Home"The bassist and singer was dismissed long before the Canadian outfit made their first recording. It happened even before they’d become a three-piece. The band’s new manager, Ray Danniels, who is still with them, carried out both the firing and re-hiring...He says: “That was pre-history really. We hadn’t recorded yet and were still in our embryonic stage, and Ray came along. He had no real reputation yet as a manager or anything. He was just kind of an agent working in Toronto.- Thanks to Tony Riviere for the headsup!
“So he started directing the band and he just thought I wasn’t suitable, for whatever reasons he had. I don’t know whether it was the way I looked, or my religious background – who the fuck knew?
“Anyway, he influenced them and they went along with it, Alex Lifeson and John Rutsey, and I was out. They kicked me out.”
Rush were still laying the foundations of the band they’d become playing local drop-in centres with Lifeson, Rutsey and Lee’s brother-in-law Lindy Young on piano. After being dropped Lee formed a new outfit and joined them on the low-end live circuit.
“I started a blues band,” he says, “and I was, frankly speaking, doing better than they were. Then I got a call from John and he said, ‘Can we get together?’ Basically, ‘Can you come back? We’re sorry.’
“They had to go through whatever they went through. We tried it again and that’s really when the band started. We became this three-piece and we were really going in the same direction.”
"Geddy did better when Rush fired him" - ClassicRock.com
ClassicRock.com has posted a sample from the new Classic Rock Rush Fan Pack:
Neil Peart's "News Weather and Sports" - June 2012
Neil talks about RUSH's receiving both the Ronnie James Dio Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement this past April 11th in Los Angeles (originally, Neil intended to not appear out of shyness ("because I’m me"), but effectively was forced to appear when Alex bowed out), and the Governor-General’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Performing Arts in Ottawa on May 4th.
Neil talks at length about both events, and of meeting Pete Townshend (including a back history of how as a teen, Neil was basically obsessed with The Who).
Neil also tells of how on April 16 at Henson Studios in Hollywood (where Clockwork Angels had been mixed), Neil recorded the drum track for the song "Instamatic" with Matt Scannell for the upcoming Vertical Horizon album.
The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits (1974-1987) Back In The Billboard Top 200
The collection originally rose to #62 on the chart before dropping out of the Top 200 after 8 weeks when it was first released in 2003.
For more on this release, click here.
- Thanks to John at Cygnus-X1.net for the headsup!
Clockwork Angels: The Novel Official Press Release
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| Preorder Now |
LANDMARK CROSSOVER PROJECT:NEW RUSH ALBUM CLOCKWORK ANGELS TO FEATURE ACCOMPANYING NOVEL BY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
The new Rush studio album, Clockwork Angels, is accompanied by a full-length “steampunk” novel written by bestselling SF author Kevin J. Anderson and Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.
In an innovative combination of music and literature, the new album Clockwork Angels by legendary rock band Rush has been converted into a full-length “steampunk” science fiction novel by international bestselling SF author Kevin J. Anderson and Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.
Stewart Copeland of The Police Discusses Rush - MusicRadar.com
Stewart Copeland discusses Rush in a new interview with MusicRadar.com:
"I didn't actually listen to Rush albums, and I couldn't tell you one from the other – although Neil is a good buddy. [laughs] We agreed to disagree on certain things, and it is a measure of his greatness as a human being that he is completely over whatever my feelings might be about Rush.For the full interview click here.
"This truly is the case: He's never heard me say a wonderful thing about his band. He's read a few comments that I wish he hadn't read. In unguarded moments, things tend to slip out. Musicians tend to be snippy about one another, and I'm generally not. I generally love all music and all players.
"There was a time when bands like Rush were the epitome of what The Police were theoretically against, which was an overemphasis on musicality. Our ethos in the early days was about the primal scream and that musical technique was a distraction from that mission. There may have been a few comments that I might have made regarding Rush's position on that debate, and it is really, really to Neil's credit that he's over that debate. And we get along great."
Got a question for Alex Lifeson? Tell Total Guitar
Total Guitar will be talking to Alex Lifeson this week and they want your guitar questions. If you have a question for Alex let them know on Facebook or e-mail. If they pick your question, it will feature in a future issue of Total Guitar and you'll win a set of D'Adario strings. - Click here for more.
