1 00:00:30,239 --> 00:00:33,825 ♪ Living on a lighted stage ♪ 2 00:00:33,951 --> 00:00:37,996 ♪ Approaches the unreal ♪ 3 00:00:38,121 --> 00:00:41,750 ♪ For those who think and feel ♪ 4 00:00:41,875 --> 00:00:45,212 ♪ In touch with some reality ♪ 5 00:00:45,337 --> 00:00:49,341 ♪ Beyond the gilded cage ♪ 6 00:01:03,772 --> 00:01:04,856 Ahh! 7 00:01:04,982 --> 00:01:07,276 Owww! ohhh! 8 00:01:07,401 --> 00:01:08,569 Oh! 9 00:01:20,831 --> 00:01:24,042 would you please welcome from Canada, Rush! 10 00:01:57,784 --> 00:01:59,786 ♪ There's no bread, let them eat cake ♪ 11 00:01:59,911 --> 00:02:02,080 ♪ And there's no end to what they'll take ♪ 12 00:02:02,205 --> 00:02:04,207 ♪ Flaunt the fruits of noble birth ♪ 13 00:02:04,333 --> 00:02:06,877 ♪ And wash the salt into the earth ♪ 14 00:02:07,586 --> 00:02:11,089 ♪ But they're marching to Bastille Day ♪ 15 00:02:11,214 --> 00:02:14,092 ♪ La guillotine claimed her bloody prize ♪ 16 00:02:14,217 --> 00:02:16,261 If you get a band together, growing up, 17 00:02:16,386 --> 00:02:17,763 you didn't think about writing your own music, 18 00:02:17,888 --> 00:02:20,057 you learned other songs and you identified yourself 19 00:02:20,182 --> 00:02:21,600 by the kind of music you played 20 00:02:21,725 --> 00:02:26,063 and all the best players quickly learned the language was Rush. 21 00:02:49,419 --> 00:02:52,381 The first time I heard Rush, I was like, "oh, my God," 22 00:02:52,506 --> 00:02:55,884 I had no idea this band was this incredible. 23 00:02:56,009 --> 00:02:58,345 I became obsessed. They were my gods. 24 00:02:58,470 --> 00:03:01,807 I listened to it and I thought, "wow! That is amazing playing." 25 00:03:01,932 --> 00:03:04,351 My mind was just totally blown. 26 00:03:04,476 --> 00:03:08,188 I bought every magazine, I had every record, I cut out every picture, 27 00:03:08,313 --> 00:03:11,191 I would go to sleep at night with Rush on the heads, 28 00:03:11,316 --> 00:03:13,860 I'd wake up and it was still playing. I did that. 29 00:03:13,985 --> 00:03:15,487 I, Sebastian Bach, 30 00:03:15,612 --> 00:03:17,989 was member number three 31 00:03:18,115 --> 00:03:21,702 of the Rush backstage club at Toronto, mother trucker. 32 00:03:21,827 --> 00:03:23,537 Rush is just one of those bands 33 00:03:23,662 --> 00:03:27,416 that has a deep reservoir of rocket sauce. 34 00:03:27,541 --> 00:03:30,210 A lot of bands, they've only got so much in the bottle. 35 00:03:30,335 --> 00:03:32,254 They use it up sometimes in one song. 36 00:03:32,379 --> 00:03:33,880 These guys were the real deal. 37 00:03:34,005 --> 00:03:36,550 Their bottle was so big and so filled to the brim, 38 00:03:36,675 --> 00:03:39,052 they were shaking it literally for decades 39 00:03:39,177 --> 00:03:41,221 and still there was sauce coming out. 40 00:03:48,145 --> 00:03:50,439 What makes Rush unique is fearlessness. 41 00:03:50,564 --> 00:03:52,983 It's the quality of starting to write a song 42 00:03:53,108 --> 00:03:55,110 and not caring about what's popular, what's not. 43 00:03:55,235 --> 00:04:00,615 There's only one band that sounds like that. what kind of band is Rush? It's Rush. 44 00:04:00,741 --> 00:04:02,367 I believe that when people step back 45 00:04:02,492 --> 00:04:03,910 and actually really look 46 00:04:04,035 --> 00:04:05,579 at who the great bands were, 47 00:04:05,704 --> 00:04:07,038 they are one of those bands 48 00:04:07,164 --> 00:04:09,374 but somehow they were never popular enough 49 00:04:09,499 --> 00:04:12,961 that they get commonly name-checked as one of the great bands of all time. 50 00:04:13,086 --> 00:04:15,839 A lot of the other stuff has been over-explained. 51 00:04:15,964 --> 00:04:19,801 Zeppelin has been over-explained, the Beatles have been over-explained, 52 00:04:19,926 --> 00:04:22,387 it doesn't tell the whole story, and you could say, 53 00:04:22,512 --> 00:04:24,723 "why was this band marginalized. what was it?" It doesn't matter. 54 00:04:24,848 --> 00:04:29,561 At some point they're there and somebody has to explain why they're there. 55 00:04:51,875 --> 00:04:54,586 ♪ Living on a lighted stage ♪ 56 00:04:54,711 --> 00:04:57,130 ♪ Approaches the unreal ♪ 57 00:04:57,255 --> 00:05:00,050 ♪ For those who think and feel ♪ 58 00:05:00,175 --> 00:05:03,178 ♪ In touch with some reality ♪ 59 00:05:03,303 --> 00:05:06,223 ♪ Beyond the gilded cage ♪ 60 00:05:12,354 --> 00:05:15,232 ♪ Cast in this unlikely role ♪ 61 00:05:15,357 --> 00:05:17,734 ♪ III-equipped to act ♪ 62 00:05:17,859 --> 00:05:20,695 ♪ With insufficient tact ♪ 63 00:05:21,321 --> 00:05:23,573 ♪ One must put up barriers ♪ 64 00:05:23,698 --> 00:05:25,826 ♪ To keep oneself intact ♪ 65 00:05:29,204 --> 00:05:31,915 ♪ Living in the limelight ♪ 66 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:34,668 ♪ The universal dream ♪ 67 00:05:34,793 --> 00:05:36,920 ♪ For those who wish to seem ♪ 68 00:05:37,045 --> 00:05:40,090 I guess we should start at the beginning and talk about your upbringing, 69 00:05:40,215 --> 00:05:42,467 where you were born and what your childhood was like. 70 00:05:42,592 --> 00:05:44,719 OK, how do I start my beginnings? 71 00:05:44,845 --> 00:05:49,683 I was born in Willowdale, Ontario. I was a nebbishy, quiet kid. 72 00:05:49,808 --> 00:05:51,977 My parents were both Holocaust survivors 73 00:05:52,102 --> 00:05:54,896 and emigrated here affer the war. 74 00:05:55,021 --> 00:05:57,732 They basically arrived with ten bucks in their pocket 75 00:05:57,858 --> 00:06:01,611 and worked their way up to a lower-middle-class kind of income 76 00:06:01,736 --> 00:06:03,488 and raised me in the suburbs. 77 00:06:03,613 --> 00:06:04,990 When we first moved in, 78 00:06:05,115 --> 00:06:08,994 we were one of the few Jewish families to live in our neighborhood 79 00:06:09,119 --> 00:06:13,456 and we were constantly living in terror of being beat up because of that fact, 80 00:06:13,582 --> 00:06:15,500 so it was an exciting time. 81 00:06:16,751 --> 00:06:19,337 when I was twelve, my father passed away 82 00:06:19,462 --> 00:06:23,383 and I had to go to synagogue in the morning and in the evening 83 00:06:23,508 --> 00:06:25,802 every day for eleven months and one day. 84 00:06:25,927 --> 00:06:29,264 I was not really allowed to listen to music. 85 00:06:29,389 --> 00:06:31,558 So that whole year was devoid 86 00:06:31,683 --> 00:06:35,687 of what all the other kids were just starting to get turned on to. 87 00:06:35,812 --> 00:06:38,189 Affer the year, he really came out 88 00:06:38,315 --> 00:06:40,025 and he was himself. 89 00:06:40,150 --> 00:06:43,361 I said to Gedd, "Mom wants to buy you a nice present, 90 00:06:43,486 --> 00:06:45,697 "you're such a good, hard-working kid." 91 00:06:45,822 --> 00:06:49,701 He says, "Mom, next door Terry has a guitar." 92 00:06:49,826 --> 00:06:55,582 As we drove into the drive I said, "Here's $50, go to Terry, get your guitar." 93 00:06:55,707 --> 00:06:58,627 And then Alex entered my life in junior high school. 94 00:06:58,752 --> 00:07:00,712 We liked the same kind of bands 95 00:07:00,837 --> 00:07:04,507 but I think we bonded more over our goofiness than over music. 96 00:07:06,718 --> 00:07:09,471 My earliest memory of you is your paisley shirt. 97 00:07:09,596 --> 00:07:11,556 - Your purple paisley shirt. - Yeah. 98 00:07:11,681 --> 00:07:15,769 It was purple. Burgundy, God... 99 00:07:15,894 --> 00:07:17,228 ..corduroys. 100 00:07:17,354 --> 00:07:19,814 I was born in Fernie in British Columbia. 101 00:07:19,940 --> 00:07:23,401 My parents came over after the war from Yugoslavia. 102 00:07:23,526 --> 00:07:26,905 We moved to Toronto and I would say it was a very normal upbringing. 103 00:07:27,030 --> 00:07:29,908 My father usually had two or three jobs at any given time 104 00:07:30,033 --> 00:07:32,077 and he believed that if you wanted something, 105 00:07:32,202 --> 00:07:34,204 you went out and you worked for it. Period. 106 00:07:34,329 --> 00:07:37,749 This is when Alex was a youngster 107 00:07:37,874 --> 00:07:40,752 and this is when he was a Navy League cadet. 108 00:07:40,877 --> 00:07:44,047 He was such a cutie. 109 00:07:44,172 --> 00:07:45,590 one day he came and he said, 110 00:07:45,715 --> 00:07:48,176 "Mom, Dad, if I bring you a good report card, 111 00:07:48,301 --> 00:07:51,096 "will you buy me a guitar?" 112 00:07:51,221 --> 00:07:55,433 And, you know, he brought a very good report card 113 00:07:55,558 --> 00:07:58,144 and we promised, and we didn't even have money, 114 00:07:58,269 --> 00:08:00,939 we just borrowed the money and bought him a guitar. 115 00:08:01,064 --> 00:08:04,067 I would come home after school and play until dinner 116 00:08:04,192 --> 00:08:06,403 and then, supposed to do my homework, 117 00:08:06,528 --> 00:08:10,448 I just played the guitar all the time. I couldn't stop playing. 118 00:08:12,909 --> 00:08:14,369 This wasn't here. 119 00:08:14,494 --> 00:08:17,372 None of these houses, it's just the school and the field. 120 00:08:17,497 --> 00:08:19,624 Yeah. There's Fisherville. 121 00:08:19,749 --> 00:08:23,294 I remember my homeroom class was the third window from the end. 122 00:08:23,420 --> 00:08:26,256 Alex was always the teacher's pet at school, 123 00:08:26,381 --> 00:08:28,383 he always smiled up to the teachers 124 00:08:28,508 --> 00:08:30,969 and, you know, he was a real schmoozer. 125 00:08:31,094 --> 00:08:32,804 We were in the same homeroom. 126 00:08:32,929 --> 00:08:35,640 Did we used to take all our classes together? 127 00:08:35,765 --> 00:08:36,808 In grade nine we did. 128 00:08:36,933 --> 00:08:39,269 And one year we wrote each other's test. 129 00:08:39,394 --> 00:08:40,645 We had almost finished with the test 130 00:08:40,770 --> 00:08:45,150 and we said at the end, "You sign my name, I'll sign yours." "OK." 131 00:08:45,275 --> 00:08:46,359 we were bad. 132 00:08:46,484 --> 00:08:48,528 Oh, yeah, I do remember... 133 00:08:48,653 --> 00:08:51,448 That's how bad we were. we upset the teacher. 134 00:08:53,491 --> 00:08:54,576 we were very similar. 135 00:08:54,701 --> 00:08:57,996 We both felt like we were really outside the rest of our class, 136 00:08:58,121 --> 00:09:00,623 the rest of our school, the rest of everything. 137 00:09:00,749 --> 00:09:04,210 And then we discovered this manic love for music that we both had. 138 00:09:04,335 --> 00:09:09,466 We got this gig, early in September of 1968, in this church basement. 139 00:09:09,591 --> 00:09:11,968 John Rutsey was a neighbor that played the drums 140 00:09:12,093 --> 00:09:13,595 and I asked Gedd if he would sit in 141 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,181 because he knew these same songs that we all knew. 142 00:09:16,306 --> 00:09:17,807 So I said, "sure," I came down 143 00:09:17,932 --> 00:09:22,020 and we were playing this drop-in center in Willowdale called The coffin. 144 00:09:22,145 --> 00:09:24,522 That was The coffin there. 145 00:09:24,647 --> 00:09:27,650 You used to come in here and you used to go downstairs. 146 00:09:30,653 --> 00:09:35,742 we had maybe 35 people there, we got paid $10 to do the show, 147 00:09:35,867 --> 00:09:38,369 for the whole band, not each, ten bucks 148 00:09:38,495 --> 00:09:40,705 and we went to Pancer's Deli afterwards 149 00:09:40,830 --> 00:09:44,876 and the three of us sat in a booth planning our takeover of the world. 150 00:09:45,001 --> 00:09:49,172 ♪ My head is full of sunshine ♪ 151 00:09:49,297 --> 00:09:53,218 ♪ My world is spinning round ♪ 152 00:09:53,343 --> 00:09:56,971 ♪ Here come the magic people ♪ 153 00:09:57,097 --> 00:09:59,265 ♪ The people with the freedom sound ♪ 154 00:09:59,390 --> 00:10:01,226 ♪ Sound ♪ 155 00:10:01,351 --> 00:10:04,229 when I started hanging around with Alex and John, 156 00:10:04,354 --> 00:10:05,855 we would come downtown 157 00:10:05,980 --> 00:10:08,983 and there was a coffee shop in Yorkville called the upper crusts 158 00:10:09,109 --> 00:10:11,194 and a lot of musicians would hang out there. 159 00:10:11,319 --> 00:10:15,156 There was another band that we really idolized at the time called The Paupers. 160 00:10:15,281 --> 00:10:18,201 You could see the guys from that band hanging around 161 00:10:18,326 --> 00:10:22,205 so we would go in there and order a cup of tea like they were, trying to be cool, 162 00:10:22,330 --> 00:10:24,791 and we were just these little suburban hippies. 163 00:10:24,916 --> 00:10:29,212 Always playing with your hair, you know. Trying to look like you fit in. 164 00:10:29,337 --> 00:10:31,089 I was living on Yorkville Avenue 165 00:10:31,214 --> 00:10:33,925 and I had met the guys at a concert in a church hall. 166 00:10:34,050 --> 00:10:36,678 Even though they were sixteen-year-old kids, 167 00:10:36,803 --> 00:10:38,972 they were incredibly good players. 168 00:10:39,097 --> 00:10:40,265 I was a fan immediately. 169 00:10:40,390 --> 00:10:42,725 They were playing the kind of music that I liked. 170 00:10:42,851 --> 00:10:45,812 Ray said, "You guys need a manager," and what did we know? 171 00:10:45,937 --> 00:10:48,606 We said, "Yeah, sure. Get us up to twelve bucks from ten bucks." 172 00:10:48,731 --> 00:10:51,317 And Ray started booking dances 173 00:10:51,442 --> 00:10:55,071 and putting up posters on telephone poles and we started to grow. 174 00:10:55,196 --> 00:10:57,782 In Ontario at the time, with a drinking age that high, 175 00:10:57,907 --> 00:10:59,784 the high schools took it upon themselves 176 00:10:59,909 --> 00:11:01,786 to create entertainment for teenagers. 177 00:11:01,911 --> 00:11:03,746 So there was a real circuit to do. 178 00:11:03,872 --> 00:11:07,250 That's really what bands did back then, you played at a school dance 179 00:11:07,375 --> 00:11:09,002 and hopefully you had a repertoire 180 00:11:09,127 --> 00:11:11,129 that covered lots of the current popular music, 181 00:11:11,254 --> 00:11:13,298 but that wasn't really our thing. 182 00:11:13,423 --> 00:11:16,634 ♪ I had a woman not too long ago ♪ 183 00:11:16,759 --> 00:11:19,846 ♪ A cool-hearted woman, let my feelings show ♪ 184 00:11:19,971 --> 00:11:23,433 ♪ Damn, that woman, I do all I got ♪ 185 00:11:23,558 --> 00:11:26,186 ♪ Ooh, all I wanted was to treat her good ♪ 186 00:11:26,769 --> 00:11:29,939 ♪ Can't understand it, no matter how I tried ♪ 187 00:11:30,064 --> 00:11:33,484 ♪ Till one day my heart grew cold inside ♪ 188 00:11:33,610 --> 00:11:36,362 ♪ Fancy dancer, oh, can't you see ♪ 189 00:11:36,487 --> 00:11:38,948 We played a lot of Sadie Hawkins dances, 190 00:11:39,073 --> 00:11:41,618 we played a lot of dances where people couldn't dance very well 191 00:11:41,743 --> 00:11:43,453 because we weren't really a dance band. 192 00:11:43,578 --> 00:11:45,955 Everyone would be staying at the back of the hall, 193 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,417 they wouldn't even be coming near us, like we were contagious. 194 00:11:49,542 --> 00:11:53,254 We probably bummed out a lot of people on their high-school memories. 195 00:11:53,379 --> 00:11:55,506 I was trying to do this full time and stay alive 196 00:11:55,632 --> 00:11:57,300 and they were still in high school. 197 00:11:57,425 --> 00:12:00,428 They were a part-time band playing high schools on weekends 198 00:12:00,553 --> 00:12:03,097 and they were practicing at Geddy and Alex's house. 199 00:12:07,977 --> 00:12:11,189 we were rehearsing in my basement and playing with these guys. 200 00:12:11,314 --> 00:12:12,565 They weren't Jewish guys. 201 00:12:12,690 --> 00:12:17,070 We were really loud and it didn't sound anything like music to my family. 202 00:12:17,195 --> 00:12:18,863 They just thought I was nuts. 203 00:12:18,988 --> 00:12:23,243 They thought I was probably a drug-taking freak so they were scared, 204 00:12:23,368 --> 00:12:25,703 they were freaked out, they didn't know what to do. 205 00:12:25,828 --> 00:12:27,830 They didn't know how to handle it. 206 00:12:36,673 --> 00:12:38,925 The whole neighborhood was just bumping 207 00:12:39,050 --> 00:12:42,720 because the music was so loud and everything was vibrating. 208 00:12:42,845 --> 00:12:47,016 I really didn't like it and it wasn't my kind of music. 209 00:12:47,141 --> 00:12:50,895 Perry como was my kind of music. 210 00:12:51,020 --> 00:12:53,731 Alex's mom and I used to talk always on the phone, 211 00:12:53,856 --> 00:12:56,109 crying at each other's shoulder. 212 00:12:56,234 --> 00:13:03,032 It was hard because he wanted to just play and practice and he couldn't study, 213 00:13:03,157 --> 00:13:06,077 he would go to sleep late, couldn't get up 214 00:13:06,202 --> 00:13:08,788 and that's why he said, "I'm quitting grade 12," 215 00:13:08,913 --> 00:13:10,290 and we were very upset. 216 00:13:10,415 --> 00:13:11,874 Like, I don't wanna make a bunch of money. 217 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:13,876 Like, if I make a lot of money that's great, 218 00:13:14,002 --> 00:13:16,587 but I'm not going to go to university and get a big degree. 219 00:13:16,713 --> 00:13:18,423 Hang on, no. 220 00:13:18,548 --> 00:13:20,842 I don't wanna drive around in a big car 221 00:13:20,967 --> 00:13:23,678 and get people to go, "Hey, there goes Alex, 222 00:13:23,803 --> 00:13:27,348 "he's loaded with money and, wow, he's really set himself up great." 223 00:13:27,473 --> 00:13:32,103 I don't see why I have to go through all the bullshit of high school 224 00:13:32,228 --> 00:13:33,604 to learn music. 225 00:13:33,730 --> 00:13:37,358 It's not that we're forcing Alex to go to university right now or anything. 226 00:13:37,483 --> 00:13:40,653 We're just asking a little favor of him, just to finish grade 12, 227 00:13:40,778 --> 00:13:42,447 and then he's on his own. 228 00:13:42,572 --> 00:13:46,034 We wanted for him to be something, to have education. 229 00:13:46,159 --> 00:13:48,619 I was a little bit worried about his future. 230 00:13:48,745 --> 00:13:51,331 If he doesn't finish high school, what's gonna happen? 231 00:13:51,456 --> 00:13:54,792 And if the group doesn't succeed, you know, it was tough. 232 00:13:54,917 --> 00:13:57,086 It was tough to go through that. 233 00:13:57,211 --> 00:13:59,714 You know, the thing is, my parents were right. 234 00:13:59,839 --> 00:14:01,424 I thought I knew everything. 235 00:14:01,549 --> 00:14:05,553 I have said to you, Alex, I want you to be free to expand. 236 00:14:05,678 --> 00:14:07,597 You know, they came from Yugoslavia, 237 00:14:07,722 --> 00:14:09,182 people were getting killed everywhere. 238 00:14:09,307 --> 00:14:10,641 My dad was in prison camps. 239 00:14:10,767 --> 00:14:13,811 They came to Canada and their kids were everything. 240 00:14:13,936 --> 00:14:16,147 That was, I'm sure, a great disappointment to them 241 00:14:16,272 --> 00:14:19,484 that I wasn't going to do something that was more professional. 