Where to start, well as this post is about Friday, let's begin. I had a call from a friend the night before letting me know that he was also going so we all went together, me, the girls and my friend. We arrived in torrential rain just as the first band hit the stage, Kids in Glass Houses, a band that my kids wanted to see. Off they went, a-runnin' through a field of wood chips and mud towards the stage in the distance. I hate to say it but I really don't remember them, this means they can't have been bad but I did spend half the set tracking down my daughters.
I was a good Dad and kept my girls in sight but didn't stand with them. Next up were Black Stone Cherry, they were the "headbangiest" band of the day. I wasn't familiar with them but it turns out they are a Florida Southern Rock band. I know exactly what that sounds like and they lived up to it. The band were good and a great way to start a mini fest. A special shout out to the drummer, he was fearsome. I've never seen a drummer hit as hard as that, he broke so many sticks it was incredible. The only thing I would say is that the Americans don't get the English way, sunglasses are for sunny days and then only outdoors, shades are not cool indoors, at night or on rainy days, they make you look like an ass. That aside, I enjoyed them: Blackstone Cherry
Next up were Cold Chisel. I knew the name from years ago but nothing by them. It turns out that it was Jimmy Barnes original group. He has a gutsy voice and when you find out they are Aussies, his voice makes sense. Then you find out that they are huge in Australia, bigger than AC/DC and then you hear them.....very light weight and country-ish, very not me. I can't slate them, what they do they do well and the vast contingent of Aussies in the crowd can't be wrong......However, when a 60 odd year old man with a paunch hits the stage in skintight leather pants, I felt it was time to grab some food.
The kids got their T-Shirts and food and decided they wanted to watch Cold Chisel. I know that they wanted to secure a place at the front for the rest of the festival and let them go. I saw some of Turbogeist and they were good and a little bit of Skindred who were also very good but it was Iggy and the Stooges time so back to the mainstage.
I couldn't see my kids so I dropped them a text to find out where they were and to let them know I would find them. I got this response:
Please we having fun you know where we are, don't come over pleeeeeease
I had this sudden flashback to Knebworth 1985, my first festival. My Dad took me and I abandoned him pretty quickly. This was exactly the same and I knew exactly how my kids felt. I let them be, today was their day not mine. I had some concerns but knew roughly where they were.
Iggy took to the stage, all 65 years of him, bare chested looking like a man wearing someone else's skin, bony and caricature-ish. Ron Ashton looked arthritic but played superbly and James Williamson looked distinguished. This was the Stooges, the guys that influenced everything after 1973, Punk and Grunge owe these guys a huge debt and here they were. I am almost at a loss for words. Iggy is a legend and a true rebel, polite and funny and really not giving a sh*t about what you may think of him. He was incredible. The Stooges were tight and can really play. Hell, they kicked off with "Raw Power"
Iggy headed down to the crowd midway through "I wanna be your Dog". I looked at the huge screens eiter side of the stage and my 14 year old daughter was right on the barrier, screaming and reaching for Iggy. I found out later that when he was holding out his hand to the audience, she grabbed it and hung on for dear life. Throughout the set they kept showing the crowd that side and she was always there, screaming and reaching out, a star struck teenager:
Iggy the legend No, I don't feature on this video.
On to Soundgarden, it amazes me how similar in attitude Iggy and Soundgarden are. They both do what they do on their own terms. What I had forgotten was how heavy Soundgarden are. They don't need to thrash or trash it out, the music is measured and as heavy as it gets, heavier than Maiden, as heavy as Sabbath and Priest. I can not tell you how happy it made me to see them playing again. They were tighter and more accomplished than the kids I saw playing in '92. Chris Cornell's voice was incredible all the way through but I have some bias here as you know but I think this clip shows the range and power of the man: Beyond the Wheel
Now I haven't been to a festival in a good many years and forgot about mosh pits until one opened up around me. It was filled with the idiots that we used to be, guys my age reliving a youth long past. I bet they hurt in the morning. I was shoved around a bit but it was more good natured with just half of them being a*seholes. It did make me a little concerned for my girls though. Two hours worth of Soundgarden, it simply flew by and by the time they finished their encores and the curfew kicked in, it seemed too short, way too short. Still they did promise some new material later this year and a return visit.
