Ok. I think this past week takes the prize for the absolute slowest week in Rush news in a very long time. I guess it's not too unusual considering the band is still resting up from the tour and we had a holiday weekend. But I can't remember the last time things were this quiet. The only thing of any significance that I had to report was the posting of a video at Rush.com featuring the hazing of a crew member in a chicken suit. Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel! :)
That said, there still a few random Rush tidbits to keep us entertained for a couple days thanks to the many RIAB readers who sent me links and other info.
Reader Lynn-2112 met a guy in Vegas who collects motorcycles and - like our favorite drummer - rides BMW bikes. He claimed that Neil Peart just purchased a brand new 1200 GS Adventure BMW motorcycle. My guess is it's red. :)
The UK's premier digital radio station Planet Rock recently revealed the results of their public vote on the 250 Greatets Rock Riffs of All Time. 4 Rush songs made the cut; The Spirit of Radio at #33, Limelght at #92, Working Man at #104 and YYZ at #135. You can view the full results at this location. Thanks to Distant Early Warning for the heads up.
VH1 Classic had a Totally 80's Weekend over the Labor Day holiday. They played videos from the 80's alphabetically by artist. When they got to the R's they played 3 Rush videos; Distant Early Warning, Limelight, and Tom Sawyer. Thanks to terri for the heads up.
Reader jfpt4e let me know that NBC10 out of the greater Philadelphia area recently featured a slide show on their website titled Forgotten by the Rock Hall of Fame. Rush is of course one of the 21 artists featured.
From the Rush Road Sign department comes a couple photos that reader damon h took on his tornado-chasing trip (yikes!) to Rush County, Kansas this past May. Here's Rush Center and the Rush County Line.
And I'm sure many of you were aware that Google unveiled their new browser Chrome this past week. Reader Ted located this video of the event (also included below). If you listen closely to the background music around the 4-minute mark or so when they are interviewing Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin, you can hear some vintage Rush playing. :)
Unfortunately that's all I have for you this week. Hopefully things will pick up in the coming weeks. Have a great weekend!
There's a new video up at Rush.com in the Multimedia: Rush Video section titled Happy Birthday Chicken Boy. It's a video from the Pittsburgh show of one of the crew (I think it's Anson the PA Technician) going out during The Spirit of Radio in the chicken suit to baste the chickens. Apparently it's his birthday so Praetorian (Michael Mosbach) and his security crew play a little prank on the unsuspecting crew member after the chickens are fully basted. Hilarity ensues. Thanks to Rush-O-Matic at Counterparts for the heads up.
All's quiet on the Rush-ian front on this Labor Day holiday here in the US, so I thought I'd open up a thread for random discussions. Happy Labor Day to all you Working Men and Working Women in the US. I'd also like to send thoughts and prayers out to those in the southern US affected by Hurricane Gustav. Here's Working Man from R30:
We had a good chunk of Rush news to report this past week as we head into the Labor Day weekend here in the US. The final chapter (presumably) of the Alex Lifeson versus the Ritz Carlton case came to a close last weekwith the parties involved reaching a confidential settlement. We unearthed some old photos of Geddy and Alex in shorts from an 80s tennis charity event, causing a lot of excitement among many of the female RIAB members. There's yet another Rock Band-like video game called Rock Revolution soon to be released that will feature Rush's The Spirit of Radio as one of the tracks. Speaking of Rock Band, Tuesday's planned release of Rush's Moving Pictures for download for the game was delayed indefinitely as they iron out some technical difficulties. Earlier today I updated you on the upcoming Buddy Rich Memorial Concert and we learned that the event will be taped in High-def for DVD release in 2009 and also streamed live on the Drum Channel. And we got attendance numbers for one more show from the 2008 tour; Toronto's numbers are in and it was the most-attended and highest grossing show thus far with a sold-out 15,949 tickets sold and gross sales of $900,480.
It was also Alex Lifeson's 55th birthday this past Wednesday. All 3 members of the band are now 55 so I thought I'd ask you which of the three do you think has aged better - Geddy, Alex or Neil. Take the poll and let us know.
In light of the rumored Atlantic-era greatest hits package coming out next year, possibly marking the end of Rush's involvement with the label - I asked you in my last poll what was your favorite Atlantic-era Rush album. With nearly 48% of the vote, Snakes and Arrows blew away the competition. Rounding out the rest of the pack was Counterparts (15%), Presto (11%), Vapor Trails (11%), Roll the Bones (10%) and Test for Echo (5%). Feedback received only 1 lonely vote.
