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    Guitar Legends Rush PDF

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    matias secul

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    le Ka a) penance THESPAT vg a a ay ay de a ASN ieee Oey eee B= Cae a gD OUTS You How to Wd eRe ey a TA mat “FREEWILL” PESOS cull] mane TA ETT rete aa aS nye od ; NEIL PEABT tock’s Greatest Living OR Sed eae ern fi a eg SI | ontven Through more than 33 years Rush have remained the GU/TARLEGENDS FDITORIAL OIRECTOR rae ata ultimate prog-rock powerhouse. ee rom Poe sat ere ere ene extended instrumentals, sci-fi imagery and keyboards mt ae es Eee) 1 U Alex Lifeson dissects several key songs from Rush’s past. PP bar y! As Rush drop their latest release, Snakes & Arrows, guitarist Alex L Pee roel masterpiece that gave life tothe power trio’ legend. ee eee ,asheand Geddy Lee discuss Rush’s fourth, and bes, ree ttn ay centres re teers Pee ent hhe discusses their 30 years inthe fas lane and the detour that took them briefly out of the race ry ert eer ce ae ee ed ee eas 50 Geddy Lee tells how Rush mixed old-school musele, classic songwriting and new-century leekness to make their lth te etree aa eee eee es ranscribe 62 cd Ty ruvune Puc 90 f orien tee eee) Sot eer) Pe Cenc ie ment ety b) Tan SHEEN, BUT IT DIDN'T SEEM TO HURT RUSH ON THE CHARTS— IBECAME THE TRIO'S HIGHEST-CHARTING SINGLE. show, sshd album vas widely considered ‘nto rhythm guitar while covering the nga Moog, Taurus synth, which consisted of an 18-note pedal board. This early move toward multta become a major part ofthe band’s mance practice, 2112 was the first Rush album to crack just a week offin sophomore album, Fly by Night. Although the young ba Not by Rush, however Their follow-up, By this point, Rush were headlining igs, tinued to build an audienee the playing a double-neck Rickenbacker—would and they toured mercilessly, often sive rack, 1980's Pe Bush really hit the smarts ofthe hit st wyer” and the tuneful intricacy of FM-fienalyfare such ew wave the epi and pithy, the visceral and the cerebral. Ie was inthe band’s writing practices, bum included the nine-miimute instrumental La Villa Strangiato: hen ie was time for something completely Garfankel-q n would be inter differ Radio? Rush were finaly beginn! Much as punk rock arose in Knack tothe mot the trio's highest-charting Rush had settled eom= fortably into ther impress ‘onfident Power Win nthe band, OTING ETE SILENCE * SHO ET. = REHEARSALS sive style, This time, Peter Collins was behind withthe material which the as “introspective” and which sweetened by str (provided by Steve Your Fire would be followed by live album ble-dise of the moved co Atlantic the material ha melodic ideas sticched to hastily written transition her sprinkled thro even abit of rap in the ttle tune f A . a aaa a ae ae eae es ER EEE BES BUSES CETTE aT EEOC “4 EERE : an ALL THE WORLD'S A ~ SGT ENACT CETTE ALEX LIFESON DISSECTS SEVERAL KEY SONGS FROM RUSH'S PAST. BY CHRIS GILL REPRINTED FROM GUITAR WORLD, NOVEMBER 1996 trumental Iegave everyone the chance actime I had my Phase shifter anda - old Eh | available back then. The 1, was recorded in one rake, with al f us in the oss Chorus unithad od Wehhad baffles {just come out at that time the song abo p around the guitar, b i think Lused a Roland and rerecorded itlater.1F {Permanent Waves (1979) roulisten very carefully, {iene was a radio station only effec i F you can hear the other solo {herein Toronto-its an By the time we eu this, Las using mainly a Strat that {had modified by putting humbuckers in the bridge position, I so used the 355, which I used in the studio forthe next couple of records, My amps were Hiwatt, the Marshall and the Twin. also had a Sixties Bassman Electro-Harmonix Electr Mistress, which still have used the Boss Chorus En semble, and Thad gradu ated tothe Roland Space Echo, which replaced my Echoplex. Moving Pictures (1980) ing under the microscopic scrutiny ofthe public, and che need for privae tryingto separate the two and not always being suc cessful att, Because we've never been ahigh-profile Jhand, we've managed to retain a lt of our privacy: But we've had to work tit Neils very militant about his privacy ‘My guitar was a dif ferent modified Strat with aheavier and dens- erbody. Weset up a couple of amps outside ‘ofthe studio as well as nside, so we gota nice Tong repeat frr sound echoing in the wantin. The ap proach on that solo was ory to make itas uid as possible. There was aoc of bending with lots with notes coming up. spent af umount of ime on that to get the character, but once we locked in on the sound, Signals (1982) pleted, but we w 1dd one mi had been ith the lyric World Man’ in the studio within one day, Iehas a very direct feel. Do none day was alo The pressure was on but, offat the same time Te was almost con pulsory to do solos at that ime, but I didn’t want to wn re feel that every song had to hhave that kind of structure T wanted to getaway from that, and to this day [feel that way: Lenjoy playing solos and feel that my so- ings quite unique to m atm bored with thae structure L used a Tele for the whole song. played it through the Hiwats with alitle bit of reverb and Power Windows (1985) that took a longtime to complete. It was recorded in Montserrat. The guitar was tuned upa whole step with the B string at Ff, and [played alot of open chords. did a lot of drop ins where [hit achord a let iting, then dropped in the next chord and let it ring and soon. When we started recording the song, itsounded too ordinary, so we tried dropping in those chords during the verses as remember doing the solo in this studio in Eng land, SARM Bast, which is in the Bast End of London, We set aside a week for solos last-minute vocals and mixing. The eantra ‘was barely enough room o turn my body around when Iwas play form ng, but I gota re sound with the repeats and lots of reverb. I loved tobe soaked in that kind of effec atthe ime ‘used a white modi fied Fender Strat that | called the ‘Hentor Sports: caster? The name came from Peter Henderson, who coproduced ¢ Under Pressure [Re 1984 album} The amp setup was a couple of Dean Markley 2x12 Marshall 2x12 combos, two Marshall 00-ate JCM800 heads and two ‘x12 cabinets Lalso ran a direct signal. By tha time [had a pretty com: prehensive rack with two TC Blectronie 22908 and a 1210 that I used for pha ing and Ihada Roland DEP-S; Hold Your Fire (987 WE WERE INA bitoFa re flective period at that time Everything seemed to be wing by very quickly Aimee Mann [ther bassist did ve ofthatsong. Itwasalot of Jeame up and n the chorus ! into that bright tone my sound was stil very fun owork with her. She} ofall my Hiwatts and the was very nervous. I don’t think she had done th sort of thing very often, especially witha band lke us. We weren't necessarily playing the kind of music that she was into oF Histen- Dean Markleys and was | using primarily Marshal asthe JCMAD0: ingto,butsheliked the | Presto (1989) band. Wemadeher feel with Rupert Hine as our producer. Oddly enough, studio when we started writing the record. We developed it from there $ was much heavier in the early version; the tempc # had come up alittle bit Rupert's approach to the guitar sound was a litle thing Tighter th iat was the year that That was partly my faule Igotthe Signature guitars! because [was stil using with single-coil active elaxed very quickly, turn- ngrthe whole session into fun | pickups. 1es very apparent has aelear, metalic sound {i op group} toit that really sings. got ‘gain, lused 2812 combos By THEN WE Were working basic ideas of that song at home and browhe eo th the Signature slo, which { didn'elend itselfto avery hick sound, That amp ineup stayed the same as before, and effects would ‘come and go. Iwas d= dling around with what ever was new at the tim a8 I've always done ‘We'd taken a seven month brea, which at ‘hat time had been our ngest hiatus, We needed clear the cobwebs and get away. We came into ling alot more enthusiastic about working. Thee ro Atlantic Reca sod because we Felt ike sdachange all sound. We were going the Nineties, and made everything fresher: Counterparts (1993) and a100-watt Marsh: ICM8O0. had a [Rol 1C-120 a8 wel that sed For some clean th ngs but primarily everything was done on the Peavey and the Marshall. The guitar was 2 Les Paul Standard that [had used on certain songs inthe past. used a ropped-D tuning and ran the guitar straight into the "We had gone back to ‘working with Peter Col Tins, who produced Fold | Your Fire, We used a much more direct approach to recording, moving bac § eabin toward the essence what Rush was about as a three-piece. In retrospect Counterparts didn't work as well as weil hoped, bu itled us in the right direc tion, We're much more satisfied with Test fo which we view asa Test for Echo (1996) THERE'S ALOT of dif ferent stuffon there. 