So in a nutshell, Hyde Park Calling is brilliant. It is small for a festival, shorter than a full festival and incredible value for money. As I mentioned, I hate festivals but as this was smaller, I enjoyed it more. Sure I got wet from the constant rain and was caked to the knees in mud but it was worth it.
My girls survived it too and both really enjoyed the whole day being undecided whether Iggy or Soundgarden won the day, decided on a tie.
Black Hole Sun
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
Thursday, 12 July 2012
...the x whatever winners become the voice of this degeneration...
As I've gotten older, I've become more insular. I don't go out or socialise, I don't drink or eat takeaways and seldom go to gigs anymore. I used to go to an obscene amount of gigs, following bands from town to town, sleeping rough sometimes and going to work straight from the street but as you get older, the rough and tumble of youth gives way to the need to do things in a more leisurely and refined way. A case in point was seeing Rush with my Dad a few years ago (R30 for those in the know). We went for dinner first at a small Italian restaurant and then on to the concert. I do miss the thrill and sweat of the small club gigs sometimes but where I used to resent seated gigs, I don't have a problem with sitting nowadays and politely applauding after each song.
The other thing that goes is excitement. I used to get excited about gigs but now I have trepidation, it could be a mild case of agoraphobia. I have dreaded gigs for a number of years, I enjoy them once I'm there but the lead up hasn't been fun.
With all of this in mind, tomorrow is Friday 13th, about as unlucky a day as it's possible to have. The weather forecast is rain all day and I am due to stand in a field all day in a huge crowd of people at a festival. How much worse could it be for me?
However this morning after my run as I climbed into the shower I had "Spoonman" by Soundgarden running through my head and I actually felt the hairs on my arm standup and I laughed....I am finally going to see them again. I saw them in 1992 on the "Badmotor Finger" tour but missed the next tour which means that their big hit, "Blackhole Sun" I have seen Chris Cornell perform solo but never with Soundgarden so tomorrow will be the first. On "Badmotor Finger" the band were in the ascendancy, there was everything left to play for, the next album, "Superunknown" was their White Album, experimental and pulling in different directions, a truly great album, none of which I ever saw Soundgarden perform live. I've seen Chris Cornell do them but to even intimate it is more or less the same thing would be disrespectful to a truly momentous and legendary band that owe more to Black Sabbath than the Grunge scene that they developed from. You already know my thoughts on Chris Cornell and he is simply a fantastic singer and songwriter but Soundgarden completes part of his character, I am thinking of the power, the anger, the venom, the growls and the curdling screams of "Jesus Christ Pose" (fast forward a minute or so to get to the vocal).Laid bare like this, it shows that even without instruments, the song stands up and what a voice.....
To put my relationship with this band in context and segue into my rant, you grow up with the influence of older bands, the music of your parents generation shaping your way. As you get a little older you discover your generations music and your view becomes that of your peers, the music of your age. Guns and Roses and Soundgarden era was my peer generation of music. The shame for me is that the current younger generation still hasn't found its voice. It rehashes the brilliance of yesteryear and is steeped in the dross of reality TV so the x whatever winners become the voice of this degeneration and Glee is the new Fame but without a shred of originality, deconstructing the once brilliant songs of bygone ages, releasing them as substandard karaoke mush that will forever play in lifts and shopping centres.
We had Stock, Aitken and Waterman, the equivalent to Simon Cowell's stable of manufactured pap but they didn't rule in the same way, there was still room for growth and expansion. Pop pap Cowell has stifled the music industry and any creativity or individuality that threatens to rise, couple this with an industry that is afraid to cultivate new talent, what hope does this current generation have? I haven't heard anything new in 10 years, my kids are excited to be going to see a band that split up 16 years ago when they should be excited to be going to see a rock band that I find objectionable and don't understand.
The one saving grace out of all this may be the rise of online music and the ability for people to release songs without the need of a record company. I had this rant a few weeks ago and I mentioned Ginger Wildheart and Pledgemusic. Ginger released his album and made the national press and TV when his album peaked at number 5 in the UK National Chart, outselling Coldplay, Rhianna, Paloma Faith and the other 92 of the top 100.