A spokesperson for Rush has contacted Classic Rock to deny web reports that the band are quitting Atlantic Records for the independent Canadian company Rounder. In fact, Rush are still contracted to Atlantic for one more album. Rounder - whose roster includes George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Alison Krauss, The Tragically Hip and Bruce Cockburn - will be issuing the trio's upcoming Snakes & Arrows Live DVD, but that's as far as the arrangement goes.
I should point out that this really doesn't contradict anything I had previously reported. From what I'm hearing, that one last album will be an Atlantic-era greatest hits package - I'm still pretty certain of this piece of information. Whether they end up with Rounder Records, back with Atlantic or with someone else - only time will tell. It should be noted that the band already has a working relationship with Rounder so an extension of that relationship is certainly plausible. Rounder was involved with Rush in Rio, the R30 DVD, Neil Peart's Anatomy of a Drum Solo, his book Roadshow and will be issuing the upcoming Snakes & Arrows Live DVD.
Speaking of the Snakes & Arrows Live DVD, Rush sent out a newsletter the other day with the following teaser regarding the DVD:
The Snakes and Arrow Live DVD will be released in late fall 2008. Stay tuned to RUSH.COM for more details in the coming weeks!
The last we heard, the tentative working release date for the DVD was November 4th. I would not be at all surprised if this gets pushed out a few weeks. I'd venture to guess that it will definitely be out before Christmas though. I'm sure many a Rush fan will be receiving this in their stocking come the holidays.
The Rush.com site has been rather quiet of late, but they did manage to recently post one more gallery to the Multimedia: Rush on the Road section titled B Sides from Indy. Thanks to Snoscootr for the heads up.
In my last update I mentioned that I had recently added a Rush Tribute Bands section to my links page. Several folks sent in links to some of their favorite tribute bands and I've been slowly adding them. So if you are in, or are a fan of a Rush tribute band, send me a link so I can add them to the page. Steve Turnbull of UK-based tribute band Tom Sawyer alerted me to his band and even offered to give away 2 pairs of tickets to their upcoming September 13th gig at The Point in Cardiff to 2 lucky RIAB readers. If you are in the UK and are interested in checking them out, shoot me an email - first come, first serve.
Reader Brian alerted me to a segment on a recent broadcast of the Adam Carolla show called Weed Walking. In the segment one of Carolla's crew attended the LA show at the Nokia and asked Rush fans some trivia questions with some humorous results. You can listen to the segment at this link.
A recent article at Shacknews.com highlights how the popularity of video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band are helping to turn people on to new music that they wouldn't normally listen to. There's a minor Rush reference/slam:
... Rock Band, and the music games like it, have formed a direct connection between the gaming and music industries, an unprecedented synergy of entertainment. And though the corporations may be profiting the most, the consumers are also gaining something in the transaction.
It's the power to get your friend into Bowie. To get your mom singing Radiohead. To show your girlfriend why Rush really is cool.
It's ridiculous. He [Neil Peart] is the greatest rock drummer of all time and he let me sit behind his kit. The guys in Rush are big Office fans, by the way. They were warming up for their show at the Hershey Centre, where we shot the big concert scene at the end of the film.
MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine has posted the following message in the "Forums" section of the band's official web site:
"I am writing this while sitting in my studio, and Justis [Dave's 16-year-old son] and his friend from school, Ryan (a drummer) are in the lounge room blasting KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and now RUSH for songs for their band, and I have some rare 'extra time,' so I wanted to make a post about last week and what we are doing next week. ...
Thanks to B-Man for the heads up.
Reader bassman4001 sent me this highway sign which points to Rush City. Snoscootr wants me to see if you can find the Rush reference in this pic that his sister took at a train museum in Pennsylvania. And reader Mahogie got a surprise Rush sighting when he picked up his drycleaning recently (see if you can find the 2112).
