How I first got into Rush was 23 years ago when I first
heard “Tom Sawyer” on KKRW Classic Rock 93.7 The Arrow which is now
a hip-hop station. But when I was 13 years old at the time, it was the only station
to play bands that introduced me alongside Pink Floyd from bands such as;
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Blue Oyster Cult, Black Sabbath (Ozzy Osbourne-era),
and Rush. When I first heard “Tom Sawyer”, I was completely blown away.
It was like a breath of fresh air of hearing the vocals,
guitars, synths, bass, and drums all combined into one. It was this incredible
fast-drum work done by Neil “The Professor” Peart. This guy was like a machine
gun that is ready to burst fire at any second. And then I had forgotten about
them until 2005 when I went to Borders which is defunct as well.
And there was
a MOJO issue entitled, Pink Floyd &
The Story of Prog Rock. I bought it and I read about Rush during their
hey-day in the 1970s. I knew right there and then, my re-introduction of their music, was right around the corner. I
went ahead and went to a store called, Movie Trading Company and bought A Farewell to Kings and then went to Wherehouse Music and bought
their era of the Synths-era and their ‘90s era. But it was A Farewell to Kings that made me re-introduce myself to their music. Listening
to that album was like a movie inside your head.
It was everything. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, James
Stewart, Fantasy stories, and an intensive cliffhanger story into the black
hole. It was all there. This album still has a huge impact on me when I was in
College after my re-introduction to their music. And I still try to figure out
what Neil was writing throughout his amazing storytelling complex? Whether it’s
the title-track, Xanadu, Closer to the
Heart, or Cygnus X-1, he was
writing them like movies inside our heads.
For Neil Peart who wasn’t just one hell of a drummer who
followed into the footsteps of The Who, Pink Floyd, admired Stray, Buddy Rich, and
influenced others including Metallica, Mike Portnoy, Iron Maiden, Porcupine
Tree, and Billy Corgan to name a few, he was a brilliant lyricist that showed
no sign of stopping.
Since he was in another band before Rush called JR Flood in
1970, then joining the band in 1974 after making his debut with the band by
opening up for Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and Uriah Heep during their Wonderland tour at Pittsburgh Civic
Arena on August 14th, he gave Rush, the power, the mystery, the big guns, and
the explosive beats that would knock your socks off.
Whether it’s the nod to
King Crimson with YYZ, the struggle
with Fame on Limelight, being an
outsider in School with Subdivisions, the
battle between By-tor and the Snow Dog and
Bastille Day, or the nod to Ayn Rand
with the 20-minute masterpiece, 2112, Neil
knew what he wanted to do.
For me, Rush along with Pink Floyd, are and will always be
my Beatles. Since Neil has passed away on January 7th due to a long
battle with Brain Cancer, it’s the end of an era with Rush. And while they
called it a day for their R40 tour in 2015, they had come full circle. But
their legacy and their music, will live on forever and ever. In the words of
Babe Ruth from the 1993 movie, The
Sandlot, “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.”
No comments:
Post a Comment