C'mon kids, start recording and releasing songs, let's have something original and exciting. Don't leave it to the monsters of rock to show you how it should be done. Soundgarden should be relaxing and showing you how it used to be done but instead they are riding in as the saviours of rock, something "new" and different for the kids of today to own and be cool for liking. Soundgarden bucked trends and sold millions of albums as a result and I am sure they will continue to do so but I get angry that it takes a group of middle aged men to create something fresh. Ginger is the same age. Why is it taking older people to show the younger ones that it can be done and it is okay to do it? Do they really need permission? I am trying to address a generation that has more opportunity to pursue their dreams yet they get bogged down in fame for fames sake and all original thought is rinsed from their heads as they toe the line of no talent TV tryouts.
They spend time looking for a gimmick so they can make it when the only gimmick they really need is originality. To hear something new with a spark of fire in it would make my day. I don't even have to like it, infact I would prefer that I don't like it, I want my children to have their musical rebellion without my record collection being involved. I don't want to understand it and I don't want them looking to me for approval. I want them to come home wearing the T-shirt that says "This is it and if you don't like it f**k off because this goes up to 11" because that is effectively what my Dad did to his parents and I did to him (except he is a music lover and understood the rebellion bit).
Music is a huge part of my life, infact my life has a soundtrack, I can play songs that will reflect my life at any time. Jerry Keller "Here comes Summer" charmed the little boy with it's 1950's feelgood way, a feeling that stays with me to this day. Thin Lizzy "Dancing in the Moonlight" for a teenage boy waiting for life to begin, not understanding that it had already started. Guns n Roses "Nightrain", the sound of a weekend of excess all areas, gigs and alcohol, the sound of an immortal young man. Kate Bush "Cloudbusting" reminding me of heartbreak and tough times and so it goes on, songs for moments, songs for passages of time and songs for memories. Just so you can see where I am coming from, this rant isn't thehalf baked ramblings of an opinionated fool who knows nothing of music and its effects on....OK, it might be, it may also be the ramblings of an old guy that wants to hear something new or possibly it's a rant of an older guy that was listening to Soundgarden in the car on his way to work, excited about an up and coming gig and it suddenly dawned on him that his kids may never have this feeling unless something changes in the music industry. They will never have the history that comes from growing up with bands.
The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, Adam Ant, Status Quo, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, U2...all bands that someone has grown up with in some form or another, each of them adding to the rich fabric of music, taking it and twisting it in a new and exciting way. Can you imagine the first listen of "Bohemian Rhapsody"or "Saturday night's alright for fightin"? There aren't many songs that change the face of music and none that I've heard in a few years that have created something new. Muse have brought something new but they've been around for about 10 years, Lady Gaga brings the image but the music is good but not new, Marilyn Manson and NIN brought something new but again, old people.
It pains me greatly to say this but it is time to put my generation in a box marked special memories and lock us away somewhere while the younger generation have their day....make sure that Simon Cowell, Glee and all that crap are also put somewhere, a bonfire appeals.
The other thing that goes is excitement. I used to get excited about gigs but now I have trepidation, it could be a mild case of agoraphobia. I have dreaded gigs for a number of years, I enjoy them once I'm there but the lead up hasn't been fun.
With all of this in mind, tomorrow is Friday 13th, about as unlucky a day as it's possible to have. The weather forecast is rain all day and I am due to stand in a field all day in a huge crowd of people at a festival. How much worse could it be for me?
