Transcript: "Alex Lifeson & Geddy Lee Talk About The Making Of Different Stages" - Spirit Of Rush, Winter 1998-1999

I've transcribed a pair of interviews from The Spirit of Rush fanzine's Winter 98/99 issue, separate interviews with Alex and Geddy where they talk about the making of Different Stages.  These interviews are great because they were given by diehard Rush fanatics who asked questions not typically asked by music journalists.  When reading this, one realizes Different Stages was released as a likely final bookend retrospective package for the fans, when the future of Rush was unknown.  Geddy even says "we were determined to make, what will more than likely be our last live album, we wanted it to be our final statement."  He goes on to talk about the song selection "there were several songs which we would have liked to have included, some which we unfortunately did not record - others, like for example 'Time And Motion', we had listed on about eight boxes of shows but when I listened to the tapes, it just wasn't there. We never found a single recorded version of it - which I was very upset about."

Transcript: "Some Rush: 20 Years To Hall of Fame" - Vancouver Province, March 20, 1994

It's been over 30 years since Rush was inducted into the Juno Awards Hall of Fame.  My latest transcript addition was published the morning of the awards ceremony, March 20, 1994, in the Vancouver Province newspaper.  "Some Rush: 20 Years To Hall of Fame" tells of the band's humble rise to greatness through artistic integrity, endless touring and commitment to their fans.  This article also includes a comment, as other stories from that era did, that Rush had plans to release a 20th Anniversary Retrospective, which of course never surfaced.

Transcript: "Neil Peart Was A Rock Wizard" - Kerrang!, January 25, 2020

Three weeks after the passing of Neil Peart, Dream Theater's John Petrucci penned "Neil Peart Was A Rock Wizard" in the January 25, 2020 issue of Kerrang! Magazine. Check it out here. - Thanks to RushFanForever for providing the transcript.

Transcript: "Dirk, Lerxst, Pratt... and the Caveman!" - Spirit Of Rush #23, Fall/Winter 1993

From the Fall/Winter 1993 issue of The Spirit of Rush fanzine, I've transcribed "Dirk, Lerxst, Pratt... and the Caveman!", an interview with Geddy Lee given shortly after the release of Counterparts. Hard core fans Neil Elliott and Mick Burnett used their knowledge of the band to ask Geddy more detailed questions than we would normally see. One item I took note of was that Geddy explains how "Different Strings" was originally named "Between Us", but was changed at the last minute to avoid confusion with another song, "Entre Nous" (which is of course 'Between Us' in English). Some original pressings of the album retained the "Between Us" song title (as shown in the article).

Transcript: "A Farewell to Kings? Maybe Not..." - Classic Rock, February 2025

The new (February) issue of Classic Rock magazine features Rush 50 on the cover, and includes the feature story "A Farewell to Kings? Maybe Not...".  Sitting down to talk about the upcoming Rush 50 compilation, Geddy and Alex talk about some of the early performances included in the set, as well as the final tour, and the Taylor Hawkins tribute shows. - Thanks to John Patuto for the transcript!