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Home , Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, John Rutsey, Mystic Rhythms, Test for Echo, The Big Money

Skylaire Alfvegren

Grokking Rush

Among their many unheralded accomplishments, et al are the only rock band cited in the Journal of Ayn Rand Studies.

Discussed: Trash Cans, The Stealth of True Cool, L-U-V, The Large Hadron Collider, Morse Code, The Exploited Lyrical Motif of Us v. Them, New Age Soccer Moms, Honeydew

n 1968, /vocalist Geddy cal percussionist this side of Keith Moon, Lee, guitarist , and and a poet to boot, thus helping to create a drummer began musical unit that would go on to polarize performing in the church base- rock aficionados like no other. ments and high-school audito- Largely snubbed by the mainstream Iriums of suburban . Heavily influ- rock press, Rush is a complete aural anom- enced by Cream, Led Zeppelin, and , they aly. Jurassic rock radio keeps them in light rotation along- released a self-titled debut in March 1974, marked as much side the corpses of AC/DC, , and the Stones. by Lee’s four-string dexterity as by his vocals—which They received only a sputter of ’80s MTV attention, would later refer to as a “dog-calling falsetto.” even with a collection of epic, high-concept videos.1 Two weeks before the group’s first U.S. tour, Rutsey fell ill. A soft-spoken farm-equipment salesman by the name 1 These include the eerie, Jan Švankmajer–esque “,” the lavish, of auditioned for the spot, his drums trans- Monopoly-themed sets, and the (at the time) state-of-the-art computer graph- ported in trash cans. He turned out to be the most mania- ics of “,” the atomic-age parable replete with Dr. Strangelove al-

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Illustration by Tony Millionaire And yet the Red Hot Chili Pep- idly conservative). Bands who, on Reaction making contact—mysteri- pers, Smashing Pumpkins, and Pri- paper, boast the most striking in- ously mus all claim them as a major in- fluences—Coheed and Cambria, Eye to I fluence. Members of Tool, Korn, —are less likely to Reaction burning hotter Sepultura, and have be embraced by Rush fans than, say, Two to one also paid them tribute. the Dead Kennedys and the Kro- Reflection on the water To their fans, Rush is the Spock- nos Quartet. H to O tastic, demonically proficient father Yet it is enthusiasm, and not No flow without the other of progressive metal, harbinger of a passion, which Rush fans exude. Oh, but how do they make contact with one another? singular musical philosophy. To their Rock, by all accounts, is acces- detractors, Rush is soulless, quasi-­ sorized by sweat and soul, cen- existential, as sexy as pocket protec- tered in the heart and the crotch. o band has so romanti- tors, and about as scandalous as a trio But not one of the 150-plus en- cized both the struggle of Amish farmers. One isn’t seduced tries in the Rush songbook con- N and the potential of the by their rhythms over time. One cerns l-u-v outright; there is the individual—as idealist, prophet, pio- immediately groks Rush, or one contemplative (“Entre Nous”): neer—and, therefore, outcast. Peart’s doesn’t. I’ve made no apologies for “We are planets to each other / protagonists have detailed the birth being a Rush fan, but I have never Drifting in our orbits to a brief of the atomic age (“Manhattan Proj- tried to make converts. eclipse / Each of us a world apart ect”), broken their fast on honeydew KISS has their Army, the Dead / Alone and yet together / Like (“Xanadu”), plunged their spaceship have their Heads, and although two passing ships”; and there is “headlong” into a black hole (“Cyg- I once called them “a sea of IT,” the tenuously optimistic (“Ghost nus X-1”), scaled holy mountains I have come to realize that noth- of a Chance”): “I don’t believe in (“Tai Shan”), participated in the ing unifies Rush fans as much as the stars or the planets / or angels French Revolution (“Bastille Day”), being Rush fans. Reviewing the watching from above / but I be- and survived (“Red band’s ’96 stop at the lieve there’s a ghost of a chance / Sector A”). LA Forum, I noted that “tattered that we can find someone to love.” Peart’s objectivist and mytholog- tour shirts abounded, from Yes to Rush fans find romance and pas- ical leanings have inspired potheads , the sion in the abstract, approaching and PhDs alike. Among the disser- Residents to Miles Davis.” A casual love like cryptographers.2 tation titles: “Permanent Change: poll among Rush fans would more This stanza, from “Chemistry,” Rush, Musicians’ Rock, and the Pro- likely find Fripp and Eno, John seems to express Peart’s general opin- gressive Post-Counter-­Culture,” and Wetton–era King Crimson, Gen- ion of the human condition (per- “Grand Designs: A Musical, Social tle Giant and Hawkwind on the haps as it is peculiarly experienced and Ethnographic Study of Rush.” hi-fi than modern practitioners of by Rush’s alien nation fan base): The Journal of American and Compar- the “progressive” genre (a misno- ative Cultures and the scholarly Pop- mer to describe what is, in fact, rig- Signal transmitted—message received ular Music and Society have dissected Reaction making impact—invisibly their work. Rush is the only band Elemental telepathy—exchange of ever to be cited in the Journal of Ayn lusions in “Distant Early Warning,” and the high- ­energy tech, machinated world of “The Body Electric,” Rand Studies. That article even led wherein sheep-people “give praise to the mother to a Rush-dedicated symposium on of all machines” during “100 years of routine.” Yet 2 The only other female Rush fan I’ve spoken such topics as “Rand, Rush and De- our hero, “one humanoid escaping,” breaks free. to—a physicist—agreed entirely. Which is to say, (Word has it the images come from a film called I may be a Rush fanatic, but I doubt I’d ever Totalizing the Utopianism of Pro- Incident at Channel Q.) date one. gressive Rock.” Their lyrics and