However this morning after my run as I climbed into the shower I had "Spoonman" by Soundgarden running through my head and I actually felt the hairs on my arm standup and I laughed....I am finally going to see them again. I saw them in 1992 on the "Badmotor Finger" tour but missed the next tour which means that their big hit, "Blackhole Sun" I have seen Chris Cornell perform solo but never with Soundgarden so tomorrow will be the first. On "Badmotor Finger" the band were in the ascendancy, there was everything left to play for, the next album, "Superunknown" was their White Album, experimental and pulling in different directions, a truly great album, none of which I ever saw Soundgarden perform live. I've seen Chris Cornell do them but to even intimate it is more or less the same thing would be disrespectful to a truly momentous and legendary band that owe more to Black Sabbath than the Grunge scene that they developed from. You already know my thoughts on Chris Cornell and he is simply a fantastic singer and songwriter but Soundgarden completes part of his character, I am thinking of the power, the anger, the venom, the growls and the curdling screams of "Jesus Christ Pose" (fast forward a minute or so to get to the vocal).Laid bare like this, it shows that even without instruments, the song stands up and what a voice.....
To put my relationship with this band in context and segue into my rant, you grow up with the influence of older bands, the music of your parents generation shaping your way. As you get a little older you discover your generations music and your view becomes that of your peers, the music of your age. Guns and Roses and Soundgarden era was my peer generation of music. The shame for me is that the current younger generation still hasn't found its voice. It rehashes the brilliance of yesteryear and is steeped in the dross of reality TV so the x whatever winners become the voice of this degeneration and Glee is the new Fame but without a shred of originality, deconstructing the once brilliant songs of bygone ages, releasing them as substandard karaoke mush that will forever play in lifts and shopping centres.
We had Stock, Aitken and Waterman, the equivalent to Simon Cowell's stable of manufactured pap but they didn't rule in the same way, there was still room for growth and expansion. Pop pap Cowell has stifled the music industry and any creativity or individuality that threatens to rise, couple this with an industry that is afraid to cultivate new talent, what hope does this current generation have? I haven't heard anything new in 10 years, my kids are excited to be going to see a band that split up 16 years ago when they should be excited to be going to see a rock band that I find objectionable and don't understand.
The one saving grace out of all this may be the rise of online music and the ability for people to release songs without the need of a record company. I had this rant a few weeks ago and I mentioned Ginger Wildheart and Pledgemusic. Ginger released his album and made the national press and TV when his album peaked at number 5 in the UK National Chart, outselling Coldplay, Rhianna, Paloma Faith and the other 92 of the top 100.
C'mon kids, start recording and releasing songs, let's have something original and exciting. Don't leave it to the monsters of rock to show you how it should be done. Soundgarden should be relaxing and showing you how it used to be done but instead they are riding in as the saviours of rock, something "new" and different for the kids of today to own and be cool for liking. Soundgarden bucked trends and sold millions of albums as a result and I am sure they will continue to do so but I get angry that it takes a group of middle aged men to create something fresh. Ginger is the same age. Why is it taking older people to show the younger ones that it can be done and it is okay to do it? Do they really need permission? I am trying to address a generation that has more opportunity to pursue their dreams yet they get bogged down in fame for fames sake and all original thought is rinsed from their heads as they toe the line of no talent TV tryouts.
They spend time looking for a gimmick so they can make it when the only gimmick they really need is originality. To hear something new with a spark of fire in it would make my day. I don't even have to like it, infact I would prefer that I don't like it, I want my children to have their musical rebellion without my record collection being involved. I don't want to understand it and I don't want them looking to me for approval. I want them to come home wearing the T-shirt that says "This is it and if you don't like it f**k off because this goes up to 11" because that is effectively what my Dad did to his parents and I did to him (except he is a music lover and understood the rebellion bit).
Music is a huge part of my life, infact my life has a soundtrack, I can play songs that will reflect my life at any time. Jerry Keller "Here comes Summer" charmed the little boy with it's 1950's feelgood way, a feeling that stays with me to this day. Thin Lizzy "Dancing in the Moonlight" for a teenage boy waiting for life to begin, not understanding that it had already started. Guns n Roses "Nightrain", the sound of a weekend of excess all areas, gigs and alcohol, the sound of an immortal young man. Kate Bush "Cloudbusting" reminding me of heartbreak and tough times and so it goes on, songs for moments, songs for passages of time and songs for memories. Just so you can see where I am coming from, this rant isn't the
The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, Adam Ant, Status Quo, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, U2...all bands that someone has grown up with in some form or another, each of them adding to the rich fabric of music, taking it and twisting it in a new and exciting way. Can you imagine the first listen of "Bohemian Rhapsody"or "Saturday night's alright for fightin"? There aren't many songs that change the face of music and none that I've heard in a few years that have created something new. Muse have brought something new but they've been around for about 10 years, Lady Gaga brings the image but the music is good but not new, Marilyn Manson and NIN brought something new but again, old people.
