Late last week Rush released another official press release regarding their upcoming Retrospective 3 greatest hits package which confirms the March 3rd release date. It also revealed details about the interview alluded to on the band's pre-order page for the Deluxe Fan Pack version of the CD/DVD. It sounds like it is most likely the Colbert Report performance of Tom Sawyer along with Stephen Colbert's interview with the band.
Earlier this week we learned that Rush's Closer to the Heart was among the winners of the CBC Radio's contest to determine the 49 songs that best define Canada to incoming US President Barack Obama, who was sworn in as the 44th US President this past Tuesday. Not only did the song make the final 49, but it was also first in its category!
Metallica was recently chosen as one of the 5 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for 2009. In a press conference late last week, each band member was asked who they'd most like to see inducted and guitarist Kirk Hammett's choice was Rush. Here's what he said:
I'd have to say Rush. I think they're a great band who took rock to a different level altogether in terms of songwriting and technical proficiency. And I believe that they deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.
You can see all the details and watch the press conference in this post. In light of this, I thought I'd pose the same question to RIAB readers for my next poll. It's a multiple choice poll, so I limited the options to a dozen despite the fact that I can think of at least 20 bands that deserve to be inducted. I apologize in advance if I left out your choice. So - other than Rush obviously - which of the 12 bands listed do you think most deserves to be in the Rock Hall? Take the Poll and let us know. In my last poll I asked everybody what they're most looking forward to from Rush in the coming year. By a large margin (over 40%), everybody seems to be most anticipating the release of Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn's Rush Documentary. The complete results can be seen here.
Speaking of the Rock Hall, reader Paul S let me know that DJ Eddie Trunk went off on a rant against the Hall in a recent blog post regarding the inductees. He also gave kudos to Metallica for mentioning neglected bands like Rush, Deep Purple, UFO and Motorhead. And Dan Haggerty of 411mania.com also thinks Rush should be inducted (thanks rmull):
OK. Why in the name of God, Mohammad, Buddha, and Tony Iommi is Rush NOT in the Hall of Fame. Seriously. What – The – Hell. If you want sales, then Rush has 23 gold records and 14 platinum records, including the fact that they are one of the top 5 bands to have the most consecutive gold records in a row. You want awards, they have been nominated for 4 Grammy's and have 9 Juno Awards. They are already in the Canadian Rock Hall of Fame, and were the first musicians made officers in the Order of Canada. Of course, to be fair you could say that last part was Canada's way of apologizing for Brian Adams. Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee have won numerous guitar magazine awards (13) plus fan write-ins. Neal Peart, this dude won best rock drummer six years in a row at Modern Drummer Magazine, so in the seventh year they put him on an "Honor Roll" to basically say he was "The Man" and no longer eligible for voting to give everyone else a chance. Despite that he still has won the voting several times despite his ineligibility! Finally, Peart has won best Recorded Performance every year Rush has released an album since 1980.
You want influence, besides rock and rolls most noted guitarists and drummer, then you need to look no further than the rise of progressive rock they helped spearhead along with Genesis and Yes, or their influence on lyrics and story telling, or epic concept songs. How many bands dedicated a whole side of vinyl to a song before Rush? How many have done that or gone the full album approach since?
The fact Rush is NOT in is insulting. There first 10 albums are certifiable classics, but you don't have to like them to recognize their career or impact.
The complete Modern Guitars interview with Alex Lifeson that Skip Daly had conducted a couple of months ago is now online. I'd posted several preview excerpts from the interview back in early December. If you missed reading those excerpts, I highly suggest you check out the interview; it's definitely one of the better Alex Lifeson interviews I've read in recent years.
Yesterday Maxim.com alerted its readers that they were taking question submissions from fans for Geddy Lee. You can submit your question at this link.
Tuesday we learned that legendary progressive rock drummer and Neil Peart influence Bill Bruford had posted an excerpt from his soon to be released autobiography to his blog. The excerpt describes his experience with the 1994 Burning for Buddy project.