29 art are steeped in symbol- school dropout, and his flagrant that debuted at the Tribeca Film Fes- ism and metaphor. The semaphoric footnoting of literature, mythology, tival on April 24 (where it won the “dat-duh-dat-dat-dat-duh-dat-dat dat astronomy, and even meteorology Audience Award), was released on dat… du-du-dat… dat dat dat… dat confounds many rock fans, though DVD/Blu-ray on June 29 to coin- dat dat” that kick-starts the instru- I for one am proof that a love of cide with the first night of their for- mental “YYZ” is Morse code for Joey Ramone and an appreciation ty-date , kicking the Toronto airport. of Rick Wakeman can coexist in off in Albuquerque. It tells us more Though Peart was named the the same cochlea, one that enter- than we ever wanted to know about second-worst lyricist in rock by tains rumors that the Large Hadron the heady Canuck triumvirate. Blender magazine in 2007 (sec- Collider is being sabotaged from Peart’s unearthly stamina, bizarro ond only to new age soccer-mom the future. time signatures, and arsenal of eso- heartthrob Sting), the band did re- teric percussion led the ­readers of ceive the Seventh Annual Musicians y what barometer can one Modern Drummer magazine to award of the Millennium award from the measure popularity, or him the Best Recorded Performance Harvard Lampoon. B success? The Beatles have a staggering sixteen times, and to Peart both paraphrases and sold the most , the Dead vote him Best Rock Drummer nine quotes outright the likes of T. S. grossed the most live, Led Zeppe- times. Similarly, Lee has been named Eliot, Oscar Wilde, John Barth, and lin sold the most merchandise…. Top Rock Bassist half a dozen times Shakespeare. (“,” a but Rush is ranked third in the by Guitar Player magazine. title lifted from a Fritz Leiber short world for most consecutive gold On this summer’s Time Ma- story, is one of dozens of liter- (twenty-four), platinum (eleven), chine Tour, Rush intends to play ary references found in the Rush and multi-platinum (three) albums, Moving Pictures, their 1981 best-seller, songbook.)3 Peart was a high- more than any other rock band ex- in its entirety. The encroaching tide cluding the Beatles, the Stones, and of (and Lifeson’s new- 3 Based on my anecdotal survey of the Rush re- . Half a million U.S. fans wave haircut) that followed the 1982 sistance, Peart’s literary allusions rank second to made their 2007 Snakes and Arrows album Signals led many hard-rock- Lee’s banshee wail as the most alienating aspect of tour the third-highest-grossing ers to abandon the band—but by the trio’s oeuvre. The lyrics of Peart (himself an author of numerous nonfiction books) are exam- rock tour of the year. As the New my estimation, Signals is among the ined at length in Mystic Rhythms: The Philosophi- York Times noted, “Rush has main- Rushiest of Rush albums—jammed cal Vision of Rush (Carol Selby Price, with theo- tained one of rock’s biggest cult as it is with “Subdivisions,” that bat- logian husband Robert M. Price, Borgo Press, 1998), A Simple Kind Mirror: The Lyrical Vision of followings.” tle hymn of suburban torment, med- Rush (Leonard Roberto, iUniverse, 2000), and But they’ve yet to be inducted itations on being human, chemistry, Rush, and the Middle Class: Dreaming in into the Rock and Roll Hall of and space-shuttle launches. Their Middletown (Chris McDonald, Indiana University Press, 2009). McDonald uses his PhD thesis as the Fame, and they garnered their first ’80s output, though lacking monster basis of his book, about which one reader com- positive profile in Rolling Stone mag- riffage, is just as valid as their ear- mented, “The elements that made Rush appeal to azine in 2008, thirty-four years into lier, harder, fantastical prog and their many—the fantasy-escapism, the fierce individu- alism, the interest in technology, the love of com- their career, the same month they new-millennial­ “comeback” mate- plex musicianship—are all put in a larger cultural made their U.S. television debut on rial, which began with 2002’s sonic context [helping me to put] my own tastes, and . The band func- supernova, —­recorded those of my class and generation, in a meaning- ful perspective.” Rush is also the subject of at least tioned as a touchstone for an off-­ after a five-year hiatus following the six biographical works, including Rush: Chemistry: putting loner desperate to find unexpected deaths of both Peart’s The Definitive Biography(Jon Collins, Helter Skel- friends in the 2009 film I Love You, wife and daughter. ter Publishing, 2006) and Contents Under Pres- sure: 30 Years of Rush at Home and Away (Martin Man. Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Popoff, ECW Press, 2004). a full-length feature documentary continued on page 72

