Website Updates: Windows 7 Themes and Smartphone Wallpapers

The impetus for this website when it was first launched 12 years ago was the Desktop Wallpaper and "Windows Plus!" Desktop Themes pages. While I still offer Themes for Windows XP/ME/NT, I have updated the Windows Themes page to now include a complete set of Windows 7 Themes. These Windows 7 Themes include Desktop Background Slide Shows along with the same sounds, icons and cursors used in the older Windows Plus themes. The Desktop Background Slide Shows include ALL the linernotes images for any given album, as well as additional live photos taken during that album's tour sourced from the tourbooks. Some of the Windows 7 Themes for more recent releases have HUGE Slide Shows included - the Snakes & Arrows Live theme has 36! In addition, these themes are user customizable, meaning, if you don't want to use the sounds and icons, you don't have to. Visit our Windows Themes page for details.

Next, more and more frequently I've been asked about wallpapers for Smartphones; after all, I offer PSP wallpapers, why not then include Smartphone wallpapers? As I'm a Blackberry user, however, I have been slow to get around to it. But thanks to the urging and guidance of Smartphone user John Patuto at Cygnus-X1.net, I've finally added a complete "Smartphone Wallpaper" page of 360x480 pixel RUSH wallpapers for SmartPhone, Palm, Blackberry Storm, Pocket PC, Apple iPhone and iPod Touch devices. Enjoy!

RUSH Makes Planet Rock's "Top 40 Live Albums"

Listeners of the UK's Planet Rock radio voted in their thousands in a poll to determine the Top 40 Live Albums of All Time. - Thanks to Scot McBean and Matt Kelly for the headsup!

"Thousands of you voted and now we know once and for all that Thin Lizzy's Live And Dangerous is the Greatest Live Album of All Time. The 1978 album has been repeatedly accused of containing more overdubs than live material, but that doesn't hide the fact that this is a definitive "live" record - it captured the band's stunning live energy and sound absolutely perfectly across a tracklist that probably couldn't have been bettered, and that, after all, is everything we could ask for. Deep Purple were so close to stealing this one at the last minute with their classic Made In Japan, and UFO's Strangers In The Night wasn't too far behind either. Rush deserve a notable mention for being the one band who's fans successfully sabotaged their chances for the Top Ten by splitting the vote rather spectacularly across three albums in the Top 40." - Planet Rock.com

Miniature Replica Of Geddy's Rickenbacker 4001

You've asked for it, and now it's here: a precise recreation of Geddy Lee's Rickenbacker 4001 bass. His primary instrument of the 70's, first seen during RUSH's first tour in 1974, Geddy effectively retired this bass after the Signals tour until bringing it back on tour in 2007.

This 1:4-scale replica miniature bass collectible is made of solid mahogany wood, hand crafted and airbrushed with outstanding detail. This bass guitar sells for $24.99; click here to order. As these guitars are hand made, please allow 3-4 weeks for delivery as supplies are limited.

Axeheaven is providing a special discount for Power Windows Website Users. To receive the discount, just enter the below coupon code while checking out at AxeHeaven.com:

• For free shipping for all domestic orders: coupon code FS2010
• For an overall 10% discount off of international orders: coupon code TEN2010

Click here for the complete RUSH miniature instruments collection

Rush Slam in Spoof Superbowl Commercial

In the controversial Dodge Charger Superbowl commercial, "Man's Last Stand", morose looking men are shown as a male voice over lists things a man must endure so that they can drive what they want. A spoof commercial has been made by women, "Woman's Last Stand", where the tables are turned. Of course, RUSH gets slammed; afterall, there are no female RUSH fans, right? - Thanks to John Tice for the headsup!

Superbowl Halftime Show Featuring RUSH?

"The NFL is making a very conscious effort to avoiding the conflict over potential lawsuits that came by way of Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction. By most accounts, the last few years have gotten better and better while encompassing a variety of long-time, tenured, rock-and-roll professionals. So here is a list of five bands that would serve the NFL well over the next half-decade...

