My pal Jen Jameson got to do a fill-in shift at the Loop today. She made a point of "tweeting" me halfway through her show to tell me that she was playing "The Trees" by Rush. She knows I'm a fan, but probably thinks I'm a dork because of it. It's never been cool to like Rush. Here are three of the commonly-cited reasons why, with my quick thoughts on each:
- "The lead singer sounds like a girl!" Geddy Lee has an unusually high, sometimes screechy, voice, but it's a male voice. I've never heard a girl that sounds like him.
- "Prog rock sucks." While I'm all for three-minute, three chord, catharsis, I also stand behind technically proficient proggers from King Crimson to Dream Theater for intellectual stimulation and novel-length wankery.
- "The lyrics are silly." They are, when taken out of context. And I hope and pray that the band is someday forgiven for "By-Tor and the Snow Dog." Layered on top of the music, though, the lyrics are...epic. Socially insightful. Interesting, too.
Sigh. Excuses.
When Q101 was at its white-hot peak in the 90s, I had to deny my Rush urges. Professing a love for Rush back then would've been as jarring to the alt-rock nation as saying "I put the gun in Kurt's hand."
One year ago this month, it became okay-ish to listen to Rush when the hit film "I Love You, Man" brought Paul Rudd and Jason Segel to the party. Even so, my snarkier, more musically sanctimonious, friends still wouldn't hear any of it. I tried my best to first reel them in with the band's hits, like "Closer to the Heart" and "Tom Sawyer" ("Xanadu" and "Digital Man" are songs that are earned, not given). I pointed out how tight the band is throughout "Spirit of the Radio"...How "Limelight" may in fact have the greatest guitar riff ever....How "Subdivisions" speaks to the alienated child in us all. I'm convinced that they wouldn't be swayed because they chose not to be swayed.
I'm unapologetically a Rush fan. I've got their library "on shuffle" as I'm typing this (currently playing the bombastic "Cygnus X-1 Book II" from "Hemispheres"). Magnificent. If liking Rush isn't cool, well...I'm happy to be lame.
7 Comments
cml said:
You really need to move to St. Louis... St. Louisans love Rush... unapologetically .
notabbott said:
On the one hand, preach on, brother! On the other hand, I totally disagree with you on Dream Theater. I just don't hear it.
What I love about Rush now is that I don't listen to them as much as I used to -- because that's just not possible -- and occasionally I get surprised by things, like Neil Peart's one funky moment in something like thirty years on the breakdown of "Red Lenses."
Phish Phan said:
For those of you who saw Paul Rudd's epic preformance in I Love You Man; "Slappin the Baasse Mon"!
Exit Stage Left
Phish Phan said:
Oh, and if it is considered cool to be a fan of a certain band, that may mean that band may kinda suck. ie. Dave Matthews Band. In turn, most real music fans may be a shade on the lame side. Im cool with that as well. It is also my opinion that American Idol is adding to this epidemic. Man does that show suck. But thats a topic for another time.
morphiaflow said:
While this past decade has obviously done wonders for RUSH's public image and overall popularity and reputation (culminating in the Colbert appearance and "I Love You Man"), it didn't START this decade. Having worked at music stores in the 90s as well as having spent my share around "alternative" types (musicians and otherwise) back then, it's my experience that this period was when it STARTED to become "OK" to publicly like Rush (I actually think it started with 1989's PRESTO, which had some of the best reviews of their career.) SO many artists of the era, including numerous critical darlings, came out of the Rush closet in the 90s: Sinead O'Connor, Living Colour, Primus, Jane's Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Trent Reznor, No Doubt, Sonic Youth, the Breeders, Lisa Loeb, and a whole bunch more acknowledged Rush's influence. True, several of those had mainstream visibility and were not necessarily "underground", but Rush's credibility does go back longer than the past ten years.
ebrown2112 said:
Huh, I didn't know about Sinead O'Connor, Jane's Addiction, Sonic Youth, The Breeders, or Lisa Loeb. I did know about Metallica, Guns & Roses, Godsmack, Danzig, Dave Grohl, Barenaked Ladies, Rivers Cuomo, STP (other than Scott Weiland), Soundgarden, Dream Theater, Anthrax, Sebastian Bach, Queensryche, and (I think) Iron Maiden, plus the others you mentioned (Living Colour, Primus, RHCP, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Trent Reznor, No Doubt). Also Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Gene Simmons, Nick Mason, Billy Joel, and members of U2 have praised them. Marilyn Manson (at least) used to listen to Rush.
Funny story: when Chris Cornell mentioned on Twitter that he was playing a show near the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (Metallica was being inducted the same night), I told him that Rush hadn't even been nominated. He replied, "F***! I'm all over that!" A few days later, he said, "The more I look into the nomination process, the more I'm convinced (the R&R HOF induction committee) is a bunch of old people who don't care about rock & roll."
Incidentally, I believe James Hetfield advocated Rush's induction during his HOF acceptance speech.
eclectico said:
I never worried about anyone else not liking Rush. Personal preferences exist. I'm not sure why Rush affected me the way they did, but I'm glad it happened. The lyrics are inspiring, eye opening, clever and fun, while the music is, well, just ORIGINAL!
Maybe there aren't too many Rob Zombie fans reading this, but you'll be pleased to know that on his latest release, Hellbilly Deluxe 2, Zombie pays tribute to Rush by incorporating the familiar downward chord progression of La Villa Strangiato into the intro of Werewolf Baby. That song actually kicks off with a bit reminiscent of Neil Peart's drum style.
I wonder if anyone who dismisses Rush because of Geddy's high voice were fans of Triumph...
By the way, I like By-Tor and the Snow Dog. The battle rules. :)
Leave a Comment?
What your comment will look like:
said: