Friday, August 31, 2012

Transcript: "Rush Keeps Proving That It's No 'Fly By Night' Rock Band" - The Pittsburgh Press, December 12, 1985

I've transcribed "Rush Keeps Proving That It's No 'Fly By Night' Rock Band", an article which appeared in The Pittsburgh Press on December 12, 1985, before RUSH's stop there on the Power Windows tour. Neil Peart is interviewed and discusses saving jams recorded in soundchecks, staying together for 11(!) years, touring the Orient in '84, and more. - Thanks to Heiko Klages for the original article.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Transcript: "Concert Preview: 'Vapor Trails' Tour Has Been A Rush For Rush" - Seattle Times, September 13, 2002

As the Clockwork Angels tour is about to kick off, I've got a couple of previous tours' press clippings to transcribe which I'll be uploading in the next few days. The first is an interview with Geddy Lee in advance of RUSH's concert at The Gorge in Washington near the end of the Vapor Trails tour. In "Concert Preview: 'Vapor Trails' Tour Has Been A Rush For Rush" - Seattle Times, Sepember 13, 2002, Geddy talks about the Gorge, writing lyrics, and his voice (i.e. "the damned howling in Hades").

Monday, August 27, 2012

Transcript Collection: "Alex Lifeson's New Year's Eve At The Ritz"

On New Year's Eve 2003, stemming from false accusations made to the police by employees of the Ritz Carlton in Naples Florida, Alex Lifeson, his son and daughter-in-law were the victims of police brutality. The event, and its subsequent court cases, were well documented in the press. I have taken the time to collect all the key articles revolving around the case, and have added over THREE DOZEN spread out over nearly five years' time to the Rush Transcript Archive. Together, they paint the complete sordid story of Alex Lifeson's New Year's Eve At The Ritz. These articles are grouped together between the Rush In Rio and Feedback releases, which is when the event took place; click here for the group link.  If you are unfamiliar with the incident, or unclear of the details, this article pretty much sums up what happened.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Transcript: "Good Gracious! Another Rush LP" - Music Express, January 1984

Here is short transcript from the January 1984 issue of "Music Express", which includes caricatures of RUSH on the cover along with various other Canadian musicians. "Good Gracious! Another Rush LP" is a brief announcement of the release of "Grace Under Pressure" later that spring; what is interesting about the article itself is that it includes the statement "Artwork for the album will again be done by Hugh Syme, currently out on bail awaiting trial on charges connected with the massive gold fraud..." Gold fraud? What?! - Thanks to Monica Zimmerman for the original article!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Transcript: "The Rush Tapes, Part 3: Alex Lifeson, The Walking, Talking King of Canadian Guitars" - Circus, November 10, 1977

Here is the final installment of "The Rush Tapes, Part 3: Alex Lifeson, The Walking, Talking King of Canadian Guitars", Circus, November 10, 1977. Alex talks about his primary guitars, his early influences, playing classical guitar, and the first song he ever played. - Thanks again to Monica Zimmerman for the original article!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Rush 640x960 Iphone Wallpaper

I've recently updated the "Smartphone" wallpaper download section of my website, and have created a completely new collection of RUSH album art customized for use as iPhone wallpaper: Rush 640x960 Iphone Wallpaper from Power Windows

These RUSH wallpapers have been modified with a size of 640 x 960 pixels. To download, click on the preview file to open the full resolution version, then save to your iPhone's camera roll. To use as wallpaper, go to Settings, Wallpaper, and choose the downloaded file as your wallpaper. Additional wallpaper from album art will be added on request...

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Transcript: "The Rush Tapes, Part 2: Geddy Lee, From Immigrants' Son to Rush's Lead Singer" - Circus, October 27, 1977

In "The Rush Tapes, Part 2: Geddy Lee, From Immigrants' Son to Rush's Lead Singer", Circus, October 27, 1977, Geddy talks about listening to old Rush records to learn from his mistakes, listening to the production of other band's albums, meeting his wife, and how his mother views his music and how she was affected by the concentration camps ("are we the last ones left alive?").