Back in March we learned that Cathy Rich and Neil Peart were putting together another Buddy Rich Memorial Concert after a 10-year hiatus. The event will take place at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Saturday, October 18th and feature a number of drum virtuosos and musicians including Neil, Nick Rich with the Buddy Rich Band, John Blackwell, Terry Bozio, Chad Smith, Jeff Berlin, Will Lee and Tommy Igoe. A few more details about the event recently came to light via this article at Sabian.com:
... Cathy Rich daughter of late, legendary drummer Buddy Rich, announced plans for the 2008 Buddy Rich Memorial Concert to be held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on October 18th. Produced by Cathy's company Scabeba Entertainment, and drumming icon Neil Peart of Rush, this years show promises to be the biggest and best of all.
"After a ten year hiatus, we are coming back with a vengeance", said Rich. "We started doing these concerts in 1989 and they were the first of their kind. I originally had the idea of having all the greatest drummers in the world sitting in with my fathers big band, playing his charts with their own unique spin. We were very successful, and then everyone in the drum world started doing their own version of the show. We decided to take a break until we could come back with something special and different. I think we have achieved that goal with this year's show.. Our last concert was in 1998 with Phil Collins".
This years line up is a veritable who's who of iconic drum virtuosos, it includes SABIAN artists: Terry Bozzio formerly of Frank Zappas band and his own platinum selling band, Missing Persons. Terry went on to revolutionize drumming with his one man shows and clinics featuring his sea of drums and percussion.
Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith
This is also the debut of Buddy's 23 year old grandson Nick Rich playing for the first time in his grandfather's big band. Nick is an in demand drummer on the west coast, having recently recorded with platinum selling artist Ray J.
Neil Peart will also perform.
Joining Buddy's Big Band will be Late Show with David Letterman bass player Will Lee. Bassist Jeff Berlin will appear as a special guest. More surprises will be added. What makes this years show unique is the artists having big band arrangements made of some of their most popular hits, as well as playing their favorite Buddy Rich charts, and the fact that it will be streamed live globally by the Drum Channel, and recorded in Hi Def for worldwide release. ...
You can also listen to an mp3 of a commercial for the event at this link. The big news here is that the concert will be recorded in High-def for later release in 2009! The event will be sponsored by Sabian Cymbals and tickets can be purchased at this link.
The official Billboard Boxscore attendance and sales figures for the July 9th Toronto show were released yesterday. And for this show they sold a LOT of tickets - nearly 16,000, grossing over $900,000 and selling out! That makes the Toronto show by far the most-attended show on the tour and also the highest grossing. The least-attended show for the tour remains the Atlantic City date with only 4,327 tickets sold. With the Toronto numbers, the average attendance for reported dates rises a bit to 8,222 tickets sold out of 10,424 available and the average gross sales rises to $536,046. We are still missing data from the 4 late-May Canadian dates, the Milwaukee date, the Atlanta show and Indianapolis, but otherwise the data from all dates on the 2008 leg has been reported. Hopefully those will be forthcoming soon so we can do a final analysis. Many thanks to Mark S for providing the numbers. I've added the Toronto figure to the tour section, the Toronto open thread and also repeated it below.
On this day back in 1953, our favorite guitarist - Alexandar Zivojinovich (aka Alex Lifeson) - was born in Fernie, British Columbia. Alex is the baby of Rush - he was the last one to turn 55! Happy birthday Lerxst! May you have many more. Next up is Neil, who'll turn 56 on September 12th.
UPDATE - 8/27@4:19PM: It looks like the release of Moving Pictures for Rock Band will not occur this week and may be delayed as much as a couple of weeks. Here's the official announcement:
... Unfortunately, due to unforeseen technical difficulties, we won't be able to release Rush's "Moving Pictures" this week. We'll be working on it as hard as we can, but it looks like it could be a couple of weeks to fix. In the meantime we will be moving around our schedule so we still have DLC coming out each week (including this week, info to follow in another announcement). ...
Today Harmonix Music Systems released Rush's Moving Pictures album for download for the Rock Band video game ... or ... it was supposed to have released it for download today. Apparently there are some technical difficulties having to do with the vocal track on YYZ ... the problem being that there is no vocal track on YYZ. :) YYZ happens to be the first instrumental track to be released for Rock Band. As of this post there still is no word on when the issue will be resolved. Last week Harmonix announced that Moving Pictures would be the 4th full album to be released as downloadable content for the popular game. All tracks are original master track recordings. The plan was to release the album for the XBox today and PlayStation on Thursday. Hopefully they'll work things out soon. Thanks to Justin for the heads up.
Reader Domenic N recently sent me some vintage pictures of Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee from a Wayne Gretzky Celebrity Tennis Charity Event that took place in 1986 and 1987 in Brantford, Ontario. All the money raised at these events were donated to charity. Other celebrities in attendance were Rob Lowe, Platinum Blonde, David Foster, Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek from WKRP in Cincinnati), Shannon Tweed, Mike Reno from Loverboy, Alan Thick and many NHL Hockey stars. You can view a slideshow of the images using the player below.
Most Rush fans are already aware that Alex Lifeson and his son Justin were arrested in Naples, FL on New Year's eve 2004 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Naples, Florida. After a lengthy court battle, the multiple felonies the two were charged with were eventually reduced to misdemeanors and Alex and his son filed a counter suit which proved to be unsuccessful at first. However, earlier this year a federal appeals court overruled the lower court saying it was wrong to dismiss one of the negligence claim made by Justin in the countersuit. In the latest development - and hopefully the final one - Justin and the Ritz-Carlton have agreed to a confidential settlement. From the Naply Daily News:
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit involving a rock band Rush guitarist's son who was punched and hit with Tasers at a 2003 New Year's Eve party at the Ritz-Carlton, Naples, after attorneys agreed to a settlement.
U.S. District Judge John E. Steele, who sits in Fort Myers, recently dismissed the lawsuit.
He did so on the same day attorneys for Alex Zivojinovich - best known as guitarist Alex Lifeson Zivojinovich's son, Justin, and the hotel and its night manager filed a notice of settlement involving events at a $500-a-plate, black-tie party that rang in 2004.
Attorney Michael R.N. McDonnell of Naples, who represented Zivojinovich, declined comment, saying only, "It's resolved. Everything is confidential."
Attorney Judith Mercier of Fort Lauderdale, who represented the beachfront Ritz-Carlton in North Naples, and night-shift manager Frank Barner, haven't been available to comment. ...
UPDATE - 8/22@5:06PM: John at Cygnus-X1.net has posted the English translation of the Cuerdas2112-based comic strip over at his site here. He did a really nice job.
Wednesday I posted some scans of a Spanish comic strip based on Rush's 2112 called Cuerdas (Strings). It was written by Rush fan Pepe Gonzalez between November of 1985 and February of 1986. You can check out the scans in this post. John over at Cygnus-X1.netoriginally dug these up and is working on posting an English translation.
Back before Neil Peart joined Rush he worked for his father's farm equipment supply store Dalziel Equipment as a parts manager. Yesterday reader Dinosent me some scans of a Dalziel Equipment newsletter from 1973 which includes pictures of both Neil and his father Glen. You can check out the scans in this post. Many readers noted the family resemblance between Glen Peart and his son but reader Lamb Saag also noted a striking resemblance between Alex Lifeson and sales manager Hugh Doherty ... and created this funny/creepy image.
On the Rush and Rock Band front, we finally got confirmation yesterday that Harmonix will be releasing the entire Moving Pictures album for download for their popular Rock Band video game. It will be available next Tuesday, August 26th at the Xbox Marketplace and Thursday, August 29th at the PlayStation Store. As of right now it's not clear whether all the songs will be master track original versions or not; this has been confirmed only for Tom Sawyer and Limelight thus far All tracks are master track original recordings.
The Songs for Tibet benefit album which features a newly-recorded live version of Rush's Hope, is now available on both CD and on iTunes. You can also purchase Hope on its own at this location. This version of Hope is slightly different than the original and was recorded at the May 25th show in Regina. You can listen to a 55-second sample clip of the song at this link. The album is also available for both download (free but includes ads) and streaming at We7.com at this link (thanks Jeff T). Reader speckbrot also alerted me that it looks like iTunes has been blocked in China because of this album. You can read the full story at this link.
Just as a reminder, last month I let you know about how Rush had donated $100,000 to Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation, sponsoring the construction of a house in The Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans dubbed The House that Rush Built. Including the band's contribution, there's now close to $103,000 donated toward the house. If you are willing and able to help them out, you can donate at this link.
Back in March we were all pleasantly surprised when Geddy and Alex showed up at the Foo Fighters show in Toronto and played YYZ with drummer Taylor Hawkins. Reader Armee pointed out the Foo Fighters will once again be playing Toronto on September 6th. Could the boys possibly make another guest appearance? We can only hope.