1 ned the entire guitar down a whol D standard caning. 1 ge a new Les Paul Custom with beautiful sustain, pact, but not too small, Tused a Godin Acousti Caster, which has a really teresting sound that is at the same time almost acoustie but definitely electric, Lused primar Rush ily Marshalls—s0-watt and 100-waet JCM800 | heads and ewo 30th An niversary models—with four cabinets: two vin age 4x12s and two 1950 ‘with Celestion 25-watt speakers. T used DigiTech 2101 to knit everything together. The through good speaker simula tor, like the Palmer. The the 2101 don’t quite do it for me, but through the Palmer it has nice body and wideh, fee like we arrived ith this record, There's a particular feel chat I don’t think we had before—a nice groove and a lot of really good Rush songs. feel lke we were al reall her on cis album Although we strive for thatall the time, i's not always achievable. The mood was so good in the studio, and we unified in direction. LIMITED EDITION ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY Rent eeiamernicnneneminns |) get your axe together. BUieme-lgel 2) BY lola Rola acy Ca feel Stele R RCo) www. Warmoth.com MOVING PICTURES, THE PROG-ROCK MASTERPIECE THAT GAVE LIFE TO THE POWER TRIO'S LEGEND. REPRINTED FROM GUITAR WORLD, JULY 2007 F YOU WERE a teenage male in the turned out, Pear Music, which had us, ‘Consider m and in a way, rie Nuttall, The two mar 2000. Not long af ‘bandmates to tell them he Ne were thrilled levels? says Lifeson, “and ie that he wanted to get t her. But it was tough He hadn't inams in years, and when he finaly sat down atthe kit Pd say he was one-tenth the drummer he used to be-stil pretty great, at there was along way to go. Hi n’cputting any time restrictions on him, ‘When he was read, so were we In uush released Vapor Trails, their first album in Fave, although at times tentative album, it saw the band tembracing, as always, odd meters (the song Freeze” alternates between 6/4, 5/4 and 4/4) but eschewing keyboards and guita We fle the record should b as possible,” says Lifeson, "We were atband again. That can be hard tc when you're getting on in years and you've Rush, and the ba s (Atlantic), should be g by the faithful. Produc 2, ho helmed the F slamming, rff-heavy first single immediately joins the ranks of R est pop offerings, Interestingly how the record's most rewarding moments & its most frustrating. On acoustic-based tracks such as "The Lang nd "The Main Monkey Business’ Rush eject the notion tha songs must horus-middle-eight formula in ways that are unusual yet satisfying. “Workin Ther: ones” features some of Peat’s most heart fel, straightforward Iyies ("No one g heaven without a fght”hes, he knows) hose uf ter he woris hit upa verita ansbord of Alex Lifeson guitar perhaps the biggest sur Wind Blows? in which he dis hant for pure, unadult ing. “That's probably the last ehing pec pect from me, which is why’I did it” Lifeson explains. “When I hear that sound Ife! like we're a new band, just like we were when swe made Moving Pictures, You know, people didn't expect that sound from us either ing, exhilarating planetarium new wave spunk. I's been he synapse-altering album hat introduced Rush 0 the marvels atts longevity Ts hecome: Desert Island Dises'to alot of people," he says, ‘which is a huge compli ment, I'm very proud of that record, And tobe quite Moving Pictures, probably ‘wouldrt he sitting here ght now talking shout our Hopeful Ccuran ican Hefore we talk about the new di, les revisit Moving s. While recording ‘dd you have the slight estidea how popular i could be? ‘ABX UFESON Not ata Did we think we were do- ng great work? Absolute But you never think, I years this album will still be selling 1,000 copies ft Ar the time, how influenced were you by new wave? Many of the songs on the album are shore and popps, at least by Rush standards, and your guitar sound bears similarities to that of Andy Summers, ‘urison I was very influenced, in many 1 That shocked alot of our longtime fans who were used tomy long, flowing locks. Also, I started Jressing cooler, more au courant, wearing bright, colorful blazers and tes. I dida’t Took like Pd just come from a Renaissance fa Police, and their impact was huge. We saw that many differen things as apparent on gae break in “The rock ri could dos {1.4 hint of that impac Permanent Wves—the r Spirit of Rai Movin ictares wallyour entire attitude, The songs got sessile. It felt good to become gtothe turesow Yep, That was early Police influ as exciting as when Cream came out, For indluences in ways that enhanced, b degrade, what we were doing Tere was the Edge too, What he did wit the echo pedal is beyond measure. Yeah, the Edge and Andy Summers were very high on ny list in those days. till are, awh and the thesizers; Rush on Moving Police on he Machine urtsov Great minds think alike, (aug When Geddy got into keyboards itjust seemed like a natural progression. We were tying to expand our sonie palette Like the 1981, both Rush ice became enamored with sy Police, we didn't want to be limited by the power trio 41 Ir must have been hard for Geddy t play both bass and keyboards atthe same time. Did you ever think of adding fourth member? liresou No, never, Gedy had everything: der control, eventhough he had to be abit of i ng foot ped Is too, God, [had to dance around like eraz 11 You're just a bunch of Fred Astaire-type multitasking fools, huh? octopus at times, I was oper Lureson You said it [laughs] IT there was a harder way of doing things, that’s what we did, But while making Mo 1 remember thinking to myself, The guitar is pretty much the dominan sound of the band, 0 why am I working so hard att? Using effects and making my sound mote processed tenabled me to explore space and differe textures; i freed up our importantly, our songwriting, It was aver fun time. You have to unders the 20-minute science fiction apuses. Et eas getting boring. ‘4. Even so, Rush have always been labeled as cerebral” rockers—that i (0st, not Van Halen, Did thatever bother sso No, [laughs] My God, no. The fac that we don’t write songs about geting laid n Sunday night? Phat i Wait ay night? That's back-to-work night! lurs08 Now here’ an idea we might beable toexplore, laghs] No, but see, even though we have no problem with the rock and roll Rush have always been about musicianship. I that makes us "cerebral? fine. Also, [think as Neil developed as lyricist, our music became more poignant The thing about Rushis, we have fun, even though we look like we're not Haugh ‘1 Did having a big hit with Permanent ‘Waves add to any pressure while recording Moving Pictures? Not at all. We were cruising! We had the wind at our backs and we were hav ing fun, Pethaps that’s why its one of our most famous records: people ean tell when a band is on fire, and we were, boy ‘04 What guitars did you use on the album? 