Alex Lifeson talks Rush's Clockwork Angels track-by-track with Musicradar.com
“We wanted something that was bold and stripped down. The goal was to make it real in your face and very much the sound of a three piece – a hard rock record in the classic sense. I’m happy to say that it really did come out the way we anticipated and hoped for.”Click here for more.
“It is a concept record...I think the songs stand on their own, though. I can listen to them independently of the story, but when I hear everything from front to back, it really makes sense to me. So it works on lot of levels.”
“I tried to pull myself back from yielding to the temptation of layering so many guitars and things that are kind of inconsequential. It’s really about the basic rockiness of the songs, so it was a lot of double-tracking and beefing things up. No six tracks of guitars, no rhythm guitar and solos – simple little changes that made the sound more impactful.”
Clockwork Angels Vinyl Album Preorder Available
Rush.com: Finland pre-sale, Sweden Rock Festival, and more
JUNE 10 – FINLAND, Helsinki @ Hartwall Arena
VIP Tour Package
Visit: http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user/?region=finland&query=detail&event=511111&interface=lne
Fan Pre-Sale
http://www.lippu.fi/tickets.html?fun=erdetail&affiliate=nfi&doc=erdetaila&erid=779381
JUNE 2nd 2013 – HOLLAND, Amsterdam @ Ziggodome
General on-sale starts July 2nd and fan pre-sale will start July 1. Links will be sent out closer to the date.
JUNE 8th 2013 – SWEDEN, Solvesborg @ Sweden Rock Festival
Rush made big news this week when they announced they would play their first European festival gig since '77! General On-Sale: September 25
Great seats are still available through our TOUR PACKAGE for some of the UK and GERMAN dates:
UK Tour Packages:
http://www.livenation.co.uk/vip/artist/rush-tickets
German Tour Packages:
Köln: www.ticketmaster.de/event/36167/?camefrom=de_va_01579
Berlin: http://www.ticketmaster.de/event/36147/?camefrom=de_va_01213
Rush Featured in PROG #26 On Newsstands Today
There are two Rush features in the new PROG magazine, issue #26 featuring Squackett on the cover, hitting newsstands today.Besides the extensive five page feature interview with Geddy Lee, "Angels Upstairs", the issue also includes a very rare interview with Rush's long time graphic artist Hugh Syme in the "Art For Arts Sake" column.
Along with a detailed discussion of Clockwork Angels, Geddy has this to say regarding the Vapor Trails remix.
"[remixing Vapor Trails and including it in a deluxe edition of Clockwork Angels] was an idea but it's now been shifted down. Rather than remix the entire album we might now take a bunch of different songs from albums and get different people to remix them for fun, rather than just do Vapor Trails. It's an idea in flux."- Thanks to Tony Riviere for the headsup!
Geddy Lee's Ludicrous Machines: Rush Frontman Talks New Album, Tour - Spin.com
"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"
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
Neil Peart's "Clockwork Angels" Tour Book Essay Now Available Here
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.'Thanks Stew for the headsup!
"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.")"
Rush.com Newsletter "Toronto Show #2 on sale Friday May 18th!"
Toronto Second Show Ticket Details:
Tour Package - Friday May 18th @ noon local time with password "headlong" for first 24 hrs
http://vipnation.com/programs/rush
Fan Club – Friday May 18th @ noon local time until Sunday May 20th @ 5pm local time
http://rush.musictoday.com
AMEX Pre-Sale for card holders - Saturday, May 19, 2012 @ 10am - Wednesday, May 23, 2012 @ 5pm
Public on-Sale – Thursday, May 24, 2012 @ 10am
RUSHCON:
Thanks to the folks over at RUSHCON who run the 'By-the-fans, for-the-fans' event where fans have an opportunity to raise money for an important charity whilst having an amazing time learning more about the band, getting to know each other and connecting with other fans from around the world. Over the past 11 years- we hear how much those that attend enjoy it! As this second Toronto show goes on sale for October 16th, please note that RUSHCON will be held in Toronto on October 12-14th. For more details please go to http://www.rushcon.org/
Scan Your Ticket Stubs And Other Memorabilia - Rush Tour Archive
If you can please take a moment to scan your ticket and email it to me, or if you do not have a scanner, take a quality photograph, please do.