Number Two: RUSH might be the most controversial selection for those who are not fans of the band. However, this is one of the most technical, influential, and greatest rock bands ever to hit the stage. They have reached legendary status even though they are still snubbed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Perhaps no band is better equipped to pull off a similar medley of their music as quickly as RUSH could. They have still been touring into their late 50’s and producing high quality musical releases as well. Most recently drummer Neil Peart was asked to help revamp the Hockey Night in Canada theme music, and has landed the drum set he used to get into the Hockey Hall of Fame. This band is from Canada, but they have always toured in the United States. RUSH is the most capable band of surprising, while making a few new fans." - BleacherReport.com, February 8, 2010 - Thanks to John @ Cygnus-X!.net

Joan Jett bashes Rush

Back in 1977, one of the many bands who opened for Rush was The Runaways, the all girl band fronted by Joan Jett, Cherrie Curie and Lita Ford. In fact, the Runaways attended a party in Rush's honor as pictured here. However, although it seems out of character for Rush, the Runaway's Joan Jett has less than fond memories of their time touring together. - Thanks to Tony Stiles for the headsup!

"Their Order of Canada is probably safe. But Joan Jett says members of Rush were anything but polite Canucks when the Runaways opened for them in the 1970s. In the new film biopic about the band titled The Runaways, Jett (played by Kristen Stewart) is derided by an unidentified rock group they’re opening for. She later retaliates by breaking into their dressing room and urinating on one of their guitars. Jett doesn’t hesitate to identify the real-life inspiration for the scene. 'Rush! They sat on the side of the stage and laughed at us,' Jett says. 'That sort of stuff pisses me off.'" - Joan Jett, Jam!Music, January 29, 2010

Geddy Lee On The Canadians For Haiti Telethon

Geddy Lee appeared on the Canada For Haiti benefit telethon on Friday night which raised over $9.4 million for a group of Canadian charities working in Haiti following the earthquake of January 12th. Geddy Lee made an appearance at the event but did not perform; click here for Geddy's appearance. For more information visit canadaforhaiti.com. - Thanks to Rushisaband for the headsup!

Caress Of Steel, A Record To Die For

In the February issue of Stereophile, writer Brian Damkroge includes Caress Of Steel in his "Records To Die For" feature. - Thanks to RushIsABand for the headsup!

"Caress of Steel, Rush's third album narrowly edges out their fourth, 2112, as my R2D4. The sparse arrangements showcase their playing; in particular, Alex Lifeson's chord-based guitar style is shown off far better here than on their later, more complex albums. With Caress and 2112, Rush exploited the album format with longer, more developed operettas than were possible with their later focus on radio-friendly singles. Yes, 'I think Im going bald' is woefully out of place, the lyrics a little pretentious, and Geddy Lee's vocals are an acquired taste, but the music and sound are incredible. Rush at their very best."

Neil Peart "Soulscape" Print

International artist Tom Noll paints various musicians and is now featuring his Neil Peart "Soulscape" as a giclee art print from the original oil painting. The print has an image area of 27" x 18" (68.6 cm x 45.7 cm), is printed on 100 lb cover stock using fade resistant UV inks and sells for $350 plus shipping. For more information visit creativeboneartworks.com; click here for a closeup of the painting. - Thanks to Frank Ray for the headsup!

RushPetition.com Is Back For 2010 Tour

RushPetition.com is back for a fourth consecutive tour to take your votes on the top five songs you would like the band to bring back from "the vault". This go round, however, they are only offering up songs that have not been played in the last 20 years (songs not heard since the Presto tour). Surprisingly, there are 85 songs to choose from! - Thanks to Skip Daly for the headsup!

30th Anniversary Of Permanent Waves On "In The Studio"

The 30th anniversary of Permanent Waves was the subject of "In The Studio - The Stories Behind History's Greatest Rock Bands" which aired the week of January 11th. The show was a compilation of past interviews, and can now be heard at inthestudio.net.