In its eighth week of release the Snakes & Arrows DVD is hanging on to the top 5 at #5 on the Billboard Top Music Video chart - down from its #4 position last week.
Last month I'd mentioned a company called Axe Heaven which makes miniature replica guitars of famous musicians, including several Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson models. Little did I know at the time that Eric over at the Power Windows site had been collaborating with Jason from Axe Heaven to ensure that the replicas were as accurate as possible. You can check out all the details and obtain a coupon code for purchasing one of the replicas over at the Power Windows site.
The NAMM show took place this past weekend in Anaheim, CA. Ludwig drums, which Neil Peart played in the late 80s and early 90s, is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year and their booth contained several replica sets of famous Ludwig drum kits over the years. One of these was a very detailed replica of Neil Peart's Presto kit complete with gold-plated hardware, orchestra bells and a xylophone. You can check out several photos of the replica in this flickr gallery (thanks Scott L).
Rock photographer Ross Halfin - who has shot Rush many times over the years - made a humorous Rush mention in his online diary entry for January 14th while discussing famous photographer Yousuf Karsh.
... Looked at Newsweek's (about the only half decent magazine on the plane) Society & The Arts page, which has Yousuf Karsh, who took the famous photo of Winston Churchill looking angry. It is a classic portrait. The article shows others like Albert Einstein (looking like your kind uncle), Margaret Thatcher (yuk), Ronald Reagan (rubbish). I looked at this and think old Karsh wasn't that good. Karsh shot a Rush cover. If I remember rightly they all looked kind of effeminate and Rush are a man's band - they're Canadian, the land where men chop trees down and go hunting in the dead of winter, drink whisky and sleep in igloos. Found Yousuf's work nondescript. ...
Thanks to George for the heads up.
Paul from Toronto alerted me to this article from the Toronto Star titled An Obama survival guide for that first Canadian trip. One of the bullet points in the article is called The Rush Principle - Or How Canadians Learn to Love Those Who Won't Go Away:
... For years, the Canadian prog-rock trio Rush – currently the object of a vast and eternally fervent international following – toiled in high-decibel obscurity, gigging in bars and high school auditoria while enduring all manner of critical indifference and outright hostility. But they stuck it out. Kept making that complicated noise, kept slogging that equipment from venue to venue, never giving in to fashion, never distracted by the fleeting commercial temptations of disco, punk, new wave, hip-hop or whatever. Just doing their thing: like the beaver building a dam on the same spot its predecessor was just washed away from; like Pierre Berton's facial hair or Anne Murray's gym teacher-practical hairstyle. They just stuck it out.
And you know what happened? We came to them. Rush is now considered a venerable Canadian institution as cherished as Mr. Dressup, the Banff Springs Hotel or Stanfield y-front briefs. ...
Sarah Beard of Henderson State University's The Oracle recently preached the gospel of Rush in this opinion piece titled Six Degrees of Geddy Lee. Thanks to Rob M for the link.
This Denver Post article titled The Fit Life: Rush concert inspired running groove describes how a Rush concert experience inspired one fan to drop over 150 pounds of weight.
Brian Walter isn't certain exactly when he decided to lose weight, but he knows the idea took root at Red Rocks. It took the 342-pound Rush fan three songs just to get up the stairs from the parking lot. He was mad to have missed the opening numbers by his favorite band. ...
Good for him! Thanks to nobodys hero for the heads up.
Reader Andy C sent me this picture of a 2112 sighting at a 5K run. Michael K found this small Rush reference in an ad for Bose speakers in Mens Journal. And Frank from Holland sent me this picture of him and his friends holding up his Why are we here? To see Rush and for the beer banner which can be seen on the Snakes & Arrows DVD.
And I leave you with this video of a 6th grade band's rendition of Tom Sawyer (thanks maxbeckman).
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
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