'My mainstays: a Gibson ES-385, 44.385, my Howard Roberts Fusion guitar and my Sportscaster which isa Strat that modified with humbuckers, a Floyd Rose and a Shark neck [the Ottawa company Shark makes replacement necks}, The body i the fone Strat component that remained. ‘0 Tell me about the solo in “Tom Sawyer How long did that take to work out? T winged it Honest! Teame in, did five takes, then went off and had a cigarette Pm ac my best for the firs two takes; after that, Loverthink everything and I ose the spark, Actually, the sola you hear iseomped together from various takes, Most of my'soles 1 think of i, Jan idea of what Pa Tneruth yes play but | don't get married to ideas for solos Guring the wri getsterle and formulaic Of course, the iony is once record aslo that’s what [wind up having to play te rest of my if! [lags] fat Anybody who's Histend to the forthe pas 26 years knows the opening if to-LimelghtT Simpleit'sgenius ks “hanks got lucky that day. Howe these riffs appear sa mystery. remember ‘hat we ad the song prety much mapped acl cn pe as eR be hat's how performances ‘sane of those its-s0- 26 curtar cecenos play chords that are very’much like the rfl. ink what I ended wp doing was just simpli fyingitfor the opening. We knew we needed tokick the song off somehow Its funny: afterall these years, the solo 0" Limelight” is my favorite to play ive. There's something very sad an lonely about itsitexists in its own litte world, And eink, {nies own way, icrefleets the nature of the song's Iyries—feeling isolated amidst chaos {L“YYZ" has gone on to become one of the band’s best-loved instrumentals Andi that cane from just jamming. As you might know, ¥--Z isa transmit code for the Toronto International Ai and what we did was open the songin a 10/8 rhythm, which is actually Morse code for those initials. I's a weird thing: People expect Rush ta have an instrumental on album—I guess hecause we're known sian musicians” but that's not how we operate. Neil ean usually make lyrics fit any kind of rhythm or chord arrangement, So for us to turn a song into an instrumental, ichas ta be becatse we feel that’s what the songs meant to be Gt Let's talk about the new album, Srathes& Arrows, Aside from his hard-to pronounce last name, what made you decide to work with proxlucer Nick Raskulinecz? well, reason: his na sons [Lfesan’s given surname sinovick Original we talked toa few producers, bur the vibe wasn't there—not totaly, And then I guess Nick heard we were getting close torecording, and he told his management, “ve gotta do it No matter what, thave to ‘work with Rush, Get me meeting!” Crazy, genuine en thusiasm: we'll ake it, Haugh Nick flew up and met with Geddy and me. He had such ex for making musie—a real thoughtful guy whose enensy was infeetious. Geddy and 1 looked at each other, and we could tell we'd have a good time working ‘with him, And we were right; there wasn't a Single moment of tension or stress through- ‘out the recording: every day was a joy to.g0 to work. ‘4 But is that necessarily a good thing for making an album? Doesn't a litle dramatic tension push you out of comfort zones and into unexplored areas? 1 nov what you mean, One doesnt want to feel too contented; you have to feel challenged by the music. But Niek did push us, sometimes in ways we never expected ‘t How did he push you asa guitarist? [very long pause] This is tough... See 1 was so focused I'm not saying the other guys weren’t—but beeause this album was ‘written on the acoustic, [was so hot going in You know how we talked aboue Moving Pic res and how Fd play solos cold? This record was the exact opposite: knew exactly what wanted, Writing alot ofthe songs on the acoustic offered me a wonderful way to sketch ‘ut the album I knew thavifeverything ‘worked on the acoustic, everything would be ten times more powerful onthe electric ‘0 Do you guys eut proper demos before recording the actual albur ‘Oh yeah, Our demos sound lke pretty good records, Geddy has a Logic record ingesystem inthe writing inhis house and we go in there and work things out. By the ‘way, he lives five minutes away from me, Can your beliewe that after 40 years we live so close together? Anyway, we have a great system for writ. ing: we work thtee daysa week from noon «illsix clock; then we play tennis or hang ‘out with our families. lot of times we go out todinner after our writing sessions and talk about what we've done. Avery relaxed pace We tracked the record a¢ this wonderful place called Allaire Studios inthe Catskills Tesa great studio with tremendous views of the mountains. Very inspiring. Nick came up and threw himself into the situation, A few songs we didn't touch ata, some songs we moved a few things around, and there was ‘one song called “Spindrift” that we made rad- ical changes to. We were very impressed with Nick: he wasn’ afraid co tellus that we had the song all wrong. Most producers are aad todo that with name bands. Also, he allowed us to rerecord anything we wanted, as many times as we wished. lot of producers these days just wane co Pro Tools parts together ‘1 Obviously you have a pantload of gui tars, How many did you bring to the studio? turtsow [laughs] A “*pantload”. that's funny, [didn't bring too many, stall: My acoustics were a Gibson J-55, 4 Larrivée, And Taso used Garrison six- and 12-strings, As faras electrics | think I mainly used my ‘Tele, my BS-835 and this fancastie Les Pau Goldtop reissue Ihave, I tried to keep things relativels. simple, 4. As you said, the dominant sound on the album comes from acoustic guitars lyrtson Yeah. I was playing alot of acoustic before making the record and my head was stuck in that world, Plus, had recently seen (Australian fingerpicker] Toramy Em: ‘manuel and [harp guitarist] Stephen Bennett perform, and I was very taken with what they were doing, In fact, Stephen gave mea half eapo, which Ii never seen before, and T thought it was really cool. You ean move it around but still have open strings. What an awesome little thing! I used it on the song. ‘Bravest Pace {1 “Far Cry" has.a very strong riff. Flow did that come about? reson Geddy and L were jamming, and fone day I found myself playing it. [aah Again, that’s the magic of making music; One day you have nothing, and the next, it's all there. I feel as ehough it really can't be explained 61 L expected a big soloon that song, but instead you went for a feedback section, reson Yeah, I heard these sirens in my hhead, so that’s what I decided to do. Geddy plays the riff underneath the feedback, Another song where there's no solo is ‘Workin’ Them Angels,” and what hap- pened was, I originally recorded a solo ‘over this section of very Celtie-sounding mandolins. was a cool solo, nothing wrong with it, but just hefore we mixed the album, I called Nick and said I didn’t think the solo was necessary, that it sounded bet ter with just the mandolins. 1 was prepared fora big disagreement, but Nick was like, ‘Dude! Absolutely. I was thinking the very same thing” [laughs] [hate to disappoine guitar fans who are waiting for solos, but sometimes you just don’t need them, ‘et However, you do play-a beautiful solo iin*The Larger Bowl” What guitar are you usingon that? ‘unison That's my Tele, There are alot of acoustics underneath, so when we play the song live, I might have to trigger samples so it doesn’t sound as naked when Ido the solo, ‘0 The instrumental “The Main Monkey Business" is, for the most pars, areal acoustic ‘opus. Was that your song that you brought to the other guys? turso No, not really. We wanted to do an instrumental that had some real substance, but we were getting pretty deep into finish ing he record. So one day we stared jam ming, and the song started to emerge. At frst, it was extremely complicated it probably had about twelve different parts to it~and Nick really helped us whack it down and sim. plily it. The only problem is, to play the song. Tive T might have to bring out the doubleneck, I think Fean pue piezos in it eo approximate the 12-string acoustic sound. frols his eyes Man, I dread it though; that ching weighs ton! You fee ie the next day in your neck and shoulders. Maybe I'm just getting ol ‘1 You guys have been together for so long, ‘Tell me, have you ever had a good shugtest? sou [laughs] No, no, no. But its come close. We don'ralways see eye to eye; we squabble, Back in the old days when we were touring 10 or 12 months out ofthe year, my God, you get sick of each other, The slightest Tittle thing one guy does ean just set you oft Butat those times when we do fight, five minutes later we're saying, “Shit, I'm sorry, man" We love each other, we love hanging ‘out together, and we realy love playing mi sie together afterall these years! # LassicRUSH BASS ANTHOLOGY Closer to the Hearts Freawil New Word RUSH GUITAR ANTHOLOGY Man. Tom Savj@r* closer tothe Hear «Free Wile The Spit of Radios Pacey te Bango ed RUSH ~ SNAKES & ARROWS Fre ouerute «Barchetta «The Spit ofthe Raio ‘The matching songbook tothe latest Xanadu mote. + Tom Sawyer * Working Man * hit album trom the Canadian prog Tockers, Includes all the sangs in 00690052 Bass Tab YYZ. Xana many more 00680426 Guitar Tab $24.95 roles and tab. FarCry The Main. S48 Monkey Business» The Way the Wind Blows Malignant Narcissism + We order today! Hold On « Brave Face «and more. 700894 Guitar $22.05 0% RUSH G 1 ) RUSH -R30 laa “The lve performances ‘i gatas og i theecinne e Overture” The second RUSH INRIO dictncude several [RS 2-DYD set (ie cludes Sera! features 28 songs ference ode om luting “The Sot ‘the anthem vault sence ey oe ouszase7 2-0vpj-co Sawyer" Documentary ee 00320548 2-DVD Set S285 800-637-2852 www.musicdispatch.com curvan Lesenos 27 bre] Pa a eae Oc at YEARS OF EMOTIONAL UPHEAVAL, THE MEMBERS OF RUSH FOUND SOLACE! AND UPLIFT IN CREATING VAPOR ETP OR le Oe) Te by J.D. Considine Ls ae ee ee ee CSL Rc eee ta osteo reece ts goal when he and the other members of Rush- fuitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer/Iyrcist Oe ea ta anes ea etn ae ss first new material the Canadian trio had pro- Rien oae moet Pere ae eee Poh ecerniaans en eens ‘group had been through. On August 10, 1997,a month after Rush had wrapped their Test for Echo tour with a triumphant, three-hour show in Ottavea, Pears 19-year-old daughter, Saeki eee etn nes crashed in Brighton, Ontario. Less than a year la acqueline Taylor, was dead of cancer: n 1998, ere weet ate os cho tour, but Rush were on an indefinite hia, Prarie ee oN emer ere eect enya etre ty Goer meneie rier eth a ese ‘maintained alow profile traveling by motoreyele from Alaska er ea eee amy the group finally got back together in January 2001 to begin ‘work ona new Rush album, the members were, as Lee dryly ec eee Amazingly, we had few seraps or disagree ments, There were alot af discussions, but it was incredibly conciliatory. [la {1 Was chat because you'd gone so long without spending time together? tee I think i's because there was a great deal of respect for each other. After all ofthe difficulties ofthe wwe came and looked at each other looked at each other ¢ number of years, when nd we 1s friends—there was a grea feling of affection, because we had heen there for each other through this to time, And there was also a great respect for each other's abilities, It kept usin. nice place. don't know how to deseribe it other than that ALEX LIFESON Yeah, Like Geddy says, we've been friends forever. When we started make or Trails, Lsaw how much he'd grown through the experience of doing his own record. And that’s hard solo record ‘So much ison the line, and you're responsible for everything. He came into this project with all this confidence and such an elevated sense of music. I felt for the frst time in our ‘whole working relationship chat I could leave the room and trust him 100 percent. was guided by alot of things that he was doing. I pushed my ego back a litle bie and pursued the things that I fel [had strengeh in, 0 do, Most of the arranging Ged did on his ‘own, Held say, “Leave it with me for a couple hours." I'd go and play guitar or hang out And every time I listened to something that he did, it was, "Yeah, Fuck, i's perfect. That's great” Tear tell you how great that going home every night knowing that I dida’t have to worry aboue those thin, te [laugh lureSOM I mean, our relationship jus locked like this afer the frst couple of onths. fe I don't think we ever had such partnership on any record. Maybe not since 2112 have we been able to understand each ‘other, see each ather clearly and weaknesses, Itwas the same thing when solid Alex would say, “I want todo guitars to: night” would say, “Okay, check you later Have fun’ And he would go, and he would just experiment, and we would talk about things the next day. And when Neil was get tingll his drum parts together and starting toget his confidence back, Alex was there « ery minute, helping him get his drum sounds together, engine 1 session, It was really ineredibly hands-on, and we became each others! producers. It was really cool that we could do thet {How did the writing start? Did anybody ‘come in with stuf already writen? tee No, we had a clean page, basicaly. We set up in a small—small-sh—studio, We set Neil up in the playing pa ‘we aad a weriting setup in the eontrol room. Plus Neil had a room that he could goin and work on Iyris. So as Alex and I were getting, to know each other again, Neil was slowly getting his playing chops, because he had not played, He was wel out of and had co build is physical endurance {L You say ie was a “writing setup. ofthe room, and up his hands, Did that mean you just sat around with acoustic auitars and a notebook liresow I had an amp set up inthe studio, enclosed in atype of eabinet I use live, which ‘we call “doghouses” They're lead-ti pletely isolated, I moved that into one of the isolation booths after awhile and just opened up the cabinets, Geddy runs direct, and we used a drum machine forthe writ And there are basically no keytoards on this record, {Gt Wait a minute: sn that harpsichord on, the beginning of “How IIs"? LIFESON No. tee That's mandola GLA mandola? tiresow I's like a large mandolin. 1's go 1 strings. just took it out one day and sai, Hey, how does this sound?” We got off on it so much that we started putting mandala on al sorts of songs. Iejust has that bell quality to it,and depending on how you tune it, ou can bring out all kinds of different sympathetic notes and ringing and buzzing and all of that Le He woul play some of them by picking and some by rubbin kind ofa shimmery sound, And we'd meld ‘those together to give it kind ofa unique tone Ou riting system is to have everything sound asifwe were making. a record. We had a Logic Audio digital record com: “GEDDY CAME INTO THIS PROJECT WITH ALL THIS CONFIDENCE, AND SUCH AN ELEVATED SENSE OF MUSIC, I FELT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OUR WHOLE WORKING RELATIONSHIP THAT I COULD LEAVE THE ROOM AND TRUST HIM 100 PERCENT."—ALEX LIFESON LIFESON T aro G1 Okay, so vou and Alex jam,and you take I and think les] The easualness goes away after you leon something. ‘6 Given the situation with Neils personal life, Pm sure alot of fans are going to be lo ng for the tragic life-has-stomped fon-me song. But the closest thing to that 1 the album is “Nocturne Ue Well, "Nocturne,” "Ghost Rider Sweet Miracle” even “Secret Touch?” L ink, ae all related to some sort of realize ion. think they're all rooted in his exper rnd talk about his need and his ways of climbing out oft, For me, singing those Iyr- ies, [ have to be able to make them universal Ihave to find a way in, a the was a tough thing. Th nigback and forth, and taking 8 person: experience and trying co accept it and unde: stand it and want to express i but ina way that fet good, felt righ for me to sing and B4 curren Lecenvs Ie like there was enough in there so that someone else would not be weirded out by the intimacy of GL Ie must be not just a balancing act but something you can’tdo unless you are very ‘comfortable with the other person. Lee Yes. Exactly, exactly: And it was an amazing personal experience forthe three of us, because of that ‘Gt Okay, so you and Alex assembled these jams and bits of melody, ll while working to nick track. So when did you play with Neil? LEE We didi’, It was almostall pieced together. ‘L You did the whole album to click track gE We weren't going to do that original We had set aside time to go back and play al this stafflive, Basically, Neil was le songs with a click track and just getting in shape, getting his parts together. But before wwe knew i, he had nailed them all, He was just nailing them, ‘we would say, “Is there any value in over again live?” And we Alecided there wast We were getting off omit. Ie sounded righ itdidnt sound overdubbed; ie didn't sound piecemeal ‘Gt In recent years, lot of bigtime alt-rock ‘musicians, from Billy because it was there organ tothe members, ‘of Stone Temple Pilots, have testified to the ajor role that Rush played in thei musical nplexites of your tunes and your array ‘ouchstone forageneration, and yet Rush get no props from the critical establishment.’ like people just dont want to give Rush heir due UE Yeah, that’s true, don't know why tha is. Maybe i's that we've never realy broken ingo the mainstream, We could be the world’s opular cule band.like Black Sabbath, which co me was fairly mainstream metal when I was growing up {1 Right, Everyone knew Black Sabbath’s ‘upbringing. The music, butt you wouldn't hear i in a super market LEE And you wouldn't hear us in the super market, Unless it was a really weird super LIFESON I don’t know, L was in Canadian Tire awhile ago, just ater Too!’ last album came out, and they were plaving"Schism’ in the Canadian Tire, which is ike a big hard. LEE Hut it's Tool, and they sell eools laughs] LUFESON Maybe that's what it was! But I think Geddy’s right, and if influenced that generat sicians, it's because they look at Ru hink, Well, here's band that wa ina mainstream way, yet they've been around for 30 years, This is proof that we ean stick to what we believe is right for us and not ‘worry about radio or pressure from record companies. [think that's what inspires bands And, you know, our musi has largely been players’ music, and alot of bands are influ fenced because that’s hovr we all stare out as players. lot of young players cus their teeth on our music because and yet it's no jazz, s it's still accessible There's always been a bicof shard to play, it, and maybe because they're not players, They've thought our music was pretentious, led our grasp, oF what thae our reach ever, Maybe the nat of ‘61 One last question: Why no in V T mean, that would be the Canadian way to spel it ue That's an tohave with Nell LFESON Yeah the proper English spelling, sgument I was not prepared ie I used the u on my album, My Favorite Headache for Britain and Canada: My Favou ite Headache. But Nel tends ta the US. He ‘kes the simpler spellings. So I'd pat the w in there, iFt were left co me, But I'm not fight IF ITS THE DEV MUSIC, SATAN | MUST BE AWFULLY PROUD. DOWNLOAD 25 FREE SONGS oye eee ed =ca\ WORKS ON ANY MP3 PLAYER - INCLUDING THE IPODS eine oer Vin IMSL ng ALEX LIFESON DEMONSTRATES KEY LICKS FROM “TOM SAWYER," "LIMELIGHT," “CLOSER TO THE HEART" AND MORE, AS HE AND GEDDY LEE DISCUSS RUSH'S 1998 LIVE ALBUM, DIFFERENT STAGES. by Andy Aledort mom om om REPRINTED FROM GUITAR WORLD, JANUARY 1999 mm mm mm mm mm That justi CL glum aa aD aR EEE SE ‘Closer to the Heart” being on this record So the general criteria was that ther it was a song that had never ap- peared ona live album and we were very happy’ with the performance, or it was one of our “classic” tunes that positively smoked like the version of "YYZ" on this record Gt With an undertaking this mas. band keep all ofits sive, how doe material in pe Lee We didn’ listen back to every show; that would've been insane Robert Scovill, our sound engines undertook the frst level of the prox of climination at his home studio in Arizona, The first step ‘out all ofthe recordings with technical tltches, and there were alot of tech nical glitches. That immediately nar rowed it down to about 12 clean ver sions ofeach song, and we'd listen to of those on a mieroseopic level. OF the 12, we might find th snare would sound alittle weird, or the sitar was alittle out of tune, othe Singer was a little out of tune! [laughs] Eventually, each song got boiled down tothe best couple of versions, and from there we'd go with whichever one had the best vibe ALEX LFESON The performances were recorded over a seven-year span, but think we were successful in mixing the songs so that they al run together smooth fe We wanted itto sound like one really great show, even though, in ac tual fat, some of the record represents the furthest thing from that aetual oe {Gt Did the multitracks get bounced 1oahard dise for digital editing and fe We originally tried to keep the cording entirely in the digital do ‘main. Our engineer, Pl Northfield, nwever, wasn’t pleased with the sults; he thought the tracks sounded too brittle, So we went back to an analog Neve for some tube-induced warmth, and we actually bounced some ofthe tracks to two-inch analog aturated” analog sound, he two-inch ran in tandem with the original ADATs when we did the mix: down. This ended up giving Paul alot of Bexibility-he could run digital, analog or both, LIFESON It turned out tobe the best of both is, even though ess, But [fel that we ended up with 0 was long, complicat “pr the desired resl LE And then, when we mixed it down, we mixed to both analog and digital. In the end, for about 80 percent ofthe album, we used the analog mixdown, or analog “masters For whatever reason, the other 20 percent sounded better as digital. This created some ‘unusual problems in the mastering process for Bob Ludwig at Gateway: He was drown ing in tapes atone point, and he called me, 38 curtae cecenos crying, “What am I doing talk him through ital, {Afterall this work, are you guys happy with the final product? Use Oh yeah. This isthe first ive album we've made that we don’t hate ‘1 The performances on this album sound sry relaxed and in the pocket LUFESON On the last cout, we cha plane forthe first time in 25 years~we didn’t ounce around in abus for eight months. I made a really big difference in how we fel, physically twas so much easier on our bod [laughs] 1 ad eo ies, so itwas easier on our minds: We weren't ‘exhausted all the time, I felt better, had more ‘energy and felt happier in general of golf Another reason for the “relaxed” sound of these recordings isthe in-ear monitors now: L equate you have in the dressing room, where you're Playing out of a small amp ata very low val ume, and it tha when we hit the stage, we'd tense up for the ig rack show” and th inthe musie. With the in-ea 1 so easy to play. It us cean create your own custom-made mix that [sounds erent, thus making it much easier to play. Ireliminates a lot of the chaos. think ‘we're playing much beter because the en Vironment is much more controllable, And, of course, the in-ear monitors help tremen: ddously with singing: Ie’ ike night and day can concentrate alot more on phrasing and the quality of the performance, instead af just fighting to bein tune! LUFESON These in-ear monitors afford you! such a great mix, which enables you to play ‘lot better, night after night, Ieshows in the face that there are much greater dynamics in our playing now. You dost pick the strings {quite as hard, or hic the skins as haed, or play muddy; sloppy arpeggios because you can’t ‘quite hear the guitar well enough, You can be Uelicate when you need to be, and play with ‘more averall precision, Then you ean relay, hhola back, and really lean into the heavy pares when you want to ‘I think the “heaviness” we hearin some of our favorite rock music is actualy a ane tion of how relaxed and in-the-groove the band is as opposed ta someone beating the crap out of his instrument. fe As with all the millions of bands that hhave been trying to mimic Led Zeppelin over the las 20 years, they want to sound really heavy and really tough, but end wp overdoing it. Ifyou go back and liscen to some af those early Zeppelin records, the guitar sounds are kind f dinky! But chey're played late on the beat, and there's a particular attitude and a particular sound, and that’s what makes ie heavy, As we've gotten older, think we, asa band, have gotten a better handle on laying into the groove, LUFESON tn al seriousness, playing musie isa lot lke playing golf as soon as you relax, everything just happens. I's about getting in the "zone," recognizing it and learning how ‘wget in there without too much effort. SL Can you demonstrate how to perform some of your cassie songs? How about “Closer to the Heart"? ‘uFesON I bein by arpexuiating this chord [Amaj9], and Fuse his figure for the intro section. [FIGURE] The seeret to making this part sound right iso let each note ring as Tongs possible GLA classic Rush tne thats never been transcribed in Guitar Worldis The Trees, ‘which is included on Diffrene Stages. That sounds ikea really fan song to pay LUFESOM Oh yeah, itis 1 Fingerpick a nylon- string acoustic forthe beginning of the tune, ‘over which Ged playsa melodie bass figure [ricure ee This parc is somewhac improvised; we never play exactly the same thing in this see tion ofthe tune. Later on, I play the barnyanl animal sounds, triggered from the keyboard ter that, we wet inte a section in 5/4 time, ‘The whole idea there is to get into a groove that realy swings, so that it doesnt feel like anodd meter LOn the intro to “Freewill” you and Geddy play the same single-note line octaves apart, correct? IFESOM Yes, that’s right. The tune begins with this melodie igure based on the F Lydian mode [P GA B.C D E: see FIGURE 38], which Ged and Iplay the same way asthe meter changes from bar ¢o bar: “Arthe pre-chorus, I playa progression FIGURE 1 “Closer tothe Heart” intro Maderasy Siow 276 mc) rr: $ o i 0 4 o 5 o ‘A Aa Rito Frvar FIOURE 2 ~The Trees" st verse . 