This upcoming Wednesday, August 27th will be our favorite guitar hero Alex Lifeson's 55th birthday. Alex is the young one in the band; he's the last to turn 55. Neil turned 55 last September and Geddy just crossed the speed limit last month. Happy birthday Lerxst!
Canadian rockers Sloan were recently interviewed in the July/August issue of Tape Op magazine. Here're a couple of quotes from the interview from members Jay Gerguson and Chris Murphy:
Jay Gerguson : "I want to say that the most "punk" band from Canada, ever, is Rush. They made these berserk records. People kept telling them to tone it down and they said (In defiant punk voice) "Fuck Yooooouuu" And they had their own label."
Chris Murphy "Yeah, they started it all. That was waaaay before Minor Threat."
Thanks to therockstar30 over at Counterparts for the heads up.
I recently located an article from a few weeks ago over at 411mania.com where the contributors list their top 5 progressive rock bands of all time. Only Rush and Pink Floyd are featured on each of the 5 lists.
You may have noticed that in the nationally-syndicated Chicago Tribune Sunday crossword puzzle this past weekend there was a Rush reference. #60 Down was the Drummer of Rush. I think you know the answer. Thanks to Wayne K for the heads up.
A few weeks ago I promised that I'd be spending some of my downtime revamping the videos section of the site. As a first step I went through all the Rush Music Videos and the Rush TV section and fixed any vids that were missing or not working (there were plenty). I also added a bunch of new ones. So if you haven't checked out these pages in a while, take a minute to do so. Here's one little gem that I never get tired of watching. It's the full video of Rush's 1974 appearance on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert:
UPDATE - 8/22@12:08PM: I just realized that I am a dumbass. :) The blog post on the Rock Band forum explicitly states that the album is comprised entirely of original master recordings. So there you go.
As we have announced in the first issue of the Rock Band Community Zine, next week's DLC - for Tuesday, August 26th, will be Rush's Moving Pictures.
Here's the track-list:
Tom Sawyer (Original Version) Red Barchetta YYZ Limelight (Original Version) The Camera Eye Witch Hunt Vital Signs
The album, which is comprised entirely of original master recordings, will be available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms and will cost $10.99 (880 Microsoft Points) for the full album, or $2 (160 MSP) for the individual tracks.
I'm still trying to find out if only Tom Sawyer and Limelight are master track originals or not.
----- snip -----
UPDATE - 8/21@2:17PM: More stuff is coming in ... Part 2 of the Rock Band interview with Rush is now up at the Rock Band website at this link. Part 1 can be viewed here in case you had missed it. The guys appropriately discuss their album Moving Pictures; the individual songs as well as the making of the album.
UPDATE - 8/21@2:03PM: I just received the first issue of the Rock Band Community eZine and they confirm that Moving Pictures will be released next week. They indicate that Tom Sawyer and Limelight will be the Original Version. Both songs are already available for the game as cover versions. They don't indicate that the other 5 songs are also the original versions, but maybe they just wanted to emphasize that the previously released songs are master tracks. I'll try and verify this.
----- snip -----
A couple of months ago I'd mentioned that the next full album to be made available for download for the Rock Band video game would be Rush's Moving Pictures. It had only been reported as a rumor in Game Informer magazine and no release date was given. However, according to a commercial that was aired today on VH1 Classic, the album will be released next week for both the XBox and PlayStation. Here's a transcript of the commercial followed by a grainy, no-audio video:
Now Rock Band rocks harder. All seven tracks from Rush's classic album, Moving Pictures - including "Tom Sawyer" and "YYZ" - can be downloaded from Xbox Marketplace on Tuesday, August 26 and at the PlayStation Store on Thursday, August 28. For more info, go to RockBand.com
Apparently the commercial was aired a little prematurely. Typically the weekly downloadable content isn't announced until Friday, and there's no news of this at all on the Rock Band website. Since all the recent downloadable Rush songs released for Rock Band (Working Man vault edition, Closer to the Heart) have been master tracks, it is assumed that the Moving Pictures tracks will be as well. Thanks to Byte for the heads up.
