New Rush Book: "Rush, Rock Music, and the Middle Class: Dreaming in Middletown"

Rush, Rock Music, and the Middle Class: Dreaming in Middletown by Chris McDonald, is now available. A professor at Cape Breton University, McDonald is an ethnomusicologist who specializes in popular music studies.

Synopsis: "Canadian progressive rock band Rush was the voice of the suburban middle class. In this book, Chris McDonald assesses the band's impact on popular music and its legacy for legions of fans. McDonald explores the ways in which Rush's critique of suburban life -- and its strategies for escape -- reflected middle-class aspirations and anxieties, while its performances manifested the dialectic in prog rock between discipline and austerity, and the desire for spectacle and excess. The band's reception reflected the internal struggles of the middle class over cultural status. Critics cavalierly dismissed, or apologetically praised, Rush's music for its middlebrow leanings. McDonald's wide-ranging musical and cultural analysis sheds light on one of the most successful and enduring rock bands of the 1970s and 1980s."

Canadian Release of Sacrifice's Latest To Include "Anthem"

"Canadian thrash metal legends SACRIFICE will release their first new album in more than fifteen years in November on Sonic Unyon in Canada. Entitled The Ones I Condemn, the album was recorded at Toronto's Rouge Valley Studios last winter by the band and Darius Szczepaniak...Released by the Brazilian-based Marquee Records this summer, Sonic Unyon will release a domestic Canadian version of the album, ensuring that it will be available in retails stores nationwide in their home country...After reuniting for a sold out performance at Toronto's Opera House in 2007, the band decided to reconvene and record a new studio album. Containing ten new original songs, the Canadian version of the album will also contain an exclusive bonus track of the band's cover of the Rush classic 'Anthem.'" - Thanks to Sean at SonicUnyon.com.

"Prog" Rush Feature Transcript Now Online

The August 2009 issue of "Classic Rock Presents…Prog" included a special feature on RUSH. The article has been transcribed by John at Cygnus-X1.net and is now available online here. You can also purchase a copy of the magazine at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk.

"Issue 3 of …Prog looks at the world of prog metal, featuring such genre stars as Dream Theater, Queensryche, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Voivod and Finnish siren Tarja, and an intriguing interview with the man who launched the legendary Vertigo label. There are also brand new interviews with ex-Genesis guitarists Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips, Marillion, The Gathering, War Of The World’s maestro Jeff Wayne, It Bites and even Captain Sensible. Plus there’s the usual round-up on the latest prog news and an even bigger reviews section than ever before. All this plus a free CD featuring an hour’s worth of the finest new progressive music being made today." - ClassicRockMagazine.com

New GarageBand Lessons Include Rush

"Today’s Tom Sawyer, he gets high on you, and the space he invades is your personal computer. Well, if you’re using GarageBand ’09, anyway. The GarageBand Lesson Store has added three new lessons to its arsenal, including the classic tune by the Canadian progressive rock band. Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson contributes two lessons to the new assortment, 'Tom Sawyer' and 'Limelight'...Each lesson costs $5 and consists of a video of the artist walking you through the piece, in some cases with both simplified and more complicated versions of the song." - MacWorld.com, September 22, 2009 - Thanks to Devon Cox for the headsup!

Neil Peart on Vertical Horizon's "Burning The Days"

Burning The Days, the long awaited album by Vertical Horizon, is finally available. Neil plays drums on three tracks, "Welcome To The Bottom", "Save Me From Myself", and "Even Now" (in fact, these tracks were recorded before Rush recorded Snakes & Arrows). In addition, Neil contributed lyrics to "Even Now", which you can view here.

Even now after all these years
I think about you with both joy and pain
Even now I remember when you left
I walked all night thru the rain
Broken and lost
Swearing I'd never love that way again

Even then you were aiming much higher
Somewhere higher than you thought I could fly
Even then you were looking for rainbows
Something more than the cloudless blue sky

And now you tell me you were wrong
You never should have let me follow an empty dream
Now you spill out your regrets
Am I a river to a bitter stream

Lying awake thinking about all that might have been
I guess we're even now
I guess we're even now

Even now we're often alike
I think of you and the place we used to share
Even now I remember all the songs and the perfume in your hair
I was carried away until you cut me down in mid air
Even then there was something inside you
Something bright that was burning so cold
Even then there was something about you
Something dark that I couldn't hold

And now you tell me that your life has never been the free flight you thought it would be
And you know it's way too late all we've got is history
We know that when I lost you, you lost me
I guess we're even now
I guess we're even now
I think we're even now

Even then you were looking for rainbows
Even then in a perfect blue sky

I guess we're even now
I guess we're even now
I think we're even now
Could be we're even now
I think we're even now
I think we're even now
I think we're even now