30 RF: Which I’ll keep doing. And I’ve got people coming songs on the Bodyguard album, and Nick Lowe made a at me to write books. I’d like to start writing something lot of money, and it was only because Kevin Costner was memoir-based, which is where I’ll have to start. a fan. Maybe Ringo could do “Lee Remick.”

RC: Are you going to break even on this tour? RC: You’ve talked about how much you liked the solo albums of the ’90s. Do you think that The Evangelist is as RF: Hopeful. good? Even better?

RC: But just barely. How old are you? Fifty-one? You’re RF: Much too early to say. a little too old to still be breaking even on tours. RC: To me, it’s a remarkably strong and durable record. RF: In Australia, generally, you’re probably playing to A record that holds up as well as the Go-Betweens, a thousand people a night and then you start to make which I would not say about your other solo albums. money. But the financial side of it, you need a hit record, But when you were starting, you could write ten songs or someone monstrous to cover one of your songs, or a in a day. Now ten songs in a year is doing really well. song in a film. How do you conceive that portion of your future as an artist? RC: Do you have someone out there flogging the stu- dios? RF: I’m extremely excited about it. I might make an al- bum in three or four years, or five years.T here won’t be RF: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we have people doing that. It can one in two years, I know that. But I’m very happy to happen in a whole variety of ways. Like, Kevin Costner have The Evangelist as my last album for as long as possi- was a huge fan of Nick Lowe. He’d gotten Nick Lowe’s ble. People will think well of me. O

Skylaire Alfvegren, conttinued from page 30 my first live rock concert, this show became my greatest Rush ­memory. JumboTron interstitials of a fire-breath- ush has seemingly ignored the blueprint trin- ing dragon and space-bound bobble-heads of the band ity of sex, drugs, and rock and roll; some would members delighted the audience, as did the career-span- R say they’re ­simply antithetical to the rawk ning set list. I was among friends, good friends, even ethos. Their intense privacy has led the overimaginative though I had only met them that night. It was a fantas- and schizophrenic to speculate wildly: in the ’80s, it was tic show, and I can sum up the experience with a few whispered that Peart was dying of cancer, then AIDS. choice lines from the Rush chestnut “Limelight”: Last year, a woman calling herself Solaris BlueRaven posted online that Peart is a mastermind of MK Ultra– Living in the limelight style mind-control, as well as a high-level Mason. the universal dream There is a magic to Rush, even if it can be, by turns, For those who wish to seem icy and isolating. Stuck in Vegas in 2004 writing a book Those who wish to be about ghosts and UFOs, I was too broke to see their Must put aside the alienation thirtieth-anniversary show. I turned up anyway, indif- Get on with the fascination ferently last-minute, house lights dimming, when a trio The real relation of Angelenos offered me a free ticket, which they’d won The underlying theme from my hometown rock station KLOS. Aside from The real relation their 1990 Presto tour, whose Irvine Meadows stop was The underlying dream! O

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