Great review! I love musician biographies, even of artists that don't interest me much (Bruce Springsteen's is particularly great). I'm not a Rush fan or a hater, just never got into their music. All respect to Geddy, Alex and Neil for being truly one-of-a-kind, though.
Musician biographies are very interesting. I think you make a good point too in that a lot of these really prolific creative artists who carve out a big musical niche for themselves tend to have really interesting stories. Like Springsteen, there are also people and bands like Prince, Bob Dylan, Depeche Mode, XTC, the Fall, Zappa, David Bowie, etc. who just keep pushing and making music and evolving and it’s always cool to read about what makes them tick.
Great review, Alexander. Going to throw some Rush on now for the rest of my daily reading. Last music bio I read was on Zappa. They're always fun reads because we connect with the music.
Exactly! Which Zappa bio did you read? His autobiography or another one? I like his autobiography for the comedy factor and his unique way of putting things, but he sure makes himself look like the good guy at every single opportunity.
It's really too bad that Canadian content laws make Rush so overplayed that I know more people IRL who hate Rush than like them. I respect the band and they're one of our most lived exports but geez I'm so done with Tom Sawyer every hour on the hour
Hah! I didn’t realize it was that bad. But that’s radio for you; they do that with EVERY band. Would it kill them to play a cut from, like, Counterparts every so often? Here, we’ll hear more Rush on the radio, and when they were still releasing new albums, even into the 2010s, I’d hear them a lot on the radio (“Headling Flight” in particular was all over the radio here). But they do that with other musicians too. Led Zeppelin had more than 4 songs. Ditto the Smashing Pumpkins or Soundgarden, etc.
Fair enough. Stupid young me, who never smoked the stuff, didn’t pick up on that until much later. I literally thought it was about trains *autism intensifies*
I'll need to read this one. I just got Geddy's Big Book of Bass and am loving it.
It is interesting to hear someone in your generation wax nostalgic about the good old days, though. I graduated high school the year you were born. The music of the sixties and seventies was great, and I do think a band like Rush wouldn't make it in today's music industry climate. But we also had Disco (not exactly a musical Renaissance), hostages in Iran, short shorts, the background radiation of Watergate and Vietnam, a society that (at least in my memory) was far more ready to shove us into a conforming box than today's, and we were about to be subjected to a decade of hair metal, synthesizers, and Bon Jovi.
It may have been easier to make it economically but on the other hand we also weren't all walking around with supercomputers in our pockets and access to all the information in the world, everywhere, all at once so I think there are trade offs. But I'm a tail-end boomer so maybe my perspective is different.
Rush is awesome though, and Geddy Lee is my favorite bass player. I feel fortunate to have heard their music as it came out.
Every generation did and does indeed have its challenges, but being born in the early 80s does suck pretty hard, because we came of age right as 9/11 hit, and 9/11 was the true beginning of the end. I’d take your generations’ challenges in a heartbeat.
Teenage Head was also Canadian but from Hamilton, Ontario. Very blue collar area. I think the stability they grew up in was what allowed them the environment to form their bonds and understand the value of music to normal people.
Even when you hear newer interviews with other guys from that time they still feel like that time has never ended, for better or for worse. It's kind of refreshing sometime to get a hint of the type of person you just don't see around anymore.
That's probably the difference with a lot of these older musicians versus the relatively younger Green Day types who always hated their roots and never grew up. At the end of the day, a lot of artists are grateful to the society that spawned them, even if they aren't 100% pleased with every aspect of it. The ones in charge now seem to hate life itself, and that includes me, you, and everyone in it. No wonder they're so miserable.
That’s a really excellent point. That’s another similarity with Rush, who are called by others, and not just me, a “middle-class” band because of their stable upbringings and ethos they were raised with. Happy people, generally, with stable families growing up in an era where hard work and playing by the rules actuallt paid off. Man, that must’ve been a great time to be alive.
I did check out Teenage Head on your recommendation, by the way. Fun stuff! Tons of energy. A shame I’d never heard of them before.
Great review! I love musician biographies, even of artists that don't interest me much (Bruce Springsteen's is particularly great). I'm not a Rush fan or a hater, just never got into their music. All respect to Geddy, Alex and Neil for being truly one-of-a-kind, though.