It pains me greatly to say this but it is time to put my generation in a box marked special memories and lock us away somewhere while the younger generation have their day....make sure that Simon Cowell, Glee and all that crap are also put somewhere, a bonfire appeals.
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Rush had keyboards and everything, I wasn't interested.
Music is a very subjective thing. I adore Sarasate, Kreisler, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach and many other classical composers. Through my eldest daughter's involvement in Jazz bands, I have been exposed to areas of jazz that I previously have avoided like Django Bates and anything modern but they have proved to be excellent once I gave them a chance.
My enduring love is Rock. For me it started with Elvis and Eddie Cochran. Elvis kind of fell by the wayside for me as his output was patchy. Such a great voice and ultimately such a shame, the man that had it all.....
1968, still the MAN!
1977, a mere 9 years later......
Eddie Cochran is the legend. He died in his prime as a young man and his appeal is timeless. He never goes out of fashion because he was a true talent and innovator. He pioneered studio techniques, was a great guitarist and a superb songwriter and in death we were left with the "what if's?"
.....and he looked cool...
I still listen to his songs and still think that he was the true inspiration for the generations of rock musicians that have existed since. George Harrison became a guitarist after seeing Eddie Cochran. The Sex Pistols covered "Something Else" and the Who, amongst many others, covered "Summertime Blues". Brian Setzer from the Stray Cats is a big fan and has covered many Cochran songs and I would say that his own output shows a positive hint of Eddie Cochran and I mean that in the most complimentary way.
My love of rock extended in to Thin Lizzy and AC/DC, both of whom I still adore. Early AC/DC is unsurpassed in attitude and grit by just about anyone with a few exceptions, Rose Tattoo, Hanoi Rocks and the Angels from Angel City. I suppose that the New York Dolls and Iggy deserve a place there but it was a different kind of understanding, I got the Antipodean (and Finnish) dirt but missed the point of the American sleaze and punk scene.
I took up guitar at somepoint but it wasn't rock music that inspired that, it was Cat Stevens, the Band and John Martyn. I didn't buy an electric guitar, I bought an acoustic. My love of guitar has extended to electric but the acoustic is my preference when I play. I have recently been inspired by Duane Allman, a song called "Little Martha" and some live footage of John Martyn playing "May you never" and some acoustic footage of Stevie Ray Vaughan handing Satriani his a***e on a plate on MTV by playing an acoustic version of "Rude Mood" on a 12 string. Those are the magic moments that are inspirational to a music lover, the moments that make you say "I want to play like that."
This all kind of came about because Classic Rock Magazine are doing a few special issues that include a full magazine dedicated to whoever or whatever band and include their latest offering as part of the package, a month before the official release. I bought Slash's albums this way and last month took delivery of the latest Rush album. I have been a Rush fan since I saw them on the "Signals" tour in 1983. On listening to them I didn't like them, how could I? I was listening to Bon Scott sing about women and booze, Phil Lynott singing about being a Renegade in the gypsy romantic Irish way of his, and here was a band singing about trees and Tom Sawyer.
Bon Scott, the bare chested rock god with a voice akin to gargling with broken glass and the swagger of a guy that wouldn't take any sh*t.
Phil Lynott, a modern day poet, a lover
and a fighter.
Rush had keyboards and everything, I wasn't interested.
Then I saw them live, my second ever concert and they were incredible. I was in awe and a convert, I understood. I bought all their albums prior to "Signals" and have bought everything since. I have seen them on all subsequent UK tours (apart from the last one) and they have endeared themselves to me and become old friends through their music in the way that only music can.
Not every album has been great but they have been consistent. Oddly though, as they get older the albums have got heavier. The latest album, "Clockwork Angels" is bombastic and big, not quite stripped down but it is certainly a revitalised sounding Rush.