242 00:14:19,609 --> 00:14:22,987 The whole idea of leaving school was a stressful decision, 243 00:14:23,112 --> 00:14:25,490 but at that age I was just wanting to be a kid 244 00:14:25,615 --> 00:14:28,618 and there was so much heaviness in my family's life. 245 00:14:28,743 --> 00:14:31,788 Being Holocaust survivors, losing your dad at twelve, 246 00:14:31,913 --> 00:14:34,582 I kind of wanted to run away from that a little bit. 247 00:14:34,707 --> 00:14:37,835 To my mother it was the equivalent of joining the circus. 248 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,838 She didn't see any music in what we were doing, 249 00:14:40,963 --> 00:14:44,342 this was just madness and she didn't really get it 250 00:14:44,467 --> 00:14:47,387 until she, one day, years later, saw me on television 251 00:14:47,512 --> 00:14:51,391 and then it kind of... "oh, he's an entertainer." You know? 252 00:14:51,516 --> 00:14:53,726 "Now I understand what he's doing." 253 00:14:55,937 --> 00:14:59,732 once again we're back at the Laura Secord secondary school 254 00:14:59,857 --> 00:15:03,027 and we've got a great trio of guys here who call themselves Rush 255 00:15:03,152 --> 00:15:06,531 and I'll let John, the drummer, introduce the rest of the guys to you right now. 256 00:15:06,656 --> 00:15:11,828 Well, introducing, on lead guitar and vocals Alex Lifeson. 257 00:15:12,620 --> 00:15:16,499 And on lead vocals and bass guitar, Geddy Lee. 258 00:15:16,624 --> 00:15:20,253 And sitting behind the drums, here, myself John Rutsey. 259 00:15:22,046 --> 00:15:23,631 OK, we're gonna see in this number 260 00:15:23,756 --> 00:15:26,676 if we can get you to make a little noise along with us. 261 00:15:26,801 --> 00:15:28,219 It doesn't take too much, 262 00:15:28,344 --> 00:15:31,013 all you've got to do is put your hands together like this. 263 00:15:39,647 --> 00:15:41,983 ♪ Well, I've been lyin' and I've been sneakin' ♪ 264 00:15:42,108 --> 00:15:44,152 ♪ Ooh, yeah, yeah ♪ 265 00:15:44,277 --> 00:15:46,404 ♪ Well, I've been crowin' and I've been weepin' ♪ 266 00:15:46,529 --> 00:15:48,489 ♪ Ooh, yeah, yeah ♪ 267 00:15:48,614 --> 00:15:50,825 ♪ Ooh, your lovin' makes me feel ♪ 268 00:15:50,950 --> 00:15:52,785 ♪ Makes me feel mighty real ♪ 269 00:15:52,910 --> 00:15:55,204 ♪ Well, I've been lonely and I've been duped, yeah ♪ 270 00:15:55,955 --> 00:15:57,832 ♪ Ooh, yes, now, baby, don't stop ♪ 271 00:15:57,957 --> 00:15:59,625 ♪ I know nothin' about you ♪ 272 00:16:02,044 --> 00:16:04,881 The turning point came in 1971, 273 00:16:05,006 --> 00:16:08,926 when the drinking age was lowered to 18 from 21 in Ontario. 274 00:16:09,051 --> 00:16:11,637 As soon as the drinking age dropped to 18, 275 00:16:11,762 --> 00:16:13,598 it was right at the time we turned 18, 276 00:16:13,723 --> 00:16:15,433 so we could finally start playing in bars 277 00:16:15,558 --> 00:16:18,227 which were better paying, more serious gigs. 278 00:16:18,352 --> 00:16:20,938 What happened is Yorkville got shut down by 1970. 279 00:16:21,063 --> 00:16:24,317 They wanted to rid that area of hippies and the clubs 280 00:16:24,442 --> 00:16:28,279 and shift it onto Young street and onto Queen street as well. 281 00:16:28,404 --> 00:16:30,781 And as soon as the drinking age went down in '71, 282 00:16:30,907 --> 00:16:33,159 it invited a whole different kind of music 283 00:16:33,284 --> 00:16:36,454 because a drinking crowd wants a different kind of entertainment 284 00:16:36,579 --> 00:16:37,788 than a listening crowd. 285 00:16:37,914 --> 00:16:40,958 You wanted something harder and heavier. so a whole new world grew. 286 00:16:41,083 --> 00:16:44,462 The scene in Toronto was vibrant as far as live bands go. 287 00:16:44,587 --> 00:16:46,255 There were a ton of live venues. 288 00:16:46,380 --> 00:16:49,300 I went into a place called the Abbey Road pub on Queen street 289 00:16:49,425 --> 00:16:50,885 and saw Rush one night. 290 00:16:51,010 --> 00:16:53,888 I was watching them, going, "wow, there's something going on here." 291 00:16:54,013 --> 00:16:56,474 we went from playing a couple of high-school dances 292 00:16:56,599 --> 00:16:57,683 in the course of a month, 293 00:16:57,808 --> 00:16:59,101 to playing six nights a week 294 00:16:59,227 --> 00:17:01,020 with matinees on Saturdays sometimes 295 00:17:01,145 --> 00:17:03,523 and playing four or five 40-minute sets. 296 00:17:03,648 --> 00:17:06,025 We started to get a little more experimental with music 297 00:17:06,150 --> 00:17:09,487 and that was great because that's really where we learned our chops. 298 00:17:09,612 --> 00:17:12,240 we're gonna do a number called Garden Road for you! 299 00:17:24,293 --> 00:17:27,755 ♪ Passin' down this garden road, I've passed it many times ♪ 300 00:17:30,550 --> 00:17:32,426 ♪ Beauty flashing in the yard ♪ 301 00:17:32,552 --> 00:17:34,470 ♪ Covers many vines ♪ 302 00:17:36,722 --> 00:17:39,850 ♪ Each day I seek the answer that I must know ♪ 303 00:17:42,687 --> 00:17:46,524 ♪ I found my questions on this garden road ♪ 304 00:17:46,649 --> 00:17:49,277 Initially, I was trying to get them a record deal 305 00:17:49,402 --> 00:17:51,112 and no one was willing to sign them. 306 00:17:51,237 --> 00:17:52,321 I couldn't get arrested. 307 00:17:52,446 --> 00:17:55,866 So it became obvious that I was gonna have to come up with the money 308 00:17:55,992 --> 00:17:57,201 and do the record myself. 309 00:17:57,326 --> 00:18:00,246 We looked for, jeez, I guess about four months, 310 00:18:00,371 --> 00:18:02,707 trying to get a record deal on Rush in this country 311 00:18:02,832 --> 00:18:04,875 and couldn't get anyone interested at all. 312 00:18:05,001 --> 00:18:06,544 There was just no reaction. 313 00:18:06,711 --> 00:18:08,838 We were willing to literally give the album away 314 00:18:08,963 --> 00:18:11,632 if somebody would just make a commitment to promote it. 315 00:18:11,757 --> 00:18:12,675 Couldn't get that. 316 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,220 Part of the general attitude in canada is, unfortunately, 317 00:18:16,345 --> 00:18:19,098 the people coming out to see you, not all of them, but quite a few of them 318 00:18:19,223 --> 00:18:22,059 go, "well, they're a local band, how good can they be?" 319 00:18:22,184 --> 00:18:25,438 And it's funny when other people from the states come out 320 00:18:25,563 --> 00:18:29,900 and they see these so-called local bands, they go, "Man, these guys are fantastic." 321 00:18:30,026 --> 00:18:31,777 There was no one in canada to sign you. 322 00:18:31,902 --> 00:18:34,447 There were no record companies here, they were outposts really. 323 00:18:34,572 --> 00:18:37,950 You had to get an American deal if you wanted to do anything. 324 00:18:38,075 --> 00:18:40,578 ♪ Cleveland Rocks, Cleveland Rocks! ♪ 325 00:18:40,703 --> 00:18:43,873 Cleveland Rocks on WMMs! 326 00:18:43,998 --> 00:18:47,209 I was up in my office and I was listening to the new music. 327 00:18:47,335 --> 00:18:49,587 We were deciding what we were going to play that week 328 00:18:49,712 --> 00:18:51,756 and, suddenly, I get this thing from Canada. 329 00:18:51,881 --> 00:18:55,259 I remember dropping the needle on what was the longest cut, 330 00:18:55,384 --> 00:18:57,762 because back in those days in album rock, 331 00:18:57,887 --> 00:19:00,973 you were always looking for what was called "bathroom songs." 332 00:19:01,098 --> 00:19:02,725 And a bathroom song was something 333 00:19:02,850 --> 00:19:04,977 that if you did have to answer the call of nature, 334 00:19:05,102 --> 00:19:08,564 the record wouldn't run out. And then I start listening to the song 335 00:19:08,689 --> 00:19:13,152 and I'm just, "oh, my God, this is a perfect record for cleveland." 336 00:19:13,277 --> 00:19:15,363 Back then it was a factory town. 337 00:19:15,488 --> 00:19:21,118 The song working Man, every listener in the audience felt like that. 338 00:19:24,288 --> 00:19:26,791 ♪ I get up at seven, yeah ♪ 339 00:19:26,916 --> 00:19:30,586 ♪ And I go to work at nine ♪ 340 00:19:30,711 --> 00:19:32,630 ♪ I got no time for livin' ♪ 341 00:19:32,755 --> 00:19:36,384 ♪ Yes, I'm workin' all the time ♪ 342 00:19:36,509 --> 00:19:39,804 ♪ It seems to me I could live my life ♪ 343 00:19:39,929 --> 00:19:42,431 ♪ A lot better than I think I am ♪ 344 00:19:43,766 --> 00:19:46,018 ♪ I guess that's why they call me ♪ 345 00:19:46,977 --> 00:19:49,188 ♪ They call me the workin' man ♪ 346 00:19:52,942 --> 00:19:56,737 Phones light up immediately. "when's the new Led zeppelin album out?" 347 00:19:56,862 --> 00:20:00,658 "No, no, not a new Led zeppelin album, a canadian band, Rush." 348 00:20:00,783 --> 00:20:02,827 Every time the record gets played, 349 00:20:02,952 --> 00:20:04,829 people are calling, "where can we get one?" 350 00:20:04,954 --> 00:20:06,997 we had this cult following going already. 351 00:20:07,123 --> 00:20:12,002 June 19I4, I was working at Mercury Records in chicago, 352 00:20:12,128 --> 00:20:15,256 it was a Monday morning and on my desk was an album. 353 00:20:15,381 --> 00:20:17,007 A note comes along with it, 354 00:20:17,133 --> 00:20:20,261 it says, "This is the first album by a canadian group called Rush," 355 00:20:20,386 --> 00:20:23,472 and that it's already selling in cleveland 356 00:20:23,597 --> 00:20:25,683 and they're looking for a deal in the united states. 357 00:20:25,808 --> 00:20:28,769 The artists and repertoire person who would normally listen was not in, 358 00:20:28,894 --> 00:20:32,773 so they took it to the least qualified guy, me. 359 00:20:32,898 --> 00:20:35,526 I put on the record and got blown away. 360 00:20:35,651 --> 00:20:39,947 I said, "Get the president of the company on the line. 361 00:20:40,072 --> 00:20:41,866 "We should sign this band." 362 00:20:41,991 --> 00:20:46,078 He said, "Don't make a deal with anyone until we talk." 363 00:20:46,203 --> 00:20:49,457 And he loved the record and he really wanted to sign us. 364 00:20:49,582 --> 00:20:51,375 By the end of the day we'd worked out a deal, 365 00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:54,378 signing the band within eight hours of hearing it. 366 00:20:54,503 --> 00:20:58,549 We went from getting this offer to getting an advance, to buying equipment. 367 00:20:58,674 --> 00:21:01,218 Everything was happening very, very quickly. 368 00:21:01,343 --> 00:21:04,930 I don't think that John really felt comfortable with what was happening. 369 00:21:05,055 --> 00:21:06,891 We talked about musical differences 370 00:21:07,016 --> 00:21:09,351 and he was a much more straightahead rock kind of guy. 371 00:21:09,477 --> 00:21:11,228 He was more into Bad company 372 00:21:11,353 --> 00:21:13,564 whereas Gedd and I were more into Yes and Genesis 373 00:21:13,689 --> 00:21:15,524 and Pink Floyd and bands like that. 374 00:21:15,649 --> 00:21:17,610 If we'd stayed on the Toronto local circuit, 375 00:21:17,735 --> 00:21:20,404 we probably would have stayed together and that would have been fine 376 00:21:20,529 --> 00:21:23,532 but suddenly things were turning a page. 377 00:21:23,657 --> 00:21:27,036 John was not a healthy boy, he had sugar diabetes. 378 00:21:27,161 --> 00:21:31,040 Of course, like any teenager, he liked to drink and whatever else. 379 00:21:31,165 --> 00:21:35,544 He was not taking care of himself and I took Geddy and Alex aside and Ray 380 00:21:35,669 --> 00:21:38,964 and I said, "we have to replace John. For his health." 381 00:21:39,089 --> 00:21:41,425 we can't put him out there on that tour 382 00:21:41,550 --> 00:21:43,719 or we'll be bringing him home in a box. 383 00:21:43,844 --> 00:21:45,763 So I discussed it with John, 384 00:21:45,888 --> 00:21:48,182 of course he was heartbroken, but he understood. 385 00:21:48,307 --> 00:21:51,143 There was no saying that John wasn't doing his job. 386 00:21:51,268 --> 00:21:54,104 It wasn't for his ability to drum that he was let go, 387 00:21:54,230 --> 00:21:55,773 it was for health reasons. 388 00:21:55,898 --> 00:21:57,483 It's like coming to the end of high school 389 00:21:57,608 --> 00:22:01,278 and you're with all your friends and you think, "we'll know each other forever," 390 00:22:01,403 --> 00:22:03,447 and then everybody just goes in their own direction 391 00:22:03,572 --> 00:22:06,242 and, for the most part, you never see those people again. 392 00:22:06,367 --> 00:22:08,619 It was a big deal, we had an American contract, 393 00:22:08,744 --> 00:22:09,954 we were going to the states, 394 00:22:10,079 --> 00:22:12,122 we only had less than a month to find somebody 395 00:22:12,248 --> 00:22:14,250 and get them in shape for us to go on the road. 396 00:22:14,375 --> 00:22:17,419 We needed a drummer. Let's put it like that. 397 00:22:42,945 --> 00:22:45,698 oh, ho! Broken drumhead! 398 00:22:46,657 --> 00:22:48,909 I thought it would be good to start at the beginning. 399 00:22:49,034 --> 00:22:50,202 Oh, how predictable. 400 00:22:50,327 --> 00:22:52,830 The very beginning. where you were born and where you grew up. 401 00:22:52,955 --> 00:22:54,832 Much of that I don't remember. 402 00:22:54,957 --> 00:22:57,001 I know that I was born on the... 403 00:22:57,126 --> 00:23:00,004 we were living on the family farm near Hagersville, ontario, at the time. 404 00:23:00,129 --> 00:23:02,506 We went to the nearest hospital, which was in Hamilton 405 00:23:02,631 --> 00:23:06,010 and moved to st catherine's when I was about four or so. 406 00:23:06,135 --> 00:23:09,179 I had never been athletic, I never could play hockey, 407 00:23:09,305 --> 00:23:12,349 I skated on my ankles, which, for a young canadian kid, 408 00:23:12,474 --> 00:23:16,186 that's automatically like the hugest curse a young boy could have. 409 00:23:16,312 --> 00:23:19,064 Well, he was... In those days, I used to say weird. 410 00:23:19,189 --> 00:23:20,566 He just read everything. 411 00:23:20,691 --> 00:23:22,860 He just read everything there was to read. 412 00:23:22,985 --> 00:23:24,778 He even had to learn to knit 413 00:23:24,904 --> 00:23:27,364 because he had to know how that was done. 414 00:23:27,489 --> 00:23:31,160 It was horrible coming into high school, once I got interested in rock bands 415 00:23:31,285 --> 00:23:33,537 and started to grow my hair a little over my ears 416 00:23:33,662 --> 00:23:35,664 and wear bell-bottoms and all that stuff. 417 00:23:35,789 --> 00:23:37,333 The taunting in the hallways 418 00:23:37,458 --> 00:23:40,169 and even physical abuse out in the smoking area. 419 00:23:40,294 --> 00:23:42,504 The constant misfit sense. 420 00:23:42,630 --> 00:23:46,842 For any kid, especially a sensitive one, it just wears you down, 421 00:23:46,967 --> 00:23:50,512 so that's why drumming became an instrument of self-esteem for me. 422 00:23:50,638 --> 00:23:53,182 This was the first time I was admired for anything. 423 00:23:53,307 --> 00:23:55,851 And that doubled my fervor about playing drums. 424 00:24:03,025 --> 00:24:06,111 Fortunately, I was in a very serious band at the time called J. R. Flood. 425 00:24:06,236 --> 00:24:07,404 We'd practice all weekdays 426 00:24:07,529 --> 00:24:10,074 and then weekends we'd be playing high schools around ontario 427 00:24:10,199 --> 00:24:11,492 or the nights at columbus Halls. 428 00:24:25,047 --> 00:24:28,384 In the summer of 'I4, I was working behind the parts counter for my dad 429 00:24:28,509 --> 00:24:31,512 at the farm equipment dealer and this white corvette pulled up. 430 00:24:31,637 --> 00:24:34,890 A white corvette doesn't pull up in a farm equipment dealership that offen. 431 00:24:35,015 --> 00:24:35,933 They came and asked 432 00:24:36,058 --> 00:24:38,602 if they could talk to Neil and take him out for lunch 433 00:24:38,727 --> 00:24:41,647 and I could tell, as Neil came back, the rest of the afternoon 434 00:24:41,772 --> 00:24:44,108 that he was really troubled with something. 435 00:24:44,233 --> 00:24:47,569 He told me then that these guys were the managers of Rush 436 00:24:47,695 --> 00:24:49,863 and they wanted Neil to come over and audition 437 00:24:49,989 --> 00:24:51,448 and he said, "I don't know what to do, Dad." 438 00:24:51,573 --> 00:24:53,617 And I said, "well, two things. 439 00:24:53,742 --> 00:24:56,495 "First of all, we'll talk it over with your mother 440 00:24:56,620 --> 00:24:58,706 "but secondly, as far as I'm concerned, 441 00:24:58,831 --> 00:25:01,875 "this is your passion, this is all you have wanted all your life," 442 00:25:02,001 --> 00:25:05,379 and I said, "I guess there will always be a parts department here 443 00:25:05,504 --> 00:25:07,297 "so I think you've got to go for it." 444 00:25:07,423 --> 00:25:09,800 so I borrowed my mom's Pinto, 445 00:25:09,925 --> 00:25:10,968 so perfect, 446 00:25:11,093 --> 00:25:13,512 and loaded my drums into that and drove up to Ajax. 447 00:25:13,637 --> 00:25:19,768 So this car pulls up with this kind of gangly guy, really kind of short hair. 448 00:25:19,893 --> 00:25:23,313 My first impression was that he was kind of goofy. 449 00:25:23,439 --> 00:25:27,276 I remember thinking, "God, he's not nearly cool enough to be in this band." 450 00:25:27,401 --> 00:25:29,737 I had Rogers with two 18-inch bass drums 451 00:25:29,862 --> 00:25:31,822 and everything set up really high 452 00:25:31,947 --> 00:25:35,451 and kind of weird-looking, and I was kind of weird-looking. 453 00:25:35,576 --> 00:25:38,120 And then he started playing, he pounded the crap out of those drums. 454 00:25:38,245 --> 00:25:41,415 He played like Keith Moon and John Bonham at the same time. 455 00:25:41,540 --> 00:25:44,501 I was blown away. As soon as he started playing. 456 00:25:44,626 --> 00:25:47,463 He's playing these triplets and it was so good. 457 00:25:47,588 --> 00:25:51,216 I think it's very common for musicians, especially in your early years, 458 00:25:51,341 --> 00:25:53,552 to feel that you totally blew it and I had that feeling. 459 00:25:53,677 --> 00:25:56,513 I could've played better, I should've played better, all that stuff, 460 00:25:56,638 --> 00:25:59,975 but, um, they picked me. 461 00:26:08,025 --> 00:26:09,860 ♪ Hey, now, baby ♪ 462 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:13,280 ♪ Well, I like your smile ♪ 463 00:26:14,865 --> 00:26:18,327 ♪ Won't you come and talk to me ♪ 464 00:26:18,452 --> 00:26:20,788 ♪ For a little while? ♪ 465 00:26:22,247 --> 00:26:24,500 ♪ Well, you're makin' me crazy ♪ 466 00:26:25,918 --> 00:26:28,170 ♪ The way you roll them eyes ♪ 467 00:26:29,421 --> 00:26:33,050 ♪ Won't you come and sit with me? ♪ 468 00:26:33,175 --> 00:26:35,552 ♪ I'll tell you all my lies ♪ 469 00:26:36,595 --> 00:26:39,556 It was like a tornado came and hit my life and swept it away. 470 00:26:39,681 --> 00:26:41,433 We had two weeks to prepare 471 00:26:41,558 --> 00:26:43,769 and to learn songs that I'd never heard before 472 00:26:43,894 --> 00:26:45,729 and to gel a little bit as much as we could. 473 00:26:45,854 --> 00:26:48,440 The first show was going to be in front of 11,000 people 474 00:26:48,565 --> 00:26:49,733 at Pittsburgh civic Arena, 475 00:26:49,858 --> 00:26:51,902 opening for Manfred Mann and uriah Heep. 476 00:27:00,536 --> 00:27:02,204 ♪ The only time she's happy ♪ 477 00:27:02,329 --> 00:27:05,374 ♪ Is when the bullets fly, fly, fly, fly ♪ 478 00:27:06,208 --> 00:27:10,295 ♪ And she'll make you feel you're better than any other guy ♪ 479 00:27:10,420 --> 00:27:13,715 we found that the biggest rock audience was Midwest 480 00:27:13,841 --> 00:27:16,468 and we gave Rush the perfect audience to come into. 481 00:27:16,593 --> 00:27:19,638 It was a great rock audience, and they loved their rock music. 482 00:27:19,763 --> 00:27:22,850 We had a dressing room that was just a small kind of room 483 00:27:22,975 --> 00:27:25,310 under the stands at the far end of the arena, 484 00:27:25,435 --> 00:27:27,479 away from the other dressing rooms. 485 00:27:27,604 --> 00:27:29,773 We had this tour manager, Howard ungerleider, 486 00:27:29,898 --> 00:27:31,191 who had come in from New York, 487 00:27:31,316 --> 00:27:33,819 he was teaching us how to be professional. 488 00:27:33,944 --> 00:27:36,780 I remember Howard saying, "You can have booze or something 489 00:27:36,905 --> 00:27:39,950 "and they'll supply it for you." And we went, "Really? oK. cool." 490 00:27:40,075 --> 00:27:42,786 I ordered, like, a little bottle of southern comfort 491 00:27:42,911 --> 00:27:46,748 and I think Alex ordered Blue Nun wine or something like that. 492 00:27:46,874 --> 00:27:49,793 I remember taking a sip of this stuff and it went straight to my head 493 00:27:49,918 --> 00:27:54,131 and I was completely dizzy and we hit the stage. 494 00:27:54,256 --> 00:27:56,175 By the time I kind of came to my senses, 495 00:27:56,300 --> 00:27:58,260 the set was over and we were off 496 00:27:58,385 --> 00:28:00,470 and I had no idea how well we'd played. 497 00:28:00,596 --> 00:28:04,308 My immediate thoughts were, "God, he can sing high." 498 00:28:04,433 --> 00:28:08,103 That was my first thought, and how full it sounded for just a three piece. 499 00:28:08,228 --> 00:28:09,479 Rush came out and nailed it. 500 00:28:09,605 --> 00:28:12,941 It was obvious that they were going to move up the ladder pretty quick. 501 00:28:13,066 --> 00:28:15,903 ♪ Hey, baby, it's a quarter to eight ♪ 502 00:28:16,028 --> 00:28:18,447 ♪ I feel I'm in the mood ♪ 503 00:28:19,948 --> 00:28:22,492 ♪ Hey, baby, the hour is late ♪ 504 00:28:22,618 --> 00:28:24,995 ♪ I feel I've got to move ♪ 505 00:28:26,788 --> 00:28:29,917 It was huge. This was the start of our tour and it was America. 506 00:28:30,042 --> 00:28:33,503 Big, bold, beautiful America and we were so excited to be doing it. 507 00:28:33,629 --> 00:28:36,465 Here are these three twenty-year-old guys living a dream. 508 00:28:36,590 --> 00:28:37,925 It was a very exciting time 509 00:28:38,050 --> 00:28:41,428 and we were working eleven days on, one day off, nine days on, one day off. 510 00:28:41,553 --> 00:28:44,056 We were really working a lot and traveling all over the place. 511 00:28:44,181 --> 00:28:45,682 The circuit was different back then. 512 00:28:45,807 --> 00:28:47,184 The money certainly wasn't as great 513 00:28:47,309 --> 00:28:49,811 and you wanted to play five or six times a week. 514 00:28:49,937 --> 00:28:54,233 You could play markets like Johnson city, Tennessee or Yakima, washington. 515 00:28:54,358 --> 00:28:57,527 You would talk about how many shows in Iowa you were going to do. 516 00:28:57,653 --> 00:29:00,697 Every day and we would always share the driving. 517 00:29:00,822 --> 00:29:02,199 Everybody was sharing rooms. 518 00:29:02,324 --> 00:29:04,826 We had a room rotation schedule back then. It was kind of fun. 519 00:29:04,952 --> 00:29:09,206 Traveling around in a rental car, it wasn't even a bus or a van. 520 00:29:09,331 --> 00:29:10,707 Sleeping on your baggage. 521 00:29:10,832 --> 00:29:13,168 Now, you know, you'd be in traction for a month 522 00:29:13,293 --> 00:29:16,672 if you did a week traveling like we used to travel for months. 523 00:29:36,149 --> 00:29:40,237 The life of an opening act back then was hooking up from circuit to circuit. 524 00:29:40,362 --> 00:29:42,155 Sometimes you didn't know where you were going 525 00:29:42,281 --> 00:29:43,907 because sometimes your gigs would run out 526 00:29:44,032 --> 00:29:46,952 and you'd be in the states waiting to find out if you're on another tour. 527 00:29:47,077 --> 00:29:49,663 ♪ Rock 'n' roll! ♪ 528 00:29:56,086 --> 00:29:59,381 ♪ Baby gets tired, everybody knows ♪ 529 00:29:59,506 --> 00:30:01,842 As soon as we heard that first Rush record, 530 00:30:01,967 --> 00:30:05,012 we just were like, "what is this? This is like canadian zeppelin." 531 00:30:05,137 --> 00:30:08,390 "Yeah! oh, yeah! " "what the hell is that?" 532 00:30:08,515 --> 00:30:11,435 And we literally said, "we want that band to open canada." 533 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:13,186 we then took them across America. 534 00:30:13,312 --> 00:30:18,483 With Kiss we probably played 50, 60 shows in the first couple of tours, 535 00:30:18,608 --> 00:30:21,695 where they were just this weird band from New York, 536 00:30:21,820 --> 00:30:24,239 and we got very, very close. 537 00:30:24,364 --> 00:30:25,449 ♪ Baby, won't you tell me ♪ 538 00:30:25,574 --> 00:30:28,243 ♪ Baby, rock 'n' roll, yeah, yeah ♪ 539 00:30:28,368 --> 00:30:30,662 ♪ Do you wanna rock 'n' roll? ♪ 540 00:30:30,787 --> 00:30:33,915 Regardless of what you want to say about Kiss, 541 00:30:34,041 --> 00:30:35,250 musically or otherwise, 542 00:30:35,375 --> 00:30:37,586 there was no harder-working band than Kiss 543 00:30:37,711 --> 00:30:42,174 and there was no band more determined to put on a spectacular show 544 00:30:42,299 --> 00:30:44,343 and give people their money's worth than Kiss. 545 00:30:44,468 --> 00:30:47,471 That was a great thing to see as an opening act. 546 00:30:47,596 --> 00:30:50,098 We were so impressionable and we were so green. 547 00:30:50,223 --> 00:30:51,475 They were very good to us. 548 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,478 Those guys liked to have a good time, especially Gene, 549 00:30:54,603 --> 00:30:58,023 and their hotels were always fun to watch. 550 00:30:59,191 --> 00:31:01,693 Every night affer the show, the girls would line up. 551 00:31:01,818 --> 00:31:04,821 My God! You can even be an ugly bastard like me and get laid 552 00:31:04,946 --> 00:31:06,573 and none of the Rush guys ever did. 553 00:31:06,698 --> 00:31:10,077 I just never understood it. I said, "They're not gay?" "No." 554 00:31:10,202 --> 00:31:12,579 "Farm animals?" "No, that's not it." 555 00:31:12,704 --> 00:31:16,666 I... what the fuck did you do when you went back to your hotel room? 556 00:31:16,792 --> 00:31:19,669 I even remember one night, it was in Milwaukee I think, 557 00:31:19,795 --> 00:31:23,340 and there was a female bowling league sharing the same floor 558 00:31:23,465 --> 00:31:25,759 and they were walking around in their nightgowns 559 00:31:25,884 --> 00:31:28,553 and their hotel room doors are open and they're drinking. 560 00:31:28,678 --> 00:31:32,099 All the guys in Rush are in their rooms just watching Tv affer a gig. 561 00:31:32,224 --> 00:31:34,393 They probably woke up the next day, going, 562 00:31:34,518 --> 00:31:36,436 "God, these canadian bands sure are boring." 563 00:31:46,363 --> 00:31:48,907 That was a "getting to know you" period for us and Neil. 564 00:31:49,032 --> 00:31:51,159 He was one of the weirdest people we'd ever met 565 00:31:51,284 --> 00:31:52,619 because we'd never met anyone 566 00:31:52,744 --> 00:31:54,871 that was so literate and so opinionated before. 567 00:31:54,996 --> 00:31:56,123 And it was hard for him. 568 00:31:56,248 --> 00:32:00,669 He was always and still is the new guy in some strange way. 569 00:32:00,794 --> 00:32:03,672 Alex and I were bonded, old friends 570 00:32:03,797 --> 00:32:06,842 and he had to kinda make his way to be part of that. 571 00:32:06,967 --> 00:32:10,345 In some ways he was very serious and we were totally goofy, 572 00:32:10,470 --> 00:32:14,516 certainly he had a bigger brain than us and that was a target. 573 00:32:14,641 --> 00:32:16,435 What more perfect, portable education 574 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:19,896 than having a lot of free time on your hands and bookstores everywhere? 575 00:32:20,021 --> 00:32:21,523 So for the next few years I'd say, 576 00:32:21,648 --> 00:32:24,276 basically, I started filling those hours with reading. 577 00:32:24,401 --> 00:32:26,736 And we'd say, "Look at how many books he reads. 578 00:32:26,862 --> 00:32:28,071 "Look at the words he uses, 579 00:32:28,196 --> 00:32:30,782 "this guy is probably capable of writing lyrics! " 580 00:32:30,907 --> 00:32:32,576 ♪ Beneath the noble bird ♪ 581 00:32:32,701 --> 00:32:34,744 ♪ Between the proudest words ♪ 582 00:32:34,870 --> 00:32:38,206 ♪ Behind the beauty cracks appear ♪ 583 00:32:39,082 --> 00:32:40,917 ♪ Once with heads held high ♪ 584 00:32:41,042 --> 00:32:43,044 ♪ They sang out to the sky ♪ 585 00:32:43,170 --> 00:32:46,548 ♪ Why do their shadows bow in fear? ♪ 586 00:32:47,132 --> 00:32:51,636 It was really stimulating, but really a mouthful to sing 587 00:32:51,761 --> 00:32:55,891 in the kind of rocking style that we were doing at that time. 588 00:32:56,016 --> 00:32:59,352 ♪ Anthem of the heart and anthem of the mind ♪ 589 00:32:59,478 --> 00:33:02,314 ♪ A funeral dirge for eyes gone blind ♪ 590 00:33:03,231 --> 00:33:05,567 ♪ We marvel after those who sought ♪ 591 00:33:06,067 --> 00:33:09,404 ♪ Wonders in the world, wonders in the world ♪ 592 00:33:09,529 --> 00:33:13,450 ♪ Wonders in the world they wrought ♪ 593 00:33:13,575 --> 00:33:15,452 we worked on songs as we traveled. 594 00:33:15,577 --> 00:33:17,787 On my little handwritten lyric sheets for the time 595 00:33:17,913 --> 00:33:20,290 I think I wrote the cities that all of those songs were written, 596 00:33:20,415 --> 00:33:21,958 they varied widely all over the map. 597 00:33:22,083 --> 00:33:23,543 It was like the Monkees, you know. 598 00:33:23,668 --> 00:33:25,212 Alex would have an acoustic guitar 599 00:33:25,337 --> 00:33:28,715 and we'd be working on a song in a rental car, in a hotel room affer a show. 600 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,051 That's how, pretty much, Fly By Night was written. 601 00:33:31,176 --> 00:33:32,511 That's the way bands used to do it. 602 00:33:32,636 --> 00:33:34,804 They'd write the record while they were on the road. 603 00:33:34,930 --> 00:33:36,765 They'd go home and cut it in two or three weeks 604 00:33:36,890 --> 00:33:38,642 and a new album would appear every six months. 605 00:33:38,767 --> 00:33:40,393 Pretty amazing to think of that today. 606 00:33:48,860 --> 00:33:51,988 ♪ why try? I know why ♪ 607 00:33:52,113 --> 00:33:55,700 ♪ This feeling inside me says it's time I was gone ♪ 608 00:33:55,825 --> 00:33:59,079 ♪ Clear head, new life ahead ♪ 609 00:33:59,204 --> 00:34:02,832 ♪ It's time I was king now, not just one more pawn ♪ 610 00:34:02,958 --> 00:34:06,169 ♪ Fly by night away from here ♪ 611 00:34:06,294 --> 00:34:08,797 ♪ Change my life again ♪ 612 00:34:09,881 --> 00:34:12,759 ♪ Fly by night, goodbye, my dear ♪ 613 00:34:12,884 --> 00:34:16,388 ♪ My ship isn't coming and I just can't pretend ♪ 614 00:34:23,061 --> 00:34:25,855 Fly By Night was a little different from the first record 615 00:34:25,981 --> 00:34:27,607 so the record company wasn't sure 616 00:34:27,732 --> 00:34:30,694 if we were developing in the correct way. 617 00:34:30,819 --> 00:34:33,697 They wanted us to be more like Bad company 618 00:34:33,822 --> 00:34:36,825 and not so much like this weird thing that we were becoming. 619 00:34:36,950 --> 00:34:39,536 By-Tor And The snow Dog, what the hell was that all about? 620 00:34:39,661 --> 00:34:41,246 with By-Tor And The snow Dog, 621 00:34:41,371 --> 00:34:45,792 that was the start of writing in more of a thematic, multi-piece idea. 622 00:34:45,917 --> 00:34:47,377 And then with caress of steel 623 00:34:47,502 --> 00:34:49,921 we did the whole side of Fountain of Lamneth 624 00:34:50,046 --> 00:34:52,215 and the Necromancer was kind of like that, 625 00:34:52,340 --> 00:34:53,800 it was the start of those longer pieces. 626 00:34:53,925 --> 00:34:55,969 Neil had come up with this concept 627 00:34:56,094 --> 00:34:59,431 and we had to put it all together and make it work. 628 00:34:59,556 --> 00:35:02,976 It seemed like an evolution of where they were going. 629 00:35:03,101 --> 00:35:04,853 I thought it had amazing potential. 630 00:35:04,978 --> 00:35:06,479 It's a dark record, 631 00:35:06,605 --> 00:35:09,566 but it was certainly a good record, I thought. 632 00:35:09,691 --> 00:35:12,277 But that view wasn't shared by everybody. 633 00:35:12,402 --> 00:35:14,529 I know we played caress of steel once for Paul stanley. 634 00:35:14,654 --> 00:35:18,074 We'd just got it, we played it in our van for him one night 635 00:35:18,199 --> 00:35:21,828 and you could see that he just... he didn't get it. 636 00:35:21,953 --> 00:35:25,373 A lot of people didn't get it, we were wondering if even we got it. 637 00:35:25,498 --> 00:35:28,335 I think we were pretty high when we made a lot of that record. 638 00:35:28,460 --> 00:35:29,878 It sounds like it to me. 639 00:35:30,003 --> 00:35:31,630 ♪ My eyes have just been opened ♪ 640 00:35:31,755 --> 00:35:34,382 ♪ And they're open very wide ♪ 641 00:35:34,507 --> 00:35:38,136 ♪ Images around me don't identify inside ♪ 642 00:35:38,261 --> 00:35:42,307 ♪ Just one blur I recognize the one that soothes and feeds ♪ 643 00:35:42,432 --> 00:35:46,519 ♪ My way of life is easy and as simple are my needs ♪ 644 00:35:49,356 --> 00:35:52,609 caress of steel was not well received by the record company. 645 00:35:52,734 --> 00:35:55,111 It was not well received by our agents. 646 00:35:55,236 --> 00:35:57,197 Everything took an awful downturn 647 00:35:57,322 --> 00:35:59,032 and it was off the crest of a wave too, 648 00:35:59,157 --> 00:36:01,785 because we were so in love with what we'd done, 649 00:36:01,910 --> 00:36:03,620 we were so into it and so proud of it. 650 00:36:03,745 --> 00:36:08,124 When caress of steel pretty much met a deaf ear, the ensuing tour, 651 00:36:08,249 --> 00:36:11,920 we were opening acts on smaller tours and playing backwater clubs 652 00:36:12,045 --> 00:36:14,798 and we called it, at the time, "The Down The Tubes tour". 653 00:36:14,923 --> 00:36:18,009 You would find yourself in places like Battle creek, Michigan, 654 00:36:18,134 --> 00:36:19,636 playing to twenty people 655 00:36:19,761 --> 00:36:21,971 wondering why you were still continuing. 656 00:36:22,097 --> 00:36:24,140 Everybody thought that it was over. 657 00:36:24,265 --> 00:36:26,643 Audiences were becoming smaller and smaller 658 00:36:26,768 --> 00:36:28,978 so we thought the end was near. 659 00:36:29,104 --> 00:36:32,315 At that time, Ted Nugent was also not breaking, 660 00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:35,527 so the two of us played a lot of small clubs together. 661 00:36:35,652 --> 00:36:38,446 It was a pretty depressing tour, we were kinda lost, 662 00:36:38,571 --> 00:36:41,700 figured that we would probably not survive to see another tour. 663 00:36:41,825 --> 00:36:45,078 And the record company was really not happy with us 664 00:36:45,203 --> 00:36:47,455 and our management was trying to defend us. 665 00:36:47,580 --> 00:36:50,834 I remember going to chicago and meeting with Mercury Records 666 00:36:50,959 --> 00:36:53,670 to not give up on the band, to not drop the band. 667 00:36:53,795 --> 00:36:55,714 I nodded to every request they had. 668 00:36:55,839 --> 00:36:58,007 They wanted singles, more commercial, 669 00:36:58,133 --> 00:37:00,468 "Yeah, I'm sure that's what they're going to do." 670 00:37:00,593 --> 00:37:01,803 That was a terrible winter. 671 00:37:01,928 --> 00:37:04,347 I had no money, I was sleeping on a friend's couch. 672 00:37:04,472 --> 00:37:06,349 Things couldn't have been bleaker really. 673 00:37:06,474 --> 00:37:08,351 At the record company, everybody was, 674 00:37:08,476 --> 00:37:10,729 "we have to be more commercial here and think about some singles," 675 00:37:10,854 --> 00:37:13,273 and just leaning on us at our weakest. 676 00:37:13,398 --> 00:37:16,526 we talked about how we would rather go down fighting 677 00:37:16,651 --> 00:37:19,863 than try to make the kind of record they wanted us to make. 678 00:37:19,988 --> 00:37:22,574 We made 2112, figuring everyone would hate it 679 00:37:22,699 --> 00:37:25,201 but we were going to go out in a blaze of glory. 680 00:37:25,326 --> 00:37:27,954 We all decided that we would rather go back to our jobs, 681 00:37:28,079 --> 00:37:29,539 working on a farm 682 00:37:29,664 --> 00:37:32,333 or working as a plumber's mate for my dad or whatever, 683 00:37:32,459 --> 00:37:34,377 than give in and just be something 684 00:37:34,502 --> 00:37:36,171 that everybody else wants us to be. 685 00:37:36,296 --> 00:37:39,883 We did summon that strength of character to say, "No, we won't do that. 686 00:37:40,008 --> 00:37:43,052 "We're doing it our way and if this is the last hurrah, fine." 687 00:37:43,178 --> 00:37:45,054 Back to the farm equipment dealership for me. 688 00:37:45,180 --> 00:37:47,557 It was a big no - "No, we're not doing any of that. 689 00:37:47,682 --> 00:37:50,351 "No, you can't tell us what to do and no, we don't care." 690 00:38:03,615 --> 00:38:09,537 ♪ whoa, oh, oh, oh ♪ 691 00:38:10,914 --> 00:38:14,459 ♪ Whoa, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ 692 00:38:14,584 --> 00:38:16,211 ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ 693 00:38:24,135 --> 00:38:29,724 when the record company heard a full side concept like the first side of 2112, 694 00:38:29,849 --> 00:38:33,853 people panicked. They thought, "wow, we're screwed." 695 00:38:33,978 --> 00:38:34,938 They didn't get it. 696 00:38:35,063 --> 00:38:36,564 This was, like, I ordered salmon 697 00:38:36,689 --> 00:38:39,192 and they brought me a steak - what the hell is this? 698 00:38:39,317 --> 00:38:41,444 The nature of the story that evolved in 2112 699 00:38:41,569 --> 00:38:43,446 was the individual against the mass, 700 00:38:43,571 --> 00:38:46,199 and that album did communicate and reach people 701 00:38:46,324 --> 00:38:50,119 on a level that just blossomed outward by the classic form of word of mouth. 702 00:38:50,245 --> 00:38:53,915 Obviously, the opening twenty-minute piece did not get played on the radio. 703 00:38:54,541 --> 00:38:58,253 ♪ I can't wait to share this new wonder ♪ 704 00:38:59,254 --> 00:39:03,091 ♪ Well, the people will all see its light ♪ 705 00:39:05,260 --> 00:39:08,555 ♪ Let them all make their own music ♪ 706 00:39:09,931 --> 00:39:14,310 ♪ The priests praise my name on this night ♪ 707 00:39:14,435 --> 00:39:16,813 Suddenly it was like, you gotta to check this band out, 708 00:39:16,938 --> 00:39:18,982 and, you know, the first thing that struck you 709 00:39:19,107 --> 00:39:22,610 was the level of musicianship was just insane. 