And lastly, on the Community section of the Rock Band website they are running a poll where they ask the question What would you most like to see more of as game tracks or DLC (downloadable content)?. The possible selections are:
1) Heavy and extreme metal 2) Punk and indie rock 3) Classic rock hits 4) Songs with female singers 5) Older (late 60s & early 70s) music 6) Brand new stuff 7) Rush 8) All the above
Rush currently has a respectable 7% of the vote, which is impressive considering they were the only individual band listed. I think this tells you a bit about how much the Rock Band developers love and respect Rush too. You have to be a registered member of the site to vote. So register and go vote for Rush!
For those of you who know a little about the early history of Rush you are no doubt aware that before Neil Peart was known as a drum god he was Neil Peart, parts manager. After an unsuccessful eighteen month stint as an aspiring drummer in London, England back in the early 70s Peart returned to his hometown of St. Catharines, Ontario and worked for his father selling tractor parts at Dalziel Equipment. Reader Dino sent me some scans of a Dalziel Equipment newsletter from 1973 which includes pictures of both Neil and his father Glen. You can see the full-size scans by clicking on the thumbnails above. If you want to know more about this part of Neil's life and his earlier years, read Neil's 2004 autobiography/travelogue Traveling Music.
UPDATE - 8/22@5:06PM: John at Cygnus-X1.net has posted the English translation of the Cuerdas2112-based comic strip over at his site here. He did a really nice job.
John over at Cygnus-X1.net recently got hold of a really neat Spanish comic strip based on Rush's 2112 called Cuerdas (Strings). It was written by Rush fan Pepe Gonzalez between November of 1985 and February of 1986. Here's John's loose translation of the introduction:
CUERDAS Creado entre noviembre de 1985 y febrero de 1986, esta historia basada en 2112, pretende recrear la lucha entre el poder establecido y la imaginacion individual, que no el individualismo, cosa con la que se ha malinterpretado en ocasiones la filosofia de este gran trio.
Evidentemente, este comic se hizo con mucha ilusion y poca tecnica, por lo que no seas demasiado riguroso en la critica.
STRINGS Created between November of 1985 and February of 1986, this story, based on 2112, aims to recreate the fight between the established power and individual imagination, not individualism, which is the idea that has often been misinterpreted as the philosophy of this great trio.
Obviously, this comic took control of much illusion and little technique, therefore please do not be too rigorous in your criticism.
I've also included all 5 panels of the strip (in Spanish) which you can view by clicking the thumnbnails above or viewing them at John's site here. John is working on translating these into English as well.
Plastica is an internet-based 80s rock tribute band who has lately been covering some songs using only toy instruments and posting the videos to YouTube. Their first offering was an all-toy cover of Metallica's Master of Puppets (their version is dubbed Master of Pop-Tarts) and their most recent video is a YYZ (Y Y ME) tribute which you can check out here.
Impressive. Next up from Plastica will be a Dream Theater tribute. Thanks to Matt G for the heads up.
On the new ATHEIST record we are going to record a blazing cover of the brilliant 'YYZ' from RUSH. As you all know, we have long been fans of RUSH, and we know this cover is a bit outside the box of what most metal bands do, but then again as a band we are very outside the box of what most metal bands do. And I can confirm that it will fucking destroy, and when people hear [Steve] Flynn's [drums] version of this tune. He renders me speechless. He has always claimed Neil Peart as a major influence, and so it makes perfect sense to cover this amazing piece of music. ...
UPDATE - 8/15@3:32PM: It looks like that old Rush poster image originated from the Power Windows site here and is courtesy of Ron Fritts Historical Research Collection.
The big news this week was the rumor that Rush will be ending their nearly 20-year relationship with Atlantic Records by releasing an Atlantic-era greatest hits package next year. The band is also rumored to be in negotiations with Rounder Records to release all new music exclusively through their label. None of this is official yet and I'll be sure to report any more details as I learn them.
In light of the rumored end to Rush's Atlantic relationship, for my next poll I thought I'd ask everyone what their favorite Atlantic-era Rush studio album is. Take the poll and let us know.
In my last poll I asked you all whether you preferred the 2007 leg setlist of the 2008 leg setlist. By about a 3 to 2 margin the 2008 leg won out.
Finally, a story on Rush. Thank you. And fuck you.
Sean let me know about this recent photo gallery feature at MSN.com titled Fabulous and 50 which features over-50 celebrities including Rush. Here's what they said:
The Rush boys -- Geddy Lee, 55, Alex Lifeson, 54, and Neil Peart, 55: This trio has rocked North America (they're Canadian) for 40 years, including their successful, just-concluded 2008 tour. Lee was just 15 when he joined the band in '68, at the behest of lifelong pal Lifeson.