8 of ringing, arpeggiated chords down atthe frst few frets ofthe neck [RGURE]. As with ‘many of my guitar pares, never play exactly W thesame thing twice. Lliketo play around with the arpeggation, in terms of the way pick outthe notes, and create different. sounds and sequences, 1 {&u"Tom Sawyer” features some tricky arpeagia staff doring the pre-chorus. How do H so play that part? I LUFSOW Like this [HOURE 4a. keep my pinkie anchored on the Bote, third sering/ fourth fe, che entxe time, while the inde and middle fingers fret different noteson the low Band A strings. The fun thing about playing arpesgos like this is that you get a Simulated "double-guita” hing happening Ut Formy bass pare Tike to renee g the aot mavement ofl the chords, while throwingin some additional leks here and there Gt Alex, thechord voiings you play dure LUESON Some of those woiings are a tle badaaie# a at lo ® a = ttt aaa Sod ‘yd | | hard to pick out. ‘This is what 1 play [GURE 4b]. Like most of my guitar parts, this one has ‘evolved somewhat over the years from what T did on the original studio album, ‘tse Even by the end ofthe first tour after particular record, the parts have already changed, LUFESON And we seldom go back to the original record to relearn exactly what we played, We get into rehearsal, wade through ‘clumsily for the frst few takes, and ehen i all comes back tous 188 And our memories are probably just an impression of what we were playing by the end of the last tour I's got to have the spiritof the original part, and sometimes the new partis better. loca times you end up ‘qweaking and improving parc as you per form itso many times in concert, and that’s fone of my favorite things about the songs on ‘his live record they're in some ways etter ‘han they were oFiinally 4 One of Rush's most powerful and well- loved tunes is“Limelight.” How do you play the intro? curvan Lecenos 39 FIGURES “Freewill” ‘Moderately Fast 1) preshoras Mal Time = 76 Bassi ebmalr#1t tp Bef BEA Bmradat1 — Bbmar#st hale FHGURE 4 Tom Sanyer™ apreshors Moderately 4~82 eco Fist EG Asse & Gna? SB As NG ee ® 1,9? i luresow 1 hexin with this low-position iff, UUFESON I play it down in second position, after which Ged enters and we play the next like this [AIGURE 6a. I keep the D note, second bitin unison [FGURE sa]. The verse section has H string/third fret, fretted the entice time with some intricate arpessio work in it, too [RGURE. y my middle finger while play aseries of pull. sb) The first chord [Badd] is based on a offson the high E string. I fret the high A note ‘conventional seventh-position B barre chord, | with my pinkie and the G& with my ring finger. I except I don't barrell the strings with myin- y HEE After Neil Peart] and play those syn- dex finger; Tonly use itt fretthe low B (Sixth capated licks behind Alex's repeated lick, we string/seventh fret). This allows the top two fall move into the next bit, which is played at af ‘open strings to ring, which really broadens the » different tempo [FIGURE 6b] sound of just one guitar Fat doyousuysuse drop-D tuning forsome H EE Because ofthe tri Tineup, weall feel songson Different Stages? 1 ‘that we need to find subtle ways to fillout the | uFESON For “Stick It Out” both Ged and [hav sound of the music, nd that’s how our playing Hour low E strings tuned down to D. For “Driven?” I styles developed. And that would'thave hap g Ged uses drop-D, but use standard tuningand pened if we hadn't heen allive touring act for an octave pedal to get all those low D notes so long. When you're onstage night after night, [we Allofthacstuffatthe beginning of you discover the holes and gaps so you invent “Driven” ws originally Uhree tacks of bass. ‘chord voicings and inversions that work well ive, lex uses the octave box to recreate between the guitar and bass parts H some of those ass parts 1 LUFESON For a rock guitarist, [play alot of ‘1 Alex, what was your ive setup for these first-pasition stuffand use alot af arpeggios to W shows? ' create. fuller guitar presence. LUFESON For recording the yuitar, we used Gt Ales, how do you play the fas intro rift to"The Spirit of Radio”? what we call "doghouses,” which are isola sion boxes in which you put speaker cabinets 40 curren Lesenos for acoustical isolations there are two 2x12 GK [Galien- Krueger] cabinets in there, ted with G12 Celestions, which are close-miked. ‘The doghouses ae lead fined and weigh a ton Inthe beginning, we miked them with Shure SMS7s, but we switched to AudioTechnica condenser mics because we fund they gave usa lite more fidelity So whar you heaton the record isthe gu tarsignal assent othe doghouses. My entre backline consist of stereo setup of Marshall Anniversary Series heads, which are dree= channe!100.wate amplifiers. 0 arack, have “Mesa, Boogie V-1Win preamps, which are great ‘when combined with the Marshall. Tiss looped with all ofthe effects, The third amp sa Dig\Fech 2101, which has afew specie presets that Fuse lke a clean chorus setting and some phase-y,overriven stuff. Then there’ fourth Sump, another 100-waet Marshall wth a Mesa/ Boogie Vin, which stoallydry~no effets, A combination ofall ofthese things is what bets sentto the doghouss. In total, here were shout eight tracks of guitaron tape. As faras the guitars, Lused afew bolt-on Artist Series Paul Reed Smiths. picked up a new [Gibson] Les Paul Custom chat Fused on “Test for Ech” and Talso have 1976 Les Paul Standard, Fo strings, Luse Dean Markley Blue Steels, 009-048, Thad PRS make me a couple of guitars equipped with transducer piekups inthe bridge, resulting ina ybrid acousti/eleeti which T used for almost all of he acoustic Sounding tuff on Different Stages. These spuitars are great! The only exception is"The ‘Trees? for which I used an acoustic nylon- string Ovation mounted on a stand {L The way you switch from acoustic to electric sounds is so seamless on this recor UUFESON rs breeze. also like to blend the acoustic sound with the eletre sound, a8 1 do fon "Natural Science and with these guitars it worked perfectly. 1 just hit togse switches ‘onthe guitar change fom the acoustic to the eletse sound, There's a separate line that. rons out to an Alesis mulieffece nie wie 3 few different presets: shimmering 1-string setting, a clea setting, one that was a litle dirtier and some other. “Driven” is another example ofthe combined acoustic/electeie sound tet [o Lifeson} The acoustic guitar sound con thats ineredible, and alot of people were looking around saying *Where’ the acoustic sitar?” [laughs UuFesow One ofthe coolest things about combining the electri and acoustie sounds, like on the chorus section of “Driven” Pm boing a fast steady 16te-noe strum witha re- ally dirty sound, and while dhe acoustic iar oun is going, “chiga-chiga-chiga-chiga” che heavy electri sound i a steady, "errerrrrve ‘Together, you get the illusion of eww guitars, playing at once. I doa similar thing in “Resist” "Nobodys Hero” and "Natural Science.” 