In addition, if you have any ticket stubs or advertisements, handbills, photographs of marquees, etc, from previous tours, perhaps you can fill in the gaps? Who knows, you might have a stub for a show that has been forgotten in the depths of time.My ultimate goal is to be able to provide a complete archive of the touring history of Rush for everyone to see.
"Classic Albums Moving Pictures/2112" Now On Netflix
- Thanks to Aaron Scifres for the headsup!
MIDIpedals.com Interview With Jack Secret
"MIDIpedals.com interview with longtime Rush keyboard tech, Tony Geranios (aka Jack Secret) from March 2012. He talks about the early days with Rush, connecting the non-MIDI Taurus Pedals to Geddy’s Oberheim synths, and about the redundant MIDI and sampling setup when they are touring. Tony has also worked with Blue Oyster Cult and Bob Seeger in the past as well. Part 2 is coming soon, which will include info on what role he has played in setting up the gear when Rush is in the studio, as well as tour rehearsals." Click here for the interview, March 10, 2012Update (April 25): MIDIPedals.com has posted an update:
"A couple of weeks after posting Part 1, Tony called me and hoped to finish up the interview. When he called I was not prepared to record the call, and let him know I would need to call him back. I am assuming Rush has started tour rehearsals, so he has been busy and we haven’t been able to do Part 2 because we haven’t been able to schedule a second interview. Here are a few questions I emailed to him and his answers. I call it Part 1.5 in hopes we can do Part 2 soon." Click here for the interview, April 25, 2012Update (May 16): MIDIPedals.com has posted Part 2 of the video interview, you can hear it here.
- Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand.com and John at Cygnus-X1.net for the headsup!
Rush.com newsletter: "Germany Fan Pre-Sales, VIP Packages and General Ticket Onsale Information"
June 4th 2013 – Cologne, Germany @ The Lanxess Arena (Einlass: 19 Uhr,Beginn: 20 Uhr)
June 6th 2013 – Berlin, Germany @ O2 World Arena (Einlass: 19 Uhr, Beginn: 20Uhr)
The Exclusive fan pre-sale for RUSH tickets in Germany will begin Tuesday, May 15th at 9:00 AM (local time) on Ticketmaster. Public On-sales will begin on Saturday May 19th at 9 AM (local time). Ticketmaster: www.ticketmaster.de
(Hotline: 01805.969 000 555, Verbindungspreise: 0,14 €/Min. aus dem deutschen Festnetz, max. 0,42 €/Min. aus dem deutschen Mobilfunknetz) VIP packages will also be available to purchase, RUSH VIP Clockwork Angels Tour Package Includes:
- One reserved ticket located within the first 15 rows of the stage
- Exclusive Rush Tour Gift Item
- Official Tour Program
- Set of Official Guitar Picks
- Commemorative Concert Ticket
- Commemorative Tour Laminate
May 22nd 2013 – Manchester, England @ The MEN Arena
May 24th 2013 – London, England @ The O2 Arena
May 26th 2013 – Birmingham, England @ The LG Arena
May 28th 2013 – Sheffield, England @ Motorpoint Arena
May 30th 2013 – Glasgow, England @ SECC
Fan Club and Website pre-sales begin on Wednesday May 16th at 9 am local time
Planet Rock, Live Nation pre-sales begin on Thursday May 17th
Public On-sale will be Friday May 18th at 9am local time and will be available from www.ticketmaster.co.uk, www.livenation.co.ukor www.ticketline.co.uk
The link to purchase UK fan club pre-sale tickets is: http://www.ticketline.co.uk/rush?presale=ilapzxf VIP packages will also be available for purchase at: http://www.livenation.co.uk/vip/artist/rush-tickets RUSH VIP Clockwork Angels Tour Package Includes:
- One reserved ticket located within the first 15 rows of the stage
- Exclusive Rush Tour Gift Item
- Official Tour Program
- Set of Official Guitar Picks
- Commemorative Concert Ticket
- Commemorative Tour Laminate
Due to demand, a second show has been added in Toronto!
Oct 16, 2012 Toronto, Canada @ Air Canada Centre
Ticket pre-sales will begin next week. Details to come!
Geddy Lee UK Radio Interviews
- 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.
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