I listened to it for a couple of weeks then put it down. I picked it up again this morning and it sounded absolutely brilliant. It has the signature Rush sound but it is truly a mix of 1970's Rush with 2012's Rush, it has the brilliance and passion mixed with the darkness and heavy guitar and keyboard work that they excel in. As an aside I would recommend Rush as a band to run to, I have a few of their numbers on my ipod and they help when the going gets tough.
This is a band that has made 20+ albums, all have gone platinum yet no-one, apart from the fans, have a clue what they sound like This is a band that has forged a career despite the record companies, no singles and no marketing, I guess this makes them the biggest cult band in the World. They have changed styles, sound and image, been reclusive and appear cold from the outside. A band that wasn't known for its humour but we, the fans knew better, here was a quirky Canadian band and for anyone that knows Canadians, they are a humorous bunch, unlike Americans they get sarcasm and can dish it as well as take it. Rush have a gentle humour. On stage it can be seen in the washing machines and chicken roasting machines that festoon the back line, it can be seen in the insong jokes that crop up or the films that run between some of the songs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo4ii38tWzw&feature=related or in a candid video of the three of them having dinner and getting drunker and drunker and just having a very nice time together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfjQ_EF_8U0
If you haven't experienced Rush before, I am pretty certain you won't like them. They are a band you either love or hate, in some ways an acquired taste but once they filter in, they will stay with you. They have, in my opinion, the greatest drummer ever, a percussionist that is always rated in the top 5 drummers ever and in the last poll I saw, missed out on the top spot to Keith Moon and came in ahead of John Bonham, if proof were needed a Drum solo. The other two guys are no slouches either, the bassist is also the keyboard player and singer, often performing all three tasks simultaneously. the guitarist is severely underrated, a creative soloist and superb rhythm player, he may not be Satriani or Vai but his body of work is far superior to them both.
There is a picture somewhere of Brian Warner/Marilyn Manson in a Rush T-shirt, the Manic Street Preachers are huge fans and Chris Cornell did break into a Rush song during an acoustic interlude at an Audioslave gig.
Rush have their share of closet fans as they are a band that no-one volunteers to liking as they are constantly unfashionable and I like that about them. There is nothing they can ever do to appeal to people so they are in the position of being able to make music only for themselves, what an absolute pleasure that is.
Some bands follow and some lead. Rush do neither, they simply are, and they do it very well.
"Summer's going fast
Nights growing colder
Children growing up
Old friends growing older
Experience slips away."
Time Standstill Rush (Lyrics by Neil Peart)
My enduring love is Rock. For me it started with Elvis and Eddie Cochran. Elvis kind of fell by the wayside for me as his output was patchy. Such a great voice and ultimately such a shame, the man that had it all.....
1968, still the MAN!
1977, a mere 9 years later......
Eddie Cochran is the legend. He died in his prime as a young man and his appeal is timeless. He never goes out of fashion because he was a true talent and innovator. He pioneered studio techniques, was a great guitarist and a superb songwriter and in death we were left with the "what if's?"
.....and he looked cool...
I still listen to his songs and still think that he was the true inspiration for the generations of rock musicians that have existed since. George Harrison became a guitarist after seeing Eddie Cochran. The Sex Pistols covered "Something Else" and the Who, amongst many others, covered "Summertime Blues". Brian Setzer from the Stray Cats is a big fan and has covered many Cochran songs and I would say that his own output shows a positive hint of Eddie Cochran and I mean that in the most complimentary way.
My love of rock extended in to Thin Lizzy and AC/DC, both of whom I still adore. Early AC/DC is unsurpassed in attitude and grit by just about anyone with a few exceptions, Rose Tattoo, Hanoi Rocks and the Angels from Angel City. I suppose that the New York Dolls and Iggy deserve a place there but it was a different kind of understanding, I got the Antipodean (and Finnish) dirt but missed the point of the American sleaze and punk scene.