1s& One might assume that there are guitar coverdus, but there arent al live. But peo ple forget that we have “happy fect? which we tse to tigger keyboard parts and sequences SON We're very busy up there, buti’s great. I's sort ofa code of honor in Rush chat tweare abl to recreate the density ofthe st ltl of the Trace Eliot speaker ch is my numb havea couple of new oes ta, The Jazz has such solid low fect for th thac comes from many different directions. LUFESON My son isa musician and a sound ether, Also 1 led the Orbit FHGURES -timetn™ Moderately ¢=132 i= i Bs AS 85 Asusz ES Prati ePpiny...4 J ag Mo ei= Settee | he aaytt Pps ag aie fat il BPE Sg BS to © Pa tie? sey FIGURE 6 ~The Spit of Radio 2) Into ek Moderately = 152 Noe GUITAR LeceNDs 4 AS _RUSH'S DRUMMER AND CHIEF LYRICIST, NEIL PEART HAS LOGGED HARD MILES BOTH ON AND OFF THE ROAD. IN THIS 2004 INTERVIEW, HE DISCUSSES THEIR 30 YEARS IN THE FAST LANE AND THE_DETOUR THAT TOOK THEM BRIEFLY OUT OF THE RACE. REPRINTED FROM CLASSIC ROCK, OCTOBER 2004 ETL PEART’ Amphithe (ti 4 My y . tS iC nad eI Yi Atte time of my interview w , an eight track EP feacuring cover versions of Sixties album and the subsequent tour were, together, a celebration marking the 30th year since the release of Rush's self titled debut, I wasn’t sure what to expect from our meeting, Interviews with Peart suggested to me his wit and economy with words his four books, especially his 200: memoir Ghost Rider: Travels on the Hea Road, revealed a self-effacing voice, Live, however, his deeply’ furrowed brow and permanently buttoned lip put me in mind ‘fa former headmaster who bore a grudge ‘against me, albeit one who sports a hat that looks likes deflated fez, Asit happened, Peart proved anything but stern or solemn, During our interview, he had briefmomentsof introspection, admittedly but only when he was attempting to fall articulate answers to cer n questions, none of which he ducked. Otherwise, itwas long ibbons of cigarette smoke, plenty of laughter and no sign ofthat hat GUITAR LEGENDS The three of you seemed tohave alot of fun making Feedback Nei. PeaRr Oh yeah, how could’ we? Those were the first songs we learned when we were 1 oF 15. Ie was great and so much fun to make arecord and not write the songs and not worry about the Iyries and construetion, Normally in our cyele of things~albun, tour, time 0 should have been making an alburs, bue we rot commemorate i in some vital way. And we recorded the songs so fast. We were Whipping off a couple of them a day easily {1 How did you go about choosing the songs for the tour celebrating your 30th ear We started atthe beginning, We always wanted to bring back things like ‘Mystic Rhythms” [f Power Windows, s0 we ust added a wishlist, and ‘af course we had way too many. "Closer to Heart [a hit single for Rush in 1977] got retired because we got sick of, but ou are pretty dificult to play, so you don't got sick of them every night. Gt Your touring schedule is dite what the rest of the band follows. eaat {leave straight af the stage and sleep on my own bus in a truck stop oF somewhere. In the morning, its a day off, Toad off the motorbike and ride somewhere inthe m antains or wherever, or I get up in Ihe morning and ride inta the show and jus have aworld apart as much as Ica I started ng that around Test for Echo [1996]. 1 used tobieycle before that; always had a bieyele on the bus with me, and at leas then T eould get the bus to drop me off and I coulé get away. But the motorbike is complete reedom ‘atOn the » Rio DVD, you all look pretty beat up by the long tour. You're doing 57 dates this time. How will ou cope? peart As long es Lean play well, I don't care about injuries. had an elbow brace or my armat the end ofthe Test for Echo tour Dur Twas fine, Lean stil play well. don't 44 curren cesenos care fit hus inthe default” position, as it were cean'tplay that it gets depressing GLI know thae Geddy’ didn't fee like he was getting to playfully during tours for albums like Hold Your Fire (1987) eaat In the late Eighties there was so much technology available tous that we couldn't resist. And we have this rule that we have to do everything ourselves, IFT ean hit trigger for a keyboard sound, I will and wall lover to cover sounds, That's something that ‘we're very conscious of now when we puta set together. Geddy’s lke, "I don’ want to be op on the keyboards all the time” That's the joy of performing our older material and the Stuf on Feedback —we just play ‘ot Ona happier touring note, you got to play 212 in its entirety forthe fist time on the Test for Echo tour. rant When 2112 came out in'76, we were still a supporting aet or playing a one-hour headline set, so we did an abridged version ofthe album even atthe time that it was ‘leased. Even when we started headlining small theaters, we kept it abridged, so by the Test for Echo tour, we thought it was time toplay che whole thing, And playing it, you do find yourself grinning atthe past in a ‘way, being in thar young man’s headspace, You tend to be harsher on yout old material than you need to be, and then you eventually decide i's not so bad at all, And with some of them, you think Wow, that’s good, so they make itback into the set 1 After the disappointing reaction to Steel [1975], you almose didn’t get to a8 long as Tean on that tour Alex and Geddy were dane all three [inefuding Rush and Fly by Night) had sold about 100,000 copies a piece in the US. Burifour record company [Mercury Polygram hadn't been in sich turmoil dlon'e chink we would have been able to keep our recording contract. That tour, to, was so stagnant; we called it the “Down the Tubes” tour amongst ourselves. By the end of salary, or even our ov, Things were dire ancl we were getting alot of pressure. By the end of 1975, we were inthe p straits Polygram had written us off before 2112 had come out, We'd seen theit financial for 1976, and we weren't even overbial dire predietion ‘the lise Fortunately; things turned t beeame a do-or-die situation, round slowly We starved getting better gigs, and the cords started selling beter, and we became espectable or something, and then we never xot intrusion from the recard company {61 Do you think Cares the eiticism it received? EART It was weird. We loved itso much when we made it, and we were flush with the naking it Then when it didn’t do well, we were kind of stung, don't think it really stands up, and its only real virtue sits sincerity, bt thats something. We se it as abridge, though, We wouldn't have made 2122 if we hadn't made that. Tcan trace the rots ofall ur material the experiment didn't work, but the is learned and itbecomes a template f future. I's about 1980 that [realy start to like our music like a fan, Before that there's stuff I ike in an affection way, because we But as far as achievement, [really think we started to bring i together a bit with Permanent Waves [1980] and particulary Moving Pitures [198], and from then on, G1 You've described the Seventies as “a dlark tunnel." One of the tours from ehis time ‘became known as the “Drive Until You Die tour. Were things realy that bad? eart We were playing so much. We were doing nine or 10 one-ni we were driving ourselves, don’ forget. ‘We were doing 300-mile shifts exch aeross Texas, then play, drive, play drive, And if you id geta day off here was no reereation about it: you would just lie na dark room and be stunned, watching eartoons because hters in arow, and You were so drained, It was soul destroying. Tetakes so much out of you, and ie was an important turning point because we hadn't learned to say no yet. We were these kids from the suburbs. So when you get more and nore people saying yes to you, then you just say yeah, Can you do two shows on that day Can you do 500 miles overnight for this And you're thinking, Yeah, they want us, wweean do that, You hate to say no. Ie seems srogant and somehow wrong ta say no t0 opportiity So that’s where we were caught in'76,'7, 78. Then weld go off the road and straight inca the studio, We di four albums in the fist two years and then one every year afterward and we were playing so much, Then we'd go in witha few acoustic guitars, some words ‘wind chime: the wind blow makes it sin {@t What can you remember ofthe frst and so supportive through my ‘we hadn’ played in front of an audience arenas and hotels and the bus. Songs tk Middletown Dreams” could never have happened i I hadn't gone out on my bieyele and realized State, and for all the thin for friends. That was re had in music—1 didn't have to grow up in public. 