RUSH - BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE... AMAZING

I really enjoy watching documentaries about music, but if there's one band who really needed to have a documentary, it's Rush. Their story is rarely told, because the gatekeepers of music media hate them.

Also, you rarely hear big name musicians talking about how awesome Rush is, and here you get Trent Reznor, Jack Black of Tenacious D, Billy Corgan, Kirk Hammett, Gene Simmons, Tim Commerford of Rage Against The Machine, Les Claypool, Danny Carey of Tool, Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters and Zakk Wylde among others, talking about how great they are. Even a guy from Death Cab For Cutie!

And I don't think I've ever seen an interview with Neal Peart. Ever!

On the other hand, other than the unimaginable tragedy that Peart endured some years back (documented in his book Ghostrider), the band hasn't had too much controversy or drama, so I was kind of wondering if their story would really make a great documentary.  Yes it does.

Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage came out on DVD this week, and I watched it tonight.

It does a great job of telling their story - how children of immigrants Geddy Lee (son of concentration camp survivors) and Alex Lifeson came together in school and formed a lifelong friendship and this awesome band. And how they had the confidence to do what they wanted to do, and not let the record label or trends or even fans dictate their direction. There's lots of amazing footage: a young Alex Lifeson at the dinner table telling his parents he wants to drop out of school and become a musician and early footage of the performing with original drummer John Rutsey.  There's also interviews with Geddy's mom, Alex's mom, and Neal's parents, plus lots of other people around the band and interviews with all three guys that are actually revealing. Absolute essential viewing for any Rush fan, but I've heard that even non-fans enjoy the doc.

A friend and former boss of mine who does a blog on rock docs wrote about it here: he mentions that he used to like the band and then moved on because of punk. I never did that, even as I got into punk and what was known as "alternative," and neither did many of the artists interviewed for this film. One of the creators of South Park was interviewed, and comments that even rock critics who hated them for years have to give the band their props these days.  And if they don't, "then they're just being old dicks." Amen brother.

My only gripe: there were great extras, but I would have loved to see the full interviews with Reznor, Claypool, et all. The interviews with other artists was the best part of the recent Stones In Exile doc.  Maybe on the deluxe edition!

LISTEN: RUSH AT THE CANADIAN SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME

Back in March, Rush was inducted into the Canadian Songwriter's Hall

of Fame.  Seemed like a cool event that didn't get much press here.  But I just discovered the CBC Radio 2 has posted audio clips from the event so you can listen to the parts that you want to hear (Rush wasn't the only artist to recieve the honor, so it was probably a long ceremony).  You can hear Neal Peart's acceptance speech and also Les Claypool and his solo band performing "Spirit Of The Radio." Check it out here. This is normally the type of thing I tweet about - since I'm not using this blog to cover news, but I thought this was so cool I had to share it here and on twitter. Follow me on twitter here.

RUSH HAS TWO NEW SONGS!

I didn't see this coming.  Rush just released two new songs: "Caravan" and "BU2B" on itunes today. They will be playing both of them on their upcoming tour.  They will both be on their next album, Clockwork Angels, due out next year. Rush really never play songs live before releasing them (they haven't done that in over twenty years), nor do they usually release songs this far in advance of an album. But I'm not complaining!

RUSH - STILL AWESOME

Coming right on the heels of my post about Genesis, here's one on Rush. For those of you who are new to No Expiration, no, this isn't a prog-rock blog. Rush was my first favorite band as a kid, and although I don't rate them as my #1 anymore, I still love them. And I say that without any sarcasm at all. Not everything they've done has aged well... but a lot of their music has aged really well.

They played Madison Square Garden the other night - I couldn't make it, although I did catch their show earlier this summer at PNC Bank Arts Center, and they never change their setlist anyway (one of the things that bugs me a bit about them). While their new album, Snakes & Arrows, isn't their best, there are some great moments, and "Far Cry" in particular made me proud to be a fan. It's one of their best. If you're the type who would go to a Rush concert and not know any of their recent material, I recommend at least going to the iTunes store and downloading it, along with "The Way The Wind Blows," and some other recent songs, like "One Little Victory" and "Resist."

"One Little Victory" is a song from a few years ago, and is especially powerful and moving. As with all of Rush's songs, the lyrics were written by drummer Neal Peart, who lost his only child a few years back. About a year later, his wife passed away. You can read about it in his memoir Ghost Rider. But the guy knows something about "one little victory" - if you read the book, you can see what a struggle getting through the day was (and even if you haven't read the book, you can only imagine).

Anyway, when I saw Rush over the summer, I was blown away by how powerful they were. I'm sorry I couldn't see them this week, but I hope they do another summer tour in '08. These guys have always charted thier own course, never followed trends and yet they still headline arenas. You've got to respect that.