Musician biographies are very interesting. I think you make a good point too in that a lot of these really prolific creative artists who carve out a big musical niche for themselves tend to have really interesting stories. Like Springsteen, there are also people and bands like Prince, Bob Dylan, Depeche Mode, XTC, the Fall, Zappa, David Bowie, etc. who just keep pushing and making music and evolving and it’s always cool to read about what makes them tick.
I got this for Christmas and it’s on my TBR pile, so I’m gonna hold off reading your review for a bit.
Yes please do hold off and read the book itself first. It’s so well-written I’ll bet you tear through it quickly.
Great review, Alexander. Going to throw some Rush on now for the rest of my daily reading. Last music bio I read was on Zappa. They're always fun reads because we connect with the music.
Exactly! Which Zappa bio did you read? His autobiography or another one? I like his autobiography for the comedy factor and his unique way of putting things, but he sure makes himself look like the good guy at every single opportunity.
It was Cosmik Debris. It was great because it paired his life events his records. And yes, he was always the good guy.
It's really too bad that Canadian content laws make Rush so overplayed that I know more people IRL who hate Rush than like them. I respect the band and they're one of our most lived exports but geez I'm so done with Tom Sawyer every hour on the hour
Hah! I didn’t realize it was that bad. But that’s radio for you; they do that with EVERY band. Would it kill them to play a cut from, like, Counterparts every so often? Here, we’ll hear more Rush on the radio, and when they were still releasing new albums, even into the 2010s, I’d hear them a lot on the radio (“Headling Flight” in particular was all over the radio here). But they do that with other musicians too. Led Zeppelin had more than 4 songs. Ditto the Smashing Pumpkins or Soundgarden, etc.
No deep cuts! Never, are you crazy? That might frighten people!
"For example, while Rush has had an image as being a bunch of squeaky clean nerds, they smoked a massive amount of dope in the 70s"
I figured. I've listened to "A Passage to Bangkok"
Fair enough. Stupid young me, who never smoked the stuff, didn’t pick up on that until much later. I literally thought it was about trains *autism intensifies*
I'll need to read this one. I just got Geddy's Big Book of Bass and am loving it.
It is interesting to hear someone in your generation wax nostalgic about the good old days, though. I graduated high school the year you were born. The music of the sixties and seventies was great, and I do think a band like Rush wouldn't make it in today's music industry climate. But we also had Disco (not exactly a musical Renaissance), hostages in Iran, short shorts, the background radiation of Watergate and Vietnam, a society that (at least in my memory) was far more ready to shove us into a conforming box than today's, and we were about to be subjected to a decade of hair metal, synthesizers, and Bon Jovi.
It may have been easier to make it economically but on the other hand we also weren't all walking around with supercomputers in our pockets and access to all the information in the world, everywhere, all at once so I think there are trade offs. But I'm a tail-end boomer so maybe my perspective is different.
Rush is awesome though, and Geddy Lee is my favorite bass player. I feel fortunate to have heard their music as it came out.
Every generation did and does indeed have its challenges, but being born in the early 80s does suck pretty hard, because we came of age right as 9/11 hit, and 9/11 was the true beginning of the end. I’d take your generations’ challenges in a heartbeat.
Teenage Head was also Canadian but from Hamilton, Ontario. Very blue collar area. I think the stability they grew up in was what allowed them the environment to form their bonds and understand the value of music to normal people.
Even when you hear newer interviews with other guys from that time they still feel like that time has never ended, for better or for worse. It's kind of refreshing sometime to get a hint of the type of person you just don't see around anymore.
That's probably the difference with a lot of these older musicians versus the relatively younger Green Day types who always hated their roots and never grew up. At the end of the day, a lot of artists are grateful to the society that spawned them, even if they aren't 100% pleased with every aspect of it. The ones in charge now seem to hate life itself, and that includes me, you, and everyone in it. No wonder they're so miserable.
That’s a really excellent point. That’s another similarity with Rush, who are called by others, and not just me, a “middle-class” band because of their stable upbringings and ethos they were raised with. Happy people, generally, with stable families growing up in an era where hard work and playing by the rules actuallt paid off. Man, that must’ve been a great time to be alive.
I did check out Teenage Head on your recommendation, by the way. Fun stuff! Tons of energy. A shame I’d never heard of them before.
Rush is the thinking man's band. Fun article!