I took up guitar at somepoint but it wasn't rock music that inspired that, it was Cat Stevens, the Band and John Martyn. I didn't buy an electric guitar, I bought an acoustic. My love of guitar has extended to electric but the acoustic is my preference when I play. I have recently been inspired by Duane Allman, a song called "Little Martha" and some live footage of John Martyn playing "May you never" and some acoustic footage of Stevie Ray Vaughan handing Satriani his a***e on a plate on MTV by playing an acoustic version of "Rude Mood" on a 12 string. Those are the magic moments that are inspirational to a music lover, the moments that make you say "I want to play like that."
This all kind of came about because Classic Rock Magazine are doing a few special issues that include a full magazine dedicated to whoever or whatever band and include their latest offering as part of the package, a month before the official release. I bought Slash's albums this way and last month took delivery of the latest Rush album. I have been a Rush fan since I saw them on the "Signals" tour in 1983. On listening to them I didn't like them, how could I? I was listening to Bon Scott sing about women and booze, Phil Lynott singing about being a Renegade in the gypsy romantic Irish way of his, and here was a band singing about trees and Tom Sawyer.
Bon Scott, the bare chested rock god with a voice akin to gargling with broken glass and the swagger of a guy that wouldn't take any sh*t.
Phil Lynott, a modern day poet, a lover
and a fighter.
Rush had keyboards and everything, I wasn't interested.
Then I saw them live, my second ever concert and they were incredible. I was in awe and a convert, I understood. I bought all their albums prior to "Signals" and have bought everything since. I have seen them on all subsequent UK tours (apart from the last one) and they have endeared themselves to me and become old friends through their music in the way that only music can.
Not every album has been great but they have been consistent. Oddly though, as they get older the albums have got heavier. The latest album, "Clockwork Angels" is bombastic and big, not quite stripped down but it is certainly a revitalised sounding Rush.
I listened to it for a couple of weeks then put it down. I picked it up again this morning and it sounded absolutely brilliant. It has the signature Rush sound but it is truly a mix of 1970's Rush with 2012's Rush, it has the brilliance and passion mixed with the darkness and heavy guitar and keyboard work that they excel in. As an aside I would recommend Rush as a band to run to, I have a few of their numbers on my ipod and they help when the going gets tough.
This is a band that has made 20+ albums, all have gone platinum yet no-one, apart from the fans, have a clue what they sound like This is a band that has forged a career despite the record companies, no singles and no marketing, I guess this makes them the biggest cult band in the World. They have changed styles, sound and image, been reclusive and appear cold from the outside. A band that wasn't known for its humour but we, the fans knew better, here was a quirky Canadian band and for anyone that knows Canadians, they are a humorous bunch, unlike Americans they get sarcasm and can dish it as well as take it. Rush have a gentle humour. On stage it can be seen in the washing machines and chicken roasting machines that festoon the back line, it can be seen in the insong jokes that crop up or the films that run between some of the songs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo4ii38tWzw&feature=related or in a candid video of the three of them having dinner and getting drunker and drunker and just having a very nice time together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfjQ_EF_8U0
If you haven't experienced Rush before, I am pretty certain you won't like them. They are a band you either love or hate, in some ways an acquired taste but once they filter in, they will stay with you. They have, in my opinion, the greatest drummer ever, a percussionist that is always rated in the top 5 drummers ever and in the last poll I saw, missed out on the top spot to Keith Moon and came in ahead of John Bonham, if proof were needed a Drum solo. The other two guys are no slouches either, the bassist is also the keyboard player and singer, often performing all three tasks simultaneously. the guitarist is severely underrated, a creative soloist and superb rhythm player, he may not be Satriani or Vai but his body of work is far superior to them both.
There is a picture somewhere of Brian Warner/Marilyn Manson in a Rush T-shirt, the Manic Street Preachers are huge fans and Chris Cornell did break into a Rush song during an acoustic interlude at an Audioslave gig.
Rush have their share of closet fans as they are a band that no-one volunteers to liking as they are constantly unfashionable and I like that about them. There is nothing they can ever do to appeal to people so they are in the position of being able to make music only for themselves, what an absolute pleasure that is.
Some bands follow and some lead. Rush do neither, they simply are, and they do it very well.
"Summer's going fast
Nights growing colder
Children growing up
Old friends growing older
Experience slips away."
Time Standstill Rush (Lyrics by Neil Peart)
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