710 00:39:22,735 --> 00:39:25,488 I remember vividly, I was in my bedroom with my neighbor 711 00:39:25,613 --> 00:39:27,198 and he'd brought over 2112. 712 00:39:27,323 --> 00:39:29,534 It was just something I'd never heard before, 713 00:39:29,659 --> 00:39:32,495 just the fact it was a three-piece ripping... they were pulling off this stuff 714 00:39:32,620 --> 00:39:35,206 that sounded like a huge prog rock production. 715 00:39:35,331 --> 00:39:37,667 It took me on a journey instantly 716 00:39:37,792 --> 00:39:41,421 and I looked at the album cover and saw that there were only three of them 717 00:39:41,546 --> 00:39:43,798 and they were wearing some funky clothes. 718 00:39:43,923 --> 00:39:49,220 But I thought, how can three guys make such a sound? 719 00:39:49,345 --> 00:39:51,973 I remember the keyboard sound... 720 00:39:52,098 --> 00:39:53,641 ..and all of a sudden it kicked in 721 00:39:53,766 --> 00:39:56,352 and it was just like a whole new experience to music, 722 00:39:56,477 --> 00:39:58,438 something I'd never heard before. 723 00:39:58,563 --> 00:39:59,731 The drumming was incredible, 724 00:39:59,856 --> 00:40:03,026 the bass playing was incredible and that was it. 725 00:40:03,151 --> 00:40:05,194 I was hooked on Rush ever since then. 726 00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:08,406 There was a moment in my life, and I willingly admit this, 727 00:40:08,531 --> 00:40:11,075 that I knew how to play the entire side. 728 00:40:11,200 --> 00:40:13,369 I knew how to play 2112 all the way down. 729 00:40:13,494 --> 00:40:15,246 I knew every note, every moment. 730 00:40:15,371 --> 00:40:18,875 And I think back now, "How long did I have to fucking learn that?" 731 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:22,420 I must have sat in the bedroom for a year to learn that fucking song. 732 00:40:22,545 --> 00:40:25,048 I was into the story. You know, I read the back 733 00:40:25,173 --> 00:40:27,759 and it was dedicated to The Fountainhead, the book, 734 00:40:27,884 --> 00:40:30,637 and I went right out and bought The Fountainhead and read it. 735 00:40:30,762 --> 00:40:33,890 I mean, not too many bands make a twelve-year-old go out 736 00:40:34,015 --> 00:40:36,059 and buy The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. 737 00:40:37,352 --> 00:40:41,397 Goddamn this rock band, it's got me all fired up about literature. 738 00:40:43,358 --> 00:40:47,612 ♪ well, yes, we know, it's nothing new ♪ 739 00:40:48,154 --> 00:40:50,865 ♪ It's just a waste of time ♪ 740 00:40:52,700 --> 00:40:57,455 ♪ We have no need for ancient ways ♪ 741 00:40:57,580 --> 00:41:00,959 ♪ The world is doing fine ♪ 742 00:41:02,377 --> 00:41:05,088 As it turned out, the concept record went through the roof. 743 00:41:05,213 --> 00:41:06,214 They were right. 744 00:41:06,339 --> 00:41:09,717 2112 really bought us our independence. 745 00:41:09,842 --> 00:41:11,719 The record company has never been in 746 00:41:11,844 --> 00:41:13,429 on a single session that we've ever done. 747 00:41:13,554 --> 00:41:14,764 In fact, when we're done, 748 00:41:14,889 --> 00:41:17,433 it's all packaged and they accept it the way it is. 749 00:41:17,558 --> 00:41:18,601 They have no choice. 750 00:41:18,726 --> 00:41:21,688 That somehow was the plateau of untouchable. 751 00:41:21,813 --> 00:41:23,773 Nobody thought they had the right anymore. 752 00:41:23,898 --> 00:41:27,443 So, yeah, 2112 was absolutely the passepartout, you know, 753 00:41:27,568 --> 00:41:31,072 the skeleton key that opened that door that we could close behind us. 754 00:41:31,197 --> 00:41:33,116 OK, from now on, we do what we want. 755 00:41:33,241 --> 00:41:37,245 Attention, all planets of the solar Federation. 756 00:41:37,370 --> 00:41:40,748 Attention, all planets of the solar Federation. 757 00:41:41,165 --> 00:41:44,293 Attention, all planets of the solar Federation. 758 00:41:44,419 --> 00:41:46,921 We have assumed control. 759 00:41:47,547 --> 00:41:49,590 We have assumed control. 760 00:41:50,049 --> 00:41:52,010 We have assumed control. 761 00:41:58,975 --> 00:42:04,147 Most critics ignored 2112 or treated Rush, I think, very, very negatively. 762 00:42:04,272 --> 00:42:06,399 I mean, what do critics hate generally? 763 00:42:06,524 --> 00:42:09,485 They hate heavy metal and they hate progressive music. 764 00:42:09,610 --> 00:42:13,114 I would say probably most of the reviews were bad. 765 00:42:13,239 --> 00:42:15,366 I don't know if it was discouraging to read bad press. 766 00:42:15,491 --> 00:42:18,494 I mean, affer a while it was like, "oh yeah, yeah, whatever." 767 00:42:18,619 --> 00:42:20,246 usually it's, critics back then particularly, 768 00:42:20,371 --> 00:42:24,834 just trying to be cool, so they would write all sorts of things. 769 00:42:24,959 --> 00:42:28,296 ♪ what you own is your own kingdom ♪ 770 00:42:28,421 --> 00:42:31,674 ♪ What you do is your own glory ♪ 771 00:42:31,799 --> 00:42:35,511 ♪ What you love is your own power ♪ 772 00:42:35,636 --> 00:42:39,098 ♪ What you live is your own story ♪ 773 00:42:39,223 --> 00:42:42,018 ♪ In your head is the answer ♪ 774 00:42:42,143 --> 00:42:44,729 ♪ Let it guide you along ♪ 775 00:42:45,521 --> 00:42:48,816 ♪ Let your heart be the anchor ♪ 776 00:42:48,941 --> 00:42:52,278 ♪ And the beat of your song ♪ 777 00:42:52,403 --> 00:42:55,823 Geddy's soaring voice was described in some rather unkind ways. 778 00:42:55,948 --> 00:42:57,200 "A hamster in overdrive." 779 00:42:57,325 --> 00:42:58,785 "The dead howling in Hades." 780 00:42:58,910 --> 00:43:00,286 "Mickey Mouse on helium." 781 00:43:00,411 --> 00:43:01,412 "strangling a hamster." 782 00:43:01,537 --> 00:43:04,207 "A cat being chased out the door with a blowtorch up its ass." 783 00:43:04,332 --> 00:43:06,751 It was just constant insults hurled that way. 784 00:43:06,876 --> 00:43:09,128 But it was never like that with the audiences. 785 00:43:09,253 --> 00:43:11,297 we found that we had a growing audience 786 00:43:11,422 --> 00:43:13,716 that didn't care about any of that press stuff. 787 00:43:13,841 --> 00:43:16,177 They were into the band and liked what we were trying to do. 788 00:43:16,302 --> 00:43:18,596 We were a little more thoughtful about the way we wrote music 789 00:43:18,721 --> 00:43:21,390 and certainly how we wrote lyrics and how we put it all together. 790 00:43:21,516 --> 00:43:23,101 I'd rather read fan reviews 791 00:43:23,226 --> 00:43:27,396 than some guy who always hated us and didn't stay for half the show. 792 00:43:27,522 --> 00:43:30,233 critically, we were designated terminally unhip 793 00:43:30,358 --> 00:43:33,194 and that prevents you from getting mainstream press. 794 00:43:33,319 --> 00:43:35,738 Our songs were too long to go on mainstream radio, 795 00:43:35,863 --> 00:43:37,156 so what the hell are we? 796 00:43:37,281 --> 00:43:40,785 Every once in a while you have an artist that is very sophisticated 797 00:43:40,910 --> 00:43:42,578 but somehow in their sophistication 798 00:43:42,703 --> 00:43:44,664 they don't alienate the common person. 799 00:43:44,789 --> 00:43:46,290 They're really a people's band 800 00:43:46,415 --> 00:43:48,501 and the great hole in their career 801 00:43:48,626 --> 00:43:51,212 has been that they've never been truly accepted by the intelligentsia. 802 00:43:51,337 --> 00:43:53,089 But with a band like Rush you can't say, 803 00:43:53,214 --> 00:43:54,674 "well, they can't play, they can't sing." 804 00:43:54,799 --> 00:43:59,095 so what was it? well, they're nerdy or they don't fit in a neat box. 805 00:43:59,220 --> 00:44:01,806 The one constant with Rush throughout the decades 806 00:44:01,931 --> 00:44:05,393 is that it's been difficult to fit them into any kind of definition. 807 00:44:05,518 --> 00:44:08,604 Their music was hard rock but at the same time it was orchestral. 808 00:44:08,729 --> 00:44:11,816 The melodies were simple but at the same time complex. 809 00:44:11,941 --> 00:44:14,610 Nobody could ever put their finger on exactly what they were. 810 00:44:14,735 --> 00:44:16,821 I think the fashion that was associated with it 811 00:44:16,946 --> 00:44:18,114 defied definition as well. 812 00:44:18,239 --> 00:44:22,493 We were never very good at the whole fashion image thing. 813 00:44:22,618 --> 00:44:24,620 Let's face it. we didn't have a clue. 814 00:44:24,745 --> 00:44:27,540 We desperately just wanted to wear jeans and T-shirts 815 00:44:27,665 --> 00:44:30,585 but we were raised in a period that said that's not oK. 816 00:44:30,710 --> 00:44:34,130 So we looked for some way of standing out in a crowd. 817 00:44:34,255 --> 00:44:35,923 I remember we were in san Francisco 818 00:44:36,048 --> 00:44:39,135 and we were staying in the Japanese part of town, 819 00:44:39,260 --> 00:44:41,804 so we found all these kind of kimonos and robes 820 00:44:41,929 --> 00:44:43,973 and we said, "Hey, why don't we try these?" 821 00:44:44,098 --> 00:44:47,810 so that began the period of the absurdly prophetic robes. 822 00:44:50,605 --> 00:44:54,317 ♪ And the men who hold high places ♪ 823 00:44:54,442 --> 00:44:56,944 ♪ Must be the ones who start ♪ 824 00:44:57,945 --> 00:45:01,282 ♪ To mould a new reality ♪ 825 00:45:01,407 --> 00:45:03,701 ♪ Closer to the heart ♪ 826 00:45:04,827 --> 00:45:07,288 ♪ Closer to the heart ♪ 827 00:45:08,539 --> 00:45:11,584 ♪ The blacksmith and the artist ♪ 828 00:45:11,709 --> 00:45:14,545 ♪ Reflect it in their art ♪ 829 00:45:15,129 --> 00:45:18,466 ♪ They forge their creativity ♪ 830 00:45:18,591 --> 00:45:21,052 ♪ Closer to the heart ♪ 831 00:45:21,177 --> 00:45:24,138 ♪ Yeah, it's closer to the heart ♪ 832 00:45:31,229 --> 00:45:32,730 These were the salad days 833 00:45:32,855 --> 00:45:36,025 because we were transitioning and we could feel it. 834 00:45:36,150 --> 00:45:38,110 The world was expanding for us. 835 00:45:38,236 --> 00:45:41,948 We were starting to record in England, starting to get success in England 836 00:45:42,073 --> 00:45:45,076 and to go over there and to actually have a song in the charts 837 00:45:45,201 --> 00:45:48,120 and play Hammersmith odeon was really gratifying, 838 00:45:48,246 --> 00:45:50,581 because all of our heroes were English rock musicians. 839 00:45:50,706 --> 00:45:53,334 So that gave us a tremendous amount of confidence. 840 00:45:53,876 --> 00:45:57,505 ♪ Whoa, oh, you can be the captain ♪ 841 00:45:57,630 --> 00:46:00,299 ♪ And I will draw the chart ♪ 842 00:46:01,175 --> 00:46:04,470 ♪ Sailing into destiny ♪ 843 00:46:04,595 --> 00:46:06,847 ♪ Closer to the heart ♪ 844 00:46:07,765 --> 00:46:10,059 ♪ Closer to the heart ♪ 845 00:46:10,184 --> 00:46:13,896 ♪ Well, closer to the heart ♪ 846 00:46:14,021 --> 00:46:17,066 ♪ Yeah, closer to the heart ♪ 847 00:46:17,191 --> 00:46:20,736 As the records progressed, the palette got bigger and bigger. 848 00:46:20,861 --> 00:46:24,031 Neil was constantly changing and adding to his drum kit 849 00:46:24,156 --> 00:46:27,285 and we had more choice of guitars and acoustic guitars. 850 00:46:27,410 --> 00:46:31,080 Bass pedals. The keyboards developed every time we went into the studio. 851 00:46:31,205 --> 00:46:32,707 Gedd was staying on top of that. 852 00:46:32,832 --> 00:46:35,668 The first time I worked with the band it was a three piece. 853 00:46:35,793 --> 00:46:38,379 I think we may have had a cowbell. 854 00:46:42,383 --> 00:46:45,761 ♪ Held within the pleasure dome ♪ 855 00:46:45,886 --> 00:46:48,681 ♪ Decreed by Kubla Khan ♪ 856 00:46:49,932 --> 00:46:53,019 ♪ To taste my bitter triumph ♪ 857 00:46:53,144 --> 00:46:57,106 ♪ As a mad immortal man ♪ 858 00:46:57,815 --> 00:47:01,235 ♪ Nevermore shall I return ♪ 859 00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:04,196 ♪ Escape these caves of ice ♪ 860 00:47:05,072 --> 00:47:09,035 ♪ For I have dined on honeydew ♪ 861 00:47:09,160 --> 00:47:14,915 ♪ And drunk the milk of paradise ♪ 862 00:47:15,333 --> 00:47:19,003 ♪ Oh, is it paradise? ♪ 863 00:47:22,923 --> 00:47:25,968 You know, what really helped us get out of that robe period 864 00:47:26,093 --> 00:47:28,012 was touring with UFO. 865 00:47:28,137 --> 00:47:30,514 They made fun of us relentlessly 866 00:47:30,639 --> 00:47:33,934 and they would hold up signs and make fun of our lyrics 867 00:47:34,060 --> 00:47:35,895 and I would go up to my microphone 868 00:47:36,020 --> 00:47:38,564 and there'd be a pair of furry slippers 869 00:47:38,689 --> 00:47:40,900 nailed to the stage beside my mic. 870 00:47:41,025 --> 00:47:44,070 They used to call me Glee, and the guys would be at the side telling me... 871 00:47:44,195 --> 00:47:47,198 "It goes perfect with your robe, Glee." 872 00:47:47,323 --> 00:47:49,241 It was good for us because, you know, 873 00:47:49,367 --> 00:47:52,828 you go on stage thinking that maybe there has to be some other thing 874 00:47:52,953 --> 00:47:55,998 but in the end it is always back to the music for us. 875 00:48:02,463 --> 00:48:05,633 ♪ The trouble with the maples ♪ 876 00:48:05,758 --> 00:48:09,011 ♪ And they're quite convinced they're right ♪ 877 00:48:09,136 --> 00:48:12,556 ♪ They say the oaks are just too loffy ♪ 878 00:48:12,681 --> 00:48:15,810 ♪ And they grab up all the light ♪ 879 00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:19,730 ♪ But the oaks can't help their feelings ♪ 880 00:48:19,855 --> 00:48:23,234 ♪ If they like the way they're made ♪ 881 00:48:23,359 --> 00:48:26,904 ♪ And they wonder why the maples ♪ 882 00:48:27,029 --> 00:48:30,449 ♪ Can't be happy in their shade ♪ 883 00:48:31,826 --> 00:48:33,702 Hemispheres was the album 884 00:48:33,828 --> 00:48:37,998 that broke the camel's back in terms of long songs. 885 00:48:38,124 --> 00:48:42,044 The Hemispheres side of that album was incredibly complex, 886 00:48:42,169 --> 00:48:44,547 both thematically and structurally. 887 00:48:44,672 --> 00:48:47,216 ♪ When our weary world was young ♪ 888 00:48:47,341 --> 00:48:51,637 ♪ The struggle of the ancients first began ♪ 889 00:48:51,762 --> 00:48:54,223 ♪ The gods of love and reason ♪ 890 00:48:54,974 --> 00:48:59,895 ♪ Sought alone to rule the fate of man ♪ 891 00:49:00,020 --> 00:49:02,231 we went to a little farmhouse in wales 892 00:49:02,356 --> 00:49:05,276 and wrote all that music, arranged it, learned how to play it. 893 00:49:05,401 --> 00:49:07,695 It was so ambitious and so demanding, 894 00:49:07,820 --> 00:49:09,697 so experimental, all of that. 895 00:49:09,822 --> 00:49:13,242 It was quite manic and our hours became later and later and later, 896 00:49:13,367 --> 00:49:16,078 and it just went around so that we were going to bed at noon, 897 00:49:16,203 --> 00:49:18,080 we were getting up at seven o'clock and having breakfast then 898 00:49:18,205 --> 00:49:20,749 and then working through the night until the morning, 899 00:49:20,875 --> 00:49:22,751 unending, with no time off. 900 00:49:22,877 --> 00:49:27,298 Even the shorter songs on that record, like La villa strangiato, were really hard, 901 00:49:27,423 --> 00:49:29,842 and, of course, we were bound and determined 902 00:49:29,967 --> 00:49:32,595 to record La villa strangiato live in one take. 903 00:49:32,720 --> 00:49:33,971 It was so complicated 904 00:49:34,096 --> 00:49:37,558 and went through so many different mood and time signature changes, 905 00:49:37,683 --> 00:49:39,727 it would have needed to be charted out 906 00:49:39,852 --> 00:49:42,229 in order to keep track of where you were at any given point. 907 00:49:42,354 --> 00:49:46,775 I think we spent eleven days trying to record the bed track only 908 00:49:46,901 --> 00:49:51,405 and we finally had to admit defeat. we had to do it in three parts. 909 00:50:09,840 --> 00:50:14,428 That one, kind of slow, open solo that Alex plays, 910 00:50:14,553 --> 00:50:19,350 the way he built that up had a huge impression on me 911 00:50:19,475 --> 00:50:22,353 because he was creating a mood 912 00:50:22,478 --> 00:50:27,691 by playing very, very sparsely and just slowly amping up the intensity. 913 00:50:27,816 --> 00:50:30,069 I just thought that was the greatest thing 914 00:50:30,194 --> 00:50:33,739 in terms of lead guitar dynamics and phrasing. 915 00:50:33,864 --> 00:50:38,494 I see them as the high priests of conceptual metal. 916 00:50:38,619 --> 00:50:41,038 A big influence. Huge. 917 00:50:50,464 --> 00:50:52,841 Probably the hardest song I ever learned how to play 918 00:50:52,967 --> 00:50:54,385 was La villa strangiato. 919 00:50:54,510 --> 00:50:57,137 The drumming is... It takes everything you've got to get through it. 920 00:50:57,263 --> 00:51:00,349 That was the benchmark of drumming when I was a kid. 921 00:51:00,474 --> 00:51:03,227 I could play YYZ but can you play La villa strangiato? 922 00:51:22,955 --> 00:51:25,583 we'd written material that was really a little beyond us, 923 00:51:25,708 --> 00:51:28,919 considering our level of musicianship at the time. 924 00:51:29,044 --> 00:51:32,381 And that was the thing about Rush, we were always overreaching. 925 00:51:32,506 --> 00:51:36,218 When you listen to early Rush, it was like the riffs were simpler. 926 00:51:36,343 --> 00:51:38,721 It got more complex as they kept going. 927 00:51:38,846 --> 00:51:41,140 With the arrangements, it would be so long, 928 00:51:41,265 --> 00:51:43,183 it would be like the boys were up there going, 929 00:51:43,309 --> 00:51:47,146 "we did write this, didn't we? what part of the song are we in?" 930 00:51:47,271 --> 00:51:48,480 If you could learn those songs, 931 00:51:48,606 --> 00:51:51,400 that was a stepping-stone to just about everything you needed to know. 932 00:51:51,525 --> 00:51:54,111 If you could play those songs with some proficiency, 933 00:51:54,236 --> 00:51:56,405 you could play pretty much anything else. 934 00:51:56,530 --> 00:51:58,198 Just eerily precise. 935 00:51:58,324 --> 00:52:00,409 Everything was just right on the nuggets. 936 00:52:00,534 --> 00:52:02,661 I bet, if you went in with a computer, 937 00:52:02,786 --> 00:52:07,916 Neil Peart would probably be right on the beat to, like, an atom. 938 00:52:08,042 --> 00:52:10,461 At least that's how it sounds when you're listening with the headphones, 939 00:52:10,586 --> 00:52:13,130 you're like, "He's not even human." 940 00:52:13,255 --> 00:52:15,299 Geddy Lee is still my favorite bass player. 941 00:52:15,424 --> 00:52:18,761 It would be like, "wow! That guy who's shredding the bass is also singing 942 00:52:18,886 --> 00:52:21,055 "and playing the keyboards with his feet and hands?" 943 00:52:21,180 --> 00:52:23,849 And he would move his microphone a lot with his nose, 944 00:52:23,974 --> 00:52:25,893 he actually figured a way to use it. 945 00:52:26,018 --> 00:52:27,186 If it weren't for the nose, 946 00:52:27,311 --> 00:52:29,438 I don't think he could have done the keyboards, bass and singing. 947 00:52:29,563 --> 00:52:32,107 I really don't. I think the nose was what enabled him 948 00:52:32,232 --> 00:52:34,109 to get the microphone where he needed it to be. 949 00:52:34,234 --> 00:52:37,071 He has a big nose. Props to the nose! 950 00:53:04,598 --> 00:53:06,975 we knew at the time we were overreaching ourselves 951 00:53:07,101 --> 00:53:09,978 and we agreed among ourselves in 1978 when we finished Hemispheres, 952 00:53:10,104 --> 00:53:13,482 we're not doing this again, we're not making this kind of record again. 953 00:53:13,607 --> 00:53:16,318 We knew that was the end of that era, of the epics. 954 00:53:16,443 --> 00:53:18,278 You've been touring now for how many years? 955 00:53:18,404 --> 00:53:19,613 Well, professionally, 956 00:53:19,738 --> 00:53:22,658 in the united states and around the world, about five years. 957 00:53:22,783 --> 00:53:25,869 About five years. How many concerts do you average a year? 958 00:53:25,994 --> 00:53:28,997 About 200, maybe more. 959 00:53:29,123 --> 00:53:30,874 200 concerts a year for five years. 960 00:53:30,999 --> 00:53:32,459 How long can you keep that up? 961 00:53:32,584 --> 00:53:35,462 As long as we can. As long as we're still standing. 962 00:53:35,587 --> 00:53:37,715 we were working all the time. 963 00:53:37,840 --> 00:53:41,552 I remember at one point we counted 1 I one-nighters in a row. 964 00:53:41,677 --> 00:53:43,971 We were getting fried and getting stupid. 965 00:53:44,096 --> 00:53:49,226 Not taking care of ourselves, just burning out. 966 00:53:49,351 --> 00:53:52,229 We didn't like what we were becoming as people. 967 00:53:52,354 --> 00:53:55,816 In my personal life I was getting alienated from my wife, 968 00:53:55,941 --> 00:53:57,568 we were just starting to have kids 969 00:53:57,693 --> 00:54:00,362 and once you start introducing children into your life, 970 00:54:00,487 --> 00:54:03,240 you can't be so selfish. You just can't. 971 00:54:03,365 --> 00:54:06,702 I think we all cherish the fact that we're pretty normal guys. 972 00:54:06,827 --> 00:54:10,080 I got married when I was young. I had a family early. 973 00:54:10,205 --> 00:54:13,542 I introduced Geddy's wife to him when we were teenagers. 974 00:54:13,667 --> 00:54:17,045 Family was the most important thing to me in my life. 975 00:54:17,171 --> 00:54:18,630 we were trying to remember 976 00:54:18,756 --> 00:54:22,509 music is just one of the things we had chosen to do with our lives. 977 00:54:22,634 --> 00:54:23,719 Not everything. 978 00:54:23,844 --> 00:54:26,555 If we'd kept going like that, we would have crashed. 979 00:54:26,680 --> 00:54:28,223 Something started to break. 980 00:54:28,348 --> 00:54:30,726 I think the heaviness of Hemispheres 981 00:54:30,851 --> 00:54:33,729 made us want to run away from that kind of album 982 00:54:33,854 --> 00:54:36,982 so we ran from Hemispheres straight into spirit of Radio. 983 00:55:04,259 --> 00:55:07,471 ♪ Begin the day with a friendly voice ♪ 984 00:55:07,596 --> 00:55:10,724 ♪ A companion unobtrusive ♪ 985 00:55:11,391 --> 00:55:14,645 ♪ Plays that song that's so elusive ♪ 986 00:55:14,770 --> 00:55:18,357 ♪ And the magic music makes your morning mood ♪ 987 00:55:25,906 --> 00:55:27,991 Permanent waves was a joy to me. 988 00:55:28,116 --> 00:55:31,119 We were in canada, you know, our families were close, 989 00:55:31,245 --> 00:55:32,996 that's when we discovered Le studio 990 00:55:33,121 --> 00:55:36,124 and the songs just came together. Just boom, boom, boom. 991 00:55:36,250 --> 00:55:37,251 oK, the new album. 992 00:55:37,376 --> 00:55:39,795 There are a number of new things, new approaches to the album. 993 00:55:39,920 --> 00:55:41,004 Tell me what's new about it. 994 00:55:41,129 --> 00:55:42,214 You tell him. 995 00:55:42,339 --> 00:55:45,300 Basically, its newness derives from experiments 996 00:55:45,425 --> 00:55:47,636 we've conducted over the last couple of albums. 997 00:55:47,761 --> 00:55:49,680 Through Hemispheres and Farewell To Kings, 998 00:55:49,805 --> 00:55:52,266 we were experimenting with a lot of new instruments and sounds 999 00:55:52,391 --> 00:55:54,810 and rhythmic approaches and so on. This time we found ways 1000 00:55:54,935 --> 00:55:58,647 to put those directions into a single stream and consequently, I think, 1001 00:55:58,772 --> 00:56:00,858 the album probably has a more direct feel to it. 1002 00:56:00,983 --> 00:56:03,318 The whole music industry is going primitive, 1003 00:56:03,443 --> 00:56:05,320 new wave, minimal, rock-'n'- roll. Do you care? 1004 00:56:05,445 --> 00:56:08,323 There's gonna be some bands that have gone back to basics, 1005 00:56:08,448 --> 00:56:11,368 but those bands can't do anything but play basics. 1006 00:56:11,493 --> 00:56:13,453 But all the real interesting new-wave bands 1007 00:56:13,579 --> 00:56:15,205 seem to be developing and progressing 1008 00:56:15,330 --> 00:56:16,665 into more interesting styles. 1009 00:56:16,790 --> 00:56:19,001 - Who do you listen to at home? - All kinds of people. 1010 00:56:19,126 --> 00:56:21,962 Recently been Talking Heads on the turntable a lot. 1011 00:56:22,087 --> 00:56:23,088 The Police. 1012 00:56:23,213 --> 00:56:27,175 I was a huge fan of The Police, ultravox and all these new English bands. 1013 00:56:27,301 --> 00:56:29,678 I loved them. It became a part of our sensibility. 1014 00:56:29,803 --> 00:56:31,847 Permanent waves still had a couple of longer songs on it 1015 00:56:31,972 --> 00:56:34,850 but The spirit of Radio was the emblematic song of that period. 1016 00:56:34,975 --> 00:56:38,020 The mix of sounds in it, the approach to electronic music and reggae, 1017 00:56:38,145 --> 00:56:39,813 that's all the stuff I was listening to. 1018 00:56:42,482 --> 00:56:46,778 ♪ For the words of the prophets were written on the studio wall ♪ 1019 00:56:48,614 --> 00:56:50,324 ♪ Concert hall ♪ 1020 00:56:51,617 --> 00:56:53,368 They seemed to have that knack 1021 00:56:53,493 --> 00:56:56,580 of being able to use time signatures at will 1022 00:56:56,705 --> 00:56:58,874 and yet make them feel seamless. 1023 00:56:58,999 --> 00:57:00,834 If you're changing time signatures 1024 00:57:00,959 --> 00:57:03,211 and your audience aren't really aware of it, 1025 00:57:03,337 --> 00:57:05,172 then you've got something special. 1026 00:57:05,297 --> 00:57:06,506 Rush find a real interesting way 1027 00:57:06,632 --> 00:57:08,508 of drawing a straight line through the song, 1028 00:57:08,634 --> 00:57:10,636 whether it's melodically or rhythmically. 1029 00:57:10,761 --> 00:57:14,514 And when you put together the sound of the band being so recognized 1030 00:57:14,640 --> 00:57:18,393 and their ability to make sure there's a lifeline for people out there 1031 00:57:18,518 --> 00:57:20,896 who can't quite tap their foot to an odd time signature, 1032 00:57:21,021 --> 00:57:22,898 that makes what Rush does genius 1033 00:57:23,023 --> 00:57:25,776 when it comes to still being able to be played on the radio. 1034 00:57:29,196 --> 00:57:32,407 ♪ we are secrets to each other ♪ 1035 00:57:33,367 --> 00:57:38,455 ♪ Each one's life a novel no one else has read ♪ 1036 00:57:38,580 --> 00:57:41,667 ♪ Even joined in bonds of love ♪ 1037 00:57:42,584 --> 00:57:48,465 ♪ We're linked to one another by such slender threads ♪ 1038 00:57:50,550 --> 00:57:53,136 I think Permanent waves was, in a way, 1039 00:57:53,261 --> 00:57:55,138 the most important stepping stone 1040 00:57:55,263 --> 00:57:58,141 because, just like caress of steel is to 2112, 1041 00:57:58,266 --> 00:58:01,979 there would be no Moving Pictures without Permanent waves first. 1042 00:58:02,104 --> 00:58:03,814 As I define it, that's when we became us. 1043 00:58:03,939 --> 00:58:06,191 I think Rush was born with Moving Pictures really. 1044 00:58:11,738 --> 00:58:14,491 ♪ A modern-day warrior, mean, mean stride ♪ 1045 00:58:14,616 --> 00:58:17,369 ♪ Today's Tom sawyer, mean, mean pride ♪ 1046 00:58:19,162 --> 00:58:21,999 It represents so much that we learned up to that time 1047 00:58:22,124 --> 00:58:24,126 about song writing, about arrangement. 1048 00:58:24,251 --> 00:58:26,795 That's when we brought our band identity together too, 1049 00:58:26,920 --> 00:58:30,632 how we like to play individually and as a band at the same time. 1050 00:58:30,757 --> 00:58:32,384 Now when I look back on those songs, 1051 00:58:32,509 --> 00:58:35,637 I'm glad to say to people that I will never get tired of playing Tom sawyer 1052 00:58:35,762 --> 00:58:39,266 because it's difficult to play right, and any time I do play it right, I feel good. 1053 00:58:51,111 --> 00:58:53,321 ♪ No, his mind is not for rent ♪ 1054 00:58:53,447 --> 00:58:55,449 ♪ To any god or government ♪ 1055 00:58:56,408 --> 00:58:58,994 ♪ Always hopeful, yet discontent ♪ 1056 00:58:59,119 --> 00:59:01,288 ♪ He knows changes aren't permanent ♪ 1057 00:59:02,456 --> 00:59:04,458 ♪ But change is ♪ 1058 00:59:05,000 --> 00:59:07,627 suddenly we were on the radio everywhere that summer. 1059 00:59:07,753 --> 00:59:09,171 Our concert audiences doubled. 1060 00:59:09,296 --> 00:59:12,340 You could picture it in the high-school halls, "Are you gonna see Rush?" 1061 00:59:12,466 --> 00:59:16,011 "oh, yeah, man. I'm going." we were that band that year. 1062 00:59:16,136 --> 00:59:19,222 we were playing 120, 130 cities in America. 1063 00:59:19,347 --> 00:59:21,600 We were going back to places where, 1064 00:59:21,725 --> 00:59:24,019 if we were a theatre act at the start of that tour, 1065 00:59:24,144 --> 00:59:25,187 by the end of that cycle 1066 00:59:25,312 --> 00:59:28,231 we'd gone back to those places and we were in the arena. 1067 00:59:28,356 --> 00:59:31,985 Their latest release, Moving Pictures, is number one on Toronto's album charts 1068 00:59:32,110 --> 00:59:34,696 and they're close to selling out an unprecedented three nights 1069 00:59:34,821 --> 00:59:36,364 at the full Maple Leaf Gardens. 1070 00:59:36,490 --> 00:59:38,033 Here's a cut from Moving Pictures, 1071 00:59:38,158 --> 00:59:40,702 platinum after only four weeks of release. 1072 00:59:40,827 --> 00:59:44,039 ♪ suddenly ahead of me ♪ 1073 00:59:44,164 --> 00:59:47,167 ♪ Across the mountainside ♪ 1074 00:59:47,292 --> 00:59:49,878 ♪ A gleaming alloy air-car ♪ 1075 00:59:50,003 --> 00:59:53,548 ♪ Shoots towards me, two lanes wide ♪ 1076 00:59:54,216 --> 00:59:57,844 ♪ I spin around with shrieking tires ♪ 1077 00:59:57,969 --> 00:59:59,679 ♪ To run the deadly race ♪ 1078 01:00:00,972 --> 01:00:03,725 ♪ Go screaming through the valley ♪ 1079 01:00:03,850 --> 01:00:07,479 ♪ As another joins the chase ♪ 1080 01:00:28,208 --> 01:00:29,918 ♪ Drive like the wind ♪ 1081 01:00:30,043 --> 01:00:33,547 ♪ Straining the limits of machine and man ♪ 1082 01:00:34,965 --> 01:00:37,926 ♪ Laughing out loud with fear and hope ♪ 1083 01:00:38,051 --> 01:00:40,554 ♪ I've got a desperate plan ♪ 1084 01:00:41,388 --> 01:00:42,889 ♪ At the one-lane bridge ♪ 1085 01:00:43,014 --> 01:00:46,726 ♪ I leave the giants stranded at the riverside ♪ 1086 01:00:47,936 --> 01:00:50,021 ♪ Race back to the farm ♪ 1087 01:00:50,147 --> 01:00:54,151 ♪ To dream with my uncle at the fireside ♪ 1088 01:01:17,257 --> 01:01:20,468 Moving Pictures was a mixed blessing to me, in retrospect, 1089 01:01:20,594 --> 01:01:22,596 for me, personally in my life. 1090 01:01:22,721 --> 01:01:25,140 A lot of strange people came out of the woodwork. 1091 01:01:25,265 --> 01:01:28,977 There was so much attention on us at that time, that was transitory. 1092 01:01:29,102 --> 01:01:30,729 Generally, we were pretty private 1093 01:01:30,854 --> 01:01:33,523 and I think Moving Pictures was the turning point 1094 01:01:33,648 --> 01:01:36,276 when there was a lot of pressure from fans wanting a piece of you 1095 01:01:36,401 --> 01:01:39,154 or believing they were connected to you in some other way. 1096 01:01:39,279 --> 01:01:42,157 There was a time when we first started getting recognized 1097 01:01:42,282 --> 01:01:43,992 that I got a little touchy about it 1098 01:01:44,117 --> 01:01:46,578 and I remember I started thinking about this thing, 1099 01:01:46,703 --> 01:01:48,705 about fame and how you deal with it. 1100 01:01:48,830 --> 01:01:50,207 That was kind of an epiphany 1101 01:01:50,332 --> 01:01:52,918 and I said to myself, "I'm gonna go where I want to go 1102 01:01:53,043 --> 01:01:56,296 "and if somebody comes up to me and is nice and wants an autograph, 1103 01:01:56,421 --> 01:01:58,298 "I got time for them. It's no big deal." 1104 01:01:58,423 --> 01:01:59,841 Geddy, right? 1105 01:01:59,966 --> 01:02:01,343 That's right. 1106 01:02:01,468 --> 01:02:03,637 Oh my God, that's Geddy? 1107 01:02:03,762 --> 01:02:04,679 Yeah! 1108 01:02:04,804 --> 01:02:07,140 - Just making a video of them. - No problem. 1109 01:02:08,975 --> 01:02:11,019 - One is to... - sorry. 1110 01:02:12,020 --> 01:02:15,023 - One is to shawny. - Didn't mean to get in your way. sorry. 1111 01:02:15,148 --> 01:02:16,816 The first one is to shawny. 1112 01:02:18,276 --> 01:02:20,111 And the next one's to Troy. 1113 01:02:22,864 --> 01:02:25,659 Thank you. That's it, I promise. I'm so sorry... 1114 01:02:25,784 --> 01:02:28,620 You want his too? He's the leader of the group. 1115 01:02:31,623 --> 01:02:34,167 I can walk around the city and get recognized from time to time, 1116 01:02:34,292 --> 01:02:36,544 Geddy more so. He's got a very distinctive look about him. 1117 01:02:36,670 --> 01:02:39,589 But generally people are very polite, they don't want too much from you. 1118 01:02:39,714 --> 01:02:42,509 I understand that these are your fans that just love what you do. 1119 01:02:42,634 --> 01:02:44,344 There's been a moment in their lives 1120 01:02:44,469 --> 01:02:46,471 where your music has been so important to them 1121 01:02:46,596 --> 01:02:48,932 that to take a couple of minutes and just chat, 1122 01:02:49,057 --> 01:02:51,518 shake a hand or hug or something, it's not a big deal. 1123 01:02:51,643 --> 01:02:53,061 I remember when I met them, 1124 01:02:53,186 --> 01:02:56,273 I was just struck by Geddy Lee and Lifeson's friendship, 1125 01:02:56,398 --> 01:02:58,608 it seemed like they had a real deep bond. 1126 01:02:58,733 --> 01:03:00,735 Real playful and sort of goofy, 1127 01:03:00,860 --> 01:03:03,863 it just seemed like there was a lot of joy there, a lot of genuine fun. 1128 01:03:03,989 --> 01:03:08,660 And then I turned the corner and then I saw the master, Neil Peart. 1129 01:03:08,785 --> 01:03:10,912 He had, sort of, a different vibe going, 1130 01:03:11,037 --> 01:03:13,915 just as focused but a brewing intensity. 1131 01:03:14,040 --> 01:03:16,251 Little wisps of darkness. 1132 01:03:16,376 --> 01:03:20,755 Neil has a real struggle with fans and it's not a personal thing. 1133 01:03:20,880 --> 01:03:22,215 It's a shyness thing. 1134 01:03:22,340 --> 01:03:26,594 He's not able to be as relaxed around strangers as Alex or I am. 1135 01:03:26,720 --> 01:03:29,723 You know, he doesn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings by it, 1136 01:03:29,848 --> 01:03:33,268 he's not trying to be rude, he's just not comfortable. 1137 01:03:33,393 --> 01:03:35,562 OK, I was the world's biggest who fan as a kid. 1138 01:03:35,687 --> 01:03:38,982 I never dreamed of trying to find their hotel and knocking on their doors 1139 01:03:39,107 --> 01:03:42,152 or interfering in their lives in any way, that I don't understand. 1140 01:03:42,277 --> 01:03:43,737 I love being appreciated, 1141 01:03:43,862 --> 01:03:45,613 being respected is awfully good 1142 01:03:45,739 --> 01:03:48,783 but anything beyond that just creeps me out, you know. 1143 01:03:48,908 --> 01:03:51,119 Any sense of adulation is just so wrong. 1144 01:03:51,244 --> 01:03:52,954 I got a chance to go meet Neil Peart 1145 01:03:53,079 --> 01:03:57,208 and I got brought into a room and I started to tell him, "Hey, I'm the hugest fan ever," 1146 01:03:57,334 --> 01:03:59,919 and I got, sort of, "the Neil Peart cold shoulder" 1147 01:04:00,045 --> 01:04:01,963 and the security guard removed me from the room. 1148 01:04:02,088 --> 01:04:03,757 It was a weird uncomfortable situation. 1149 01:04:03,882 --> 01:04:06,968 I love Neil Peart even though he totally blacklisted me. 1150 01:04:07,093 --> 01:04:10,388 But I don't know, if I was Neil Peart and I walked in the room, 1151 01:04:10,513 --> 01:04:12,640 I would probably want to remove me too. 1152 01:04:13,808 --> 01:04:16,853 Neil was great. A very intense man but very... you know. 1153 01:04:16,978 --> 01:04:21,358 His line, "I can't pretend a stranger is a long-awaited friend," that's Neil. 1154 01:04:21,483 --> 01:04:24,319 When people have a fantasy, I don't want to trample on it, 1155 01:04:24,444 --> 01:04:25,862 but I also don't want to live it 1156 01:04:25,987 --> 01:04:29,532 and people can think that I'm antisocial or a sourpuss, it's really not. 1157 01:04:29,657 --> 01:04:31,701 It doesn't make me mad, it embarrasses me. 1158 01:04:31,826 --> 01:04:34,037 The other guys are obviously comfortable with it 1159 01:04:34,162 --> 01:04:35,997 and they do the meets and greets every night 1160 01:04:36,122 --> 01:04:37,457 and that's fine, they can do it. 1161 01:04:40,460 --> 01:04:42,712 one, two, three... 1162 01:04:44,339 --> 01:04:45,632 one, two, three... 1163 01:04:46,007 --> 01:04:47,801 one, two, three... 1164 01:04:49,010 --> 01:04:51,137 Thank you. It's lovely meeting you. 1165 01:04:51,262 --> 01:04:53,348 I am so appreciative of our fans. 1166 01:04:53,473 --> 01:04:55,350 I bless their hearts every single day, 1167 01:04:55,475 --> 01:04:57,394 but they're hard to analyze as a group 1168 01:04:57,519 --> 01:04:59,229 because they're so different. 1169 01:04:59,354 --> 01:05:00,688 We have hard-core fans. 1170 01:05:00,814 --> 01:05:03,817 The old fans that have been there from the beginning, 1171 01:05:03,942 --> 01:05:06,820 they're usually male and they are really intense. 1172 01:05:14,702 --> 01:05:18,873 In the early stages it was very young, almost 100% male. 1173 01:05:18,998 --> 01:05:20,583 And then, as the years went by, 1174 01:05:20,708 --> 01:05:23,503 it remained 100% male. 1175 01:05:23,628 --> 01:05:26,714 chicks did not really dig it, you know. 1176 01:05:26,840 --> 01:05:31,636 I still don't put on caress of steel that otfen with my wife around. 1177 01:05:32,846 --> 01:05:34,222 Whoo! 1178 01:05:37,350 --> 01:05:40,395 Tonight is my 113th Rush show. 1179 01:05:40,520 --> 01:05:44,023 The last time I missed a show anywhere in Europe was on the signals tour. 1180 01:05:44,149 --> 01:05:45,859 Tonight will be the seventh on this tour. 1181 01:05:45,984 --> 01:05:49,571 I've been to two in America, one in canada, did all six on the last u K tour. 1182 01:05:49,696 --> 01:05:51,739 My name's Pete, I'm from cleveland, ohio. 1183 01:05:51,865 --> 01:05:54,409 I just had my 100th show in stockholm. 