gibson's 10 Great Rhythm Sections
Today Gibson.com posted a short feature "Drum ’n’ Bass: 10 Great Rock Rhythm Sections". Coming in at #2, behind only Led Zeppelin's Bonham and Jones, are Geddy Lee and Neil Peart:
"Canadian power trio Rush gained a following thanks to their virtuoso instrumentals and radio-friendly progressive rock style. Geddy Lee proved the quintessential hard rock frontman, with his oh-so distinct tenor – and a bass player, to boot! It’s Lee’s attention to bass grooves and vocal melodies and his perfect fit with drummer Neil Peart – who, consequently, is to praise for much of Rush’s songwriter – that makes this ranking a no-brainer." - Gibson.com, January 11, 2012
Modern Drummer 2012 Readers’ Poll
Time Machine Tour: Pollstar's #51 top grossing tour of 2011
Clockwork Angels Update in latest Classic Rock
Included is a two page update on Clockwork Angels (click here for the article). Although there isn't any new earth shattering news that hasn't been said already, it does state that the album will be released in May. - Thanks to ReedLover for the headsup!
Geddy Lee to Appear on VH1 Classic's "Metal Evolution" January 7th
This coming Saturday, January 7th, VH1 Classic's "Metal Evolution" will document the evolution of grunge and the subsequent demise of hair metal and glam rock. Geddy Lee will be interviewed, to discuss the Seattle scene and how Rush assimilated grunge into their music. - AudioInkRadio.com, Janurary 3, 2012
KnuckleBonz Rock Iconz "Live" Photo Contest
The Rock Iconz® "Live" Contest allows fans to upload pics of displays of their Rock Iconz statues around the world. The photo entry simply needs to be a pic the contestant has taken and contains a KnuckleBonz statue or statues. For complete contest details visit KnuckleBonz' Facebook page. - Thanks to Tony Simerman with KnuckleBonz for the headsup!
Planet Rock Names Rush Best Live Act of 2011
Wrong.
The Time Machine Tour 2011 may be their best live show for two
decades, and that's saying something because most of their other tours
have been pretty damn special too.
Rush’s “2112″ Comes to Rock Band
Two weeks ago, a Rush three-pack containing 'Fly By Night,' 'The Spirit of the Radio (live)' and 'Caravan' was made available on the Rock Band Music store.Today, Rock Band announced that it will be releasing '2112' in its entirety on the Rock Back Store December 31st:
"Rush's ambitious seven-part suite '2112' will come to the Rock Band Music Store to ring in 2012!
In 1976, legendary Canadian rock trio Rush released their groundbreaking fourth studio album, 2112. With its opening track – a 20-minute, seven-part suite known as '2112' – Rush painted a picture of a sci-fi world in the midst of a revolution, controlled by technology. An alternate take of this epic suite, largely considered one of the most important pieces in progressive rock, comes to Rock Band just in time for the New Year.
'2112' will be offered as three separate playable packages: one combines 'Overture' and 'The Temple of Syrinx'; the second features 'Discovery' and 'Presentation'; and the final track brings 'Oracle: The Dream,' 'Soliloquy,' and 'Grand Finale.'
Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 players have the option to purchase the single Rush '2112' pack, which features all three of the above tracks, as well as one, 20-minute marathon medley of all seven parts of the suite, exclusively available in this special pack. Additionally, as a bonus, players who purchase the pack will receive Pro Guitar and Pro Bass upgrades for all three packages, as well as a Pro Guitar and Pro Bass upgrade for the medley for free!
These tracks will be available in Europe on PlayStation 3 on January 18th.
The tracks will be available as the "Rush '2112'" pack for $5.49 with all tracks available for purchase individually for $1.99 on Xbox 360 & PlayStation 3, and $2.00 on Wii. Tracks marked with "X" will offer Pro Guitar and Pro Bass expansions for $0.99 per song if purchased individually." - RockBand.com, December 28, 2011 Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the headsup!
Clockwork Angels Update
Update December 27th: "Rush Complete Recording Of ‘Clockwork Angels’" - UltimateClassicRock.com
Update December 21: "Rush Have ‘Wrapped’ New Album Recording" - Gibson.com
Rich Chycki has posted on Twitter today December 20th: "2 months at Revolution Studio in Toronto. Thanks for the hospitality guys! #wrapped"
Update December 21: "Rush Have ‘Wrapped’ New Album Recording" - Gibson.com
Rich Chycki has posted on Twitter today December 20th: "2 months at Revolution Studio in Toronto. Thanks for the hospitality guys! #wrapped"
"A Look Back At Rush’s ’2112′"
"As we cross over the milestone of our 2,112th post, we’d be fools if we didn’t use the occasion to look back at the classic 1976 Rush album ‘2112.’..." - click for more
The Canadian Music Scene Interview with Terry Brown Part 2
TCMS has posted a new video interview with Terry Brown subtitled "The Rush Years". You can view the video here.
Neil Peart Podcast interview with TSN Radio; Win Neil's "Hockey Theme" Snare
Canadian residents: Here is your chance to win one of three limited edition snare drums – replicas of the drum used by Neil Peart on the recording of the NHL on TSN’s 'Hockey Theme'" http://tsn.ca/contests/snagthesnare/
Interview with Dean Bobisud and Tom Bronkema On Peart's "Chromey" Kit
Alex Lifeson Update On Clockwork Angels - Guitar World January 2012 Issue
... Alex Lifeson stops short of calling Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels a concept record, but he does admit that a theme runs through most the songs. "We have Caravan and BU2B; both of which we released already and played on the Time Machine tour," he says, referring to the group's extensive 2010-2011 outing. "Those two, along with three other songs, form a suite. The story of Clockwork Angels is in those five tracks."
Longtime Rush fans, who grew up on such multi-song narratives as 2112 and Hemispheres, will no doubt applaud the group's return to its prog-rock roots. They'll also be thrilled to learn that the band isn't paying mind to the length of its compostitions. "We're definitely stretching out," Lifeson says. "Most of the songs are over six minutes. We're having fun with them, seeing where they want to go."
The guitarist estimates that Rush has eight songs finished. One track, however, is putting up a fight. "We wrote it, scrapped it, then rewrote it and shelved it again," Lifeson says, laughing. "Right now, we're still considering it. Something's there that we don't want to lose."
The band is working once again with prodcucer Nick Raskulinecz, who in addition to helming albums for the Foo Fighters, Alice in Chains and Evanesence, oversaw Rush's 2007 release, Snakes & Arrows. "Nick is fantastic," Lifeson says. "He's very enthusiastic, has great ideas, gets incredible sounds, and he's so adaptable to our twists and turns."
That includes a more stripped-down, instrumental approach. "The last few records have been quite produced, with many layers of guitars and vocals," he says. "This time, we'd like to keep things simple and direct.
"We'll see if that sticks," he adds after a moment's though. "I might listen to the finished record and go, 'Needs more guitar!'..."
Nektar To Include "Spirit Of Radio" On Upcoming Covers Album
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