MusicRadar.com has posted a new interview with Alex Lifeson where Lerxst dissects Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels album track-by-track. Alex offers up his unique perspective on each and every one of the 12 songs on the album, revealing all sorts of interesting tidbits. He clarifies that Caravan was not re-recorded but just remixed, and BU2B had a new intro recorded to open up the track. Here's what he had to say about the closing track of the album - The Garden:

"The Garden was one of the first songs we came up with for the record. Actually, Ged wrote most of it. He did some work one evening, and I came in the next day and heard that opening bass part and the verse. The idea was that we would keep it simple and heartfelt. The sentiment was very much about being at the end, of being retrospective, so there had to be a sweetness to it.

"Nick was a little wary of it getting too sweet, however. The demo was very acoustic. The piano parts were there, as were the strings, but everything was kind of soft. Nick wanted us to toughen it up some.

"We stepped in a little bit more on the bridges and the choruses - it doesn't have the light strumming of the verses - and we developed the whole middle section. The solo is one of my favorites. It's so suited to the rest of the music. When I listen to it, my eyes well up with tears. There's something about it that grabs me, the way it fits in with the rest of music.

"The outro chorus keeps building and building and building... until it gets to that that final breath. It's a great way to end the record."

You can read the entire interview at this link. Thanks to RushFanForever for the heads up.

Related Posts:
[Clockwork Angels review from music journalist Martin Popoff]
[Clockwork Angels biography/essay by Neil Peart available online]
[Clockwork Angels track-by-track album review from The Digital Fix]
[Rush producer Nick Raskulinecz talks Clockwork Angels in new MusicRadar.com interview]
[Rush Clockwork Angels full album review track-by-track]
[Rush Clockwork Angels feature in April, 2012 issue of Prog]
[Rush Clockwork Angels official announcement, video trailer with Headlong Flight preview, cover art and track list!]
[Headlong Flight single from Clockwork Angels radio and digital release update]
[Clockwork Angels novelization by Kevin J. Anderson and Neil Peart now available for pre-order]

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