All that summer
In the moonlight
You were dreaming
I was believing
All that summer
In the moonlight
You were dreaming
I was believing
All that summer

The April 2007 issue of Drumhead Magazine included an interview with Vertical Horizon frontman, Matt Scannell, where he discussed his friendship and collaboration with Neil, and also discussed how Vertical Horizon was influenced by Rush. Neil first wrote about this collaboration over three years ago in his "News Weather & Sports" report:

"Late in 2005, Matt and I started working on a song together, with lyrics I wrote especially for Matt’s voice — literal and metaphorical. Matt suggested I might like to play drums on that song, and when I agreed to that, he started sending me demos of other songs he thought I might like to play on. (Trickster!). So while I was in Toronto working on Rush songs, I was also 'moonlighting' on three of Matt’s songs, playing to his demos and working out drum parts for them...Through the miracle of modern technology, I was able to e-mail those recorded sketches to Matt, and collect his comments as I went along. Thus it came to pass...on June 14, 2006, at Capitol Records Studio B in Hollywood (Hollywood and Vine, in fact), I recorded three songs for Matt’s upcoming Vertical Horizon album...The following day I told Matt that session had been one of the greatest challenges, experiences, and — now — rewards of my life. That’s the way I have always felt about making Rush albums, and I have every faith the same will be true when Alex, Geddy, and I reconvene in September." - Neil Peart, NeilPeart.net, June 17, 2006

A Talk with Ian Grandy – Rush’s First Roadie

GuitarInternational.com has posted an interview between long time Rush fan Skip Daly and RUSH's original roadie, Ian Grady. Ian has stories of the very beginnings of Rush, told for the first time. - Thanks to Skip Daly for the headsup!

City Sonic Project - Geddy Lee At Massey Hall

The City Sonic Project pairs Canadian music artists with award-winning Canadian filmmakers to create short documentary films about the artists' connection to places where their musical lives were transformed. One of the 13 short films pairs Geddy Lee with director Bruce McDonald. Geddy takes viewers on a tour inside the legendary Massey Hall, culminating in his memories of the making of All The World's A Stage. The film premiered today at the Toronto International Film Festival, and can also be seen online here. In addition, you can also check out the Geddy Lee Massey Hall Flickr photo stream. - Thanks to RushIsABand for the headsup!

Rush In "Guitar Hero 5" - Details Of Live Recording Confirmed

Guitar Hero 5 was released September 1st, with 85 songs by 83 artists, including a previously unreleased live version of "The Spirit Of Radio" (click here to view).

We have confirmed with SRO/Anthem that this recording was taken from an unreleased live performance in Manchester on June 17, 1980 on the Permanent Waves Tour (Producer Terry Brown, Engineer Andy Rose, mobile truck recorder- Mobile studio LONDON). Unfortunately, there are no plans at this time for a live album release of the complete Manchester show, but anything can happen...

Its A Girl!

From Rush.com: "The RUSH family congratulates Neil and his wife Carrie on the birth of their healthy, beautiful daughter Olivia Louise Peart." - Rush.com, August 24, 2009 - Thanks to Trip Kinzie for the headsup!

Geddy Lee New Addition At Rock Legends Wax Museum

Geddy Lee is a new addition to the Rock Legends Wax Museum in Niagara Falls. Geddy Lee, along with Slash, are the latest arrivals to the museum. - Thanks Sam for the headsup!

Geddy Lee Signature Jazz Bass With Sunburst Finish

Fender has announced it has added a second edition of the Geddy Lee Jazz Bass to Signature line, this one with a sunburst finish and black pick guard. This is a minor revision to the previous version, a replica of his trusty black bass with white pick guard. - Thanks to Sean Robinson for the headsup!

"Mean, mean stride! Our Geddy Lee Jazz Bass guitar is an exact replica of the tonally singular instrument that Rush’s revered bassist/vocalist has riffed away on in front of thousands of devoted fans worldwide and on many a mega-selling album.

