Finally, the album cover to Clockwork Angels, Rush's long awaited 19th studio album has been revealed/leaked. The image replicates the clock-face from the "Caravan" single, floating in a red storm background. The time on the clock is 9:12, or "2112" in military time.
And as I've posted before, starting at the one o'clock position on the Clockwork Angels clock face, the symbols are Brimstone, Purification, Mercury, Winter, Zinc, Sun, Aquarius, Essence, Neptune, Lead, Earth, and Copper. 
"The track 'Grace Under Pressure' (originally titled 'Blue Zone B') is a prime example of the band's ability to time travel while (musically speaking) keeping one foot in the present. 'Hearing Rush's Moving Pictures, from 1981, was a turning point for me,' says Barnett. The song reimagines Alex Lifeson's 1980s guitar style as a 21st Century invention (think Rush's 'Red Sector A' with a post-Cold War twist). 'The mid-period Alex Lifeson style is where he really focused on chord textures and inner voicings,' says Barnett, who picked up the violin at age five and switched to guitar in his early teens. 'It's not something you hear that often in an instrumental song, because so often those types of songs are about the lead line. In our song the bass is carrying the melody and root notes.'" - Magna Carta Records
"Originally from Toronto's suburban sprawl, Smith has been in Regina most of his life. After losing his father at 12, his mother encouraged his interest in music by getting him his first drum set. Being a huge Rush fan early on contributed to his dedication to learning how to play...Pulling in his Canadian rock roots, Smith decided to cover a Rush song mostly because nobody else is ambitious enough to try. 'I picked a song that was in their late 80s keyboard funk, which was panned by fans. The songs are still there.' Rush’s original 'Mystic Rhythms' is a mid-tempo synthesizer and keyboard-driven song. Smith turned in into the guitar-driven rock song he thought it should have been. He got to gush to Rush's Alex Lifeson about breathing life into the song while recording Jason Plumb and the Willing's new album All Is More Than Both." - Soccermomrecords.comThanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!
"Longoria's most prized possessions are his dogs and his 2008 AL championship ring, but he has another great piece of memorabilia: a drumhead signed by members of the rock group Rush.
Longoria started playing the drums in 2009, when teammate Gregg Zaun had a set at Tropicana Field.
'I never wanted to play in front of him. I'm a perfectionist. I don't want anybody to see me do something and look stupid doing it,' Longoria says. 'I would get to the field two hours early and play his kit without anybody there, at noon. I'd be back there full sweat, and guys would just be getting to the field, and I’d be playing the drums.'
Cool story how he got the drumhead: Rush's singer, Geddy Lee, a huge baseball fan, collects balls autographed by pitchers who have thrown no-hitters. When Rays righthander Matt Garza threw one in 2010, a Lee representative called the Rays to ask for a ball. A Rays clubbie named David Westmoreland (everyone calls him Westy) said, sure, if you send Longoria the signed drumhead." - SportingNews.com, March 24, 2012
Since 1974, Neil Peart has been the drummer and lyricist for the legendary Canadian rock band Rush. Rush holds an enviable position right behind the Beatles and the Rolling Stones for the number of most consecutive gold or platinum studio albums by a rock band. Not too shabby, and neither is his collection of cars, which includes a 2001 BMW Z8, 1964 Aston Martin DB5, 2010 Aston martin DBS, and a recently acquired 1963 Corvette Spilt-Window coupe, which happens to be one of his childhood dream cars.
March 21st UPDATE: Today Sabian Cymbals posted photos to their Facebook page of Neil Peart recording tracks with Matt Scannell on Friday March 16th.- Thanks to Mark Rosenthal for the headsup!"Okay this BIG news has come out online, and it's not definite yet ... but we're working to make it happen. I won't comment publicly online about it yet, but since it's out there I wanted you to see this. Neil and I are working on the scheduling, and DW has kindly made him a new kit to try and facilitate. Thanks for your support. Matt" - February 28, 2012
"Metal Evolution is VH1 Classic's top-rated 2012 series to date. The three-disc set, featuring all 11 episodes of the show hosted by noted metal aficionado, anthropologist and filmmaker Sam Dunn, crisscrosses the globe to bring viewers along on an intense journey through the genre's musical history, spanning more than four decades. Special features include an informative interview with Dunn from VH1 Classic's 'That Metal Show.'..Dunn and his partner, filmmaker Scot McFayden, based 'Metal Evolution' on the groundbreaking and much-debated 26 sub-genre 'Heavy Metal Family Tree' that details the music's fascinating and complex lineage. Using this genealogical chart as a road map, each episode unleashes the very essence of metal - beginning with Pre-Metal, traveling through Early Metal, New Wave, Glam, Thrash, Grunge, Nu Metal, Shock Rock and Power Metal and arriving at the Progressive Rock of today as the explosive series finale."- Noisecreep.com, March 22, 2012 - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!
"Most music over the last 50 years was recorded to a multi-track format, allowing individual volume control over each instrument in the band. Those tracks are blended together into the mix that we’ve all become very familiar with over the years. Jammit has partnered with Rush to give you access to those separate elements of classic Rush songs so you can hear every nuance of Geddy's bass and vocals, Neil’s drums, and Alex’s guitar performances. Jammit also gives you synchronized notation and tab, section looping, variable slow mode and a performance recorder so you can interact with 2112, Limelight, YYZ and now Tom Sawyer in ways that were not possible…until now. Travel back in time to when these classic Rush songs were born, and experience Rush like you have never before!" - jammit.com/artist/rush
The Canadian prog-rock power trio remains a mighty draw on the road, thanks to the band's deep catalog of anthems like "Tom Sawyer," "Closer to the Heart" and "The Spirit of Radio," and the chops of bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart. The band's Time Machine tour continued through the first half of 2011, grossing $14.1 million in the United States and netting $4.8 million. Rush also made noise at retail, generating U.S. album sales of 431,000 units. Adding to the revenue mix: a concert recording titled "Time Machine: Live in Cleveland 2011" debuted and peaked at No. 54 on the Billboard 200 in November, with the live show kicking off a new deal with Roadrunner Records. - Billboard.biz, March 9, 2012 - Thanks to squintyt4e for the headsup!
If you've got a problem with Ginger Baker, go ahead and hit him in the nose. He'd welcome it. "I ain't gonna sue you. I'm gonna hit you back," the crazy drummer tells the camera in this trailer for the new documentary Beware of Mr. Baker, which screens multiple times at SXSW in Austin beginning March 10th. Eric Clapton, Johnny Rotten, Carlos Santana, Charlie Watts and Neil Peart are just a few of the legendary musicians who attest to the musical gift of the drummer, best known for playing in Cream and Blind Faith before discovering the Afrobeat of Fela Kuti. Most of them can also vouch for Baker's ferocious approach to life. "Maybe you have to be a little mad to play the way he does," says Marky Ramone. - RollingStone.com, March 1, 2012
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