1184 01:05:54,534 --> 01:05:57,454 ♪ You can choose from phantom fears ♪ 1185 01:05:57,579 --> 01:06:00,790 ♪ And kindness that can kill ♪ 1186 01:06:00,915 --> 01:06:04,002 ♪ I will choose a path that's clear ♪ 1187 01:06:04,127 --> 01:06:06,713 ♪ I will choose free will ♪ 1188 01:06:07,547 --> 01:06:10,049 Rush fans are like Nascar fans. They ain't going anywhere. 1189 01:06:10,175 --> 01:06:12,594 They're brand loyalty. They are a cult band. 1190 01:06:12,719 --> 01:06:14,012 When you go to a Rush concert, 1191 01:06:14,137 --> 01:06:16,556 there ain't anybody leaving it till the song is over. 1192 01:06:16,681 --> 01:06:19,100 They're waiting for their favorite part, they're nudging their friend, 1193 01:06:19,225 --> 01:06:21,603 they're going, "Look, he played it perfect." They're riveted to the band. 1194 01:06:21,728 --> 01:06:25,106 The band have that relationship with their audience, 1195 01:06:25,231 --> 01:06:29,444 where their audience really feel like the Rush lyrics communicate to them, 1196 01:06:29,569 --> 01:06:32,780 make them feel like their experience is heard. 1197 01:06:32,906 --> 01:06:36,326 I have this memory of sitting in the basement with my mother. 1198 01:06:36,451 --> 01:06:40,914 I actually said to her, "I wanna play you a song." 1199 01:06:41,039 --> 01:06:43,541 And it was very hard to ever get my parents' attention or anything 1200 01:06:43,666 --> 01:06:44,876 so it was, like, a big deal. 1201 01:06:45,001 --> 01:06:47,629 "Will you please sit here and I wanna play you a song." 1202 01:06:47,754 --> 01:06:49,297 And I played Entre Nous 1203 01:06:49,422 --> 01:06:53,927 and I gave her the lyric sheet because I wanted her to understand 1204 01:06:54,052 --> 01:06:57,805 that this song was connecting with me on some level. 1205 01:06:57,931 --> 01:07:00,225 When I was sixteen years old, I wasn't as emotionally open. 1206 01:07:00,350 --> 01:07:01,976 I was very withdrawn, 1207 01:07:02,101 --> 01:07:04,479 so something about that song allowed me to say, 1208 01:07:04,604 --> 01:07:07,273 "somehow this song is almost like it's written for me." 1209 01:07:07,398 --> 01:07:09,317 Music, when you're growing up, is such a strong part of like... 1210 01:07:09,442 --> 01:07:11,444 "what do you like? what's your identity?" 1211 01:07:11,569 --> 01:07:13,696 Rush seemed to be just a complete added dimension 1212 01:07:13,821 --> 01:07:16,950 of not being obsessed with girls and hair and shit like that. 1213 01:07:17,075 --> 01:07:20,537 They seemed to be kind of smart and, fancying myself as a really smart kid, 1214 01:07:20,662 --> 01:07:21,913 I was like, "oh, that's my deal." 1215 01:07:22,038 --> 01:07:26,793 ♪ Not so clearly charted, it's really just a question of your honesty ♪ 1216 01:07:27,919 --> 01:07:29,796 ♪ Yeah, your honesty ♪ 1217 01:07:30,797 --> 01:07:34,551 ♪ Glittering prizes and endless compromises ♪ 1218 01:07:34,676 --> 01:07:38,179 ♪ Shatter the illusion of integrity, yeah ♪ 1219 01:07:38,304 --> 01:07:40,181 Dum, tss, mm! 1220 01:07:40,306 --> 01:07:42,684 I mean, when you're hearing lyrics like that 1221 01:07:42,809 --> 01:07:46,980 that are so earnest and sincere, talking about honesty in art 1222 01:07:47,105 --> 01:07:50,233 and asking some of the tougher intellectual questions, 1223 01:07:50,358 --> 01:07:52,277 with that great music behind it, 1224 01:07:52,402 --> 01:07:57,240 they really offered something in rock that was in short supply. 1225 01:07:57,365 --> 01:08:00,952 And plus they sang in French on circumstances. 1226 01:08:01,077 --> 01:08:04,831 "Plus c'est la meme, plus c'est la meme chose." 1227 01:08:04,956 --> 01:08:07,500 That was pretty tricky, you didn't hear that on any Kiss records. 1228 01:08:07,625 --> 01:08:09,669 It's like, the dude is singing in French now. 1229 01:08:09,794 --> 01:08:11,754 I can't even figure out his English! 1230 01:08:11,879 --> 01:08:15,258 It wasn't for everybody, and it wasn't necessarily cool. 1231 01:08:15,383 --> 01:08:20,305 You were kind of like a Rush geek, a music nerd, a kind of nerd, 1232 01:08:20,430 --> 01:08:22,515 and it was sort of nerdy music I suppose. 1233 01:08:26,144 --> 01:08:29,522 ♪ Growing up, it all seems so one-sided ♪ 1234 01:08:29,647 --> 01:08:32,442 ♪ Opinions all provided ♪ 1235 01:08:32,567 --> 01:08:35,612 ♪ The future predecided ♪ 1236 01:08:35,737 --> 01:08:38,406 ♪ Detached and subdivided ♪ 1237 01:08:38,531 --> 01:08:41,534 ♪ In the mass-production zone ♪ 1238 01:08:42,660 --> 01:08:48,583 ♪ Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone ♪ 1239 01:08:49,292 --> 01:08:52,629 You listen to subdivisions and it just seemed like, exactly my life. 1240 01:08:52,754 --> 01:08:55,715 You know, I was that kid who was watching the car 1241 01:08:55,840 --> 01:08:57,634 drive away with all the cool kids 1242 01:08:57,759 --> 01:08:59,927 going off to a party that I wasn't invited to. 1243 01:09:00,053 --> 01:09:02,972 It was just nice to feel like there was a rock song out there 1244 01:09:03,097 --> 01:09:05,767 that spoke to my experience of trying to be cool 1245 01:09:05,892 --> 01:09:09,937 and worrying about being cast out of a group of friends if you weren't cool. 1246 01:09:10,063 --> 01:09:11,022 I wasn't very cool, 1247 01:09:11,147 --> 01:09:14,233 but luckily I had a group of friends that was equally not cool. 1248 01:09:14,359 --> 01:09:17,654 I lived in a housing development, suburbia backyard barbecues, 1249 01:09:17,779 --> 01:09:21,240 a lot of the stuff that, I think, most American kids can relate to. 1250 01:09:21,366 --> 01:09:22,825 I remember watching the video, 1251 01:09:22,950 --> 01:09:25,328 and I'm like, "Damn, that represents me, right there." 1252 01:09:25,453 --> 01:09:28,456 This one person walking around, not really being in a group, 1253 01:09:28,581 --> 01:09:32,293 it seemed like it was this person that nobody really could relate to. 1254 01:09:32,752 --> 01:09:36,339 - ♪ Subdivisions ♪ - ♪ In the high-school halls ♪ 1255 01:09:36,464 --> 01:09:38,633 ♪ In the shopping malls ♪ 1256 01:09:38,758 --> 01:09:41,844 - ♪ Conform or be cast out ♪ - ♪ subdivisions ♪ 1257 01:09:41,969 --> 01:09:43,221 The thing I loved about Neil 1258 01:09:43,346 --> 01:09:46,265 was he took very complex, metaphysical themes 1259 01:09:46,391 --> 01:09:49,310 and he was able to put them in a way that everybody could understand. 1260 01:09:49,435 --> 01:09:51,354 And whether he was ripping off shakespeare 1261 01:09:51,479 --> 01:09:54,148 or he was quoting his own heart, 1262 01:09:54,273 --> 01:09:56,984 he was able to do it in a way that never felt snobby. 1263 01:09:57,110 --> 01:09:59,862 It always felt like he was in the room talking to you. 1264 01:09:59,987 --> 01:10:02,407 words can carry different freight for different people, of course. 1265 01:10:02,532 --> 01:10:04,492 But those who do have the sensitivity 1266 01:10:04,617 --> 01:10:07,995 to pay the kind of attention to lyrics that I put into them, 1267 01:10:08,121 --> 01:10:09,664 it's wonderful to connect that way, 1268 01:10:09,789 --> 01:10:12,041 to feel that you're not playing down to anyone. 1269 01:10:12,166 --> 01:10:15,586 We always had the impression that people are just as smart as we are, 1270 01:10:15,712 --> 01:10:18,005 so if we can figure this stuff out, they can too. 1271 01:10:18,131 --> 01:10:21,300 And we're not being that terrible, damning word, pretentious. 1272 01:10:21,426 --> 01:10:22,969 We're not pretending anything. 1273 01:10:23,094 --> 01:10:25,012 This is really what turned us on this year. 1274 01:10:25,138 --> 01:10:29,475 Lyrically, it's always been a reflection of my times and the times I observe. 1275 01:10:29,600 --> 01:10:31,310 But everyone is a reflection of me. 1276 01:10:43,197 --> 01:10:46,743 we could have gone in and done Moving Pictures all over again 1277 01:10:46,868 --> 01:10:51,831 but we're too curious, we're too dissatisfied with where we're at 1278 01:10:51,956 --> 01:10:54,876 and just because we got successful doesn't mean we're going to stop. 1279 01:10:55,001 --> 01:10:58,463 And that's the motivation. we have to find the better Rush. 1280 01:10:58,588 --> 01:11:00,923 There was a big shiff happening on signals, 1281 01:11:01,048 --> 01:11:03,885 the keyboards were becoming more and more important, 1282 01:11:04,010 --> 01:11:05,720 from Geddy's standpoint that is. 1283 01:11:05,845 --> 01:11:08,598 And also, one of the biggest things at that point for me 1284 01:11:08,723 --> 01:11:10,558 was Neil getting into the electronic drum kit. 1285 01:11:10,683 --> 01:11:12,018 It didn't really appeal to me. 1286 01:11:12,143 --> 01:11:16,731 I wanted to still have that element of the basic acoustic band. 1287 01:11:16,856 --> 01:11:19,692 we'd been working with Terry for ten years at that point 1288 01:11:19,817 --> 01:11:21,569 and we really felt the need to expand 1289 01:11:21,694 --> 01:11:23,988 and see what it was like to work with other people 1290 01:11:24,113 --> 01:11:27,033 and it was a very tough transition because we were so close. 1291 01:11:27,158 --> 01:11:29,118 Terry was like the fourth member of the band. 1292 01:11:29,243 --> 01:11:32,163 It was Neil who broke the news to me on the bus and he said, 1293 01:11:32,288 --> 01:11:34,916 "Just think of it like a boyfriend and girlfriend, 1294 01:11:35,041 --> 01:11:38,377 "they want to split up for a while, have a break from each other." 1295 01:11:38,503 --> 01:11:39,712 I was surprised 1296 01:11:39,837 --> 01:11:43,424 because I figured we would figure it out and we'd move to the next level. 1297 01:11:43,549 --> 01:11:45,593 But it was time for a change 1298 01:11:45,718 --> 01:11:48,805 and I didn't really want to do an electronic band, 1299 01:11:48,930 --> 01:11:51,140 which is where I thought it was going. 1300 01:12:03,444 --> 01:12:06,197 ♪ An ill wind comes arising ♪ 1301 01:12:06,322 --> 01:12:08,533 ♪ Across the cities of the plain ♪ 1302 01:12:09,659 --> 01:12:12,245 ♪ There's no swimming in the heavy water ♪ 1303 01:12:12,370 --> 01:12:15,248 ♪ No singing in the acid rain ♪ 1304 01:12:15,373 --> 01:12:17,124 ♪ Red alert, red alert ♪ 1305 01:12:17,250 --> 01:12:18,876 ♪ Red alert ♪ 1306 01:12:19,001 --> 01:12:21,963 To be honest with you, I'd never really heard of Rush in England. 1307 01:12:22,088 --> 01:12:23,548 I was a pop producer, 1308 01:12:23,673 --> 01:12:24,757 so I was kind of bemused 1309 01:12:24,882 --> 01:12:27,093 when I got the call to come and produce them. 1310 01:12:27,218 --> 01:12:30,012 I was coming from that whole British '80s music scene. 1311 01:12:30,137 --> 01:12:31,931 I was trying to bring them into line 1312 01:12:32,056 --> 01:12:35,309 with what I perceived to be the contemporary, modern pop music, 1313 01:12:35,434 --> 01:12:37,812 the new technology, the new keyboard sounds. 1314 01:12:37,937 --> 01:12:39,480 We all loved the music of that time. 1315 01:12:39,605 --> 01:12:40,690 We were young enough too, 1316 01:12:40,815 --> 01:12:43,484 and we didn't have any protective nature of what Rush was 1317 01:12:43,609 --> 01:12:46,821 that they could never be allowed to be influenced by new-wave music 1318 01:12:46,946 --> 01:12:48,364 or could never use an African rhythm. 1319 01:12:48,489 --> 01:12:50,783 There was no such thing as "That doesn't suit Rush." 1320 01:12:50,908 --> 01:12:52,618 Those words have never been uttered. 1321 01:12:58,583 --> 01:13:00,960 ♪ Ragged lines of ragged gray ♪ 1322 01:13:02,670 --> 01:13:06,507 ♪ Skeletons, they shuffle away ♪ 1323 01:13:06,632 --> 01:13:09,468 ♪ Shouting guards and smoking guns ♪ 1324 01:13:10,052 --> 01:13:12,680 ♪ Will cut down the unlucky ones ♪ 1325 01:13:15,016 --> 01:13:20,146 synthesizers and technology became a way of sparking your creativity. 1326 01:13:20,271 --> 01:13:23,024 I liked it because my need to write melodies 1327 01:13:23,149 --> 01:13:25,484 is more satisfied writing on a keyboard. 1328 01:13:25,610 --> 01:13:27,862 As a songwriter, you're always looking for an angle 1329 01:13:27,987 --> 01:13:29,196 to give you something fresh. 1330 01:13:29,322 --> 01:13:31,073 Coming from a trained keyboard background, 1331 01:13:31,198 --> 01:13:34,744 you always felt kinda left out in the rock world 1332 01:13:34,869 --> 01:13:37,371 because keyboards really weren't that cool. 1333 01:13:37,496 --> 01:13:38,831 Rush was one of those bands 1334 01:13:38,956 --> 01:13:41,208 that the way they started integrating synths 1335 01:13:41,334 --> 01:13:42,835 seemed wildly exciting to me. 1336 01:13:42,960 --> 01:13:46,672 Wow, this can actually fill the role of what a guitar player would have done, 1337 01:13:46,797 --> 01:13:49,133 eats up the mid-range rhythm-section space. 1338 01:13:49,258 --> 01:13:51,010 I'd be hard pressed to think of another... 1339 01:13:51,135 --> 01:13:52,720 someone else who's done it like that. 1340 01:13:52,845 --> 01:13:57,266 Once the keyboards and the shorter songs became more of their sound, 1341 01:13:57,391 --> 01:14:00,186 that's when I kind of moved on to other things. 1342 01:14:00,311 --> 01:14:02,730 I didn't like it and I still really don't like it that much. 1343 01:14:02,855 --> 01:14:05,524 And Geddy would spend a lot of time on the keyboard 1344 01:14:05,650 --> 01:14:07,360 and, as a bass player, I love the bass, 1345 01:14:07,485 --> 01:14:10,613 and so when my favorite bass player's playing the keyboards, 1346 01:14:10,738 --> 01:14:12,448 I'm not that psyched about it. 1347 01:14:12,573 --> 01:14:15,409 I loved the idea of the keyboards when we first started. 1348 01:14:15,534 --> 01:14:18,287 I think as that part of our sound developed, 1349 01:14:18,412 --> 01:14:23,918 there were times where we just got on the wrong track. 1350 01:14:24,043 --> 01:14:26,754 Alex and I had some real disagreements 1351 01:14:26,879 --> 01:14:29,966 about how profound the keyboard should be. 1352 01:14:30,091 --> 01:14:32,969 But Power windows is a really important record 1353 01:14:33,094 --> 01:14:36,931 because it was the final and essential blending 1354 01:14:37,056 --> 01:14:39,976 of keyboards and guitar to me, for Rush. 1355 01:14:40,101 --> 01:14:43,145 with Power windows, I found it really, really difficult 1356 01:14:43,270 --> 01:14:46,190 to work around the way the keyboards were developing. 1357 01:14:46,315 --> 01:14:49,026 Why am I looking for a different place? 1358 01:14:49,151 --> 01:14:50,778 I shouldn't be looking for a different place. 1359 01:14:50,903 --> 01:14:53,447 What's going on with these keyboards? 1360 01:14:53,572 --> 01:14:56,742 You know, they're not even real. It's not even a real instrument. 1361 01:14:56,867 --> 01:14:59,912 ♪ The more we think we know about ♪ 1362 01:15:00,621 --> 01:15:03,499 ♪ The greater the unknown ♪ 1363 01:15:05,042 --> 01:15:07,878 ♪ We suspend our disbelief ♪ 1364 01:15:08,671 --> 01:15:11,799 ♪ And we are not alone ♪ 1365 01:15:11,924 --> 01:15:14,760 ♪ Mystic rhythms ♪ 1366 01:15:16,929 --> 01:15:18,681 ♪ Capture my thoughts ♪ 1367 01:15:18,806 --> 01:15:21,976 ♪ And carry them away ♪ 1368 01:15:22,852 --> 01:15:27,023 I love the synthesizers and I think it's as important as any of their other work. 1369 01:15:27,148 --> 01:15:28,816 The ultimate thing that people were saying 1370 01:15:28,941 --> 01:15:31,444 was they kind of moved somewhat away from the rock 1371 01:15:31,569 --> 01:15:34,363 and they got a little bit more in the middle of what they did. 1372 01:15:34,488 --> 01:15:38,034 To me, Rush middle of the road is still somebody else's left field. 1373 01:15:38,159 --> 01:15:41,704 Certain periods of Rush are more universal than other periods. 1374 01:15:41,829 --> 01:15:45,332 Now, you could say on the one hand that maybe they're better records. 1375 01:15:45,458 --> 01:15:47,168 Maybe that's the best Rush. 1376 01:15:47,293 --> 01:15:51,797 Moving Pictures got us into a much broader world of rock fans 1377 01:15:51,922 --> 01:15:55,051 and when there was a shift, we lost some of those people. 1378 01:15:55,176 --> 01:15:59,055 But we realized after time that there was a core of our fan base 1379 01:15:59,180 --> 01:16:03,642 that was as curious as to where we were going as we were. 1380 01:16:03,768 --> 01:16:07,063 Those are the ones that have sustained us through all these years. 1381 01:16:07,188 --> 01:16:08,105 I can't fault them 1382 01:16:08,230 --> 01:16:13,110 for not wanting to be a prog rock band for another 15 years. 1383 01:16:13,235 --> 01:16:15,821 They had different periods, that's what makes them interesting. 1384 01:16:22,745 --> 01:16:25,998 ♪ Time stand still ♪ 1385 01:16:26,123 --> 01:16:29,752 ♪ I'm not looking back but I want to look around me now ♪ 1386 01:16:29,877 --> 01:16:32,296 ♪ Time stand still ♪ 1387 01:16:33,089 --> 01:16:37,843 ♪ See more of the people and the places that surround me now ♪ 1388 01:16:38,928 --> 01:16:40,930 ♪ Time stand still ♪ 1389 01:16:42,848 --> 01:16:45,267 Hold your Fire was the record that told me 1390 01:16:45,392 --> 01:16:47,978 that there was a shift in the way we were writing, 1391 01:16:48,104 --> 01:16:50,064 pushing us away from rock. 1392 01:16:50,189 --> 01:16:54,985 It was starting to move into a jazzier, softer kind of tonal area. 1393 01:16:55,111 --> 01:16:59,740 Things can go too far in any one direction and we correct ourselves and eventually go, 1394 01:16:59,865 --> 01:17:02,118 "we tried to go along this way but it's too much." 1395 01:17:02,243 --> 01:17:04,245 That was the first thing I said on the first meeting. 1396 01:17:04,370 --> 01:17:06,580 It seems absolutely crazy to me 1397 01:17:06,705 --> 01:17:09,792 that one of the few remaining power trios on this planet, 1398 01:17:09,917 --> 01:17:11,460 guitar, bass and drums, 1399 01:17:11,585 --> 01:17:12,962 are smothered in keyboards. 1400 01:17:13,087 --> 01:17:17,716 And I said, "My interest is to get you back to being a power trio, but a modern take. 1401 01:17:17,842 --> 01:17:23,139 "We'll just find out what that contemporary definition of power trio really is." 1402 01:17:44,994 --> 01:17:47,288 Alex particularly wanted to assert guitar more 1403 01:17:47,413 --> 01:17:50,124 as the dominant instrument and push the keyboards aside 1404 01:17:50,249 --> 01:17:52,877 and Geddy and I went, "OK, we can do that." 1405 01:17:53,002 --> 01:17:54,211 Alex was pretty... 1406 01:17:56,839 --> 01:17:59,758 "Let's have a concept, let's not have keyboards." 1407 01:17:59,884 --> 01:18:01,218 And I went along with it. 1408 01:18:01,343 --> 01:18:03,637 I was a little bit sad. 1409 01:18:03,762 --> 01:18:07,141 Presto and Roll The Bones for me were very much indicative 1410 01:18:07,266 --> 01:18:09,310 of what was going on in the '80s. 1411 01:18:09,435 --> 01:18:12,688 They were thin-sounding records, they didn't have any balls to them. 1412 01:18:12,813 --> 01:18:16,692 So when I got in there I was kind of hell-bent on making a heavy record. 