Whew! It's been a busy week. Snakes & Arrows is out and poised to break onto the charts at #3. Most fans have their copy (copies) of the album now and have listened to it multiple times. The general consensus so far is very positive. About 4 out of every 5 of the professional reviews I've read so far have great things to say about it; the opinions of fans seem to reflect this as well. I'll be running a series of polls where you can express your opinion of the album over the next several weeks. The first question I've asked is what is your favorite track on the album so far?. To take the poll, just look to your right just above the Time Stand Still Rush calendar. As of this post over 100 people have taken the poll and The Main Monkey Business and Armor and Sword are way out ahead of the rest of the pack.
Last Friday I reported that the Snakes & Arrows LP edition was available for preorder at MusicDirect.com and would be released June 19th. Erebus let me know that the Rush Backstage Club now has it available too.
Speaking of the album, Vertical Horizon founder and Rush friend Matt Scannell recently posted a message to the Vertical Horizon website where he piles on the praise for Snakes & Arrows:
May 1, 2007
Hello everyone,
It's been too long since I last checked in, but I've been thinking about you all a lot, so maybe the thought counts? Anyway...
Today is a very important day. It is a day when you can stand up to be counted on the side of all things good and true in the world. When you can raise your voice and speak out for the purity and beauty of personal expression, of love and peace and harmony, and in celebration of the most kick-ass rock band ever. Yes, you can hightail it out to your local record store and buy the new Rush album, Snakes and Arrows.
Just trust me on this one.There's a song on there called The Way The Wind Blows that is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard. I get goosebumps just thinking about it now. The album sounds fantastic – Alex' guitar playing is stellar, Geddy's vocals and bass playing are stunning, Neil's lyrics are insightful, thought-provoking and inspiring, and his drumming is, in my opinion, the most powerful drum performance of his career. Big words, yes, but this record is that good.
Trust me.
Get excited. Get inspired. Get in your car and get this record. Remember how it feels to be enthralled by the music? When you wake up in the morning just so you can hear that song again? I want the good guys to win in this world. Good guys who make GREAT records. Records we can love.
I LOVE THIS RECORD. And I'm standing up for it.
Thanks for checking in. I'll have more news on our new record soon. But today is all about my friends' new masterpiece.
Best,
Matt
I think it's safe to say that he likes the record. :) Thanks to bri_boy for the heads up. Matt recently spoke to Drumhead magazine about his friendship with Neil Peart. You can check out the interview here.
Rush.com was revamped for the album release and it looks great. There are several new features and they are even streaming the entire album. Yesterday they added a link to a YouTube preview for the new video for Far Cry. You can check out the 48-second preview clip here.
This past Thursday night Rush was supposed to appear on the CBC program The Hour but the interview was bumped because of the NHL Hockey playoffs. No word yet on when the interview will air. Also, Dave Thomas was recently on the show talking about Bob & Doug McKenzie's Two-Four Anniversary special that will air on the CBC over the Victoria Day holiday. If you don't know already, back in 1982 Geddy Lee (who went to school with Rick Moranis) sang on the track Take Off which appeared on Bob and Doug's album The Great White North. It doesn't sound like Geddy will be appearing on the special though.
There have been a few Rush TV sightings recently. Several people emailed me about one such sighting on the NBC show My Name is Earl. Earl gets a full time job on the loading dock of an appliance store and tries to get promoted into sales. Working Man is played in the background during a scene showing him working overtime. You can watch the show at the NBC website here.
Reader Hold_Your_Fire tells me that there was a Rush sighting on Countdown with Keith Olbermann last night. Keith was telling the story of a Prison that had to re-key ALL their locks after a set of the prison keys showed up on Ebay. In the background and after he was done with the story they played Lock and Key.
And reader L2blazerman let us know that during the Houston/Utah basketball game the other night on TNT, Malignant Narcissism was used as the backing track to a first-half highlight reel.
Geddy Lee graces the cover of the July 2007 issue of Bass Guitar Magazine. The tagline reads Inside the Mind of Geddy. Thanks to bptikhon for the heads up.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that Rolling Stone magazine had mentioned Rush in their Spring Music Preview. The feature is titled Spring Music Preview: Fifty Must-hear Albums and is now online at this location. Thanks to samscott for the heads up.
Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy recently posted a video of the band covering Rush's The Necromancer over at his website. You can check it out here. I'd love to see Rush dust this one off. :)
Kurt asked me to mention the petition to have Vapor Trails remastered. If you haven't signed it yet you can sign it at this link. They are close to 500 signatures now.
If you were wondering why Pink Floyd's David Gilmour is thanked by Lerxst in the Snakes & Arrows liner notes, check out this post at Pink Floyd fan site Brain Damage.
And finally I'll end with a bit of Alex Lifeson humor. You may have seen this before, but if not check out this important message about ALD. Thanks samscott. :)
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