TODAY is the official release of Rush's Rush 50 career-spanning compilation anthology in celebration of the band's 50th anniversary. Rush 50 is available in five distinct configurations, including the (1) Super Deluxe Edition ($374.98), (2) Rush Store Exclusive Super Deluxe Edition, (3) 7-LP Deluxe Edition ($249.98), (4) 4-CD Deluxe Edition ($99.98), and (5) Digital Edition ($26.49). The Rush Backstage Store exclusive edition includes an additional four bonus lithos showcasing Rush through time, newly illustrated by FANTOONS from the characters created for the graphic novel depicting the band in the '70s, '80s, '90s and 2000s. Rolling Stone magazine posted a glowing review of the album yesterday, giving it 4.5/5 stars and concluding with the following:
... Along with the opening "Not Fade Away" single, the most historically notable track here is the final one - a previously unreleased document of the last 10-ish minutes that Lee, Lifeson and Peart ever spent onstage. Concluding their R40 tour, which featured a reverse-chronological-order set list, they flashed back to the early days, playing a medley of debut-album tracks "What You're Doing" and "Working Man," with a snippet of "Garden Road" to end. The renditions are strong, but hitting even harder than the music is what happens after: Midway through thanking the crowd and the crew, Lee says, "Whoa, what a surprise." As fans well know, he was reacting to the unexpected appearance of Peart at his side - previously, the drummer had always respected what he called the "back-line meridian," never joining his bandmates up front at the conclusion of a show. In preserving this emotional moment, Rush 50 commemorates a brotherhood as well as a discography, and concludes a suitably epic tour of one of rock's most fulfilling and rewarding journeys.
You can secure your copy of Rush 50 via Amazon and other retailers, and get all the details regarding the different configurations and what they include, along with the full tracklist at Rush.com.
Alex Lifeson has been hitting the interview circuit the past few weeks to promote the upcoming release of Envy of None's new album Stygian Wavz, due out next Friday, March 28th. One of his more revealing interviews was with AllMusic.com where Lerxst talks mostly about his Envy of None project, but also touches on Rush's legacy, his health, and his future plans:
... "Well, I'm gonna finish this cup of tea and have another one, and go on and do another 50 interviews today, and for the rest of the week! I'm still working on a documentary on the Great Lakes with a bunch of people - some guys from Barenaked Ladies, from the Rheostatics. We've been working on this for a while. It's an interesting project, because we get together and we jam, and then we start pulling stuff out of those jams and then building from those. And a lot of the jams, as we progress, get better and better and better, and stand alone as parts. I'm working with a young female artist on some of her stuff. I do stuff with Marco Minnemann from time to time - I have one project here on my desktop with him. So, I'm playing a lot. I play every day. I play before I go to bed for an hour, as an absolute. But usually, I'm getting at least three or four hours of guitar playing in every day. So, it's all good." ...
There's very little information to be had on the documentary project Alex mentions above, but BNL's Kevin Hearn posted this reel teasing the project to Instagram late last year (thanks RushFanForever), and Dave Bidini teased the project with this reel just last week. You can read the entire interview online here. Alex also did an interview for MusicRadar.com where he discusses the album in minute detail, and you can check that out online here. Here's Alex praising vocalist Maiah Wynne:
... "There is something about her sensibility as an arranger. When I heard her vocal arrangements, they really informed a lot of my guitar parts. So we would trade back and forth. We would trade back and forth several times. I would update guitars. I found we would dance together in these arrangements. I would weave in and out of her vocal lines and she'd do the same. She would add something under a solo, for example. On this new record, she does vocal lines under the solos that I play and it is just a great relationship that we have as guitarist and vocalists. Most vocalists, when you are working with them, they will have the main vocal, a double, and then two or three harmony vocals, and so you have five or six tracks of vocals. Maiah has 16 to 20 tracks when she submits her arrangements." ...
Envy of None guitarist Alfo Annibalini was also interviewed to promote the album release and he makes the following remarks on whether EoN is a project or a band:
... "I think there is a sense that, and Alex has said this in various interviews, where the first one was almost more of a project. It was people coming together with a collection of songs, working on those songs and trying to get the best out of those songs. ... "I think we got the sense that when we started the second record that this was no longer a project. This was this was a band, and when we finished this record, we thought, damn, this is a pretty good band. That opens up a whole bunch of different possibilities in terms of what we do next and what the next step is." ...
Envy of None's Stygian Wavz will release next Friday, March 28th with pre-orders available here. It will be available in colored vinyl, standard black vinyl, CD, Blu-ray, digitally and as a special deluxe edition box set (autographed version available). For more details on the various album formats and what they include, visit the official Envy of None store and watch the video trailer. Since first announcing the album back in October, the band has released several singles including the title track, Not Dead Yet, Under the Stars, and - just last week - The Story. That Was Then had also previously been released as a single back in 2023. The entire tracklist is as follows:
Envy Of None - Stygian Wavz
1. Not Dead Yet [03:29]
2. The Story [04:41]
3. Under The Stars [04:32]
4. Thrill Of The Chase [03:40]
5. Handle With Care [04:14]
6. That Was Then [03:46]
7. Raindrops [03:33]
8. New Trip [03:55]
9. Clouds [04:02]
10. The End [03:58]
11. Stygian Waves [03:37]
Moog Music announced yesterday the launch of the Moog Music Geddy Lee Minimoog® Model D®, a groundbreaking collaboration that pays homage to one of the instrument's most iconic pioneers. From the press release:
... This release honors Geddy Lee's storied career and his transformative impact on progressive rock as the bassist, vocalist, and synth pioneer of the legendary band Rush. The Geddy Lee Minimoog Model D combines the timeless analog sound of the original with updates designed to inspire musicians and fans alike.