1413 01:18:16,817 --> 01:18:18,235 The caveman pushed us. 1414 01:18:18,360 --> 01:18:22,156 He wanted me to use my Fender bass, go through old Ampeg amps 1415 01:18:22,281 --> 01:18:25,075 and record it old school. Everything was old school. 1416 01:18:25,201 --> 01:18:30,748 There were battles, because every engineer wants Alex to play without his pedals 1417 01:18:30,873 --> 01:18:33,584 and all his own synthesizers that he plugs into. 1418 01:18:33,709 --> 01:18:36,879 Alex would ask for his fridge of effects and I would say, "No." 1419 01:18:37,004 --> 01:18:39,924 And he'd say, "I want reverb," and I would say, "No." 1420 01:18:40,049 --> 01:18:43,177 He'd say, "I fucking want reverb! If I want reverb, then I want reverb." 1421 01:18:43,302 --> 01:18:47,223 I'm like, "No, you sound terrible with reverb, you're not having any reverb." 1422 01:18:47,348 --> 01:18:51,518 so we ended up going to a bar and drinking about five bottles of scotch, 1423 01:18:51,644 --> 01:18:54,063 had terrible hangovers the next day, but we ironed it out. 1424 01:18:54,188 --> 01:18:56,106 We had a lot of "few drinks together" 1425 01:18:56,232 --> 01:18:58,234 and I know what Kevin was going for and he's right. 1426 01:18:58,359 --> 01:18:59,902 Counterparts turned out to be 1427 01:19:00,027 --> 01:19:02,863 the record that we envisioned when we first started working on it. 1428 01:19:02,988 --> 01:19:06,367 The songs were thicker and more hair on them. 1429 01:19:06,492 --> 01:19:08,452 That record was a big turning point 1430 01:19:08,577 --> 01:19:11,997 in reconnecting with the kind of rock-and-roll guts of Rush. 1431 01:19:13,165 --> 01:19:15,125 ♪ compensate me ♪ 1432 01:19:17,461 --> 01:19:19,588 ♪ Animate me ♪ 1433 01:19:21,507 --> 01:19:23,968 ♪ Complicate me ♪ 1434 01:19:24,093 --> 01:19:26,929 ♪ Elevate me ♪ 1435 01:19:29,181 --> 01:19:31,684 The opening song, Animate, I think is one of our all-time best. 1436 01:19:31,809 --> 01:19:33,894 I love the drive of it, I love the arrangement. 1437 01:19:34,019 --> 01:19:36,605 But I was starting to get conflicted about my own drumming at that point. 1438 01:19:36,730 --> 01:19:38,899 I'd been working so much with sequencers 1439 01:19:39,024 --> 01:19:40,943 and with click tracks for so many years, 1440 01:19:41,068 --> 01:19:43,612 and I had developed really good precision of time, 1441 01:19:43,737 --> 01:19:46,782 but I felt a stiffness because of that metronomic need. 1442 01:19:46,907 --> 01:19:49,326 I didn't have the looseness that I wanted to hear 1443 01:19:49,451 --> 01:19:50,452 out of my own playing. 1444 01:19:50,577 --> 01:19:53,330 After so many years of being an amazing player, 1445 01:19:53,455 --> 01:19:57,543 Neil could have clearly just decided not to play drums 1446 01:19:57,668 --> 01:20:00,129 until it was time to go play a Rush show. 1447 01:20:00,254 --> 01:20:02,965 But instead, he cared enough about what he did 1448 01:20:03,090 --> 01:20:05,634 to try and break down his current technique 1449 01:20:05,759 --> 01:20:10,014 and work with Freddie Gruber and, sort of, reinvent his playing style. 1450 01:20:17,062 --> 01:20:19,648 I was in New York doing a Buddy Rich tribute recording. 1451 01:20:19,773 --> 01:20:21,692 Over that recording session in New York, 1452 01:20:21,817 --> 01:20:24,445 I met Freddie and had dinner and got curious... 1453 01:20:24,570 --> 01:20:26,447 what would it be like to study with a guy like that? 1454 01:20:26,572 --> 01:20:29,450 And I had the time so I thought, "Yes, I'm gonna try this." 1455 01:20:29,575 --> 01:20:32,953 Not to make it sound easy, because when I studied with Freddie I asked myself, 1456 01:20:33,078 --> 01:20:35,289 "can I really do this? will I have the discipline?" 1457 01:20:35,414 --> 01:20:37,166 It's a huge commitment. 1458 01:20:37,291 --> 01:20:40,627 can you tell me about when you met Neil? Your first impressions? 1459 01:20:40,753 --> 01:20:45,090 He was easy because he wasn't nuts. 1460 01:20:45,215 --> 01:20:48,886 And I was, you know, and it was, like... it was fun. 1461 01:20:49,011 --> 01:20:51,472 Didn't have to go to some strange land. 1462 01:20:51,597 --> 01:20:53,432 We never played the drums. 1463 01:20:53,557 --> 01:20:55,476 We talked about motion 1464 01:20:55,601 --> 01:20:58,687 and told a lot of stories and did some dancing... 1465 01:20:58,812 --> 01:21:00,647 we were behind a set of drums 1466 01:21:00,773 --> 01:21:06,153 because the approach to what you do results in what you get. You understand? 1467 01:21:06,278 --> 01:21:07,780 Freddie is all about the motion 1468 01:21:07,905 --> 01:21:12,659 and it was all about the motion of the hands and feet that contributed to a dance. 1469 01:21:12,785 --> 01:21:13,952 One of the first things he did 1470 01:21:14,078 --> 01:21:17,206 was stand up and do a little soft-shoe dance for me and saying, 1471 01:21:17,331 --> 01:21:19,917 "when you're doing that, is that dance happening on the floor? 1472 01:21:20,042 --> 01:21:21,335 "No, it's happening in the air." 1473 01:21:21,460 --> 01:21:23,003 so these were revelations to me 1474 01:21:23,128 --> 01:21:26,590 to start thinking about not just the hit but the motions between. 1475 01:21:26,715 --> 01:21:29,802 - Time is linear, it's not... - Dah! Pah! 1476 01:21:31,095 --> 01:21:33,222 It's like a pogo stick, you know. 1477 01:21:33,347 --> 01:21:35,265 A lot of pop music is played like that. 1478 01:21:35,391 --> 01:21:37,684 It's extremely vertical. 1479 01:21:37,810 --> 01:21:40,646 It's like people slapping water when they swim. 1480 01:21:40,771 --> 01:21:42,940 - Mm. Yeah. - It doesn't... 1481 01:21:43,065 --> 01:21:45,359 - Inefficient motion. - .. breathe. 1482 01:21:45,484 --> 01:21:49,196 Put it this way, you could have a beautiful body and look marvelous... 1483 01:21:49,321 --> 01:21:51,198 Thank you. 1484 01:21:51,990 --> 01:21:56,829 .. but if you're not breathing, it's not alive. 1485 01:21:58,664 --> 01:22:01,917 You know, so you got to at least put the breath in there, huh? 1486 01:22:02,042 --> 01:22:04,378 I can play a simple beat now completely different 1487 01:22:04,503 --> 01:22:07,506 from how I would have played that simple beat 15 years ago. 1488 01:22:09,466 --> 01:22:10,843 Not that. 1489 01:22:15,222 --> 01:22:16,390 There you go. 1490 01:22:16,515 --> 01:22:20,060 It takes a lot of courage being a drummer the stature that Neil Peart is 1491 01:22:20,185 --> 01:22:22,563 to be able to say, "I can improve." 1492 01:22:22,688 --> 01:22:23,856 And when he came back out, 1493 01:22:23,981 --> 01:22:26,650 and made his appearances after working with Freddie 1494 01:22:26,775 --> 01:22:28,777 and he turned his grip around, his traditional grip, 1495 01:22:28,902 --> 01:22:31,238 he had a different approach, was so much more relaxed. 1496 01:22:31,363 --> 01:22:34,074 That was the most refreshing thing you could have seen, 1497 01:22:34,199 --> 01:22:36,410 is that your hero could also still learn, 1498 01:22:36,535 --> 01:22:38,078 that they weren't just done. 1499 01:22:38,203 --> 01:22:40,122 when I worked with my band mates right after that, 1500 01:22:40,247 --> 01:22:43,500 on the Test For Echo songs, the other guys would say, "It still sounds like you," 1501 01:22:43,625 --> 01:22:46,753 at first I was disappointed, but then I thought "of course it does." 1502 01:22:46,879 --> 01:22:48,589 They thought it sounded the same 1503 01:22:48,714 --> 01:22:52,718 but when they went to play with me, there was a different clock at work now. 1504 01:22:52,843 --> 01:22:56,013 ♪ Driven day and night in circles ♪ 1505 01:22:57,139 --> 01:23:00,559 ♪ Spinning like a whirlwind of leaves ♪ 1506 01:23:01,602 --> 01:23:04,688 ♪ Stealing in and out of back alleys ♪ 1507 01:23:05,898 --> 01:23:10,110 ♪ Driven to another den of thieves ♪ 1508 01:23:10,235 --> 01:23:13,071 ♪ It's my turn to drive ♪ 1509 01:23:13,739 --> 01:23:17,075 ♪ But it's my turn to drive ♪ 1510 01:23:17,743 --> 01:23:20,496 ♪ Driven to the margin of error ♪ 1511 01:23:21,330 --> 01:23:24,208 ♪ Driven to the edge of control ♪ 1512 01:23:24,917 --> 01:23:27,961 ♪ Driven to the margin of terror ♪ 1513 01:23:28,086 --> 01:23:33,884 ♪ Driven to the edge of a deep, dark hole ♪ 1514 01:23:40,974 --> 01:23:42,392 In mid-August of '97, 1515 01:23:42,518 --> 01:23:45,395 we'd finished the Test For Echo tour earlier that summer 1516 01:23:45,521 --> 01:23:48,899 and there was a message to call the office and it was urgent. 1517 01:23:49,024 --> 01:23:51,485 One of the girls told me what had happened. 1518 01:23:51,610 --> 01:23:54,988 Neil's daughter was in a terrible car accident and lost her life. 1519 01:23:55,113 --> 01:23:58,659 I mean, it was just such a horrible shock. 1520 01:23:58,784 --> 01:24:00,827 It was, and I still feel it today, 1521 01:24:00,953 --> 01:24:05,374 it was the start of a whole lot of emotions that we'd never felt before. 1522 01:24:05,499 --> 01:24:09,878 I had not had a friend who'd gone through anything like this. 1523 01:24:10,003 --> 01:24:15,634 Ray called me and told me about the accident 1524 01:24:15,759 --> 01:24:20,514 and I was just in shock as everyone was. 1525 01:24:20,639 --> 01:24:25,352 You're just so unprepared for how devastating it is 1526 01:24:25,477 --> 01:24:30,857 and you just don't know what to do or how to help or any of that. 1527 01:24:30,983 --> 01:24:33,527 He could be such a private guy 1528 01:24:33,652 --> 01:24:37,864 and when news like this hits, you don't want to do the wrong thing. 1529 01:24:37,990 --> 01:24:40,617 You don't want to try to comfort them 1530 01:24:40,742 --> 01:24:43,579 and find out you're only comforting yourself. 1531 01:24:43,704 --> 01:24:47,040 Everything to do with the band ended at that moment. 1532 01:24:47,165 --> 01:24:49,126 It just didn't seem important. 1533 01:24:49,251 --> 01:24:53,213 It was not something you even thought about thinking about. 1534 01:24:53,338 --> 01:24:55,591 They didn't know what to do with themselves 1535 01:24:55,716 --> 01:24:59,261 so they left Toronto and got away from all those reminders. 1536 01:25:00,679 --> 01:25:02,347 And then Jackie got sick. 1537 01:25:04,891 --> 01:25:10,397 After she passed away, he was lost and so he ran. 1538 01:25:10,522 --> 01:25:12,941 He got on his motorcycle and ran. 1539 01:25:13,066 --> 01:25:16,612 When his wife died, he had to do what he needed to do 1540 01:25:16,737 --> 01:25:19,323 to just find some kind of peace. 1541 01:25:19,448 --> 01:25:21,950 He embarked on a long, very, very painful journey, 1542 01:25:22,075 --> 01:25:24,328 just going and going and going and going. 1543 01:25:31,251 --> 01:25:33,086 Everybody was so worried about me, 1544 01:25:33,211 --> 01:25:35,672 there was a network among my friends and loved ones, 1545 01:25:35,797 --> 01:25:38,508 "I heard from him today," "I got a postcard" or "He called." 1546 01:25:38,634 --> 01:25:40,677 They would all reassure each other. 1547 01:25:40,802 --> 01:25:44,598 Anything could have happened to me even by accident, let alone by design. 1548 01:25:44,723 --> 01:25:48,560 Fuck, we were so worried about him, I just... 1549 01:25:49,186 --> 01:25:51,063 But he... 1550 01:25:51,188 --> 01:25:53,440 you know, he was at arm's length. 1551 01:25:53,565 --> 01:25:55,400 Neil needed time but, to be honest, 1552 01:25:55,525 --> 01:26:00,405 I had no real interest in music for about a year. 1553 01:26:00,530 --> 01:26:02,949 I hardly played... I hardly listened to music. 1554 01:26:03,075 --> 01:26:06,703 We were on sabbatical. we were shut down. 1555 01:26:11,500 --> 01:26:14,628 We're talking about a journey that stretched 55,000 miles 1556 01:26:14,753 --> 01:26:17,422 starting from Quebec and going up to the Arctic 1557 01:26:17,547 --> 01:26:20,258 and around Alaska and onto Mexico, across all of Mexico 1558 01:26:20,384 --> 01:26:23,303 from Baja across the whole Mexican mainland down to Belize. 1559 01:26:23,428 --> 01:26:25,222 I'd go to small towns and the back roads, 1560 01:26:25,347 --> 01:26:27,974 generally stopping for the night in hotels along the way 1561 01:26:28,100 --> 01:26:31,019 and I don't think in that whole 55,000 miles, 1562 01:26:31,144 --> 01:26:33,522 I don't know if I was ever recognized once 1563 01:26:33,647 --> 01:26:36,733 in a little town, at a gas station or a motel or a diner, 1564 01:26:36,858 --> 01:26:39,695 because I'm just a guy sitting there with a hat on reading a book. 1565 01:26:39,820 --> 01:26:41,738 A lot of times I can just slip around and be a guy. 1566 01:26:41,863 --> 01:26:43,532 That's all I want from traveling. 1567 01:26:43,657 --> 01:26:45,784 I just want to be a guy and that's life enough for me. 1568 01:26:53,250 --> 01:26:56,503 ♪ The way out is the way in ♪ 1569 01:26:57,170 --> 01:27:00,799 ♪ The way out is the way-ay-ay in ♪ 1570 01:27:04,136 --> 01:27:08,098 Travel has always been known as a soothing balm, and even motion, 1571 01:27:08,223 --> 01:27:11,685 from the time we're little babies, we want to be rocked and if the baby's crying, 1572 01:27:11,810 --> 01:27:14,438 you can take it for a drive in the car and it calms down. 1573 01:27:14,563 --> 01:27:17,441 That's the way I described it to myself at that time, 1574 01:27:17,566 --> 01:27:20,736 I was so stirred up, my little baby soul would only be soothed by motion. 1575 01:27:20,861 --> 01:27:24,364 I traveled out of the darkest place a human being can come from, 1576 01:27:24,489 --> 01:27:28,243 and it was landscapes, highways and wildlife that revitalized me. 1577 01:27:28,368 --> 01:27:29,911 It was the timeless landscapes. 1578 01:27:30,036 --> 01:27:32,539 It gives your tiny existence a new perspective 1579 01:27:32,664 --> 01:27:35,667 when you're among things that are millions of years old. 1580 01:27:36,501 --> 01:27:40,547 ♪ The way out is the way in ♪ 1581 01:27:40,672 --> 01:27:43,383 ♪ The way out is the way-ay-ay in ♪ 1582 01:27:43,508 --> 01:27:47,053 I remember getting postcards from him from wherever 1583 01:27:47,179 --> 01:27:49,055 and he was using different names. 1584 01:27:49,181 --> 01:27:52,768 We have, like, about 6,000 nicknames for each other 1585 01:27:52,893 --> 01:27:56,271 and so I would get a postcard with that nickname on it, 1586 01:27:56,396 --> 01:27:57,898 so I knew who it was from. 1587 01:27:58,023 --> 01:28:00,734 They were lifelines, those little contacts. 1588 01:28:00,859 --> 01:28:04,070 He knew we were there, somewhere, 1589 01:28:04,196 --> 01:28:09,159 and he knew that we would be there if he wanted us to be there. 1590 01:28:09,284 --> 01:28:12,078 All he had to do was reach out. 1591 01:28:12,204 --> 01:28:15,040 As far as the band was concerned, as things went on, 1592 01:28:15,165 --> 01:28:18,752 it seemed less and less of a possibility that we would get back together 1593 01:28:18,877 --> 01:28:20,837 and it looked like the band was - 1594 01:28:20,962 --> 01:28:24,424 basically, it was four years - ..that the band was done. 1595 01:28:24,549 --> 01:28:27,761 Oh, I thought it was... I thought it was over. 1596 01:28:30,055 --> 01:28:34,100 Alex and I would talk about it once in a while but there was no point. 1597 01:28:34,226 --> 01:28:37,604 I don't want to play in Rush without those other two guys. 1598 01:28:37,729 --> 01:28:41,942 You know, there's no replacing anybody in this band, 1599 01:28:42,067 --> 01:28:43,944 it's just not possible. 1600 01:28:44,069 --> 01:28:47,364 It is the band, the three of us, you know. 1601 01:28:47,489 --> 01:28:50,742 Even though he's the new guy, he's just as important. 1602 01:28:50,867 --> 01:28:53,328 Those two guys were the most stable thing I had. 1603 01:28:53,453 --> 01:28:57,123 My family and loved ones and those that dared to stay around me through that time, 1604 01:28:57,249 --> 01:29:00,126 and so hard to... I would have walked. 1605 01:29:01,419 --> 01:29:03,839 My concern was just that he would be OK 1606 01:29:03,964 --> 01:29:07,717 and I thought it was pointless to think about it beyond that. 1607 01:29:07,843 --> 01:29:11,471 After a year and a half, whatever, two years, 1608 01:29:11,596 --> 01:29:15,308 I sensed that he would do it again, that he would be OK. 1609 01:29:15,433 --> 01:29:17,060 I don't think he worked that hard 1610 01:29:17,185 --> 01:29:20,272 to be what most people consider as the best in the world at something 1611 01:29:20,397 --> 01:29:21,982 and not go and do it again one day. 1612 01:29:22,107 --> 01:29:26,278 I didn't know if it meant that it would take five years or ten years 1613 01:29:26,403 --> 01:29:29,990 but I thought that one day he'd have to do that again. 1614 01:29:55,056 --> 01:29:57,684 When I stopped riding... .. I was ready. 1615 01:29:57,809 --> 01:30:03,064 Traveling all that time, it was when I came to rest and I came out to California 1616 01:30:03,189 --> 01:30:07,527 and met my wife-to-be and I got some stability there 1617 01:30:07,652 --> 01:30:13,074 and, with Carrie's help, then realized that I was wanting to work again. 1618 01:30:13,199 --> 01:30:17,704 That's basically what it took, but I had to stop moving first. 1619 01:30:17,829 --> 01:30:22,292 He was a little apprehensive and thought that perhaps maybe 1620 01:30:22,417 --> 01:30:28,214 we might try to talk about perhaps trying to maybe think about 1621 01:30:28,340 --> 01:30:30,842 possibly getting back in the studio to record a record. 1622 01:30:30,967 --> 01:30:34,971 It was really like that. It was quite a fragile, delicate proposition. 1623 01:30:35,096 --> 01:30:37,015 I don't think he knew if he could do it. 1624 01:30:37,140 --> 01:30:39,309 He hadn't played his drums in a hell of a long time. 1625 01:30:39,434 --> 01:30:43,605 He's such a perfectionist, such a fucking monster musician. 1626 01:30:43,730 --> 01:30:46,900 I think he was afraid of not being as good as he once was. 1627 01:30:47,025 --> 01:30:49,277 It was an unsureness. "can I do this? 1628 01:30:49,402 --> 01:30:52,322 "Can I write rock lyrics like it's the most important thing in the world? 1629 01:30:52,447 --> 01:30:54,658 "Can I slave over and over on a drum part, 1630 01:30:54,783 --> 01:30:58,078 "refine every detail like it's the most important thing in the world? I don't know." 1631 01:30:58,203 --> 01:31:02,582 we basically booked the studio, 7 days a week, for 14 or 15 months. 1632 01:31:02,707 --> 01:31:04,417 Everything had so much weight to it 1633 01:31:04,542 --> 01:31:09,130 and for him to get back his chops was really a slow process. 1634 01:31:09,255 --> 01:31:11,466 I could hear my state of mind in my drumming - 1635 01:31:11,591 --> 01:31:13,510 anger, obviously, but confusion. 1636 01:31:13,635 --> 01:31:16,346 The state I was in... It's in the lyrics too, of course, 1637 01:31:16,471 --> 01:31:20,809 so many of them had to deal with... I could not sidestep all of that stuff. 1638 01:31:20,934 --> 01:31:24,104 But there was something that was so pure and truthful 1639 01:31:24,229 --> 01:31:26,231 about the energy on vapor Trails. 