1 would write he people I met and continue to fn informal basis like tht, ina hotel o @ period of work an chink tour in Britain and went s with nohingan js aight off rked ourselves into} gone back now and learnt ta appreciate bit more. But they're always write aim : ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' | hats why I've been taken with pr our, because to me there coukin't bea better H vriting in the «up, personally and artistically, from whieh much bi bu ' 1 ' ' ' 1 ' 1 ' ' 1 back to Eurépe. tt time, We stepped ‘1 Tell mea litle bit about Canadian sesley Choice, who helped you get m musie p T worked in the farm equipment busines and L accepted the reality. I 2 sae af 62 GUITAR LEGENDS TALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ose Asst A past A Fzaadebe Fomraaon y.Fe 7 tng ott . = = 5 2 2 F oe 2 2 : E z = Dod cept ct os Ee eat 7—po—s. 7 i 7S Ly of Ghar Gh Rant Dsuse Dmaj7sus2 Dsus? a ed hy Fig. 1 ro 3 aS ; ——F 2 F 3 7 z = : = c = 6—9——#—tn-s. S a = = 3 Astand Ah Verses 5,258) vpee has a cunty alse tht noone knows abut He 4 San deat fe cass" t_maunnie a Asus4 A ‘Asusd A Fiim7add¢b6 FimTadd4 Fim7add4b6 25 ing ought = wii and char fet on ed were ass subtites Bas sit used tobe gleaming aey § gL simile on Sd were (se bar 70) 2 fam thos agin 8 bore towards me Dsus2 the motor two anes Dmaj7sus2 Sundays 1b eluie the Eyes and hop the turbine fright spin sound with shrieking tires fo nn the deadly race eo Asus A Asus A Femvaddebs Fimvadds — Fim7adab6 Gir. 2 plays ly ig. (see bar 17) 33s me ——— Fae z 2 far cutsie the wie whitened uncle als ‘reaming tough the valley teins" the" ase g en Dsuse Omajsus2 suse St Get (Gir 2 subtest second tine ies a= DB) es2n, F a1 Ow? reps previous bar . Fe F FE F Fe roa + Z = I p vi F Fe F Fe Fore 5 65 o B) 2.490 5. Dive by. Fig)? end Ry. Fig.2 aS Pa By AS Ds eS bs BA Asust * 30 — ana — [E]2nd and sth Verses (122.41) 2Jump to the ground asthe turbo sions to crossthe | borderne Te the wind Straning the fms "of machine and man as Ds as 5 a5 55 GA Asus A Go. 2 pays Rhy. Fg. 2 (see bar 49) ag Be Tish we” omar? Da? Ona? Do? Dna? Das 7 SS +t § PSE = he 64 GUITAR LEGENDS Fun tke the wind ‘a excitement shivers up and down my spine But Laughing out "loud with “fear and—ope ve got a desperate lan A the aS 05 aS Ds a5 Ds GA Asusta 57 Gu2 Y * (0s, 454 down in his barn my uncle preserved for me an old machine for fityods vers To fone lane bridge 1 leavethe giants "stranded at the riverside Race F Four oC F Fuse F Foxe 0 FG thors effet on) eae = se a = ow has boon tothe fam to dreamvith myunce atthe Fo Fuse c F Fsus2 c F Fousd c [H)3ra verse 20 ‘Skip away the old obs that hides the shining car a ‘Asus A Aust A Famvaddtbs Ftmvaads Gt. 2 plays Rhy. Fig simile (ee bar 17) 0 Bass Fig a 3 > 7s 5 - builant red Barchetta beter vanished time ‘ooh suse Dmarsus2 59 = = % as fire © the wiling engine responding ‘oar Aust A Asust A Fmraddebe Fhmvadds Fimraddabe 8G 2 plays frst four bars of Rhy. Fig 1 (se bar 17) = oo 7—fs—s—7 7 | GUITAR LEGENDS 65 Tres spiting gravel 1 commit my wooky ime 63 hn ag suse Dmaj7sus2Dsus2 Omaj7sus2 Dsus2 Omal7sus2 Dsus? Dmaj7sus2 end Bass Fig. 1 NCWE) Ger 3k, wt, ea phe fey a ip - 1 i ond [HE] imtertude (230) ao ND ap ADD ADD at ‘ == % z = i oe: 4—"+ ———— — SS = we =. =. 0—0—0—0—¢ — =o ooo [Dariage ess nd te ye : meni oss as no eo wo sD ow 2M : PM a Pt 66 GUITAR LEGENDS [K] js) {roca ener 2 ie) Visesbrd eter The seared county ar ab F ot so tome. =} : Ae + vt — 7 =F ooo ots 3s v J i Sunlight on chrome Evey neve ave ts? 8 6 ° 6 == t == ‘A i uy = az t SS SS iE i i i i itar Salo 620 6 NCI) (Fon Su 6.3 ot sd pert) 109 97. (98) (sus2) at 1 nnn : oe See mh GUITAR LEGENDS 67 —————————————— a) (4m) 113 ne inonaneoees a 2. a | aaa [M) ox) 4h Verse as 05 as Ds as 0s GA Asust eon & (olay 3 tines) ¥ > i (play 3 ines) 5a (0) outro 30) as NouAg) Gir plays RATA seven tines (se bar 1) wr ta-ano 68 GUITAR LEGENDS 131 Bos == Y 2. aS 5 x rT u Ho) 6) CFG 5 (ago) (aredae) ime Gir 1 plays RAB four times (see bar 9) a D — (700384) (avedoa'a) (a7eea40) 143 - — = Z z 3 5 z 8 ap (reo) a) (area) fire : sag 8H 2 iy Fie 3 6 ‘erring aD (had) a) (ares Gir play RY C four mes se ar 149) {Gir 2 play iy. Fg 3 four tes (ce bar 149) 153 bos a st Fe qa 3 Jt v (82) (aves a (Arad Engen) 157 2 ——? = oy HE. 1 GUITAR LEGENDS 69 As heard on PERMANENT WAVES (AERCURY) ‘Words by Neil Peart + Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson + Transcribed by Jeff Perrin E a Intro (090), Moderately J=138 NG. (te. 1 (ele wid ae phaser effet) iff 5 Gir. I plays RUA thre times cee bar I) ot. 2 elec wii.) 3 RT Badd ect aS 65 85 eet re eee fat” = Dsus4 i) Esus4iD Dsus. Esus2 Me far GR (repeat previous bar) Gu. Gar. 2 plays Rhy. Fill 1 (sve bar 3) 0- a Eee E = te) oi i _ a 3 a 3 = E E = === S SS 72 GUITAR LEGENDS ast J = 180 (halftime feel) (017) 8 EEA ‘Bass repeats Bass Pig Tinie (see bar 10) Original Tempo 4 = 135 (028) Bad Badd 65 Ja we ty Coro 45 Bs eS mio end Bass Fig. 2 22-4 makes your morning mood as Pel 85 i iz ff GUITAR LEGENDS 73 BS Badd Terri $ aT rita t ho ES 2S eS and Vere ton yourway it the open road there is magic. at your fingers E 8 Ge AS OA B E ius. and? 390 lerring (ct - PED = oe 7 } t LJ Lee ‘Bass plays Bass Fig 2 simile (see bar 27) For the Spirit ever lingers undemanding contact in your happy solitude if A 8 eG erring is. and2 Saal Ea Lb: LA Gt A B ae at gp tena eee tO} teert Teer ey tI plays RITA twice (ee bar 1) ou.2 . 74 GUITAR LEGENDS “THE Chorus (3,235) Visible aiwaves rack with fe ‘Bright antennae bse with he eneroy E- Nowe) (Fem) (et) (Fam) © Gir 1 plays Riff A tvelve tines on Ist Chor, ten tims on 2nd Chorus (oe bar 1) Sonar forbs 8 3 e @ 3). o (2nd un) stip ahead o motonl feedback on timeless wavelength bearing ai beyond pie alms tee (Fam) (ect) (Fem) (6) a " bs —s z a | core [ara vere 0 A tis machinery taking made misc canal be open_-_heaad Not so" Goldy" charied is realy" usta” question your honesty ean your honesty Gre thes to eieve” "the Heedom of msi out € a uct A : Gest (play 3 1imes) Tt play Sime) aaa pt — = al coo im +t Deine compromises shatter the usion of integrity yeah ent A 8 LTTE TITY cy (is, Vand2 a ‘Bass plays Bass Fig 3 (sce bar #7) D Dsus4 D oy z 339 2 2 2 2 vy) f , OF ao ‘GUITAR LEGENDS 75 Esust/D ED end Bass Fig. 4 4 2 Bass repeats Bass Fig. 4 simile (ve bar 79) suse 6 Tearing Bada erring 93 c ooo 0 po ce cl 5 Neo. 6 Gi 1 plays RIA twice (se bar 1) 97 on? irs. | and2 Tt 76 GUITAR LEGENDS woes a SS oforo 20 24? = v0 2 3a Pret ch To [Hy mertae (4) Original Tempo += 135. For the words of the profits. wore E A 8 E 6.3 wg dis actos) Pa Eh 2 —= 6x. 4a wn on an ch) SS : 7 7 => z T Poo v us. t 2 ‘ins Fur ra Ry LD - _ ea cs 6 Gy + a — Co Ee et weiten on the stutio wal concert all 8 A ont 12 s end — : ri —lEiEe TT Guts, Vand 2 hy FUL On = toatl — % z TP GUITAR LEGENDS 77 oo 0 | Gos, 1 and 2 play Rhy. Fil 3 (see bar 114) of sales 5 (as) I> i Hae —| pte soap pking whe ceed Bass Fig. $ 78 GUITARLEGENDS (AS) (€5) (AS) BRS Lt £22 be ree a f tt (AS) ha ay oe ca ise g pan an y 6-2] BAPE ; cere tae =— aa =] SS SSE esniasisiaasal Cot [J] Outre 1m Gus. 1 and 2 i ie * & (repeat previous vo bar) Beas pls as Pi $s eb 3) manda iz é 18 ——— - 7 = EPS Ppa ts a = — + = ° ya {t cer? i o— GUITAR LEGENDS 79 As heard on HEMISPHERES (MERCURY) Music by Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart » Transcribed by Andy Aledort Es F Cade 5S D E AA ab 6 Gb _ gl Gl fea’ ual Ha igale tya) ta Thal oct ° or Heaton Farratee Hee EE Intro. (000) Neer) 55 Never) Es NO\B7sus4) (87) es Nylons, sous ke ani Inger Vow) Sooo i Seen nm S tae ai Bere ete T90099 552. een eee ress! sae + = i a oa Moderately Fast : Ply si a Fy Fig Gert (les wean tone and Gs) tering Be (repeat previous bar) (play $tmes) ‘a dood Gr plays Rh: ig, I unit (ere bar 8) (Glockerspet are og) ‘Syath arfora cl Bass Fig Bs eh isa emtope te * Sh a for bas wn bar 35. 80 GUITAR LEGENDS MEU nigh nastin, Synth 2 plays Fil 1 (sce below) 417_Gockenpe Jl Go) ¥ x syn Bass repeuts Bas Fig. (ee bar 15) and holds C note wnt bar 27 a Syn (las 7 tines) ‘Bas plase Bass Fig. 1 (se bar 13} and holds C note nti bar 29 23 Sym td note una (8) 35° play Snes) —| Saree 7 br a v I EFCE approaches al vane by ba Portas na E = 3-4-5. 34-8 = a so. 358 2 8 Fee | p pCa Li? ? om mahi c ts is 1 Hea e a a Hw Usui (pla 3 rines) ra aie =a [By eass.0. 900 Dog os Noy) Substinte Bass Fig. 2 every frst time (see bar 48) 6 a 2 aT nae ae reer Be BU aap as GUITAR LEGENDS 81

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