The hard-rocking Rush members have influenced bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica and Primus, and show no signs of slowing down themselves. Not so fly by night after all.
Alex also will soon be 55 (on August 27th) and Neil Peart will turn 56 this coming September 12th.
Instrumental tracks often seem like breathers for bands, but with Rush, nothing is ever that simple. "YYZ" takes its name from the airport code for the band's hometown, Toronto, and the song itself translates the letters into Morse code and uses that as the basis for its rhythms. But if you just want to listen to it rather than do the math, it still rocks pretty hard.
The Rock Art Show is a traveling art show presented by local radio stations featuring over 150 framed drawings, paintings, lyrics, photographs, animation cels, album art and other art forms from Rock artists. The show features 3 Rush items and is currently on tour in case you want to check it out. Thanks to AFarCryfromFBN for the news.
I've finally started a Rush Tribute Band section to my links page. I'll be slowly adding bands to the list. So if you have a Rush tribute band and would like me to list your website, let me know
An unnamed reader sent me this image (see right) of an old poster advertising a Rush show from back in the early days (the poster is courtesy of Ron Fritts Historical Research Collection). The show advertised took place on February 27, 1975 at the Travis St. Electric Co. in Dallas, Texas. The cost of a ticket was only $3 ... and free beer too! Times sure have changed. :)
Rush has been with Atlantic Records since 1989's Presto and have released a total of 7 studio and 3 live albums under this label. But I'm now hearing that this relationship will finally come to a close with the release of a greatest hits record next year. This will be the first greatest hits package with Atlantic and will cover the band's 20-year history with the label. It will be titled Rush: 1989-2009 and will include some previously unreleased live Atlantic tracks in addition to several studio hits from the last 20 years. The band is currently in negotiations with Rounder Records to release all new music exclusively through their label although nothing has been finalized yet. Rounder is one of the biggest independent record labels in the United States. Some other artists they represent are Bruce Cockburn, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Alison Krauss, They Might Be Giants, and The Tragically Hip. More details as I learn them.
Several weeks ago Rush was featured in Rolling Stone magazine (with Barack Obama on the cover) with a 4-page article/interview titled Rush Never Sleeps. Rush had been persona non grata in the pages of Rolling Stone ever since the early days back in the 70s, so this overwhelmingly positive and complimentary article came as quite a surprise to just about everyone. In the latest issue of the magazine (issue #1059 with Robert Downey Junior on the cover) there were four letters to the editor (in the Correspondence section) referring to the Rush feature:
Barackamania has struck RS, as readers raved over his second appearance on our cover in five months. But equally enthralled were the fans of Rush, who sent more than 100 letters praising (begrudgingly) our first-ever feature on the oft-ignored group.
Rush, At Long Last
It took you 30 years to cover rock's best-kept secret: :Rush Never Sleeps" [RS 1056/1057]. But it's nice to see such an unbiased feature on such an "uncool" band.
- Steven Peterson, Toronto
Thanks for the excellent article on Rush. But I'm a little bummed to learn that I'm among a legion of nerds. I guess that explains my lack of success with the ladies.
- Ken Maas, San Leandro, Ca
Six pages of rush in RS? The apocalypse cometh.
- J. Sukitch Woodland Hills, Ca
Finally, a story on Rush. Thank you. And fuck you.
- Jeff Nilsen, Boston
That last one was my favorite. Thanks to Henry Gale at Counterparts and Lerxster for the heads up.
There's a new video up at 
On this day back in 1953, our favorite guitarist - Alexandar Zivojinovich (aka 
[
Back before Neil Peart joined Rush he worked for his father's farm equipment supply store Dalziel Equipment as a parts manager. Yesterday reader Dino 
UPDATE - 8/21@2:17PM: More stuff is coming in ... Part 2 of the
An unnamed reader sent me this image (see right) of an old poster advertising a Rush show from back in the early days (the poster is courtesy of Ron Fritts Historical Research Collection). The show advertised took place on February 27, 1975 at the Travis St. Electric Co. in Dallas, Texas. The cost of a ticket was only $3 ... and free beer too! Times sure have changed. :)
Several weeks ago 
