Sunday, June 24, 2012

40 Reasons RUSH Still Rules



1. The song, “2112,” is arguably the most famous side-long epic ever recorded.

2. Rush was the first concert I ever went to. Tickets were only nine bucks. Imagine that. Nowadays, you can't even see a movie for that price.

3. They've never made the same album twice, even after Moving Pictures sold uber-millions of copies.

4. They kept the same line-up for almost 40 years.

5. It’s only three guys, but they sound like six.

6. They do not sound like anybody else. You know a Rush song when you hear it.

7. Rolling Stone magazine has always hated them.

8. They never really gave a damn if they any had hit singles.

9. Hey, just try playing “La Villa Strangiato.”

10. Neil Peart single-handedly inspired ‘air-drumming.’

11. They are one of the few so-called ‘classic rock’ artists who still regularly sell-out arenas.

12. Stage props have included giant rabbits, washing machines and chicken broilers.

13. Most of us would develop carpel-tunnel syndrome trying to learn their songs.

14. Rush in Rio! This DVD has to be seen to be believed.

15. They trail only The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for the most consecutive gold records.

16. Never cool, and they never cared.

17. Geddy Lee’s nose.

18. One of the few bands never to feature photos of themselves on any album covers.

19. They wrote every song on all 20 of their albums.

20. The first band to ever appear on The Colbert Report.

21. Their shows are three hours long...with no opening act.

22. One of the few rock artists lucky enough to have made a massively-popular, critically-acclaimed album that everyone is now sick of hearing (Moving Pictures).

23. They sound just as good live as they do on record.

24. Geddy Lee’s instantly-identifiable vocals.

25. There isn’t a musician alive who doesn’t respect them.

26. Awesome album covers (well...maybe not Hemispheres).

27. They ended up becoming bigger than all of the bands they once opened up for.

28. Neil Peart had to overcome more unfathomable personal tragedy in a single year (the deaths of his wife and daughter) than most attention-starved celebrities can even imagine in a lifetime.

30. They seem to be pretty boring individuals, meaning they had to impress the world through actual talent.

31. One of the few bands that many parents are successfully able to get their kids to like.

32. Alex Lifeson is a really funny guy.

33. Even after being around 40 years, racking up 23 gold and 14 platinum albums, they’ve never even been nominated for entry into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, thus exposing the ‘honor’ for what it is...an elitist club determined by personal tastes of a select few, not an artist’s actual talent, success, musical influence or longetivity.

34. After their first three albums underperformed sales-wise, Mercury Records demanded something more commercial sounding for the fourth record. Rush responded with what may be the ultimate fuck you...2112.

35. By-Tor and the Snow Dog, the band’s first foray into lengthy, fantasy-tinged, multi-part epics, was inspired their manager’s German Shepherd, who growled at a roadie.

36. Neil Peart’s drum kit would fill up most people’s living rooms.

37. They are aging gracefully for a hard rock band.

38. Rush fans worldwide are always in constant fear that the band’s most recent album will be their last.

39. Rush is a fucking awesome name for a band.

40. Their 20th studio album, Clockwork Angels, is actually their first true concept album (an album where all the songs tell a single story), and it debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts.

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