"It's a thrill to see the Minimoog Model D in that stunning red, so representative of one of the most fertile periods in Rush's creative history", said Geddy Lee. "I've always been mad for custom color instruments, many inspired by automotive hues, and I'm thrilled with how it turned out-it's just so beautiful. The Minimoog Model D was the first synth that made dreaming big accessible to a schlub like me. Its intuitive design lets you learn waveforms, blend sounds, and experiment with the modulation wheel. That's its legacy: a fat, sophisticated sound in a package that's not daunting to get your hands on."
"The Minimoog Model D has shaped music history for over five decades, inspiring creativity across genres with its timeless instrument design and raw analog power," said Erik Norlander, Director of Product Development at Moog Music. "Collaborating with Ged on this model is a tribute to his profound impact on progressive rock with Rush and a celebration of the Minimoog's enduring legacy. The Geddy Lee Minimoog Model D combines the iconic sound and intuitive functionality of the original with exclusive features that honor both its history and its future-offering musicians and collectors an extraordinary connection to the maverick innovation of the great Bob Moog." ...
The Moog Music Geddy Lee Minimoog® Model D® is exclusively available at Reverb (US), Andertons (UK) and Thomann (EMEA/GERMANY) for $5,499 USD. You can get all the details and purchase one for yourself in the official Geddy Lee Reverb Shop. They've also created an 8-minute video where Geddy Lee reflects on the Minimoog Model D, sharing his thoughts on its craftsmanship, sonic character, and how Moog's legendary sound played a role in shaping iconic Rush tracks like Xanadu, Tom Sawyer, and Subdivisions.
Alex Lifeson and Lerxst Amps' Grace signature guitar is one of a pair of Godin Guitars reviewed in this Guitar World article from earlier in the week:
Another illustration of the diversity and quality of Godin's manufacturing capability, it's more than a feather in the brand's cap to work with Alex Lifeson in creating contemporary versions of his classic Hentor Sportscaster (various modded Fender styles from back in the day) under the Lerxst brand. As we've mentioned, this metallic red version is the second run, which follows on from the Limelight, and aesthetics aside, the Grace we have here is the same guitar. ...
According to a recent Alex Lifeson interview, they'll be coming out with a third version of the guitar called the Freewill later this year:
... There is a black one - Free Will I think it's called. And that will come out months from now as the final of the trio of these guitars." ...
The article also mentions that Alex is working on a chorus pedal to complement Lerst Amps' By-Tor and Snow Dog pedals.
The sad news broke this past Sunday that Neil Peart's younger brother Danny passed away last Thursday, March 13th after a nearly 2-year battle with Glioblastoma, the same disease that took his older brother Neil over 5 years ago. Neil and Danny's sister Nancy Peart Burkholder confirmed Danny's passing in a post in the Peart Family Events Facebook group:
On this dreary Sunday it is with great sadness that we share that this past Thursday evening we lost our third Peart man and 2nd brother, Danny, after his year and a half battle with glioblastoma (brain cancer). Danny shared our amazing Peart traits that all of our men carried, a true gentleman with a kind heart and generous spirit. Many of you shared his love of golf during our past four tournaments, his poetry, his friendship, or just a chat over coffee or chocolate. ... We will be planting a tree at Lakeside Park beside our Father's tree and Neil's pavilion and will have a new award starting at this year's golf tournament for 'Sportsmanship' as this was his true self. It is ironic that his golf team has repeatedly come in 2nd place! ...
Danny Peart was born in Port Dalhousie, Ontario and later settled in Vancouver with his wife Janette Lindley and their two sons, Max and Nick. He worked as a Globe and Mail paperboy, a Bartender, a farm equipment Parts Manager and a Personal Trainer, along with also being an accomplished writer and poet. He was a member of the League Of Canadian Poets, and published the following collections: Ruined By Love (21012), Stark Naked In A Laundromat (2016), with a foreword by Neil Peart, Another Mountain To Climb (2017), and - most recently - Not Quite So Handsome. Anyone wanting to make a donation in Danny's name can do so at this location - simply choose Walker Family Cancer Centre from the menu. RIP Danny. You will be missed.
The RushRash podcast recently had author and Rush collaborator Kevin J. Anderson on as a guest this past week (Episode 63, Red Barchetta). Kevin chats about his love of Rush and friendship with Neil Peart, along with his new epic star-studded, 3-part prog CD companion kickstarter Terra Incognita. You can listen to the show below or wherever you get your podcasts.
Jeff Teichert wrote a piece for Meridian Magazine this past week titled Neil Peart: A Legendary Drummer's Example of Rebuilding Life After Loss where he examines the life of Neil Peart in the context of healing from loss and grief.
American Songwriter published a piece this past week where they highlight the stories behind 4 Rush songs from the perspective of Neil Peart. The author looks at La Villa Strangiato, YYZ, Xanadu and Limelight:
"An attempt to clarify for myself and hopefully others a thing that I learned: never complain, never explain," said Peart. "I try not to complain, but I can't help but to explain. That ["Limelight"] was an attempt on my part to explain myself as an introvert, feeling totally alienated by the 'guilded cage' of it all, and it's been remarkable over time how many young musicians have come up to me and told me what that song means to them when they faced the same transition in their life." Peart went on to say that as a young musician, you're expected to supply without much demand. He also said that other musicians related to "Limelight" quite a bit after it was released.
On this past week's episode of Rush Roundtable on the Rushfans YouTube channel (episode #268), the panel kicks off their 5-part series centering around 50 years of Rush in celebration of Rush 50. In this first video, they create a playlist that consists of one career-defining track per album.
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!