"Crafting A Neil Peart Prototype"

"Do artists really influence the designs of the cymbals that bear their names? And, if they do, by what process does a drummer design a cymbal? We sat down recently with Sabian's west coast artist relations director Chris Stankee to discuss the design of a new Chinese cymbal with Neil Peart. You'll see how over the course of two years Neil and Chris worked together, They would receive new prototypes, test the, take them on the road, and then ask the factory for changes. With each generation of the design, this cymbal got closer and closer to what Neil heard in his head. You can see the whole story of Paragon cymbals on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/sabianparagonlounge."- DRUM!.com, January 10, 2010 - Thanks to Frank Ray for the headsup!

Sonic Reality Releases "Neil Peart Drums Vol. 1: The Kit"

Announced at this week's NAMM show: "Neil Peart Drums Vol. 1: The Kit. This sample library for BFD2 and Infinite Player, and powered by Kontakt, is part of Sonic Reality's Drum Masters series. Neil Peart, drummer of the band Rush, collaborated with Sonic Reality and producer/engineer Nick Raskulinecz to digitize the sound of Snakes and Arrows’ Custom DW Drum Kit. It features deep level dynamics, humanized random alternating hits, discrete multiple mic mixing, and more. It gives e-drummers, keyboardists, and composers the ability to play rock drum samples with the distinctive Neil Peart sound, and have a drum kit suitable for many styles of music from Progressive Rock to Heavy Metal. It comes mapped in GM, iMap, V-Drum and a Custom Map mode to be controlled by any electronic drum kit. It also includes discrete mic mixing and album-quality presets. It ships in the first quarter, but the price has not been announced." - Macworld.com, January 15, 2010 - Thanks to Rushisaband.com for the headsup!

Neil Peart On Paragon Brilliant "More Than A Shine - It's A Matter Of Sound"

In a new article at Sabian.com, Neil Peart discusses Paragon Brilliant cymbals. - Thanks to Frank Ray for the headsup!

"The evolution of Paragon Brilliant is about more than spit and polish. It began with the pursuit of the openness and responsiveness of an older cymbal, right 'out of the bag.' I have always found that brand-new cymbals have a certain 'tightness,' both in their physical response and in their sound, and it takes a few shows to play them in. Then they loosen up and start to 'dance' on the stand, and the swell of sound from attack to decay would become smooth and open..."- Neil Peart, Sabian.com, December 22, 2009

Alex Lifeson Makes "VH1's 100 Most Shocking Music Moments"

Alex Lifeson makes list of VH1's 100 Most Shocking Music Moments. Moment number 62, titled "When a Rush Comes to Shove", discusses Alex's New Year's Eve at the Ritz in 2003 (click here for a complete history of the event). Several musicians, including Scott Ian from Anthrax, comment on how Rush is a "geeky prog rock band" and "who would've thought they'd actually be on the list", while a comedian states "maybe Rush is using the prog rock geekiness as a front. Maybe they all could kick your ass." The segment includes Alex saying, "Gives a whole new meaning to spending the night at the Ritz."

"Trailer Park Boys 2: Countdown To Liquor Day" Now On DVD

Trailer Park Boys 2: Countdown To Liquor Day, the second Canadian comedy film featuring the bad boys from the trailer park, is now available on DVD. The film includes yet another cameo by Alex Lifeson, this time in the role of a cross-dressing undercover policeman:

"Of course, there's the de rigueur appearance by Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, here playing a drunken, undercover cop posing as a transvestite in a gay-prostitute alley (centered around a Chip Wagon that serves alcohol -- man, Halifax is one weird town). The character may indeed be the same cop Lifeson played in the previous Trailer Park Boys movie, showing his true colours." - Edmonton Sun, September 25, 2009 - Thanks to RushIsABand.com

"R30" Complete Edition BluRay

The R30 Complete Edition Blu-Ray is released today, including Rush's complete concert from Frankfurt, Germany, on September 24, 2004. Unlike the DVD release which omitted Bravado, YYZ, The Trees, One Little Victory, Secret Touch, Red Sector A, La Villa Strangiato and By-Tor and the Snow Dog, those tracks have been restored to their original running order for this high definition release:

"Some of the songs were dropped from R30 due to technical reasons but also we didn't want to have too many similarities with Rush In Rio. Why not? Well, I think now that it was a dumb decision of ours. In fact I regret not having put the whole show on those disks. But I promise you, all those songs that were cut will eventually see the light of day, in some shape or form." - Geddy Lee, Aardschok Magazine, March 2006

Unfortunately, unlike the DVD release which includes a bonus disk containing over 1:30 minutes of interviews and bonus features, the Blu-Ray version contains the concert feature only. Click here for more information.