The bass has an alder body; the one-piece C-shaped maple neck (thin) has a maple fingerboard with black binding and black rectangular position markers. The two vintage Jazz Bass single-coil pickups crackle with life and bristle with the energy; other features include chrome hardware, vintage-style tuning machines and a Badass® Bass II™ bridge." - Fender.com

Behind The Drum Kit - The Ro Sham Bo Story

While at the Winter 2009 Namm show, in celebration of their 100th Anniversary, Ludwig drums re-created iconic kits that defined certain eras of Ludwig manufacturing and artist input with the current output of Ludwig products. To represent the 80's/90's, Ludwig recreated Neil Peart's Presto tour kit; Ludwig's Kevin Packard has provided complete details on the "Ro Sham Bo" kit (aka "rock paper scissors"):

"The Ludwig Super Classic kit Neil played on the 1990 tour for the Presto album, to me, represented a brilliant bridge between the 'old' Rush...and the 'new'...It was the last of his live kits to feature the classic double-kick configuration that is instantly recognizable to the Peart aficionado (of which there is a small army.)...Since Neil left Ludwig in 1995, we couldn't call the kit The Peart Kit, so we called our recreation RO SHAM BO (so named because on this tour, his kick heads featured three illustrated hands doing 'Scissors-Paper-Stone' as described in the album track Hand Over Fist,) a very obscure reference that only a true fan would catch (Neil himself reportedly had to look up the phrase 'ro sham bo' on Wikipedia to catch the reference.)" - Behind The Drum Kit - The Ro Sham Bo Story, Kevin Packard, Director of Marketing, Ludwig Combo Percussion

Retrospective 3

Retrospective 3, the first compilation featuring tracks from the seven studio albums from Rush's Atlantic years (1989-2008), is now available.  The album is available at both a single CD edition as well as a CD+DVD edition.

While previous Rush compilations offered a fairly even distribution in the number of tracks per album being represented, that cannot be said of Retrospective 3. Of the six original studio albums represented, while 4 of the 10 tracks from the album Roll The Bones are included here, there is only one from Test For Echo. It can be assumed that this was done in the name of offering something "previously unreleased", as early rumors of this compilation mentioned it would include one or more "unreleased live tracks". However, the performance of "Ghost Of A Chance" included here actually was previously released on disk 3 of the Snakes & Arrows Live DVD, in the "Oh Atlanta" section.

"We don't really have hits...It's more 'All The Songs That Were Not Hits' by Rush, ha-ha!" - Geddy Lee, ClassicRockMagazine.com, February 12, 2009

Alex Lifeson Interview with "Modern Guitars"

Long time Rush fan Skip Daly recently interviewed Alex Lifeson for Modern Guitars magazine regarding the latest DVD release, Snakes And Arrows - Live. The interview was posted today on the Modern Guitars website. As Skip has been a diehard Rush fan for over 20 years, the interview goes beyond the typical interviews we have seen in recent years. The whole interview is recommended reading, but one key point of the interview include this discussion of the long awaited for Vapor Trails "remix". Another key topic is a discussion of Alex's recent discovery of long lost tapes from his vault! - Thanks to Skip Daly for the headsup up!

Drummer Bill Bruford on "Burning For Buddy"

Bill Bruford: The Autobiography is coming this spring. The drumming great recently posted an excerpt from the book on his blog, where he discusses the trials of the Burning For Buddy sessions, produced by fellow drummer Neil Peart in 1994:

"An altogether grander 1994 project centred on Neil Peart, the charming and successful drummer with Canadian rockers Rush, who had taken it upon himself to make a series of recordings of Buddy Rich’s music...The idea was for an A-list of the most celebrated drummers of the day to do a couple of tunes each from the standard Rich Orchestra repertoire. The resulting CDs were to be called Burning For Buddy, and time was duly booked at the Power Station recording studio in Manhattan.

'For reasons best known to himself, Neil thought I’d be suitable for this project and got in touch to explain the plan. He suggested a couple of tunes, and I, with what must have seemed like arrogance but in fact was that old insecurity, said fine, but how about one of his and one of mine? Neil asked for a demo of my proposed tune, which was duly approved, and I went off to see English trumpeter and arranger Chris Batchelor to have the composition transcribed." - click here for more. - Thanks to Pat McCallister for the headsup!

Rush on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hard Rock

On Monday December 29th VH1 premiered their "100 Greatest Songs of Hard Rock" special. Coming in at #19 was "Tom Sawyer", with remarks from Judas Priest, Sebastian Bach, & others. Bach jokingly remarks people would need a separate I-pod just to fit the entire rush catalog on it!

Snakes & Arrows Live CD and Video

Snakes & Arrows Live was released as a 2CD set on April 15th. Recorded over two nights in Rotterdam during the 2007 leg of the tour, the album captures the entire concert set.

"With this one, we recorded both nights and there are songs on there from both nights -- so it gives you a bit more comfort. You're a bit more relaxed about it knowing if you screw it up at night one, you can nail it on night two. All in all I think we played very well those two nights." - Geddy Lee, Jam!Showbiz, April 14, 2008

The video was released November 24th, and debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top Music Video chart, selling 25,000 units the first week.  Snakes & Arrows Live is RUSH's first concert film to be released on Blu-Ray, as well as a 3 DVD set.  Click here for the Snakes & Arrows Live news archive.

