The big news of the past week was Metallica's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame acceptance speech this past Saturday night. James Hetfield gave a shout-out to Rush and several other hard rock bands that have been neglected by the Rock Hall. You can watch the video and check out all the details in this post. On a related note, Rush is included on Time Magazine's list of the Top 10 Rock Hall of Fame Snubs (thanks Greg M). Here's what they said about Rush:

Rolling Stone has called Rush fans the "Trekkies" of rock — they defend their Canadian rock heroes vehemently. The band certainly has carved out a place in rock history. With 24 consecutive gold or platinum albums, they trail only The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Aerosmith. But commercial success belies a career that took the occasional wrong turn. Critics cite the band's over-fascination with synthesizers in the 1980s, but fans say the period is simply proof that Rush doesn't care about convention. That independent streak might keep Rush from the Hall, but it doesn't seem to bother them in the slightest — guitarist Alex Lifeson called the Hall selection process a "joke."

Also on the subject of the Rock Hall, The Washington Times recently ran a story titled Top 5: Critically Neglected Mainstreamers. Rush made their list at #3 and they referenced Hetfield's Rock Hall induction speech:

Per Mr. Hetfield: Thetrio has flown under the critical radar for 40 years, beginning as Canada's answer to Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and morphing into a group of improbably popular prog-rock superstars. Their success (countless gold albums, numerous hit singles) has been achieved by their own lights, and their drummer, Neil Peart, is an Ayn Rand-inspired libertarian. What's not to like?

Monday we got to see a short interview with Alex Lifeson from the May issue of Guitar World, and also learned of a new contest at the Rush Backstage Club to win a R30 tour Stuttgart poster.

Saltyrockz.com has made available another batch of Rush-themed t-shirts; one for each member of the band. You can check out the details in this post. And Alfred Music Publishing announced the release of a new drum transcription songbook for Rush's 1976 classic album 2112.

Earlier this week Power Windows reported that Warner Music Japan will be reissuing Rush's first 12 studio albums as Mini-LP Super High Material CDs (SHM-CDs) this coming June. Although these are not remastered recordings, the SHM-CDs supposedly improve the original audio quality through use of new plastic materials and will play in any CD player. The CDs will be packaged as mini-lps in cardboard sleeves, faithfully reproducing the original LP's style and artwork.

This past week the 2009 Major League Baseball season kicked off. Extreme baseball fan Geddy Lee took his usual perch behind home plate at the Toronto Blue Jays home opener this past Monday as shown in this photo at Yahoo! Sports (thanks RushFanForever). Toronto won that game 12-5.

Geddy Lee is in the April 2009 edition of Mojo magazine for their A Record That Changed My Life feature on page 27. Geddy discusses the impact that the first Led Zeppelin album had on him as well his first Led Zeppelin show in 1969. Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.

MSN's InMusic has a feature this week where they pay salute to several Canadian artists in a photo gallery, one of which is Rush. Check it out here. Thanks to ou812112 for the heads up.

Rush seems to have won WDVE's Greatest Band Ever contest that myself and several RIAB readers have been pushing, but I have yet to see any official announcement. They have closed voting but not updated the bracket.

Wave Mechanics Union is a full orchestral jazz covers project that included a jazz version of Rush's Available Light on their 2008 CD Second Season. They are currently deciding what their next jazz cover should be and are running a poll over at their website. Three Rush songs are in the running; Here Again, Vital Signs and Ghost Rider. Vital Signs is currently out in front. To place your vote go to this link. Thanks to 1-2-bucklemyshoe for the heads up.

Back in the Spring of 2007 when Rush's Snakes & Arrows album was released, one review of the album by Fox News entertainment/gossip columnist Roger Friedman really stoked the anger of many a Rush fan. Here's the review:

Rush is back. The big hair, fake falsetto heavy metal group that made the 1980s so irrelevant musically sold 84,000 copies for Atlantic Records last week with a new album called "Snakes & Arrows." Never underestimate the low standards of the buying public, I guess. Journey, Poison, shoulder pads and perms shouldn't be too far behind at this rate.

Well guess what? What comes around goes around. This guy lost his job last week for downloading an illegal copy of the new Wolverine movie and posting a review of it. You can read the story here. Karma is a bitch. Thanks to Stephen H for the heads up.

Reader MainMonkeyButler pointed me to this weekly prog-rock podcast called Capes and Lasers. This week's episode focuses almost entirely on 2112.

Apparently there's an apartment over the offices of Anthem at 189 Carlton St. in Toronto and - better yet - it's for rent! Reader Patrick W noticed a rental sign out front of the building on his streetcar commute. It looks like they have a 2 bedroom unit for rent. :)

Reader/blogger Jaybird recently put up a Rush-themed post which laments the demise of Washington's 94.7 Classic Rock radio station. The station recently decided to change its format to contemporary pop.

I have another old Rush magazine scan courtesy Kevin B. This one is an article from the April, 1983 issue of Circus Magazine. Alex Lifeson is interviewed from a show at Madison Square Garden on the Signals tour. You can check out the scans by clicking the thumbnails above.

And I leave you this week with this video of a Rush press conference in Helsinki at the tail end of the first leg of the Snakes & Arrows tour (thanks DigitalMan745):

Have a great weekend everybody!

NOTE: Posts over 10 years old are partially archived. All comments, images and other embedded media have been removed.