Neil Peart & John Good discuss The Finer Points Of DW's Shell Technology - Video Online

Early last month, the latest issue of Drum Workshop's "The Edge" magazine was published including a new article titled "Neil Peart & John Good discuss The Finer Points Of DW's Shell Technology" (see pages 14&15 here). Now, two 10 minute videos of their conversation are available on Drum Workshop's Youtube Channel. Check them out here and here. - Thanks to Mark Rosenthal for the headsup!

Permanent Waves Album Cover Details Explained

One intriguing aspect of Rush's albums is their album covers, and one of the most intriguing album covers to me has always been Permanent Waves. Let's face it, the scene showing a gorgeous smiling woman standing in the midst of all that destruction has always been a visual feast for the eyes.

"Permanent Waves is the result of a conversation which I had with Neil out at his home in the country. We spoke all evening about Rush growing up, and how we were going to do these EKG readings of each member as they were recording. We were going to tape their temples and chests and have real heartbeats of them while they were playing. So Permanent Waves was going to be a technical statement, and we were going to treat that with red and gold foil, and do a nice study in design- as opposed to a photographic thing. I walked out and, in the doorway, said 'Wait! Let's try something with Donna Reed, with her permanent Toni hairdo, and have her walking out of a tidal wave situation.' Neil gave me this blank look and said, 'Get out of here.' The following day, he asked me to consider doing just that because he'd discussed it with the band, and they'd all thought it was more likely for a cover than the serious approach." - Hugh Syme, Creem, 1983

By now we all know the story behind the "Dewey Defeats Truman" newspaper headline, but what about the rest of the cover?

Rush Wins SOCAN's "International Achievement Award"

"Veteran rockers Rush took the international achievement award...as the music industry organization SOCAN handed out its awards Monday night. The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, the copyright collective for musical works, gives annual awards for Canada's top acts and recognizes songs and artists who get the most airplay. Rush is coming off a year of successful international touring and the release of its album Snakes & Arrows Live. The band, which first toured in 1974, is also wooing a new generation by releasing its classic songs for download on the game Rock Band." - CBCnews.com, November 23, 2009

"Working Men" Now Available

The new live Rush compilation, Working Men, is now available on DVD and CD.  This release brings together the "best of" live tracks culled from Rush In Rio, R30and Snakes & Arrows Live. Click here for the North American and UK press releases.

 Tracklist: Limelight³, The Spirit Of Radio², 2112¹, Freewill³, Dreamline², Far Cry³, Subdivisions², One Little Victory (previously, unreleased performance)², Closer To The Heart¹, Tom Sawyer (w/South Park Intro)³, Working Man², YYZ¹ [Source: ¹Rush In Rio, ²R30 and ³Snakes & Arrows Live]

Working Men downloads have been added to the Desktop Wallpaper, PSP Wallpaper, and Winamp Skins sections of this website. At the same time, I've revamped the entire Winamp Skins collection, updating the skins to include some new Winamp features.

Alex Lifeson's Painting Sells for $2,125 to Benefit Kidney Foundation

Alex Lifeson's painting, which he donated to the Kidney Foundation Of Canada, sold today for $2,125 through eBay.ca.

"Alex Lifeson (RUSH), Red Green (Steve Smith), Jessica Holmes, Rita MacNeil and Stompin’ Tom Connors are just a few of the celebrities who have taken up brushes and paints to create small masterpieces to help the nearly 2 million Canadians who either have kidney disease or are at risk." - www.kidney.ca

"It is through the support by all of us that the Kidney Foundation of Canada can continue to provide hope for those who are not so fortunate and must live with this debilitating condition. I urge you to take the time to help in any way you can, whether by donation or some other method to realize the dream of a cure. Even a little goes a long way..." - Alex Lifeson

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!