Neil Peart's "News Weather and Sports" - December 2008 "December In Death Valley"

Neil Peart has updated his website with the latest installment of "News Weather & Sports". Titled "December In Death Valley", Neil shares with us his motorcycle trip he took through the California desert on December 4th. In one point of his narrative, Neil discusses the ghost town of Amboy, which is pictured on the Snakes & Arrows desert road image.

'Leaving the park at Twentynine Palms, I continued north on the road to the ghost town of Amboy, and Roy’s Motel, which appeared in Ghost Rider. In fact, unknown to most people, Amboy also appears on the booklet cover of the Snakes and Arrows CD, and lately, on the new concert DVD, plus at the beginning of the "What’s That Smell?" film that played before "Far Cry" during our concerts this past summer. I watched it every night from my "waiting-chair" behind Geddy’s ampline (er, rotisseries), before the second set, and it always gave me a smile. Back in 2006, when Hugh Syme and I were trading ideas for that Snakes and Arrows cover, we discussed a surreal desert highway scene. As a reference, I sent him one of my Ghost Rider photographs, taken on a stretch of old Route 66, looking west toward the cluster of crumbling buildings at Amboy, with the unmistakable Amboy Crater in the distance. Hugh ended up "building" the scene on that original photo, which had been taken in 1998 (as a slide, in those days). Like the Monument Valley ten-years-apart photo that appeared in a story earlier this year, "South by Southwest," I decided to pause for a ten-year anniversary shot of Route 66 and Amboy.'

Another interesting point are his comments regarding an abandoned song titled "Telescope Peak" written in the time of Vapor Trails.

'In the glimmer along the peaks, I saw a dusting of white around the highest summit, Telescope Peak, where I hoped to hike the following day. Telescope Peak was an important place in Ghost Rider—and in my life, really. In October 1999, when I had been rambling aimlessly around the West for the better part of a year, trying to find some way to face the world again, I hiked to that 11,049-foot summit. The next day, I rode on to Los Angeles, where I met Carrie, and my whole life changed completely (and needless to say, positively). An irresistible metaphor seemed to arise there—that I had climbed to the highest point in Death Valley from the lowest, then descended to travel onward and find Life again. In the book Ghost Rider I had used Telescope Peak as an important symbol, and had written some lyrics called "Telescope Peak," too, around the refrain of "the last lonely day." Those lyrics hadn’t found a musical home with my collaborators, Alex and Geddy, during the songwriting sessions for our Vapor Trails album in 2001, but fair enough—those guys shared enough of my grief, in life and in art. In any case, the best lines from "Telescope Peak" were recycled into other songs, like "Ghost Rider" and "How It Is," so nothing was lost...Early next morning I rode about sixty miles across the valley and up Emigrant Canyon Road, aiming for a hike in the Panamint Mountains. I was still thinking of going for the "big one," Telescope Peak, as I wanted to close that circle of more than nine years ago—revisit the place that had also inspired another line in "Telescope Peak" that ended up in "Ghost Rider:" "From the lowest low to the highest high."'

For the complete entry visit NeilPeart.net.

"Hope: Live For The Art Of Peace" - Nominated for a Grammy

A live version of "Hope", subtitled "Live For The Art Of Peace", was included on the Songs For Tibet - The Art Of Peace benefit album released August 12, 2008.  This version was nominated for the Best Rock Instrumental Performance Grammy in 2009 (their sixth nomination). The winner was "Peaches In Regalia" by Dweezil Zappa, from Zappa Plays Zappa.

"'This album will focus people's attention on the importance of Tibet, the gifts of its culture, and the crisis the Tibetan people are facing today,' said one of the album's organizers, Michael Wohl. The album is due for global release on iTunes on August 5, three days before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. It will then be available through other outlets the following week, the statement said. Wohl, from the Art of Peace Foundation, said the timing of the release was deliberate. 'We wanted to express our support for the Tibetan people and their message of peace through music, a fundamental means of expression, at a time when the eyes of the world are on China.'" - AFP News, July 22, 2008

Orchestra Jazz Rush - Available Light on "Wave Mechanics Union"

"Available Light", performed by progressive jazz group Wave Mechanics Union, is one of eleven classic tracks available on Second Season.  Released October 1, the album offers a full-scale jazz band supporting vocalist Lydia McAdams.  The group has recorded striking new arrangements of songs from progressive rock giants Yes, Rush, Pink Floyd, Queen, King Crimson, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Police, and more. The brainchild of composers Ryan Fraley and Ralph Johnson, along with vocalist McAdams, the project seeks to honor the sometimes complicated sounds of progressive rock with jazz treatments.  Visit progjazz.com for more information.