Monday, August 20, 2012

Transcript: "The Rush Tapes, Part 1: Neil Peart Sizes Up 'Farewell To Kings,' The Latest Canadian Rock Opus" - Circus, October 13, 1977

Back in the fall of 1977, Circus magazine published "The Rush Tapes", three individual Q&A sessions with each member of RUSH, spread over three successive issues of the magazine. I'll be posting each one individually over the next week or so, starting with "The Rush Tapes, Part 1: Neil Peart Sizes Up 'Farewell To Kings,' The Latest Canadian Rock Opus" from the October 13, 1977 issue. A couple of interesting tidbits are included, with a brief nod to Peter Talbot's help writing "Closer To The Heart". - Thanks to Monica Zimmerman for the original article!

Friday, August 17, 2012

Transcript: "On The Road With Rush" - Canadian Musician, November/December 1984

I've just transcribed "On The Road With Rush", from Canadian Musician Vol. VI No. 6, November/December 1984, an extensive story focusing on RUSH's tour crew including their day to day operations, the band's touring philosophy, and includes a complete equipment breakdown and more. - Thanks to Heiko Klages for the original article!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Transcript: "There's Always Hope" - Toronto Sun, February 8, 2009

Coinciding with the Beijing Olympics, four years ago today the Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace benefit album was released containing a live version of "Hope" recorded on the Snakes & Arrows tour. The track was later nominated for a Grammy (their 6th nomination in the Best Rock Instrumental Performance category, ultimately losing to "Peaches En Regalia" a cover song performed by Dweezil Zappa's band from Zappa Plays Zappa), as told in "There's Always Hope" - Toronto Sun, February 8, 2009.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Transcript: "The Secrets Of Playing While Singing" and "Working With a Drummer...How To Sound Your Best" - Canadian Musician, September/October & November/December 1999

This next transcript combines two articles published during Rush's "sabbatical", in the dead year between the release of the live Different Stages and Geddy Lee's My Favorite Headache. "The Secrets Of Playing While Singing" and "Working With a Drummer...How To Sound Your Best" is an extensive two part interview with Geddy Lee spanning the Sep/Oct and Nov/Dec 1999 issues of Canadian Musician, where he talks about forgetting lyrics, writing YYZ, his influences, advice for new players, and more. - Thanks to Carlos Mejia and Heiko Klages for the original articles!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Transcript: "Just Like 'Clockwork'" - Goldmine, September 2012

The new September issue of Goldmine magazine includes the feature story "Just Like 'Clockwork'". I've transcribed the article for your reading pleasure, thanks to Ed at RushIsABand and Kelly M for the original scans. Alex talks about the album and goes through the songs track by track. He also discusses the band's history, and also his "greatest riffs". He closes by sharing that he has recorded "an hour or two" of solo material for potential release on a second solo album in the future, but has no immediate plans to do so.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Power Windows advertisements added

Collector Heiko Klages has found a few more advertisements for the Power Windows album, you can check them out on the Power Windows discography page.

Transcript: "Getting In Gear" - Needle, June 2012

Rush appeared on the cover of the June issue of Needle, 'The Canadian Indie Store Record Magazine'. The article, "Getting In Gear", is an edit of recent interviews which appeared in Classic Rock magazine. - Thanks to John Patuto for sharing the transcript!

Monday, August 6, 2012

Transcript: "A Parallax View" - Music Express, December 1985

Rush appeared on the cover of the December 1985 issue of Music Express magazine and in the feature story "A Parallax View", Neil Peart and Geddy Lee discuss the writing and recording of the album Power Windows. The "thesis" of the album is "Power and the different aspects of power on both a grand and human scale", and each song's form of power is discussed, as well as bringing in Peter Collins and the changes he brought with him, the various locations used to record the album, etc. - Thanks to Joe Pesch for the original article!

Friday, August 3, 2012

Transcript: "Drum Part: Peart & McCracken 'Battle Scar' By Max Webster" - DRUM!, November 2007

Last weekend saw the 32nd anniversary of the recording of "Battle Scar" from Max Webster's album Universal Juveniles.   The track was recorded live on July 28th, 1980 by Max Webster and Rush together at Phase One Studios in Toronto. The November 2007 issue of DRUM! magazine included "Drum Part: Peart & McCracken 'Battle Scar' By Max Webster" where Peart reminisces about recording the song. - Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Transcript: "Classic Rock Presents: RUSH Clockwork Angels" - Classic Rock, June 11, 2012

For those of you that missed out on the Classic Rock Fanpack, here is the complete transcription of the fanpack magazine, in its entirety: "Classic Rock Presents: RUSH Clockwork Angels". - Thanks to John Patuto for the transcript!