Today Was Yesterday are a music duo consisting of drummer, percussionist and programmer Ty Dennis and lead vocalist, primary songwriter, bassist, guitarist, pianist and programmer Angelo Barbera. Today the duo officially released their self-titled debut album, and it is of interest to Rush fans because Alex Lifeson makes guest appearances on most of the album's 10 tracks, two of which were released to streaming over the past few months in the lead-up to the album's release. In December they released the track Grace and last month they posted the official lyric video for A Louder Silence. Grace and A Louder Silence are just two of the six tracks on the album that feature Lerxst; he's also included on the tracks On My Own, My Dog Is My God, Faceless Faraway Song, and My New Low. A few reviews of the album came out this past week in the lead-up to the release, including this one from Ramzine, and a pair of 7/10 reviews from GhostCultMag.com and All About the Rock. From the latter:

... it was the songs with Alex on that I gravitated towards first. However, and pleasingly, he doesn't dominate the songs, his contributions embellish them. The closest we get to him letting loose on a 2112/Finding My Way scale is on the Zeppelin-tinged opener, Grace. It's a moody and atmospheric rocker that powerfully opens the album. However, remember the genre issue I mentioned? Well, the next track A Louder Silence has a much more laid-back ambience, with a much subtler Lifeson in attendance, giving the track a dreamy, Middle Eastern feel. Then, we get another wonderful musical juxtaposition. There is the Sting-esque sophisticated dinner party pop of On My Own and then the pounding My Dog Is My God that reminds me a little of Nine Inch Nails. I far prefer the latter, the former seems a little bland compared to the other tracks on offer here. Despite it being a pleasant enough song, it's too straightforward, and safe. ...

Back in August of 2022, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone hosted a pair of concerts to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the show at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado. The setlist included a number of South Park songs mixed in with Ween and Primus tunes, along with a surprise performance from Rush's Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Closer to the Heart with Primus and Matt Stone on drums (video here). The concert was televised and the audio can be found on streaming services, but it will now also be available on vinyl as part of a special Record Store Day release on April 20th. The 3-LP set is pressed on Towelie-Blue vinyl and will be limited to 4000 copies. You can check out all the details, including the full 22-track setlist here, and get a list of participating stores here.

Rolling Stone magazine has updated their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, which they last did back in 2021. At that time, they had Rush's Limelight at #435, and in this revamped list the track didn't budge, remaining in the 435 spot (thanks RushFanForever):

Rush drummer Neil Peart tackled the trap of rock-star fame without sounding like a spoiled rock-star misanthrope - and, a little ironically, ended up writing one of the Canadian prog-rock trio's biggest arena hits. "Limelight" sanded down the knottier edges of its 7/4 riff to sound at home on FM radio, as Geddy Lee sang about feeling "ill-equipped to act/With insufficient tact," making no apologies for their brainy aspirations. "I didn't want to be famous," Peart observed years later. "I wanted to be good. And that's a whole other thing."

The Toronto Globe and Mail posted an article this week titled What business leaders can learn from bass god Geddy Lee, where they share bits of wisdom from Geddy Lee from his My Effin' Life memoir and how they can be applied to the business world.

On the latest episode of Rush Roundtable (#218) on the Rushfans YouTube channel, the panel discusses how their favorite Rush albums have evolved over time. Tonight they'll be debuting another video in their Test for Echo album discussion series, where they'll tackle Virtuality.

That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!