1640 01:31:26,356 --> 01:31:30,777 It really is a representation of that time, of the coming back of the band. 1641 01:31:30,902 --> 01:31:35,240 ♪ Horizon to horizon ♪ 1642 01:31:35,365 --> 01:31:38,410 ♪ Memory written on the wind ♪ 1643 01:31:39,911 --> 01:31:43,289 ♪ Fading away like an hourglass ♪ 1644 01:31:43,415 --> 01:31:45,583 ♪ Grain by grain ♪ 1645 01:31:48,545 --> 01:31:54,050 ♪ Swept away like voices in a hurricane ♪ 1646 01:31:55,969 --> 01:31:59,973 ♪ In a vapor trail ♪ 1647 01:32:00,724 --> 01:32:04,769 ♪ In a vapor trail ♪ 1648 01:32:05,812 --> 01:32:08,064 coming back to the stage is way more difficult 1649 01:32:08,189 --> 01:32:10,817 'cause the essential existence of a band is on a stage. 1650 01:32:10,942 --> 01:32:13,987 One of the things that keeps me from quitting touring all the time 1651 01:32:14,112 --> 01:32:15,655 is that's what a band does. 1652 01:32:15,780 --> 01:32:19,868 So coming back to the stage was the biggest recovery possible. 1653 01:32:19,993 --> 01:32:22,328 Thank you. 1654 01:32:23,288 --> 01:32:29,669 And good evening, Hartford, united states of America, 1655 01:32:29,794 --> 01:32:31,129 nice to be back here. 1656 01:32:32,756 --> 01:32:35,133 It's been quite long enough, I think. 1657 01:32:36,134 --> 01:32:39,471 That was in Hartford, Connecticut on the vapor Trails tour 1658 01:32:39,596 --> 01:32:43,433 and it was such a dramatic thing after all this that we'd gone through 1659 01:32:43,558 --> 01:32:46,311 that here we were, at our first gig, back on the road 1660 01:32:46,436 --> 01:32:48,980 and we never even thought we would work again. 1661 01:32:49,105 --> 01:32:53,276 I think that was one of the few times we've had a group hug before the show. 1662 01:32:57,030 --> 01:33:03,036 It wasn't lost on us that... getting to that point... 1663 01:33:04,120 --> 01:33:05,914 was almost impossible. 1664 01:33:06,039 --> 01:33:10,251 So we looked at each other, gave each other a hug and said, "oK, let's go." 1665 01:33:23,431 --> 01:33:27,769 ♪ For the words of the prophets were written on the studio wall ♪ 1666 01:33:28,937 --> 01:33:31,272 ♪ Concert hall ♪ 1667 01:33:36,569 --> 01:33:40,240 The crowd was amazing. They welcomed us back, really warm. 1668 01:33:40,365 --> 01:33:42,283 And Neil was really nervous, 1669 01:33:42,408 --> 01:33:46,079 so I figured my job is to go over there to make him not nervous 1670 01:33:46,204 --> 01:33:49,624 so I kept checking on him, throwing him some shapes 1671 01:33:49,749 --> 01:33:52,252 to make sure he was smiling or laughing. 1672 01:33:52,377 --> 01:33:56,548 That's what that night was like. I was completely folded into the job of performing, 1673 01:33:56,673 --> 01:33:59,342 but there were moments when the three of us connected visually 1674 01:33:59,467 --> 01:34:02,637 and we knew what we were doing and I remember saying to Ray afferwards, 1675 01:34:02,762 --> 01:34:05,348 "It would have been a shame if that never happened again." 1676 01:34:05,473 --> 01:34:10,895 It was amazing. And it was amazing to see how happy he was after the show. 1677 01:34:11,020 --> 01:34:13,314 Some demons were gone that night. 1678 01:34:13,439 --> 01:34:17,694 Part of the rebirth of the band was suddenly a willingness to go where we hadn't gone 1679 01:34:17,819 --> 01:34:22,907 and to see these legions of fans was such a positive effect on us. 1680 01:34:23,032 --> 01:34:27,912 It was like, "This is a second chance for us to go back out and play some new places." 1681 01:34:49,434 --> 01:34:53,563 we had no idea, going to Brazil, of any popularity that we might have 1682 01:34:53,688 --> 01:34:57,275 and then the Säo Paulo show was 60,000 people. 1683 01:34:57,400 --> 01:35:00,612 By far the largest audience we singularly had ever played to. 1684 01:35:00,737 --> 01:35:04,115 There was a sense of wild tumultuous impossible masses of people 1685 01:35:04,240 --> 01:35:07,952 but so locked in a unifying way that it was just magical. we elevated. 1686 01:35:31,935 --> 01:35:33,645 Having gone through that whole tour, 1687 01:35:33,770 --> 01:35:37,023 being in this place where we had people going totally mental, 1688 01:35:37,148 --> 01:35:38,524 playing one Little victory, 1689 01:35:38,650 --> 01:35:42,403 it was a huge victory that we'd survived the previous five years. 1690 01:35:42,528 --> 01:35:45,782 Finishing on such a high note was quite a trip. 1691 01:35:45,907 --> 01:35:48,034 The newness of touring was over... 1692 01:35:48,868 --> 01:35:52,914 and I think we had successfully returned. 1693 01:36:14,185 --> 01:36:15,353 oh yeah! 1694 01:36:17,522 --> 01:36:19,983 ♪ Modern-day warrior named Tom sawyer ♪ 1695 01:36:20,108 --> 01:36:22,902 ♪ He floated down a river on a raft with a black guy ♪ 1696 01:36:23,027 --> 01:36:23,987 ♪ Doo-doo doo-doo ♪ 1697 01:36:24,112 --> 01:36:27,865 ♪ Doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo-doo... ♪ 1698 01:36:27,991 --> 01:36:29,325 Hold on! Hold on! 1699 01:36:29,450 --> 01:36:32,412 Hold on! stop! stop! Those aren't the right lyrics, fat ass! 1700 01:36:32,537 --> 01:36:35,748 I am Geddy Lee and I will sing whatever lyrics I want! 1701 01:36:35,873 --> 01:36:39,210 There's a lot of people who were 18 in 1978, 1702 01:36:39,335 --> 01:36:41,337 guys who were crazy Rush fans. 1703 01:36:41,462 --> 01:36:43,631 They're in positions of relative power now. 1704 01:36:43,756 --> 01:36:46,092 They're raising their hands and going, 1705 01:36:46,217 --> 01:36:49,721 "Yeah, I want to be on this bandwagon now. I always was there." 1706 01:36:49,846 --> 01:36:54,267 Now they had the ability to bring it to more people than ever before. 1707 01:36:54,392 --> 01:36:58,980 My guests tonight have 24 gold and 14 platinum records. 1708 01:36:59,105 --> 01:37:01,649 Please welcome Rush! 1709 01:37:02,525 --> 01:37:06,696 Geddy, Neil, Alex, thank you so much for joining us. 1710 01:37:09,741 --> 01:37:11,451 I just wanna remind everybody 1711 01:37:11,576 --> 01:37:15,455 that this is your first appearance on American television in 33 years. 1712 01:37:15,580 --> 01:37:17,540 - Correct? - Yeah. 1713 01:37:17,665 --> 01:37:21,544 I think one of the greatest things to happen to the collective community 1714 01:37:21,669 --> 01:37:24,964 that has very much enjoyed Rush for many years, 1715 01:37:25,089 --> 01:37:27,592 was their appearance on the colbert Report 1716 01:37:27,717 --> 01:37:30,011 because I've seen these guys get beaten up 1717 01:37:30,136 --> 01:37:32,847 by the supposed cool people for a long time. 1718 01:37:32,972 --> 01:37:34,932 And then, in one fell swoop, 1719 01:37:35,058 --> 01:37:38,978 stephen colbert puts them on their show and gives them the hand of coolness. 1720 01:37:39,103 --> 01:37:42,690 You're known for some, sort of, long songs. 1721 01:37:42,815 --> 01:37:46,694 Have you ever written a song so epic that by the end of the song 1722 01:37:46,819 --> 01:37:50,573 you were actually being influenced by yourself at the beginning of the song... 1723 01:37:52,200 --> 01:37:55,161 .. because it happened so much earlier in your career? 1724 01:37:56,537 --> 01:38:00,041 You are yet to be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 1725 01:38:00,166 --> 01:38:04,379 Is there any chance your next album will be called That's Bullsh... 1726 01:38:06,130 --> 01:38:09,550 You could get into sociological and cultural reasons 1727 01:38:09,675 --> 01:38:13,179 why a band like Rush was publicly marginalized. 1728 01:38:13,304 --> 01:38:16,391 You can say, "what was it? They were too weird? Geddy's voice?" 1729 01:38:16,516 --> 01:38:19,477 I like to think that, at the end of the day, people will step back 1730 01:38:19,602 --> 01:38:22,980 and all those labels fall away because the body of work is significant. 1731 01:38:23,106 --> 01:38:25,900 To me, they remain one of the top bands in the world. 1732 01:38:26,025 --> 01:38:28,945 Whether some guy at Rolling stone decides they are or not, 1733 01:38:29,070 --> 01:38:33,491 is completely irrelevant because, at the end of the day, rock is a people's game 1734 01:38:33,616 --> 01:38:37,078 and the people have generally and consistently voted for this band. 1735 01:38:37,203 --> 01:38:40,498 A generation of rock critics have kept them from being in Rolling stone 1736 01:38:40,623 --> 01:38:42,208 and from being a part of that conversation. 1737 01:38:42,333 --> 01:38:44,919 They were on the other side of this divide we're talking about, 1738 01:38:45,044 --> 01:38:47,588 back when they were held in corners by Rush fans at parties going, 1739 01:38:47,713 --> 01:38:49,048 "But you don't understand! " 1740 01:38:49,173 --> 01:38:53,344 They liked Elvis costello or David Bowie or something more critically accepted. 1741 01:38:53,469 --> 01:38:57,765 Now, it's like we're all so old that even if you hated Rush in the '80s and '70s, 1742 01:38:57,890 --> 01:39:01,894 you gotta give it up for them, you just got to, or you're just being an old dickhead. 1743 01:39:02,019 --> 01:39:04,897 I think that, in many ways, you're served better 1744 01:39:05,022 --> 01:39:07,275 if you're not quite as successful. 1745 01:39:07,400 --> 01:39:11,070 If you never become a pop star, if you don't have top 40 hits. 1746 01:39:11,195 --> 01:39:14,615 Then what you have is a pure memory for people. 1747 01:39:14,740 --> 01:39:16,534 They don't think you ever sold out. 1748 01:39:16,659 --> 01:39:19,829 Virtue is actually rewarded, I believe. 1749 01:39:39,557 --> 01:39:43,644 The thing with us is, we've always walked along a shore of the mainstream 1750 01:39:43,769 --> 01:39:47,940 and we've been attached to it and connected ourselves to it, time and again 1751 01:39:48,065 --> 01:39:50,234 but we've always been a bit outside of it. 1752 01:39:50,359 --> 01:39:53,988 We had our own stream and it wasn't the main one 1753 01:39:54,113 --> 01:39:56,866 but it was not too far away from the main one. 1754 01:39:56,991 --> 01:40:00,119 I always like to consider us the world's most popular cult band. 1755 01:40:00,244 --> 01:40:05,458 The Rush fan, while it's a stereotype that it's mostly guys who like heavy metal, 1756 01:40:05,583 --> 01:40:09,545 there are many devoted female fans. It's kind of like a giant club. 1757 01:40:09,670 --> 01:40:13,591 People turn on their kids to Rush, who turn on their kids to Rush. 1758 01:40:13,716 --> 01:40:16,219 It's amazing that the music's been able to go 1759 01:40:16,344 --> 01:40:19,889 from this generation to this generation and even a younger generation. 1760 01:40:20,014 --> 01:40:22,558 Their fans have stuck with them through all of it. 1761 01:40:22,683 --> 01:40:24,685 All their shows are sold out still. 1762 01:40:24,810 --> 01:40:26,729 When snakes and Arrows came out in 2007, 1763 01:40:26,854 --> 01:40:28,814 it charted really well for quite a while 1764 01:40:28,940 --> 01:40:31,692 and it was some of the biggest shows they've ever played. 1765 01:40:31,817 --> 01:40:35,071 It's just amazing for them to come back really strong like that. 1766 01:40:35,196 --> 01:40:38,157 It was just like it took off! It took off again all of a sudden. 1767 01:40:38,282 --> 01:40:41,911 It seems like they're bigger now than they've ever been, which is fantastic. 1768 01:40:42,036 --> 01:40:45,498 There's a comfort in knowing those same three guys are out there. 1769 01:40:45,623 --> 01:40:50,336 It's also spectacular to see three guys that could tolerate each other for all these years 1770 01:40:50,461 --> 01:40:52,421 and still make music, make good music. 1771 01:40:52,547 --> 01:40:55,466 How many more times? 1772 01:40:55,591 --> 01:40:58,469 Here's that thing you ordered. 1773 01:40:58,594 --> 01:41:01,138 It arrived today, this thing you ordered. 1774 01:41:02,139 --> 01:41:04,767 Thank you, Lurch. 1775 01:41:04,892 --> 01:41:09,188 - No sweat. - It's that special thing! 1776 01:41:10,815 --> 01:41:13,484 could you turn that off while I use it? 1777 01:41:13,609 --> 01:41:15,820 The Three stooges all at once. 1778 01:41:15,945 --> 01:41:19,031 They're just such a unique and weird concoction 1779 01:41:19,156 --> 01:41:21,701 and I get the sense, and I always have from Rush, 1780 01:41:21,826 --> 01:41:24,078 that they're on a righteous path. 1781 01:41:24,203 --> 01:41:27,164 There's something there that's really pure, sincere and honest. 1782 01:41:27,290 --> 01:41:30,710 At the root of all of it, it's also really good, you know. 1783 01:41:30,835 --> 01:41:33,629 That matters more than anything else. 1784 01:41:33,754 --> 01:41:36,966 There's a magic and a coolness to them that continues to this day 1785 01:41:37,091 --> 01:41:39,510 and that's a testament to the music's power. 1786 01:41:39,635 --> 01:41:42,221 That's how you know, it's the only way you know. 1787 01:41:42,346 --> 01:41:46,017 You check in after 25 years. "Is it still resonating?" 1788 01:41:46,142 --> 01:41:49,228 "Yeah." It's the only true test. 1789 01:41:49,353 --> 01:41:51,022 The test of time. 1790 01:41:51,147 --> 01:41:53,899 - Right, shall we? - Now? what, now? 1791 01:41:54,025 --> 01:41:55,860 You mean now? 1792 01:41:55,985 --> 01:41:57,945 You mean right now? Now? 1793 01:41:58,070 --> 01:42:00,114 I can't go on now. 1794 01:42:00,239 --> 01:42:01,490 I've got things to do. 1795 01:42:25,306 --> 01:42:29,435 ♪ Pariah dogs and wandering madmen ♪ 1796 01:42:29,560 --> 01:42:33,314 ♪ Barking at strangers and speaking in tongues ♪ 1797 01:42:33,439 --> 01:42:36,984 ♪ The ebb and flow of tidal fortune ♪ 1798 01:42:37,109 --> 01:42:41,947 ♪ Electrical changes are charging up the young ♪ 1799 01:42:44,867 --> 01:42:50,706 ♪ It's a far cry from the world we thought we'd inherit ♪ 1800 01:42:52,416 --> 01:42:58,005 ♪ It's a far cry from the way we thought we'd share it ♪ 1801 01:43:00,466 --> 01:43:03,969 ♪ You can almost feel the current flowing ♪ 1802 01:43:04,095 --> 01:43:08,015 ♪ You can almost see the circuits blowing ♪ 1803 01:43:08,140 --> 01:43:11,644 ♪ One day I feel I'm on top of the world ♪ 1804 01:43:11,811 --> 01:43:14,605 ♪ And the next it's falling in on me ♪ 1805 01:43:15,231 --> 01:43:19,568 ♪ I can get back on, I can get back on ♪ 1806 01:43:19,694 --> 01:43:23,030 ♪ One day I feel I'm ahead of the wheel ♪ 1807 01:43:23,155 --> 01:43:26,409 ♪ And the next it's rolling over me ♪ 1808 01:43:26,534 --> 01:43:31,330 ♪ I can get back on, I can get back on ♪ 1809 01:43:40,589 --> 01:43:44,176 ♪ Whirlwind life of faith and betrayal ♪ 1810 01:43:44,301 --> 01:43:48,097 ♪ Rise in anger, fall back and repeat ♪ 1811 01:43:48,222 --> 01:43:51,892 ♪ Slow degrees on the dark horizon ♪ 1812 01:43:52,017 --> 01:43:56,480 ♪ Full moon rising, lays silver at your feet ♪ 1813 01:43:57,398 --> 01:44:00,359 Maybe you could tell us where we're going tonight? 1814 01:44:00,484 --> 01:44:04,447 We're going to meet with Neil. we're gonna talk about stuff, I guess, 1815 01:44:04,572 --> 01:44:06,490 drink some local wine. 1816 01:44:06,615 --> 01:44:09,577 Will there be any discussion of the next steps for the band? 1817 01:44:09,702 --> 01:44:14,331 We don't really want to hang around with the guy, so yeah, we'll talk about that stuff. 1818 01:44:14,457 --> 01:44:16,459 This is just a business meeting. 1819 01:44:17,710 --> 01:44:21,213 - Do we ever have business meetings? - This is the first one. 1820 01:44:21,338 --> 01:44:23,215 This will be your 24th record. 1821 01:44:23,340 --> 01:44:25,843 What's the motivation to keep doing it? 1822 01:44:25,968 --> 01:44:27,094 Chicks. 1823 01:44:29,555 --> 01:44:31,849 OK, I call this meeting to order. 1824 01:44:32,725 --> 01:44:35,936 Do the thing. It's so great to drink wine. 1825 01:44:36,061 --> 01:44:37,813 It tastes fantastic 1826 01:44:37,938 --> 01:44:40,691 and it makes you feel funny. 1827 01:44:40,816 --> 01:44:44,528 - Didn't I ever tell you Lurch was a genius? - You never had to tell me. 1828 01:44:44,653 --> 01:44:47,990 - He's a genius. - He manifests it every single day. 1829 01:44:48,115 --> 01:44:51,285 - Why don't we write some songs? - Right now. Let's start. 1830 01:44:51,410 --> 01:44:53,829 - I got a notepad here. - Are you gonna write lyrics? 1831 01:44:53,954 --> 01:44:56,081 - I can write things down. - what I thought... 1832 01:44:56,207 --> 01:45:00,127 what if we do something on the Frankenstein theme we were talking about? 1833 01:45:00,252 --> 01:45:01,837 Like, the life of Frankenstein. 1834 01:45:01,962 --> 01:45:04,423 - A concept album? - I'm getting an inspiration. 1835 01:45:04,548 --> 01:45:08,594 - That's a bolt... Perfect. - Hey, yeah! You know something? 1836 01:45:10,054 --> 01:45:13,766 - You got a couple of bolts... - That's what I'm thinking. 1837 01:45:15,226 --> 01:45:19,021 It's a miracle really that we've ever had a conversation. 1838 01:45:19,146 --> 01:45:20,773 Let's not start now! 1839 01:45:20,898 --> 01:45:24,235 You know they say if you put 100 monkeys in a room with typewriters 1840 01:45:24,360 --> 01:45:27,196 they'll eventually produce the works of shakespeare? 1841 01:45:27,321 --> 01:45:29,532 Who's going to clean those typewriters? 1842 01:45:29,657 --> 01:45:34,870 - We're getting into a weird area here... - Monkeys, you know, defecation. 1843 01:45:34,995 --> 01:45:37,414 I don't know you anymore. 1844 01:45:37,540 --> 01:45:39,750 It's like working with a whole new person. 1845 01:45:39,875 --> 01:45:42,753 - This relationship is... - I'm so sick of you guys. 1846 01:45:42,878 --> 01:45:46,423 This is really helpful for me. 1847 01:45:46,549 --> 01:45:51,470 I'm working through something emotionally and psychologically and this helped a lot. 1848 01:45:51,595 --> 01:45:55,891 Yeah, and I quit the fucking stupid band. I'm out of here. 1849 01:45:56,016 --> 01:45:59,186 OK, take your smokes and go then. 1850 01:45:59,311 --> 01:46:03,983 As soon as I can get over there, I'm gonna rise to my knees and kick your ass. 1851 01:46:04,108 --> 01:46:07,486 Rise to your knees. That sounds like the new Rush album title. 1852 01:46:07,611 --> 01:46:09,196 That'll be the day. 1853 01:46:09,321 --> 01:46:11,198 Oh my God, we are geniuses. 1854 01:46:11,323 --> 01:46:14,535 - We're gonna do hockey nights in canada... - Hockey, hockey! 1855 01:46:14,660 --> 01:46:17,162 ..With the drum solo with the Latino stuff in it. 1856 01:46:17,288 --> 01:46:21,292 Boy, that's gonna be one great album. That's the next album, guys. 1857 01:46:21,417 --> 01:46:22,710 We've got it sorted out. 1858 01:46:22,835 --> 01:46:27,089 I think we've been successful in destroying these people's film. 1859 01:46:27,214 --> 01:46:31,010 I will remind them that I said you would regret it. 1860 01:46:31,135 --> 01:46:32,761 I just wanted to say that. 1861 01:46:32,887 --> 01:46:37,641 I said, "Don't be surprised when you discover how boring we really are." 1862 01:46:39,351 --> 01:46:41,312 cut! 1863 01:46:49,361 --> 01:46:51,363 Now I like Rush. 1864 01:46:51,488 --> 01:46:54,325 The louder the better now.